Vampire Romance
2002
ROYCRAFT, Jaye--Shadow Image *
A sound yet amateurish romance between a vampire leader and a female Sheriff against a predictable backdrop of vampire murders.
2001
SHAYNE, Maggie--Wings in the Night***
This book contains three stories all based on the usual motif of longing, culminating in true love. The last is the weakest but the first two are satisfyingly predictable with well written angst.
1997
SHAYNE, Maggie--Born in Twilight***
Fifth in the her vampire series, but reads well enough as a stand-alone. Tormented nun-turned-vamp goes through many trials and tribulations before reconciling with her guy and getting the help of the secret vampire community in recovering her baby from evil government scientists.
1996
MILLAR, Linda Lael--Tonight and Always*
Fourth in the series after Forever and the Night, For All Eternity and Time Without End. Stuff happens… OK so I haven't read it. It seems to involve Maeve and Calder's daughter Kristina… This couple met in part 2 when only Maeve was a vampire.
REINES, Kathryn--The Kiss *
Sweet American couple stay with debauched Romanian Count and Countess. Rocky Horror meets Dracula--raunchy in places but surprisingly boring.
JAC, Cheryln--Night's Immortal Touch*
Lady vamp and hunky cop in the South. Uninspired contemporary romance.
MOORE, Christopher--Bloodsucking Fiends: a Love Story**
Light hearted, a good read for a train or plane trip.
STUART, Anne, YARBRO, Chelsea Quinn & SHAYNE, Maggie--Strangers in the Night (a book of three novellas)**
Yarbo without the usual faux-literary packaging which is refreshing in itself. One of Shayne's stronger stories about a vampire hunter really falling for the wrong girl, but as for the other two... predictable romance themes; very readable but now that I come to write the review, also apparently very forgettable.
1995
KRINARD, Susan--Prince of Dreams**
Conventional vampire romance. I find the heroine's ability to fall in love with a man she believes killed her cousin particulalry irritating as she is meant to be a psychologist....
1994
LAMB, Charlotte--Vampire Lover ****
A fascinating book that teases us with vampiric possibilities but is actually about an emotional or 'psychic' vampire. The only boom I know of to use this idea. In many ways a traditional Harlequin romance, but them throws in a rather unexpected bondage scene!
MILLAR, Linda Lael--For All Eternity*
Maeve plays over the usual romantic vampire romantic cliches (he'll think I'm a monster, I can't make him a monster etc), but having the woman be the vampire is a little novel, if not terribly effective. Sequel to 'Forever and the Night.'
1993
MILLAR, Linda Lael--Forever and the Night**
Nitwit Neely (where do they get these names?) falls for Anguished Aidan who practically has vampire stamped on his forehead. In the usual over-serialized fashion of such thing Aidan's sister (Maeve) and 'friend' (Valerian) are introduced for use in latter books.
1969
ROSS, Clarissa--Secret of the Pale Lover **
Charming old gothic romance about a Bohemian (but somehow prim) witchy lady meeting a pale young man in a castle… I mean chateau --set in France.
UNDATED
MILLAR, Linda Lael--series--Time Without End*
Valerian (who previously lusted after Aidan) suddenly become heterosexual, with yet another type-cast (plucky yet vulnerable) damsel.
ASHLEY, Amanda--series
Embrace the Night*
Shades of Gray*
A Darker Dream***
Embrace features a more than usually spineless heroine… Gabriel turns her from a cripple to a ballerina on the condition she never question his weird ways. In Shades the vamp is 'Grigori' - though like Gabriel he has the annoying habit of saying 'cara' a lot to signal that he is foreign. The book has a large cast--a predictable adventure with a nice twist at the end. Dream is the least original of the lot (brood/swoon, yawn)--the fatal attraction between brooding vamp lord and pure damsel is interminable.
BOYD-COMPO, Charlotte--Nightwind (ebook) **
Far from a usual romance, although the writing style is only adequate the way that Charlotte Boyd-Compo both uses and breaks the romance clichés is a great treat.
KELLS, Sabine--A Deeper Hunger *
Cailie spends much of the book either confused or unconscious
CRESWELL, Jasmine--Prince of the Night*
Vamp is an alien (boo, hiss). Every-one is obsessed with having babies (meant to always kill the human mother, but love … etc)
DRAKE, Shannon--Beneath a Blood Red Moon*
Lack-luster romance adventure--many people like this book but damned if I can tell why.
