Cassie is a struggling artist who's facing eviction and is in desperate need of a new, cheap place to live. But is she desperate enough to risk responding to fishy ad asking only $200 for a room in an apartment in a lovely Chicago neighborhood? Well, it's not like she has a lot of other options...

Her new roommate, Frederick J. Fitzwilliam, is gorgeous and kind of weird, but Cassie is reasonably certain he isn't a serial killer. He's got odd taste in home decor, but he makes it clear that he's fine with her redecorating. In general, he's practically falling over himself to make her feel welcome in the apartment, and his few rules (he sleeps during the day and is not to be disturbed, and his room and one closet are off-limits) aren't particularly difficult to follow. The only drawback to her new living situation: she's really attracted to her new roommate, and that's just a recipe for disaster.

Then she learns his biggest secret, that he's actually a vampire, and has to decide whether the cheap rent and blossoming relationship between them is worth the possibility that he might view her as a potential future meal. Luckily for her, he really doesn't intend to harm her, and he needs her help, if she's willing to provide it.

I passed this one by several times - something about the cover art didn't work for me. I like romantic comedies, and I like paranormal romances, but the cover looked so...cheesy. A couple reviews convinced me to take the plunge, though, and I'm glad I did, because this turned out to be delightful.

Although readers know that Frederick is a vampire right from the start, it takes a while for Cassie to finally learn the truth - but, at the same time, not as long as I expected. I had thought the author might manage to draw it out until nearly the end of the book and make Cassie's decision to trust Frederick part of the conclusion of their romance. Instead, there's an entirely different wrinkle. Levine includes some of Frederick's private texts and letters in between chapters from Cassie's perspective, so it's fairly easy to guess what sort of complication might come up. I admit, I thought the author might handle it a bit differently, though. While Frederick was a nonviolent vampire, there were indications that at least one of the other vampires he knew had gruesome hobbies (crafting with intestines? quite possibly human intestines?).

I was expecting more danger and drama near the end. Instead, cartoonish plans were made, and somehow everything went smoothly and easily. Dangerous predators these vampires were not. Which was good for Cassie, because there wasn't much she could have done if one of the vampires had just, you know, decided to kill her.

Anyway, the romance was enjoyable and I laughed at a bunch of the humorous moments (Frederick's special vampiric power was unexpected and hilarious). It was nice to read a romantic comedy that was genuinely funny rather than just a regular contemporary romance with a mildly amusing meet-cute that for some reason was marketed as a romantic comedy. I enjoyed the bulk of it enough that it mostly made up for the weak resolution to Frederick's family troubles.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )

Interesting concept and I loved the emails, text messages, etc.

But the characters and the story were kind of awkward, especially in the second half of the book. Also, the romantic chemistry didn't click, and the heroine was sometimes annoying. ( )

I read this in a few gulps and almost couldn't put it down but afterwards I felt like the end was a bit rushed and some parts happened too easily. Still I chuckled my way through it and could barely put it down. Cassie Green is an artist and she really wants to be more successful than she is, in order to make ends meet she has to work two jobs; part-time in a library and part-time in a coffee shop to survive and she's not doing all that well, in fact she's about to be homeless. Then she spies a ridiculously low rent offer and decides to go for it, only to discover, later down the road that he's a vampire. Who was in a prolonged sleep and needs a bit of modernising.
At one stage they're only really communicating via notes, which are cute, and it's interesting to see his language change over time.
Fun but felt a little shallow, would read more by this author. ( )

this was so bad! omg. i could not stop rolling my eyes throughout this. the writing! the characters! the story! just so bad. minus the sex scene Cassie and Fredrick seemed like teenagers cosplaying as adults. Fredrick felt like a guy always in the middle doing a rehearsal for a low budget play as the vampire character. and Cassie was so stale and dense. i think the silliness and tone of the story would've made way more sense as a graphic novel. if you told me this as a book for kids i would believe you. no grown adult should read this for fun. AND THE ENDING!! it felt like a teenager trying to wrap up a story for their high school english class ( )

It’s a Reylo-inspired roommate romance with a hot vampire who watches “Buffy” and K-dramas, an age gap, and one of the funniest blackmail letters I’ve ever read- what’s not to like! While the writing itself is a bit cheesy and fanfictiony, I devoured this book and had a delightful time with it. ( )