A different approach to a vampire story, done with a lot of humour. The beginning of each chapter is set up as excerpts from advice on dating a vampire, but the rest of it is a storyline. The author's somewhat sarcastic narrative tone is well-done, and I laughed out loud many times. I enjoyed it greatly - I only wish there was more than just one more book in the series after this one... ( )

The Vampire Relationship Guide is a book that’s been on my TBR-list for a while. I am a big fan of Evelyn LaFont. I think pretty much everything she writes is brilliant, and funny, and smart. So even though I’ve wanted to read this book, I was a little hesitant. What if the book didn’t live up to the expectations I had put on it. Well, crises averted. I am happy to say the The Vampire Relationship Guide: Meeting and Mating was everything I hoped for/expected from LaFont.

First off, I love Josie. She’s a real “guy’s girl”. She lives an life uncomplicated by marriage, children or a stressful career. And she is completely content. She’s funny and fearless. Josie is the kind of character that we can vicariously live through. She usually has good intentions; but almost always says or does something to end up in ridiculously funny situations. Josie is an endearing character. While reading the book, I felt as if I were chatting with my favorite friend.

Another aspect of the book that I liked is the men. Josie becomes involved with not one ridiculously attractive vampire, but two. The men are everything you can ask for: unbelievably handsome, charming, rich and mysterious. The buildup of the relationships is hot and sometimes so lingering, I thought I would go crazy (in a good way!). Towards the end, I was caught by surprised. Because while this is a funny, sexy little book, it also has heart. The tenderness shown to Josie by one of the vamps, who shall not be named, was so darn beautiful.

The ending of the The Vampire Relationship Guide was set up perfectly for book two, The Vampire Relationship Guide: Volume 2, due out August 31, 2011.

I like to post favorite passages from books. While there were many, many quotable lines, this struck me as one of the funniest:

“The cab smelled like it’d been slept in by ten retired circus clowns who’d gotten jobs scooping horse poo with their hands. I was so upset about what happened between ____ and me that I didn’t even bother to care that I was steeping myself in Eau de Poopie Clown.”

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My thoughts:

This was a fast, fun read. The characters are great! Josie is spunky and funny, Gregory is smooth and mysterious, and Walker....what can a girl say about Walker! He is rough and crass, but you can see the soft and suave under the surface (it just doesn't like to show!). I was IN from the first page. Couldn't wait to see what would happen next and fell in love with Josie's personality! Gregory seems "off" from the start. Of course that could be the relationship cynic in me. If it seems too good to be true - it is. I enjoyed the interactions of Josie and Walker, I love the attraction that they each try to ignore. The story moves quickly and doesn't leave you hanging. I would have loved to see this story fleshed out more and moved from a novella to a full length story. I feel that the characters and the storyline could have sustained a longer book. If I had to say there was one thing that disappointed me - it would be that the story was over too fast. I can't wait for Volume Two! ( )