Book Review: The Lady is a Vamp by Lynsay Sands

At First Sight: Paul Jones was desperate, there was no other explanation for the fact that he has kidnaped Jean-Louise Argeneau as she left her family's company Argeneau Enterprises. As a fellow scientist and employee of the company, Paul is privy to some secrets of the Argeneau family, like the fact that they are what most people would call Vampires. 

Paul doesn't have anything personal against vampires, and he doesn't really intend to harm Jean-Louise but he does need her help. Jean-Louise isn't happy to find herself tied up in Paul's basement, so her natural reaction is try to gain control of Paul so he sets her free... only that she quickly realizes she can't... and that can only mean one thing: Paul might well be Jean-Louise's Lifemate. The person most Immortals/vampires spend most of their lives waiting for. 

Now she wants to stay to figure out if Paul really is her lifemate, and to help Paul (particularly after she realizes of the reason why he kidnaped her). But there is the little problem that half her family are either Enforcers (Vamps Police) or involved in the Immortal Council, and they are not going to take well to the kidnaping, no matter the reasons. 

Second Glance: Oops, I think I went a little overboard with the description, but I tried not to give any of the important stuff away. The Lady is a Vamp is the latest addition to the Argeneau and Co series, which spans over 15 books, since I have read most of them, I can tell you that this book isn't much like the previous ones, something that I appreciate since series this long tend to get a bit repetitive. 

There is a change in dynamics in this story, mostly because Jean-Louise is the vampire of the relationship - it usually is the guy who has to explain it all and convince the girl to like him - and that was a refreshing.

I was a little iffy with the whole kidnaping part but the author pulls it off (mostly because you are really convinced he didn't plan to harm her, really). And I liked the characters, particularly Paul. Jean-Louise not so much actually, I felt like she sometimes made mountains out of molehills.

Oh, and my favorite part was Julius Notte getting all worked up over an Italian football match (rest of the world football). It was so funny and adorable!!! 

Bottom Line: Over all, the Lady is a Vamp was a nice addition to the series and a good read, but it's not my favorite installment, mostly because I never finished liking Jean-Louise, and it was other characters that made me like the book. 

Book Review: The Rogue Hunter by Lynsay Sands

At First Sight: Vacation with her sisters in Cottage Country sounded like a really good idea to Sam Willan, a workaholic lawyer in the fast track to be made partner. She recently went through a bad break up and is quite happy to just relax with her sisters Alex and Jo, until they finally get to meet their elusive next-door neighbor and his friends. 

They all seem rather nice, and all three men are certainly very handsome, but it's Garrett Mortimer who catches her attention, at first because she can see he thinks she's clumsy as hell, and then because even with that, he seems to be very interested in her. 

What Sam doesn't know is that Mortimer is, in fact, an enforcer working for the Immortal Council, and he's in town to hunt down a rogue vampire.

Well, at least that was the reason why Mortimer and his partner Bricker were sent out to camp out with Decker Pimms - another enforcer and the girls's actual neighbor - but he didn't count of meeting his life-mate - the one person in the world whose mind he can't get into, the one meant for him - or that she would be rather clumsy and way too skinny. 

But she is his life mate, and soon he can't resist the pull her feels toward her as he learns that she's smart and funny and fiercely loving of her family. But he still has a job to do, and he needs to get it done quickly.

Second Glance: The Rogue hunter is actually the 10th in the Argeneau Series and the first of the Immortal Hunters section of it. I've read all of them to date but I have to say that it's the later ones that I find the funniest, which is I why I review them.

I had a lovely time reading The Rogue Hunter. I liked Sam instantly - she is smart and fun, she works very hard and has a great relationship with her sisters, and the insecurities her last relationship left her with were quite real. Mortimer was a great hero, he's an enforcer and has been a bachelor for close to 800 years, so he's really rusty when it comes to the whole courtship thing. 

And I actually loved that at first he wasn't exactly thrilled with finding Sam because she was not at all like he had imagined his ideal life mate to be. Usually with these type of stories, the Immortal is just happy of finally meeting someone, but Mortimer's reaction seemed more realistic to me. 

Bottom Line: All in all, The Rogue Hunter is a fun book to read, and great to relax with. The characters are likable and, even though it is the 10th book of the series, it doesn't feel repetitive or like I've been here before, which is great. This is a great book to read when you just want to have some fun.

Retro Friday (31) - The Accidental Vampire by Lynsay Sands

At First Sight: Victor Argenau wasn't sure what to expect when he was sent to Port Henry to investigate an add in the single's column from a "Single Vampire Female". As an Enforcer for the Immortal Council, it's Victor's job to make sure other Immortals don't step out of line, and advertising one's being a vampire? definitely stepping out of line.

In Port Henry, he meets Elvi Black, a beautiful, single immortal who has gotten all her ideas on 'vampire behaivor' from movies and folk lore. At 62, she looks as if she were 25 and she really isn't sure how she came to be a vampire, only that it happened during a trip to Mexico and that without her best friend Mabel, and everyone in Port Henry, she would have died.

Sure, Elvi finds it a little tiresome to be the town's Vampire, sleeping in a coffin and avoiding sunlight, but she figures things could be worse. However, aware that she's not getting any younger, Mabel enlists the help of their friend Teddy to find Elvi some Vampire friends, so she's not left alone when nature takes it's course.

The situation is nothing like Victor expected, and he isn't sure what to do, specially after he, his friend D.J. and the other single, male Vampires invited along to meet Elvi - Alessandro, Edward and Harper - spend a week in town getting to know Elvi and realize what a nice person really she is.

Second Glance: The Accidental Vampire was such a fun, campy book!!! I think that with vampire novels, when one of the partners in the relationship needs to be 'turned', it can get a little repetitive, but I have to commend Lynsay Sands because so far her Argeneau Series isn't reading like that.

And this book is a great example of it! The situations weren't at all like the ones presented in previous books and I found this story really, really funny. I loved the secondary characters - the other vampire men were so much fun! - and it was just cute.

Bottom Line: If you're in the mood for a funny paranormal romance, with a lovely contemporary feel, The Accidental Vampire might just be what you're looking for! It'll make you laugh, I swear.Oh and even though its book 7 in the series, you can pretty much read it on it's own.

Retro Friday is a weekly meme hosted at Angieville and focuses on reviewing books from the past. This can be an old favorite, an under-the-radar book you think deserves more attention, something woefully out of print, etc. Everyone is welcome to join in at any time! 

Retro Friday (19) - Bite Me If You Can

Retro Friday is a weekly meme hosted at Angieville and focuses on reviewing books from the past. This can be an old favorite, an under-the-radar book you think deserves more attention, something woefully out of print, etc. Everyone is welcome to join in at any time! 

For this week I chose Bite Me If You Can by Lynsay Sands - book 6 of the Argeneau series -  I've been slowly making my way thought though this series and since I liked this one I decided to review it.

At First Sight: Leigh Gerard was walking home after closing her restaurant when she was attacked by two men who turned out to be  rogue vampires.

Turned against her will, she barely escaped dying at the hands of a trio of enforcers -the immortal's police - and was taken in by them to help her through her change.

Lucian Argeneau was the one most reluctant to help out the newly turned Leigh; since he has 'lived' for a few thousand years and he's quite weary of the world, much as his body seems to react to Leigh, he tells himself he isn't interested.

Until he gets stuck taking care of Leigh and realizes that, much as he might fight it, there is a real chance that Leigh - the first person to make him feel anything other than duty toward his family since the fall of Atlantis (oh yeah, he was around back then) - could be his lifemate.

Too bad that Leigh isn't looking for a relationship either - what with a disastrous marriage in her past and a deep seated mistrust of men - and that they people who attacked and turned Leigh still want to her and they will go to great lengths to take her back. 

Second Glance: I've slowly been making my way through these books and though I generally think they are okay, few of them stand out to me. Bite Me If You Can stood out. I really liked how everything happened, and I like Lucian because he always had a very strong personality.

And Leigh was likable, and smart and even though her past made her wary of men, she wasn't a man hater, and she wasn't afraid to tease Lucian.

I had a trouble with how everyone suddenly stopped respecting Lucian once he fell in love, seriously, like he wasn't the scariest immortal in the series so far! But oh well, it was a fun book.

Bottom Line: Bite Me If You is a funny, contemporary paranormal story, great to pass the time and just have fun.

2/3

Retro Friday (17) - Love is Blind by Lynsay Sands

Retro Friday is a weekly meme hosted at Angieville and focuses on reviewing books from the past. This can be an old favorite, an under-the-radar book you think deserves more attention, something woefully out of print, etc. Everyone is welcome to join in at any time! 

If there is an author that can me Historical Romance funny is Lynsay Sands, and for this week I chose one of my personal favorite books by her: Love Is Blind (... or it should be).

At First Sight: Lord Aidan Monfort, Earl of Mowbray hasn't been back in London in over ten years, not since he put on an appearance shortly after he was injured in the war and the scar on his face managed to scare off everyone. 


But now he's back, maybe looking for a wife; though sure everyone still sees him as a monster. So, when his cousin points him toward Lady Clarissa Cambray during the first ball he attends, Aidan can't believe his luck: Clarissa is funny and sweet and is practically blind without the glasses her stepmother won't allow her to use. 


Clarissa's season in London, so far, had been rather dull and right down miserable, thanks to her stepmother, who insists no man will offer for her if she wears her glasses and is constantly scolding Clarissa for the all scrapes she gets into due to her lack of sight. 


But that changes when she meets Aidan and they strike a friendship that quickly turns into love.

And, to top it all off, it seems like some of those scrapes Clarissa has gotten into might not have been accidents after all. 


Second Glance: Love is Blind is a silly, cute little book. And I mean it in the best way - the characters are nice and sweet, and they do fall cutely in love with each other and who they are under their flaws. 


There is a bit of a mystery that has something to do with something in Clarissa's past, but it's really a small part of the book. And I really liked how Aidan takes Clarissa's past in stride (you find out what early on). 


The book is not very historically accurate, and there is not much to the book other than a cute love story; but it is fun to read.


Bottom Line: I don't think Love is Blind is one of the best historical romances ever, but it's funny and sweet and very fluffy, and if you're in the mood for something like that, I highly recommend it.


Favorite Quote: "Oh, do stop gawking at Clarissa," his mother said impatiently, apparently put out. "She will be your wife soon enough, and you might gawk at your heart's content." (Chosen because it sums up the tone of the book).

1/2

Book Review: Hungry for You by Lynsay Sands

At First Sight: Cale Valens - part of the extended Argeneau clan - agreed to take an extended vacation in Toronto at the urge of his aunt Marguerite, who claims there is a woman he just has to meet. Since he's an immortal over 2000 years old, Cale figures there is no harm in  meeting this woman, particularly since everyone seems to have so much faith in Marguerite's matchmaking abilities.

Still, nothing prepares him for meeting Alexandra Willan, a gifted chef in the midst of opening her second restaurant. With her two sisters already mated to immortals, the chances of Alex being a life-mate were slim to none, but it takes Cale the space of a heartbeat to realize she's it. He can't read her mind or control her actions, and after just a glance at her, all his appetites - long dormant - blazed back into life.

Alex can't help to like - and even feel attracted to -Cale when he arrives at her restaurant in the middle of a crisis in the disguise of a talented Chef (though it has been over a thousand years since he last cooked anything), but trusting him is another matter. Both her heart and her mind have been messed up before, and trust is something she just doesn't handle outright, making things for Cale just a little bit more complicated, but so much fun to read.

Second Glance: Hungry For You is the first Argeneau book I have picked up after a long time - I read Single, White, Vampire a long, long time ago - mostly because of my friend Kylie's Review@The Creative Geek. I asked her and she said that it was fine to read it on it's own - and really, it is, I had no problem understanding or anything. 

And I have to say that I really loved it. It was funny - many times it made me snort with laugher - and for the most part it read like a contemporary romance rather than a Vampire book, and that was awesome (because I don't usually dig vampires). I liked how the 'vampire' was part of the story but not the most esential part, the main focus was always on the couple.

I did feel the ending like a bit over the top, but it was all in good fun. Plus, since I borrowed this in audio form, I have to say that I really liked the narrator's voice, I loved how he made Cale sound, with the slight but still very understandable French accent.

Bottom Line: A sexy, light-hearted read that I highly recommend, even if you, like me, aren't a vampire fan.

Favorite Quote: "...Mortal women do have free will, you know. And contrary to what the movie claims, Earth girls aren't easy." - Bricker