Not realizing this was a sequel, it was hard to continue reading.
I'm newer to the fantasy sci-fi world, so this was a hard one to land with me.
It was an unfortunate miss for me as I chose it unknowingly as the 2nd book in a series and also for not captivating me even as I started reading...

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my complimentary eARC in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. Please excuse my tardiness in posting my review. My TBR list is continuously growing and I keep finding so many amazing books being requested + added to my pile! I have so much gratitude for this copy that has been shared with me.

You had me at hello. I mean an agoraphobic vampire who goes to therapy so that she can take her parrot to the vet... I'm in! Also: a vet! <3 For a supernatural book, the romance itself felt very organic, but I was disappointed by the climax.

I liked the psychological plotline, but the action / othello part was.... meh?

How did the kidnapper get inside to fetch Mia when they had prepared their abode with claymore traps?
I have a pet peeve against books which just have to have a “scheming enemy” succeed with his diabolical plans and the hero have to rescue the damsel in distress in the third act. I’d hope his was subverted when I read about the duo’s preparation but they apparently shouldn’t even had bothered.... kinda lost interest there and then.

This was a super cute LGBTQ paranormal romance. I liked the way the roles were reversed – the vampire was timid and nervous, the human was fierce. And their flaws made them fit together so well. This was fun.

I couldn't get into this one. I tried several times, but some other book would pull me away. Maybe it just wasn't my type of book.

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this book in return for an honest review.

Olivia is about a vampire who has PTSD and a fear of humans but when her Parrot becomes ill and needs the vet, she ends up having to go to a vet who is a human. We watch how Olivia has to face her fears for the safety of her beloved animal.

At the beginning of the book, I was fairly hooked and interested in the concept but as the book progressed and a figure from the past came back into her life, I found myself losing interest. Maybe it was because I expected the book to focus more on the Lesbian relationship and then gradually introduce the characters from the past but I found the pacing rather jarring.

The romance is rather low-key to me and I found myself interested in the characters separately but not together. Mia has Bipolar and has to take medications from a market (the market is like a Fiend market) and Olivia has PTSD as well as a bad past which is both interesting and quite nice for more mental health rep.

Overall, it is an interesting world that has been built (which probably helps because this is a sequel/spin-off) but I really could not get fully into it and found myself taking forever to try and finish the book which is really unlike me.

Rating
3⭐

Would I read it again:
No

Would I recommend it:
Yes, to WLW (women loving women) as they may like the representation

Interesting read. It appears this is a sequel to My Date with a Windigo which I haven't read yet. I'm not sure if that would have made a difference though. It reads as well as any other stand alone book.
I thought it was curious that the author wrote about a vampire with PTSD. That was a first for me because I think of vampires as strong and threatening. This is kind of quirky but it seemed to flow with the characters and their story. I would recommend.

The Good
– Easy, readable, casual writing style
– Diverse cast
– Good concept
– Harvey
– The variety of fiends

The Bad
– Genre-confused
– Style lacks refinement
– Scant medication/dosage research
– Even more questionable medication talk
– I cannot imagine these two making a functional relationship at this point in their lives

(Thank you to Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley for providing a copy of Olivia in exchange for an honest review!)

I was prepared for the PTSD and the parrot. I did NOT bargain on rampant Catholicism and wildly mishandled medication topics.

Story—★★☆☆☆
Olivia is a vampire. She struggles with PTSD, specifically with trauma related to humans. Olivia hates humans for what they've done to her kind. But now her parrot, Harvey, is sick, and she must face human vet Amelia Sun (Mia) if she wants to save his life. Surprisingly, the two have a vibe and Olivia struggles to overcome her trauma to pursue a relationship with Mia. At the same time, the vampire who originally turned Olivia resurfaces and threatens to upend her life.

I really, really wanted to like Olivia. It promised a lot of elements I like and had a lot of elements in place for a good story: healing from trauma, overcoming fears, facing the past, lesbian romance and a parrot. There are a number of f/f vet romances, but they always center around dogs or cats, and although I love both cats and dogs, I was beyond thrilled to find one involving a parrot.

However, Olivia focused heavily on some things not mentioned in the blurb, like Olivia's Catholicism and black-market prescription pills. The illegal prescription pills wound up playing a surprisingly large role, as Mia is self-medicating with Ritalin and oxys. The two actually have a meet-weird at a black market drug stall when Olivia goes to purchase her therapist-recommended PTSD medication (which she only takes once.)

We're introduced to what is supposedly Olivia's primary source of trauma early on—brutal vampire hunts at the beginning of the 1900s—but it soon takes a backseat to her trauma when she was turned in the 1500s and her struggles with being rejected by God, because Olivia is a huge, guilt-ridden Catholic. This winds up taking up a lot of page space, as it features heavily into Olivia's thoughts, and the close of her internal character arc is centred on her relationship with God more than anything else. I felt uncomfortable with it, given the religious prosecution of LGBT+ individuals and the general mistreatment women, people of colour and cultural minorities in the name of religion. It's not something explored with nuance or handled delicately. Olivia just says, yes, she knows about all these awful things, but she's still going to stick with it even if it's making a bunch of other characters uncomfortable. Certainly not my favourite approach to the subject.

Olivia also struggles with what genre it wants to focus on. Olivia is largely alone and in her own head a lot for the first quarter. When the romance portion with Mia is finally underway nearly a third of the way in, it's depressingly bland.  There are some by-the-book dates while they establish basic facts and Mia says insensitive things, which Olivia immediately forgives. McCluer includes no key scenes to bond or develop intimacy between them, nor are there any heated or passionate scenes, and thus lacks what most people look for in a romance book. 

Let's talk about some inaccuracies that bothered me. (I need to state I don't look for these inaccuracies, I'm not hounding down every bit of information mentioned. I do a quick google search for any surface things that bug me or ask someone who would have more information.) First, Harvey stuff: Harvey would actually need to continue his anti-fungal medication for six months to a year. (His rate of improvement was accurate, though.) Also, McCluer describes Harvey hopping around a lot, and parrots don't hop. Parrots sort of strut. The only parrots that exhibit a natural hopping behaviour are Caiques.

Second, not only is there a noted lack of research when it comes to medication, but a great deal of misinformation and negative stereotyping is also present. It started small when Olivia's therapist directed her to a black market stall for Prazosin, a drug used in treating PTSD (among other conditions) and recommended Olivia take "four pills." I'm lenient on the first part—fiends like Olivia lack access to typical services in the book. But, um, hello? Four pills of what? Milligrams exist. In less than three minutes I learned Prazosin comes in 1mg, 2mg, and 5mg varieties, and that typical treatment is in the 2-6mg range with 10-16mg being the upper range. Milligrams are the difference between a dosage of 4mg and a dosage of 20mg for Olivia. (Of course, Olivia also gives up on them after one try, claiming they don't work.)

Then there's Mia's self-medicating. Mia is bipolar. Instead of taking proper medication to manage her disorder—claiming the exhausted excuse she feels "like a zombie"—Mia takes oxycodone when she's manic and Ritalin when she's depressive. Here's the thing: bipolar disorder doesn't work like that. One: it's not all pure highs and pure lows. These abnormal high/low states happen, but it's not a "one or the other" situation. The goal of a medication regimen with bipolar disorder is to bring your brain chemistry into a normal range, not zombify you. Two: self-medicating this way is an incredibly dangerous approach, and the only time it's presented as a horrible idea instead of merely a bad habit is when Mia's circumstances change and she needs thousands of dollars a week to maintain this approach. Three: can writers of all sorts please cut it out with the same fucking medication storyline? Medication experiences are incredibly nuanced and vary wildly between people struggling with mental illness. Not only that, but mentally ill people are more than their medication experiences! They deal with many more things in their life than just medication! Not only is Mia's approach to medication a huge disservice to people with mental illnesses, but it's also downright dangerous.

(I knew most of the bird information and some medication information. I spoke to parrot owners who've dealt with an aspergillosis diagnosis before and someone with bipolar disorder for any information I couldn't find easily myself.)

I'm not sure why Olivia was set in Toronto, or even in Canada. Sadly, I did not get any Toronto—or even any "big city"—vibes. There is only one incredibly specific detail and that is the defunct Honeydale Mall, which fiends have taken over and turned into their Community Center. (Which is kind of a neat little detail, actually.)

Something I enjoyed: the variety of fiends. McCluer dug up some EXCELLENT fiends, like the nuckelavee, which is officially one of the coolest and creepiest fiends mentioned. I also liked how different vampires struggled with different weaknesses. For Olivia, religious iconography was particularly potent.

Characters—★★☆☆☆
Dang, I wanted to like these two. Both individually and as a couple. However—

Okay, I mostly liked Olivia. Sometimes I found her fang-baring and the threats to eat people over the top, but hey, this is a vampire romance. Olivia's problem is that she's got too many sources of trauma and not enough convincing resolution on them. We start with her trauma from the hunts, then that's cast aside and we move to her Catholic guilt, and her various traumas from five hundred years ago. There's too much brought up and not enough of it adequately resolved.

I found Mia harder to connect to, due to a combination of her lack of depth, the similarity of her voice to Olivia's and how awkwardly her bipolar disorder is handled. Sometimes reading her sections felt like OliviaLite, but with none of Olivia's depth or struggles. [Spoiler: I also thought her reason for being turned into a vampire was incredibly dumb. You can still practice as a vet with one arm! Vets don't just receive schooling for surgery! Mia still knows how to read radiographs and analyze blood samples and such! She can still diagnose and treat patients with one arm. Picking death over disability is a terrible take.]

I think the biggest thing for me is that I'm simply not sold on these two as a couple as they are right now. Olivia is still working through a boatload of trauma, and now Mia has her own extra bonus trauma to boot. They are both too messed up and snarky to work as the cutesy domestic couple McCluer is trying to sell. Maybe if the angle was angst, drama, and lots of back and forth—they definitely have potential as a fucked up couple.

Writing Style—★★★☆☆
Olivia is told in first person, present tense, from the point of view of Olivia's therapist in the prologue, and then from Olivia's point of view or Mia's point of view as the story required.

McCluer has a great casual style and a good hand for snarky humour. The problem is there's so much of it—both the jokes and words in general. There are otherwise useless passages that exist only for Olivia or Mia to drop a one-liner. Olivia is simply waaay too long for how little plot it contains, and a huge part of that problem is that McCluer will have five paragraphs where one would suffice. It makes for a lot of bloat and a lot of tedious reading.

Themes and Representation—★★★☆☆
This feels like a case of good intentions gone awry. A Black Catholic lesbian struggling with PTSD and guilt who's falling in love with an Asian lesbian with bipolar disorder. But there's a lot of basic elements that go haywire in the process of telling their story. I've already mentioned the lack of nuance with the Catholic situation, and how inappropriate Mia's situation with meds and the portrayal of her bipolar disorder are here, but there were also numerous little things that bothered me. One such thing is the Black character casually mentioning the slave market at the fiend Community Center. Yes, there are literal slave auctions of humans at the Community Center—mostly for dinner reasons. Which means there's human trafficking. Which is a serious, global issue and not something you throw casually into a book as background detail.

Overall—★★☆☆☆

Recommended For...
Those who want a lesbian romance with a parrot in it.

I couldn’t put this book down it was heart wrenching at times I just wanted to give them hugs and when throng were going good I wanted to cheer them on their story was different from others I have read I hope to find more by this author and more set in this world it just seems so interesting

Interesting story about scared vampire and fierce human. I loved that their imperfections made them perfect for each other.
Really easy read with lots ups and downs.
It partially connects to the other book , but it can definitely be read on its own.

I wasn't a great fan of "My date with a bendigo" but this one made me laugh! I loved the plot, I thought it was brilliant, vampire afraid of humans and with a PTSD.
However, aside from the humor, second part of the book sort of needed to be delivered more skillfully... It lost a bit of its perks towards the end, but considering the fact that the writer is becoming better with each book, I'm hopeful of the next one. 🙂

Genius plot. A vampire afraid of humans needs to visit a vet because her parrot is sick. Who wouldn’t be intrigued by that! The Shakespearean element is also clever and nicely interwoven in the storyline. Indeed the whole paranormal world, from the vet’s clients, to the fiends community centre is just great. I really enjoyed the visualisation of it all. The romance between the two leads is rather sweet, despite being amidst trauma and blood. The only thing the book lacks is a zippier pace. The writing could do with being pared down to the essentials. This would make the story more dynamic. In other words, having created an amazing world, the author now needs to keep practicing. So please write more and drop some descriptions, as this book is so close to being very, very good.

There is nothing traditional about this paranormal/romance. McCluer has set her mind free and set the vampire trope on its head, and, in many ways did the same with the Lesbian romance trope.

Olivia is a 500+ year old vampire who has PTSD. She’s afraid of nearly everything, including humans—and with good cause since it was human who hunted her kind to near extinction. When she was changed, it wasn’t a la-di-dah transition, rather it was painful and traumatic. When the story opens, she’s living in Toronto and her only friend is a parrot named Harvey. Harvey is sick and needs a vet, but the only vet near her is a human, but she treats fiends so how bad can it be? The vet, Mia Sun, is a pill-popping loner who loves animals more than she likes humans. Neither really trusts the other, but there’s a glimmer of connection there. Olivia decides its finally time to start coming to terms with her PTSD and agrees to see a therapist because she really doesn’t want Harvey to survive her. Slowly she and Vet build first a friendship and then a nascent romantic interest. When Olivia’s archnemesis finally finds her (after a centuries-long search), he’s going to make her his slave again. After the enemy is dealt with, Mia needs to take a few days to recoup from the trauma.

This book is stunning in its creative take on so many issues – human behavior, fears, vampirism, romance, and mythology to name but a few issues – and the author does so with humor, compassion, and sensitivity.

If you enjoyed the creativeness of Brey Willows “Fury’s Bridge,” you’ll love this book. McCluer’s “Olivia” deserves to be at the top of the to-be-read list of every reader who appreciates a well-written and highly creative book.

Kudos to Bold Strokes Books for publishing this book.

My thanks to Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley for an eARC.

Different spin of the infamous Othello. Olivia is a moor, vampire and Catholic. She is torn between her dreams and her faith. Olivia suffers from PTSD. As she navigates her emotions her past pays a visit and seeks to destroy her life. There are some slow moments, push through this is a great story.

I was intrigued by the story of a vampire that is afraid of humans, but needs to get her sick parrot to the veterinarian. This book is more of a paranormal novel with a side of romance.

Olivia is seeing a therapist because she is suffering from PTSD and is afraid of humans. She needs to take Harvey, her parrot, to the vet. She’s actually surprisingly comfortable with Mia, the veterinarian.

Mia has her own set of issues, she’s bipolar and takes a mix of drugs to deal with life. She and Olivia have an attraction and are awkwardly dating.

But a horror show from Olivia’s past is back and they are both in danger.

This was an interesting world that McCluer has built. The romance was low key and the sex behind closed doors. I did like the focus on mental health - especially that of fiends.

Unique take on the vampire novel. Noir feel, witty dialogue and a pet that sees you through it all. Set in Toronto, Canada. Have you ever thought that no one can live for hundreds of years without serious trauma?

Olivia is a 500-year old vampire, who was Shakespeare's model for Othello. She is also beset with PTSD and raging anthropobia. But Olivia has a problem, her parrot - Harvey - is sick and Olivia must take it to a human vet. Dr. Amelia (Mia) Sun is human, but after a run-in at the wrong market in town exposes her to the world of fiends, she opens to a new clientele.

The two women with serious issues shouldn't hit it off. But they can't seem to help the fact that they want to get to know each other better. With Harvey acting as a go-between, Olivia and Mia take a stab at making their messed-up lives work together.

**I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

Just imagine, a centuries old vampire who suffers from PTSD mainly because of the horrible things humans(and other vampires) did to her over the years, trying to find a way to overcome her fears and go to a human vet so she can save her only friend, a sick parrot named Harvey. That’s the beginning of this book.

Olivia has suffered a lot because of humans so now she doesn’t trust any of them, the thing is she needs to trust Mia Sun, the only veterinarian who could help her parrot. Olivia tried a human therapist first and because of that, she managed to go and ask for Mia’s help.

At first, Olivia didn’t pay much attention to Mia since she was very concerned about her parrot but after meeting her again we can see how some sparkles appeared.

Mia is human but she also has a lot of issues, she’s bipolar and she prefers to take drugs she gets from a fiend supplier than taking the actual meds, but it seems to work for her.

It gets very clear they are both attracted to each other and they decide to start going out, except someone from Olivia’s past appears in town putting both of them in danger. And they have to deal with it, together.
Olivia’s POV is really heavy with guilt and the bits with the religious aspect weren’t really for me. Mia’s POV on the other hand was a delight she is totally my favorite.

The romance was really sweet, they were pretty straightforward with each other in my opinion, so no misunderstandings and years of pinning.
It’s a very different vampire book, I recommend if you want to try something new.


This ARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

A quite dark story about a vampire suffering from PTSD and a phobia of humans, who takes her parrot to a self medicating bipolar veterinarian. The slow start decreased this score to a 3 for me.

Olivia: Having lived for a long time ridden with guilt from her life immediately following her transition to a vampire Olivia have never learned to let go of what happened. It still haunts her, and she lives a very isolated life with her parrot.

Mia: Growing up Mia learned to self sufficient. She lives for her job where she meets animals and fiends.

Pro:
Interesting take on Vampire which is unlike any other story I've read - I like that Olivia is flawed and has mental scars from her long life. This book makes supernatural beings seem more realistic, and paints a better picture of humans and fiends co-existing.
Finding love after a long time - The romantic journey between Olivia and Mia is unique to say the least. I enjoy reading a love story where neither character expected to find, nor wanted, love but it still feels real and natural.

Con:
Slow start-up - It takes a long time until things start happening, and once it kicks off it blasts off!
A bit of disconnect between MCs - The slow start, and the personalities of the MCs, makes the relationship feel a bit forced in the beginning. After the tipping point this changes completely.

This review is based on NetGalley ARC provided in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.

I enjoyed this book, much like the author's previous work, My Date With a Wendigo. This book has more finesse and maturity in the writing which is a great sign of growth and makes me want to read her next book even more! I love the quirky sarcasm and wit sprinkled very liberally throughout the book. It never occurred to me that a predator like a vampire could have PTSD, but in the storyline it makes total sense. I recommend this book to anyone who likes a witty paranormal romance that's well done. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was much better than My Date with a Wendigo, but still has some problems with pacing. It is still set in the same world as Wendigo and Elizabeth from the first book has a pretty hefty cameo, with her practice working with fiends. The fiend in question is the titular Olivia, a vampire who was so traumatized by her past experiences with humans that she can barely sit in the same room with them. Her only real companion is a surprisingly intelligent parrot named Harvey, who basically acts as her therapy pet. Unfortunately, Harvey isn't feeling great, and Elizabeth recommends a human veterinarian named Mia, a young woman who has a very cavalier attitude to her own mental health issues. Olivia unexpectedly warms to Mia, but their budding relationship is shadowed by Olivia's past- literally.

So, I enjoyed the dynamic between Olivia and Mia. Olivia is very scarred - not only because of the humans hunting her, but also from the knowledge that she was changed by her sadistic stalker then manipulated by that stalker to kill her wife. She's also devoutly Catholic and believing that her aversion to religious iconography means that God has damned her for killing her wife. I think that is my favorite part of the book - Olivia is just a tragic figure on multiple fronts, and has every reason to be the way she is. She's not a dramatic angsty vamp - that is earned in spades. Meanwhile, you have Mia, a talented veterinarian who has depression and is bipolar. She isn't living with her health issues in the most unhealthy of ways - with heavy drugs. Yet, Mia is quite possibly the only person that Olivia has encountered who can understand her - and they work to save each other.

I know I haven't talked much about the paranormal aspect of the story, mostly because the hiccups that occurred in the first novel are much smoother now, and I think its because the fiend is more human and less an avatar for starvation and death. Olivia is much more ingrained in the alternate world of Toronto, so the world building has a more lived in feel, so it doesn't feel so out of place. Also, I do have to give props to tying in huge Shakespeare references into this story (especially since Olivia was Shakespeare's contemporary).

But given all these positive things, I still had a lot of problems with some emotional whiplash and pacing. It takes a long time to get to any action, with even Mia's and Olivia's meeting being pushed a little later than I expected. I want to say it's because the story really wanted to drive home Olivia's isolation and why she felt the need to be so isolated. It works to an extent, but it left the second half of the book with very little space to work with. I would have loved more time with Mia and Olivia feeling each other out. I loved their dynamic, and wished their first time together wasn't after this huge emotional event. I won't say more, because it is a bit of a twist, but I wish there was more time given to this.

Overall though, it is a solid paranormal romance. It bucks some trends by not having the leads get together right away, but I do wish we had more scenes with their banter. It does fall into some vamp romance tropes, but is self aware enough to poke a little fun at it. I like this world that McCluer built, and I am sure there will be more books with a alt-Toronto to come. I will check them out as they come.