I thought the premise of this book sounded like a fun RomCom, but it ended up being far too campy for me to enjoy. I found the FMC extremely unlikable and the writing style was really not for me. It was almost too conversational and felt like the author was trying too hard to make it fun and cute. I liked the concept, but not the execution.

Hate the main character. She's a complete bitch, verbally abusive towards the "love interest", rude to everyone else, has a total pick me attitude, says shit about how she gets fat shamed yet shinny shames literally every single woman in the book, including her best friend. Ugh.

Also completely doesn't make sense that vampires wouldn't change at all once changed, like their hair doesn't grow at all, nor do they gain/loose weight. Lazy writing imo

When Life Gives You Vampires is a easy, fun paranormal romance! The book follows Lily Baines who is a 25 year old aspiring journalist living in NYC. Lily has severe body image issues and struggles mentally with her weight. I think that Lily's journey to self love was very relatable and done well.

One night while out with her friend she meets Tristan Newberry (our vampire MC) and when he goes in for a kiss and a bite, Lily bites Tristan right back! This ends up with Lily being accidentally turned into a vampire. When Lily is accidentally turned into a vampire it causes chaos with the Grand Master Vampire and the vampire counsel. I found the story around the Grand Master Vampire drama and Lily's body acceptance journey my favorite parts of this book. I wish we had a more dramatic ending with the Grand Master Vampire I felt it was kind of rushed.

My only other hang up was that I wanted the Lily and Tristan to have more passion for one another... more pining! It was insta-love but I really don't know what the MCs liked about each other besides each other's appearances. Just a little more flirting and less Fuck You (which Lily says A LOT to Tristan)!

I think for a debut novel this was good and fun and I would recommend it to my friends! Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for providing me with this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 🌶.5/5

*ARC provided by NetGalley*

I feel like I have a lot of feels on this book. I am not really a vampire person. I think they are super cringey in a ... non-consentual sort of way . But I saw the cover, and really dug the blurb and was soooo excited when NetGalley gave me an eARC. However, I left the book feeling.... incomplete.

Parts of the story felt rushed, and Lily's coming to terms with being turned into a vampire felt very.. "oh okay, this is my life now" instead of a genuine reaction. I feel like this book tried to do too much and didn’t accomplish much. It felt like there was a lot of ideas, and some were fleshed out, and others weren't.

The book promises body positivity which I was super excited about as a chonky person (and I’m very happy to see a plus -sized woman on the cover), but Lily still spends much of the book still putting herself down and struggling to be happy with herself. The romance between Lily and Tristan also seemed lacking. I didn’t connect with them and really didn’t buy that they were in love. It all seemed very rushed with little spark and like they were only together out of necessity, but were supposed to believe it’s love. It felt like.... vampire desire was what brought/kept them together, and not that there was any true feelings there.

There were some parts of this book that were fun. I really loved Cat’s character and all of the cheeky Twilight references. I think if you’re looking for something fun and light this upcoming spooky season you should give this a shot.

This novel is an enjoyable romance book. Gloria Duke is a good writer. Her characters feel real,. fhe story had heart and humor, and flowed effortlessly.
Overall, readable and engaging, a great main character and good chemistry between the characters.

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

***This review has spoilers***
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I requested this book based on the synopsis and it was definitely a cute paranormal romcom type read but I had a hard time getting into it as much as I had hoped I would. I really liked the concept but Lily’s voice was not a good fit for me as a reader. Her narration used words like “obvi”, “perf”, “natch”, nearly every paragraph and it got frustrating. The whole evil vampire overlord subplot was really good too until the end when she gives a little speech and they just decide not to off her because they need to modernize? I also wish they would have explored the link between Lily and Marianna more. The one line mentioned but then not connecting it to the story felt like a lost opportunity. I thought the slayer element was great and unique! I really liked the development between her and Tristan and the two of them recognizing their own issues and eventually coming together! Overall it was a three star book for me. Note: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.

This book is great, I really enjoyed it.

📚Book Review📚

I wanted to love this one…

Plus size representation, lots of body image issues that she is overcoming, vampires, FMC is a fellow ginger, and a hot love interest? Sign me up.

But I really wasn’t a fan, sadly. To each their own, but it left something to be desired in the writing. Lots of “Fuck you” said by the FMC to the MMC for no reason? And arguing just for the sake of creating drama.

It’s a quick read and I think for a debut novel it’s okay, but there are a lot of cute paranormal romances I would recommend before this one.

I received an ARC for an honest review.

🧛‍♀️🧛‍♀️/5
🌶/5

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this novel. I am rating this book based the stars due to lack of time to leave a full review. #NetGalley

Lily Bane is an overweight woman struggling with her body image, especially in comparison to her thin best friend and her fatphobic mother. When a handsome man offers to buy her a drink, she feels totally unworthy of his attention - and then he turns her into a vampire and her whole life goes off the rails.

While I enjoyed the romance between Lily and Tristan, my favourite part of this book was seeing Lily’s journey to body positivity and self-acceptance. Throughout the book, Lily struggles with body image issues and is constantly comparing herself to her thinner friends. Lily learns to be kinder to herself and I especially loved how she noted that body positivity is a long process, not just something that happens overnight.

This book has: strangers to lovers, a plus size heroine, and a beautiful journey to embracing body positivity!

This book was SO much fun and I devoured it in a single day. I’m a Twilight girl at heart so when I see a contemporary romance featuring vampires, I automatically hit request now!

Lily Baines, our wonderful heroine, wakes up after a night out to discover that she’s got more than a hangover. Lily is now a vampire and she has no recollection of the night before. When Lily regains her memories, she remembers Tristan Newberry, the handsome man she met at the bar the night before who ended the night by biting her.

While I enjoyed the romance between Lily and Tristan, my favourite part of this book was seeing Lily’s journey to body positivity and self-acceptance. Throughout the book, Lily struggles with body image issues and is constantly comparing herself to her thinner friends. Lily learns to be kinder to herself and I especially loved how she noted that body positivity is a long process, not just something that happens overnight.

Overall, this book was an absolute joy to read and I’m hoping the author turns it into a series so we can see more of Evan and Cat!

3.5 stars

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a super cute and quick read. Romcom mixed with Vampires? Yes please. I loved the main character’s personal growth and how her relationship with her body eventually gets to a healthy place. There were some parts that were a little cringeworthy, but they fit in with this book so well that it was easy to overlook.

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I feel like I say this a lot but this book was SO FUN! The whole premise was a hoot, the characters were engaging and it was just a delight to read.

Our adventure begins when Lily, our plus size heroine, wakes up after a night out and doesn’t remember a thing. While puttering around her apartment, trying to put the pieces together, she also realizes she’s jonesing for some blood. After noticing that she has no reflection and her canines are super sharp and pointy she hightails it to her bestie Cat’s house. Cat is a vampire fangirl and confirms that Lily has been turned. After helping her procure some expired donor blood, Lily’s mind is flooded with memories of the night before. Including memories of a certain handsome guy, Tristan, who is responsible for this mess. The story unfolds from there.

The setting and pace of this book is excellent. Everything moved at a perfect pace, nothing felt rushed and the atmosphere made sense. The vampire lore that was introduced made sense for the story and was nothing too out of left field (no ✨sparkly✨ vampires here). The side characters were likeable and had enough personality to make them interesting. The book deals with themes of body image, consent, archaic organizations and the downsides of vampirism. I had no real issues with these themes, but the initial act of turning Lily was a non-consensual misunderstanding by Tristan. Not malicious, but still non-consensual. So, do be aware of that if that is an issue for you.

Lily as hilarious. I honestly loved her inner mind dialogue and her take on things. That said, I do wish she was easier on herself. She’s spent her life building up her self image of being too big (which was exacerbated by her mother) and it’s hard seeing her talk herself down at points. That said, she shows some excellent character growth as the story goes on and I was here for it! Tristan also seems like a good dude. He wants to do right by Lily and ensure she’s safe. And even though Lily is not fond of his ‘leave this to me’ type attitude, I can understand his protective nature. Again seeing his growth as the story went on was great!

There is some spice and it’s in the latter half of the book. The buildup to it was great. Full of tension! And the payoff was also nice in my opinion. Not like earth shatteringly good, but pretty good for a romcom.

When Life Gives You Vampires is a hilarious, supernatural romcom that would be a great read anytime of year. Don’t wait until Halloween to pick this up. It’s gold!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for providing me with this free ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

I really wanted to like this book. Plus size heroine ended up not really loving her body as it was so that was a bit disappointing. Consent needs to be had and it glosses over non-consent. Really disappointed in this book

When Life Gives You Vampires - Gloria Duke

A woman is violated without her consent, and then finds herself falling for her assailant. Read 25% and DNF

*ARC provided by NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca.*

At face value, this is a cute, often silly, contemporary romance with vampire Tristan and newly turned vampire Lily. I think readers looking for this experience would probably have a good time with this book. For myself, I unfortunately could not get past just how campy WLGYV is. Listen, I loved the digs at Twilight and SM's personal vampire lore that vampires are these perfectly thin, toned, beautiful people, but what about fat people who are turned, or simply people who do not fit an author's personal brand of "perfect"? I think I would have enjoyed the premise of this book more if it leaned more fully into breaking down modern vampire lore ideals.

I don't normally mind millennial/zillennial colloquialisms in contemporary writing, especially since a) that's my demographic and b) that's the time period of the writing. In fact, I think it would have been a fun bit since many of the characters often go on at length about how "old-school" Tristan is. It would have been fantastic to have Lily need to explain expressions to him to actually show us that Tristan is in fact stuck in the past instead of telling the readers multiple times without much evidence. I think I was just hoping for more of a point to why both the lingo and the "Tristan is an old vampire" came up so often but were unrelated and immediately forgotten until the next time.

I also think that the (multiple) instances where a side character tells Lily the equivalent of "leaner body types have problems, too" just missed the mark. While true, the moral here is that we really should stop commenting on body types period, not that a fat woman expressing her frustration with patriarchal fatphobia is somehow the out-of-touch one. Every single person in Lily's life accepted her change into a vampire faster than they accepted or encouraged her comfort in her own body. Her mother even outright says as much. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad Lily was able to finally feel good about her body by the end, it just seemed like it took far too much toxic positivity "if I say it in my head enough times, then of course it will be true" for me.

I really do hope other readers enjoy WLGYV for the action-packed contemporary vampire romance it is supposed to be, but I personally did not.

Great book. Read it in about a day. I was investing in this. It was a different take on vampire. Really enjoyed this one. Must read

2.5 stars!

I tried really hard to like this book. The synopsis was very interesting to me that I was excited to get into it. I was also excited to see a plus sized main character. The concept was so unique but I felt like the delivery of the idea fell flat. It was not what I was expected and it was hard to read. The writing style was not for me. It was try hard to be a quirky romcom that it felt too much.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.


Well done with a body positive message. Easy to read in one sitting, an enjoyable story many will enjoy.

When Life Gives You Vampires is a fun, campy paranormal romance romp with an unexpected side order of fat girl self-acceptance and body positivity. Characters were well-constructed, love scenes were spicy, and there's a clear path to a sequel featuring the female main character's best friend. Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the opportunity to read this book!