Truth be told, this story wasn't really for me. While I loved the concept and premise of the story, the execution fell flat for me. The protagonist's thoughts were just so jumpy and erratic and included abbreviations which were probably intended to make her feel "hip" and "of the times" but it grated on my nerves at certain points in the narrative because it just felt unnecessary. The plot and pacing overall was fine, I did have a good time reading the story but it all was pretty surface-level entertainment and I couldn't really connect to any of the characters...definitely it's a me and not the book-type issue though since my friends loved this book!

When I saw this cover and title, I was so excited to read this book and then the description hooked me, but oof I was let down. Right of the bat, I didn’t mesh with the writing style. Tristan was a boring character and I didn’t get much from him and lily. So overall great concept poor execution

I was really excited for this book since I’m a big vampire book reader as well as being plus size myself. I did enjoy the accident turn twist in the way that it happened since usually the accident is more life threatening but this was a cute passionate accident. However, this isn’t one going forward that I would put at the top of the list to recommend to someone that reads a lot of vampire romances but maybe to someone starting out in the genre. Being plus size myself while I’m not the most confident the extreme the main character focuses on her body at some points was a lot to handle. The warning at the beginning of the book was a new thing I had never seen. I was really hoping for Lily especially after becoming a vampire and not seeing her reflection would have become more accepting of her body just a little bit sooner in the book. While Lily and Tristan make an interesting couple the mysterious vibes of Tristan weren’t intriguing to me over all. He’s a romance author and vampire so there has to be more there somewhere. For a debut vampire book this was a good start with lots of room for advancement of the characters especially if they make a return/guest appearance. I would like to see that and would probably read the second one if it goes forward. Probably a better read for those that like contemporary romance with a little vampire twist.

Thank you so much for letting me read this book it was so much fun. There were quite a few laugh out loud moments in this story. The only minus point was that the MC went from not accepting her body to liking her body far too quickly.

I want to start of by saying that I was super excited for this read! And thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks for giving me this opportunity! I loved the concept of it, because who doesn’t love a steamy vampire romance!

I simply didn’t enjoy it. The characters were likable but I did feel like Lily Baines just didn’t act her age. It was mostly the way that she spoke that didn’t resonate with me. I’ve read books from many genres and don’t have issues with strong female leads I just had a hard time reading this one.

However! I do want to say the plot itself was good, I enjoyed the plot twists I just think it could have been delivered better. And I do want to say that this is obviously just my opinion, which means there’s probably tons of people that loved this book! Meaning that it just depends on the person, a book that didn’t work for me might work for you.

When Lilly Baines wakes up after a night out with fangs, she knows something strange is going on. But she never would have guessed that the handsome man that bought her drinks the night before, accidentally turned her into a vampire. Tristan didn’t mean to turn Lilly into a vampire, and doing so broke vampire laws. Now Lilly must adjust to being a vampire, fend off the vampires after them, and deal with the vampire slayer in her office. This book was really fun! I loved that it had a plus size heroine and how she leaned to embrace her size and become more body positive throughout the book! The plot started really strong but got a little choppy, which made it hard to follow at times. It was also hard to connect with any character other than Lilly. But it was such a fun idea that I enjoyed the read! It was a fun read, and a perfect not spooky paranormal read for October!

When Life Gives You Vampires brought a rare lightness to the vampire genre, and was an absolute blast to read. This book was fun and funny, while still managing to pack in plenty of poignant moments about learning to love your body in a world that pushes you to hate it.

From the first page, When Life Gives You Vampires throws the reader into the deep end, bringing you right along with Lily as she discovers that she's been turned into a vampire. Oh and that her very existence is a crime in the vampire community. And to top it all off, the man who turned her is both extremely hot and deeply infuriating. All around, a perfect setup for chaos and hilarity. But the book doesn't stop there - Lily is fat and she's forced to contend with the fact that her body will be like this forever. I felt that that weightier storyline helped to balance some of the nonstop vampire hijinks, making what could have been a standard vampire romcom into a lovely story of self-acceptance.

I loved the romance between Lily and Tristan, but even more, I adored the friendship between Lily and Cat. While the romance occasionally sputtered for me, that strong female friendship was a perfect throughline to hold the book together.

I think this book's biggest flaw is that it often felt rushed. The romance element and some of the moments of character development progressed a little too quickly for me at times - many growth moments felt too sudden. It's a hard balance to strike in a book like this, but I could have used a bit more build-up. There were also a few elements that felt stuck in - what's up with Matheson Media? - but I'm reserving judgement on that until we find out if this will be a series. I could see those things potentially paying off later if the world continues.

Still, a super fun time and a great spooky season read!

4/5

I am so disappointed in this book. The premise of this book sounded so good. In the end, I couldn't wait to finish this. If it hadn't been an ARC, I would have DNF'd it.

The book reads very quickly. However, I didn't love the writing. The narrative structure is set up to read like the female lead sat down with you over a cup of coffee and told you a story. I gave the writing a lot of leeway because of this choice in narrative structure. However, I must be old because it will be too soon if I never have to read the words, FYI, obvi, natch, or brill so much in a book again. It was constant. Especially, obvi. It took me out of the story so much.

My other main issue with this book was the self-deprecating nature of the female lead. As a book that has a plus-sized representation, it would be nice if there was some actual body positivity contained within its pages. BUT EVERTYHING is described based on her size or someone else's size. EVERYTHING. It was so frustrating to read. She picks everyone apart based on their looks. I think this book actually hurts the body positivity agenda. The one character that had any potential to show body positivity is only on the page once.

Also, the female lead does everything possible to get herself killed. She complains constantly about the male main character trying to protect her - BUT SHE NEEDS IT. She is so dumb throughout this whole book. Also, their chemistry is meh. I am adding this to my pile of books where the female lead doesn't deserve the male lead.

My other issue is that because so much of the page time is spent with the FMC talking down to herself and picking everyone apart, all the other plot lines are just sort of slowly strung along without much focus and then rushed at the end.

Oddly enough, I would love a book about the FMC's best friend, but not if it is in this narrative structure.

“Because that’s what vampires are. Fiction. Like Bigfoot. Little green men. One-size-fits-all clothing.”

I enjoyed this book! Love the cover! And any new fun type of vampire book, I want it! It’s so cute and funny! Plus size heroine is a bonus.

Lily wakes up a vampire and has to figure out what to do with her life and how to process what happened. Also as she starts to recall the night she turned she remembers the guy from the bar.

I personally liked her pacing and word choices. The way the mc talked and went about her life is familiar. This was such a cute vampire rom com.

Lily’s negative body image you can tell comes from the way her mother talks to her. Well and how society dictates fashion and body type. As far as we’ve come in feeling good about our bodies of any size. If Megan fox thinks she’s fat there’s something going on.

So far I’m not agreeing with the lower starred reviews. Everyone is talking about the 400 year old vampire taking away her choices and being all I know more than you. Vampire! That’s what they do!

And how since her body can’t change and she will never be able to lose weight. She’s not going to just snap out it years of negative conditioning it takes a lot of time.. So what if a guy was the reason. There are all sorts of reasons people see themselves, sometimes you have to just accept yourself through someone else’s eyes. Plus I really think she came to the realization on her own the info she got at the end was just the icing on the cake.

After I had my two girls I’m like this body is fing amazing – my internal voice is like at a level I can’t hear unless I’m on my cycle.

Also…. Vampires!!!! This is a rom com about vampires.

Read if you like:

✨ Snarky female badasses
✨ Vampires
✨ Plus size and mental health rep

Cause being curvy is perfectly fine the problem is the mental trauma and torture thrown at you daily in every sort of media. And sorry skinny people don’t have easier perfect lives. It’s not a magic ticket. We all have our insecurities.


Thank you sourcebookscasa and netgalley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

When Life Gives You Vampires is a quick, easy, Halloween read that I finished in under two hours. The pacing, the characters, the plot, everything is fast. I loved the writing style and the descriptions, and it definitely made me feel like I was in the same room as the characters, although at times I’m not sure I would’ve survived.

The vampire aspect of this novel was well done, and it was very interesting to see how the characters who are vampires have dealt with living for 300+ years. It wasn’t too cliche, and there was a lot that I would’ve never added to a vampire novel, but Gloria Duke really handled the contemporary and paranormal aspects of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, SOURCEBooks Casablanca, and the author for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

TW: dieting, diet culture, fatphobia, blood, gore, body image, murder and miscommunication

The start of a book sets a tone, and of course, so does the main character and let me tell you, I did not enjoy either. Besides her honest talk about her relationship with her body, how she knows her mother is toxic and specific areas of standing up for herself, I found her annoying.
The start of the book felt so abrupt, which I get, but I still disliked how it was done. The love interest was bland and had weird vibes. I couldn't get into this, and I am sad about it.

I did not finish this bookI did not finish this bookI did not finish this bookI did not finish this bookI did not finish this book

The novel opens with Lily waking up as a vampire. After some amnesia, she realizes the hot guy (Tristan) from the night before started getting a little too intense about the neck kissing and she bit him back to get him to stop. The blood transfer caused her to turn. Her transformation was not approved by the Vampire Council, though, so now the grand master is after both her and Tristan. They’ll have to work together to outsmart one of the oldest vampires around, but Tristan’s over-protectiveness and Lily’s insecurities often get in the way of them understanding one another.

I LOVED this book. Intercrossing vampires with themes of body image and diet-culture was absolutely genius. I really liked how raw Lily’s narration was regarding her weight. She has several epiphanies throughout about how she’s allowed her body to get in the way of things like romance and friendships. Her first instinct is to be defensive, but once she starts mulling it over she realizes she’s the one projecting her own self-loathing onto those around her who actually love her for who she is. It was a fresh angle (at least for me) and I absolutely loved how it meshed in with vampires.

The miscommunication between Lily and Tristan wasn’t annoying, actually. It made sense and I was on either person’s side at different times in the story. I know it’s a trope not enjoyed by most but it did make sense for their relationship and some of their back and forth would leave me rolling with laughter or fluttering with butterflies. I also loved the side characters like Cat and Evan and I’m crossing my fingers for a spin-off series.

I knocked a star down because of the overuse of words like “obvi” and “fuck.” It doesn’t bother me if this is used sometimes, but it was excessive and didn’t always sound realistic to me. I also didn’t find the twist of Tristan’s past to be that crazy and I was actually sort of confused about how all those relationships ended up being connected to one another (I know this sounds vague but I’m trying to avoid spoilers here!).

At the end of the day, I adore this book and highly recommend it for some vampiric rom-com reading this spooky season.

Thank you NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca.

Lily's is out having a good time with her best friend Cat when she meets a man, more than a man attractive man - Tristian. Things are going well then it is not. Tristian goes in for a tasty treat and Lily strikes out when she realizes what Tristian is attempting to do - she will be NO one's snack!- and in a twist of events, becomes a vampire. Lily's life and journey into the afterlife is no breeze, having to contend with slayers, vampire counsel who wants her dead, negative and frozen body issues, insecurities, Tristian's Neanderthal-ism , and -worst of all- HER MOTHER!

This book is an entertaining read. I like Lily's frame of mind and the way she, as the narrator, presented her story to the reader. I enjoyed experiencing her struggle and journey into body acceptance, as a full-bodied women who has just recently come to experience body acceptance. It was a cute and important message and journey for reader's to experience, but Lily's journey was just unrealistic - it takes years for many women to experience acceptance of their figure and Lily was just okay with it after battling for 25 years after a week?

This is not the only part of the book that was unrealistic... I know, I know, it is a books about vampires, the very definition of unrealistic, but this entire story takes place during ONE WEEK?!?! A lot happens and as i was reading the book, I had thought and assumed more time had passed than a week. Then Lily made a point near the end of the novel to emphasize that it had all happened in one week, seven days, that's it. I understand it is meant to feel like a lot of craziness has happened, but to jam pack it in a week was silly to me. I feel like it could have done with a longer timeline in order to have the story make more sense. I wish the story had taken place over a longer period of time because I felt that the ending was super rushed and everything was tied up with a super fancy bow and nothing was amiss. I understand it is a feel good book, but there are SO many shennangians in this and for everything to end perfectly seems very unrealistic and left me feeling underwhelmed.

While reading the book, it sometimes felt almost cringe-worthy, Lily's narrative, about what was going on around her. I know the use of cliches is part of Lily's personality and some use of it was fun to read, but a lot of it was almost cringe-worthy. I found myself physically wincing occasionally at some of the vampire cliches that Lily would use. Some vampire puns and word phrase corrections Lily would make were fun, cute, and/or entertaining; others were hard to read and would occasionally lead me to stop reading for a while because it was too much.

This was a cute read, I just wish it had been expended and made more realistic. Lily herself touts on and on about being in the real world and being a real modern women, but the rush and hurry at the end did not make her relatable like she had been during some of the novel. Fun read, wish there had been more substance.

Was so drawn to the cover with a normal sized female but I was instantly annoyed that she’s obsessed with losing weight. I’m not into reading about women who hate themselves.

I was really excited for this book, because one) vampires two) plus size heroine three) plus size heroine vampire. While I struggled personally at times with this book- having Lily come to terms that she's stuck forever in her plus size body and her traumatic dieting life, I felt like she was more than that. I appreciate this book more than words could ever say.

I was so excited to read this, but sadly it was a letdown. What I thought would be funny and romantic, turned out to be kind of blasé. It wasn't a terrible book It just didn't click with me, and I really didn't like either of the main characters. Occasionally you hit something truly funny, but most of the time I felt things felt forced. So sadly, not for me.

A decent read if you like paranormal stories with more action than romance.
Lily wakes up hungover....and a vampire. The only problem is when she went to sleep she was a human - now she has to figure out what happened. Tristen didn't mean to turn Lily into a vampire but mistakes happen...and it's against vampire law to make other vampires.
Lily also struggles with body positivity which I felt took away from the story in some ways because she is just too down on herself. I get she's struggling, but I just wanted her to boss up! The villain of the story was a bit cartoonish and the ending was so quick that it made me feel rushed.

When Life Gives You Vampires is a strangers to lovers vampire romance with plus size body positivity. It was such a cute story, and I found myself laughing at parts and feeling emotional at others. While the pacing seemed a little slow and the narration a little bit repetitive at times, it was an overall cute story that I would give three and a half stars. I wish the middle of the book was cut down a little bit and the climax to the end had more time to shine.
Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest opinion.

Strangers to lovers...Paranormal Romance...Plus Size Heroine...road to body acceptance and positivity...vampires

And everything inbetween. Gloria Duke's debut novel is a must read this Fall! I devoured this in one sitting and had a hard time putting it down. Would without a doubt read another by her.

3.75 ✨ it had some slow parts during the build up, but I loved the plot ideas and MCs

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!