Moonflower: Vampires of Los Angeles follows 200+ year old Australian Vampire Sonia in her time in LA navigating the vampire scene and adapting to the modernity of the times.
One evening, after a date gone awry, she runs into her best friend, Sunny, who is attacked out in public, risking the lives and secrecy of the vampire community. Sonia finds herself tracking the beast that attacked Sunny, trying to get answers and to make sure it doesn't happen again. Only to discover that there is so much more behind the attack on Sunny than was initially thought and it is the beginning of a much bigger issue.

This was a really enjoyable read. It's very much an urban paranormal fantasy. There are tones of romance in this book between Sonia and Alex, a human that has garnered Sonia's fascination, but if you are looking for vampire spice, there is none. The way that Heather has built the lore around her vampires feels really clever and different, explaining away the thoughts about how vampires would integrate with modern society whilst remaining hidden in a way that is in my opinion rather plausible.
I really did enjoy and find it rather cheeky all the nods to vampires in pop culture, particularly the nods to Anita Blake which had me all "I know that one!".
As far as I am aware this is just a stand-alone novel. However, the world-building and how Heather has set up the society around her vampires has left much room to create further stories within this world, which I for one would be really excited to read. I would love to learn more about the vampires, particularly learning more in-depth about how their politics, hierarchies and their histories work.
I feel this book progressed at a really good pace and it was easy to read. Part of me really wants to find a fan Wiki and read all the backstories and histories of the vampires that we encounter like Sonia, Sunny and more. I think hearing their histories and how that shaped them as people and subsequently vampires would just be utterly fascinating.

Overall really fun read, with great world-building and intriguing characters, I do hope that we get more stories in this world from Heather Ewen-Foster.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Moonflower is an excellent urban fantasy with vampires and action galore. Honestly, a pretty flawless hook if I've ever seen one. The book follows Sonia as she navigates LA as a vampire. She's 250 years old and just trying to exist among humans. The book sets off at a fast pace, but does suffer from pacing issues throughout. I did really enjoy the action and political intrigue though.

Thank you to NetGalley and Heather Ewen-Foster for an eARC copy of Moonflower: Vampires of Los Angeles.

It definitely took me a lot longer than I had planned to get through this particular novel as there was a lack of direction and the writing style just was not my cup of tea. I didn't want to DNF it as I was really looking forwards to a novel based in Los Angeles that wasn't surrounding Hollywood or film. In the end, there was too much world building and less plot building that it was not memorable for me.

I was really looking forward to reading this book based off the description. It took a few chapters for world building before I became invested. The writing was good-plot became increasingly engaging. I tend to enjoy any story with old vampires set in modern Hollywood. I hope to get my hands on the second book to follow the storyline and characters!!

This particular ARC had weird formatting issues which I'm sure will not be in the final edition but wanted to mention as it made a bit of stumble to read. (Sentences were started in one paragraph, ended elsewhere. Chapters began in the middle of a page.) Present tense writing is a difficult tense to write in, but I think the author does a fairly good job handling it. The main issue is that I have a hard time believing that this is from the POV of a 183+ year old vampire.

DNF at 25%. Honestly, the pacing just wasn't doing it for me. I hate to DNF but when I read more reviews that said it just wasn't going to get better in that way, I gave up on it.

The characters were okay. Setting was okay. Everything was just kind of okay. I love urban fantasy and vampires in my books, but this one just did not work for me.

I'm giving this a solid three because I have a feeling that this world building/info dumping first installment is going to morph into something truly incredible. The Plot was really interesting and other than some small pacing issues (slow) I really enjoyed the concept. There is a good amount of action in the middle part of the story and I was continuously entertained. I did wish there was a tad more character development, but I expect more will come.

A 250 year old vampire? Sign me up! Thats literally all I needed to know to know I HAD to read this book!

“Moonflower,” by Heather Ewen-Foster

Sonia is a 250-year-old vampire just trying to live her life. When her obsession with smelling this one human in the coffee shop turns into an attack, her secret is in danger of being exposed to humans. Alex, the human she likes, knows who she is, and they can’t help but be attracted to each other. Murders of vampires start happening in L.A. is a mystery that needs to be solved, and Sonia is the only one willing to do it, with Alex beside her.

I thought it was a pretty good book. It has good relationships between friends and the love interest. There is action and mystery. All in all, it was an entertaining read. 3 out of 5 stars.

-Vampire
-Vampire Hunter
-Mystery

I did not finish this book. It was tough to keep my attention as the beginning lack direction. It seemed the writer was trying to build upon the characters but it just missed the mark for me. The "guy" of interest character seemed weak at best. What a shame as I am a big fan of vampire themes, just not this one.

This was a fun, unique vampire story! I loved the characters and the vampire x human love triangle thing that was happening - it was intriguing. The story was a little bit info-dumpy though!

I would call this book The Californians (SNL sketch) meets vampires! With a rich political world of vampires and a consistent description of locations/roads/neighborhoods in LA, Moon Flower brings to life an interesting picture of what a modern vampire's life might look like on the day to day (with a bit of action thrown in).

Our main character, Sonia, is a 250 year old vampire originally from England, turned in Australia, and "recent" Angelino (in vampire terms at least) whose world gets turned upside down when a handsome human comes into her life and triggers a series of climactic events in the lives of Sonia and her two best vampire friends, Sunny (a music producer in love with Sonia, but needs more groupie orgies before he's ready to settle down) and Neichia (a cool as heck vampire doctor who may have some secrets of her own).

I mostly enjoyed this story, as it was a quick and easy read and I was genuinely intrigued by the vampire politics going on in Los Angeles, and through learning more about each of the vampire's backstories! I could have done with a little more fleshing out of the relationships between Sonia and Sunny and Sonia and Alex, and maybe less about the roads as a non-Angelino, but this story worked for me! If a second book were to come out, I would definitely be interested in checking it out!

Thanks to Heather Ewen-Foster and Netgalley for a chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

“Moon Flower” by Heather Ewen-Foster takes readers into the shadowed streets of Whitley Heights, Hollywood, through the eyes of Sonia, a 250-year-old vampire. The book starts off with a vibe that might strike some as a bit cheesy, but as the pages turn, the world of LA vampires unveils itself in a more compelling light.

Sonia, as the protagonist, stands out with a well-crafted balance of strength and vulnerability, making her journey through the treacherous vampire politics and her personal relationships equally gripping. Her dynamic with Sunny, the Alpha Vampire, adds layers of intrigue and emotional depth to the story, leaving readers curious about the future of their bond.

The narrative doesn’t shy away from the complexities of relationships, especially highlighted in the imperfect and rather unclean conclusion with Alex, the human journalist. This choice adds a refreshing dose of realism to the otherwise fantastical setting.

While “Moon Flower” might not revolutionize the genre, it’s a solid pick for those looking to lose themselves in the nocturnal world of urban fantasy, complete with all the danger, romance, and mythical creatures one would expect. A 3 out of 5 stars for an enjoyable, if not earth-shattering, addition to the paranormal library.

I love that vampires are back!! This book gave me everything I ever wanted in a vampire book, and everyone should check it out 👀

The cover is very pretty. It does not give a sense, however, of this being an urban vampire story or that it is set between Australia and Los Angeles.

I will start by saying most stories about vampire are stolen. They are actual events or histories that humans feel entitled to write about. Humans are not entitled to those stories or to make money off of those stories.

This particular story is extremely heavy in dialogue. There is not enough world building, descriptions, or character development. So it feels like one of those stories of a real vampire event or history that the author heard about or was typing a conversational recording verbatim. There isn’t the sense that the author can “see” this story or is actually creating the world in their mind. It feels like a transcript without context or history and that makes it difficult to track the characters, let alone understand their conflict or care about them.

I will say that I knew right away that we were talking about a hybrid vampire so that was good. However, the description of the turn was too brief and very surface in detail. Everything was written through human perspective, emotions, etc. Your character, Sonia, is no longer human. What changed? How is her world different? Most hybrids forget their “first life” (my term from my writing so please don’t use it.)

Why are L.A. vampire still using old world terms and why would they be Greek? Why did the Latin professor helping you create Greek terms for your book? If Bianca is a Medici, why isn’t there a tie to Italy and Italian? What does being a Medici mean in their world? Why doesn’t Neichia just take Bianca out? Why would the vampire pick somewhere small like Pacific Palisades for a house when they can hide away in the more luxurious Santa Barbara and hob knob with the rich and royal?

I appreciated that the chapters were extremely short. However, I would have liked to see more creative writing here and definitely word building. I had no context for what was at “stake.” Was this just a “day in the life of a vampire” story?

There is a vampyre in L.A. (W.) who grows moonflowers in his backyard. It would be interesting to know why they are important to the author or this story.

Terror. Pain. Then darkness. This is how it starts.

This, my dear readers, is what we call The Birth.

My name is Sonia. I am vampire.

There are some vampires who have not adapted as the years go by. You know, keep up with fashion, technology, politics…Sonia is not one of them. Even though she intermingles with humans, she does not date them. She knows about death and loss.

Some in government, the FBI and the CIA know about them. Humans pose a danger to vampires, so it is best to be low key. But…someone is out there slaughtering young vampires.

Sonia meets a human, Alex. She doesn’t know why, but she ends up spending time with him. She has a roommate, Sunny, who is a hunkalicious vampire with a wonderful sense of humor. I quickly grew to love him. He donates half his money to charity and snuggles babies in the NICU. I’ve never heard of a vampire, let alone a male vampire, doing such a thing.

I am loving the story, but at times, the author buried me with too many details. But, I did like when Sonia was talking about having interests in mines in Australia. I have watched TV shows about mining for opals in Cooby Pedy. It’s fun when I am familiar with a location.

I was about 40% into the story before it really got going for me. Have you ever heard of a zombie vampire? Well, we have one here. I smell more than the dead. I smell a rat. Sonia will get to the bottom of it or die, again, trying. But, what about Alex?

The details interrupted the pace at times, but sticking with the story paid off with some fabulous battles. A little vampire, human, vampire triangle was intriguing. I am sure Sunny would have loved to part of a menage a trois with Sonia and Alex. LOL

I believe Moon Flower: Vampires Of Los Angeles by is Heather Ewen Foster’s debut novel. Well done. I look forward to reading more of your work and I have my eye on you now.

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This one I thought was going to be right up my ally. But sadly it was not. It was actually to fast paced and failed to really give the reader the full picture of the world and characters. I wish I could have enjoyed this one but it was just not for me.

DNF at 15%.

This starts off quickly and presents a look at modern life for a vampire. Conveniently easy to hide in humanity and yet consciously inconspicuous if you know what to look for. Nothing like having a flamboyant vampire roommate who’s so young their human parents are still alive while the main character suffers from long term withdrawal from their former life with a human.

The eARC I read had some electronic translation issues making it almost impossible to read. Even in the gamely program it had formatting issues and text display errors. If the story had been better, I’d have overcome the technical difficulties, but it’s not.

From, what I read, I’d say this is for the cozy vampire life read… it opens with interesting action, slows way down, picks up again, stumbles to a near halt, has some, flashbacks, and then begins the cycle again.

Until Next Time,
MC

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I really was intrigued by its description, but I felt that the book was either moving too slow or too fast, the characters were average and left me wanting more.

I didn’t like the formatting as the chapters all blended in together.