Member Review

Tess abandoned her dream of a literary PhD after surviving an assault and became the night manager at a swanky boutique hotel in Brooklyn. She's pretty amuch ccepted a life of fear and insomnia where her only peace is reading her favorite vampire novels over and over. Until the night when one of the characters from those novels walks into her hotel and demands her help. She's suddenly thrust into a world where vampires are real and she's the only one who can help them. But not everything is as the novels say and Tess will have to face the fact that fiction and real life don't always match up.

It's been a while since I'd read a fun paranormal romance so it's entirely possible that part of why I liked this one so much was the nostalgia hit of a well-done vampire story. But Stayman-London managed to make a well-rounded vampire story also be a fun ode to those who love vampire novels, and I love how well both things come through in the story. The fact that it also centers on a woman who lost her dreams because of what was done to her and how she manages to retake her life and her agency adds to everything there is to enjoy. Tess really is a great character to lead the story, with Octavia and Joni being close seconds on the interesting character scale.
My one complaint is that both the main love interest, Callum, and the crush, Felix, felt very one-dimensional so the romance there feels insubstantial. I get that Tess and apparently millions of people love them and have a deep connection because of the books, but the actual reader doesn't get to see much of them and is basically told exactly how we're supposed to feel about them. I would have liked to see more of them interacting with Tess and other characters to make them a more rounded character.

Very happy thanks to NetGalley and Dial Press Trade Paperback for the fun read!