This was such a cute concept - a little silly, a little sassy, overall a good time. Will be checking out this author when they release more books!

I thought this one would be right up my alley based on the premise, but I don't know that I enjoy rom-com mixed with fantasy. Was expecting more paranormal romance than rom-com. I don't love pop culture references galore, or podcast-style writing. Was a little too on-the-nose for me.

I loved this book and devoured it in two sittings! This was such a fun read, and I thought Stayman-London did a spectacular job of incorporating some heavy themes with the lighthearted vampire world and lore. Highly recommend!

This was a cute read.
This book is about two best friends who are part of a vampire book fandom. The They had been estranged for years due to a tragic incident. The friend was attacked by a fellow a graduate student and date raped. The blood feud book was her only way of being able to cope. When they come to life it’s not all that it’s cracked up to be.

The book was a good read. Tess’s character did grow throughout the book. It covered some deep topics for a light read. Things I didn’t expect when I picked up the book.

There is one thing I vividly remember from my 7th- 9th grade years: the Twilight Mania. Like almost everyone else in the reading world, I binged the entire Twilight series in a week and went to every midnight premiere of all the movies (it helped that I worked at my small-town movie theater and got in free every single time. I was obsessed and was Team Jacob "until the day I die." Jokes on me: The older I get, the more I am Team Edward.

I went through a paranormal romance phase afterward -- does anyone remember The Summoning series?? -- but soon, paranormal romance trickled out of mainstream media, and I leaned more toward fantasy and contemporary romance.

Fast forward to today, paranormal romance is beginning to make a slow comeback. That's not to say paranormal romance has not been around, but I have noticed it becoming more popular again. Another new addition is Fang Fiction, a paranormal romance between a human and a vampire written by Kate Stayman-London. I had read Stayman-London's debut romance, One to Watch, a few years ago. One to Watch was a contemporary romance following the first plus-sized woman on a dating show. So, imagine my surprise when I learned her sophomore novel was a VAMPIRE ROMANCE.

I wasn't sure what to expect since I am completely unfamiliar with most paranormal romance tropes, and my most recent experience was with Bride. However, Fang Fiction was a pleasant surprise, and I enjoyed most of the story. I read this book back in October when it was first released. I posted a mini-review on my Instagram, as I typically do, but I never found the time to write down a complete review of my thoughts.

The story follows Tess, our main protagonist. After a traumatic event, Tess dropped out of college and now works the night shift at a fancy hotel. She has always found comfort in her favorite romance novels, the Blood Fued series. Suddenly, one of the main characters of Blood Fued drops into Tess's life, pulling her into a plot to help save the vampires in her favorite books.

PROS
- I loved Tess as our main character. Her character had so much depth, and it felt like her journey was necessary. One of the overall themes is how books (or other forms of fandom/media) can help a person cope with and recover from trauma, and Tess was our main example of how that can happen. I think most people have found comfort in something they love during hard times (insert footage of me binge-watching the Scream movies multiple times during grad school), making it much easier to relate to Tess's story. Kate Stayman-London does a brilliant job of taking a very real person and placing them in a fantasy setting. 
- A fun rom-com - If you enter this book expecting a serious, dark vampire romance, you will be highly disappointed. Fang Fiction is cheesy, and it knows it. I think that even when the book takes itself seriously (with the topic of sexual assault, depression, and anxiety), it doesn't do it in other areas. If it did, it wouldn't have worked as well. I am unsure if this is typical of vampire romances (although I get the impression that it isn't), but I think this book would be great for introducing people to the vampire romance genre.
- The setting of the Isle - There are two worlds in this story: the real world and the Isle, where vampires were exiled years ago. Tess is convinced to go to the Isle to help save the vampires, and I love every second she is there. The setting helped develop the story of the vampires without making it feel like we needed to get an entire recap of their history.
- The excerpts of Blood Feud—The author included excerpts from Blood Feud between some of the chapters to help move the story along. I honestly would love it if Kate Stayman-London decided to release more of these chapters or even an entire book.
- This one is more of a pro AND con: I loved the side romance between Tess's best friend and another vampire. However, it would have worked even better as a separate novel. I sometimes found myself more interested in their romance, and I didn't get enough of them to satisfy that need.

CONS
- For the most part, the topic of sexual assault was handled with care. Kate Stayman-London starts the book with an author's note, letting readers know of the topic ahead of time (which I think more authors should do!!) and explaining how she wanted to ensure she handled the topic with respect and care. As I said, for the most part, I think she was successful in doing so. She shows how something traumatic leads to long-term effects and harm. While I understand the author's overall purpose in having Tess grow as a person and overcome her fears, I did not love how this part was resolved. When it comes to SA in literature, I do not think it is realistic when someone "gets over" their trauma because of something good that happened to them. Moving on from trauma does not happen overnight, but how Tess acted by the end of the novel made it seem like she was completely "healed." Maybe I took this wrong, but from reading other reviews, I know I'm not the only one who feels this way. 

- The world-building was very confusing. There were a lot of parts that didn't make sense if you thought too hard about it, but honestly, I wasn't expecting a mind-blowing world-building in a romance like I would in a fantasy. It didn't hinder my enjoyment of the book, so I would still read this one if that doesn't bother you.

This wasn't the most ground-breaking romance to hit the market. But, even with the predictable plot and the okay world-building, I do think that Fang Fiction did enough to stand out. The story was fun enough to keep my interest, and I felt the nostalgia of loving a book character to the point of obsession. I will continue recommending this one for anyone wanting to dip their toes into a paranormal romance while still enjoying a more comedic story.

If you are a vampire fan at all, I definitely think you will enjoy this! I thought the plot was unique and, even with some heavier topics throughout, it was an overall fun and easy read! I connected with and loved all of our main characters, but especially enjoyed Octavia and Joni, and their chemistry! I would also definitely love to read more about Flora and the Bar Between! I also really enjoyed how the author worked in elements of some chapters from Blood Feud, as well as podcast and website snippets, really playing into the fandom aspect of the feudies.

This book does deal with sexual assault, I definitely encourage people to check the trigger warnings, but I felt the author handled the topic well and it was heartwarming to experience Tess's recovery and see her find her strength and happiness again!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC! Loved Kate Stayman-London's first novel and was excited to see another book by her release! I especially love her heroines, which feel real and relevant. This brought me back to a True Blood vibe and I loved that too!

Ultimately, though, the plot and characters felt a little contrived for me to ever fully immerse myself in this fantasy novel. Will be looking forward to her next novel!

I loved this authors previous romance novel so I was super excited to see this one coming out. Vampires aren’t usually my thing, but she managed to reach even me through the characters and plot. I was so pleasantly surprised and thought the premise was very unique.

3.5⭐️, 1.75🌶️

So, so, so. I’m still trying to piece together my thoughts on this book, but I think I would say I thought it was okay? I didn’t love it, but at times I definitely was invested in the story and what would happen.

However, I felt this book just had SO MUCH going on. All the characters, the multiple relationships, the drama, and then the extra “stories” with forums, chats, podcasts, and articles adding extra information was very overwhelming. All the modern references were too plentiful, and the pop culture vampire stuff was a lot.

I generally enjoyed this book, and the narration (for a dual FMC pov) was nice. I’m not sure how I would have felt if I just eyeball read this. This was hard for me to read cause I’m not a Romantasy girly, so I know what I liked and disliked, but I don’t know how it fits in the eyes of a fantasy girly.

Thank you NetGalley and Eandom House Publishing for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Fang Fiction by Kate Stayman-London. This book was okay. I was hoping for a little but more, but it was a fun read and the vampires were pretty cool.

A romance set in the world of fandoms and vampires, I was sold! And was pleasantly surprised at the writing that sucked me in as the story sets itself up. We meet Tess who has dropped out of college after experiencing a traumatic assault. She has dropped out of college and her lack of being able to sleep leads to her working night shifts at a hotel. One way she copes with her trauma is by escaping into the world of Blood Feuds, books about two feuding clans of vampires trapped on a magical island. What she thought were just her favorite stories and characters are are actually very real and she find herself helping one of those characters which leads her to the island of vampires.

This is an ode to fandoms and escapism but also a real story of someone dealing with trauma and how they find the courage to deal with it and become all the stronger for it.

As a personal preference, I would have loved to read more about Tess and Cullum's relationship. But overall, I found this story and its characters enjoyable. When will my time come to be thrust into a world of gorgeous vampire who desire me for more than just my blood? (Kidding... but also not).

Thank you so much for letting me review this book! I loved it!! The balance and care taken for talking about Tess’s situation was well written and introduced. The topic of sexual assault is not easy to talk about but going through Tess’s journey made me emphasize and connect with her. The story book come to life of Octavia & Callum from Blood Feud (vibes of Buffy meets Twilight), so much learning and emotional content! Highly recommend with a disclaimer that the story is center around Tess’s sexual abuse, coming to terms, learning to trust again, and fighting back!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley, who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

*Fang Fiction* by Kate Stayman-London is an absolute delight—a funny, heartfelt exploration of fandom, love, and self-discovery. The novel follows Sophie, a passionate fangirl, who finds herself unexpectedly thrust into the world of fan fiction and real-life romance. Stayman-London’s writing is witty and sharp, and the characters feel refreshingly authentic, especially Sophie, whose journey of self-acceptance is both hilarious and touching. The blend of pop culture references, humor, and emotional depth makes it an irresistibly fun read. *Fang Fiction* is a perfect choice for anyone who’s ever loved a fandom or dreamed of their own romantic adventure.

I love a romance book. I love a vampire. Combine the two and we have an incredible novel that satisfies the hole that Twilight left behind in all of us. I was intrigued by the story from the get-go and had a great time getting to know all of the characters. I was also impressed with how the author handled Tess's trauma and her subsequent recovery.

I absolutely LOVED the concept of this book! I found it to be super unique and intriguing! I also loved the back and forth between present day talking, passages from the book, text messages and podcast format. If there's vampires, I'm going to read it, and this one didn't disappoint at all. I also very much loved the ending of the book and how the main character found her voice and chose to get justice for herself!
I definitely recommend!

I was very excited for this book because I loved One to Watch -- even more so because I love a good paranormal/urban fantasy romance. Ultimately this book dragged for me, the world felt simultaneously built out intricately and not enough, and a lot of the fantasy parts felt very basic/obvious, or being told not shown.

I did like the interludes with snippets from the books/podcasts/etc, and ultimately I did really enjoy this world. I specifically loved Octavia's subplot and almost wish we could have gotten more from that. I'd be interested in another book in this universe (or even the in-world books themselves) but think there needs to be a bit more character development and less reliance on tropes.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Yall, I tried. I wanted to like this so bad. It seemed like a fun, silly goofy time. I'm not going to talk too much about the negative because I do think there is a strong audience out there for it. However, it's just not my taste anymore. I didn't enjoy the writing, the MC, the plot fell apart of me. I just overall did not enjoy this AND I am certain there is a wide audience out there for this. So, if it sounds interesting to you give it a try. There's nothing fundamentally wrong with it.

Imagine the characters and world from your favorite fandom was real. Now, imagine there are vampires and it’s up to you to save the villain of the story while also managing to somehow stay alive.

Welcome to Tess’s life.

Well, Tess’s new life. After an assault changes everything, Tess has lost the life she used to have. She’s moved out of her apartment and now works the night shift at an upscale boutique hotel. She also spends a lot of time online theorizing that vampires are real - in particular the vampires from her favorite series, Blood Feud. But then one of those very vampires shows up at her hotel - and she needs a favor.

I actually had a lot of fun reading Fang Fiction. Tess was easy to relate to - who hasn’t wished to end up in the fantasy world of their dreams? She took so much comfort in the world of Blood Feud following her assault and I really liked seeing her take back her life. The side characters were fun (both human and vampire) and even though a large portion of this book tackles serious topics, the author still manages to keep things light and the book never takes itself too seriously.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dial Press for a review copy. I’ll definitely read from this author again!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the advance copy of this book.

There were so many elements of this book that I really enjoyed - I loved the idea that the vampires from the fictional series were actually real.

The flow of the story was a little confusing - having to oscillate between a podcast, a fictional series, and a movie script all within a larger work of fiction was just a lot to keep track of, and it meant that I had to do a lot of work to keep it all straight. And because I had to spend all that time keeping the story straight, I couldn't get a good grasp on how I felt about the main characters. Maybe it's just me having this challenge, but I think it's worth noting.

I plan on rereading this so I can get a better handle on it, because I really enjoyed the premise of the book.

I honestly adored this more than I thought it would. To everyone that has ever wished that the fictional characters that they have loved, or loathed, existed? This is for you. Because I swear, it spoke to a part of me that would literally lose it if any of the fictional men or women I have loved existed. There is good LGBTQIA+ rep here in the book, throwing in my favorite question of all (Awww, why be straight when everyone is pretty?), and the nuances of Callum and Octavia are just perfect. I love the healing process for Tess and the fact that her friend still reaches out even if she doesn't know what the hell is going on or what the hell she could do. The feeling of being trapped, both literally and emotionally, is incredibly profound. A physical copy of this book is going to make it onto my bookshelves. I hope to read more from this author in the future.