Queer vampire story with a dash of mystery, coming of age, and pop culture. This was definitely leaning on the younger YA side of a paranormal read and while it just wasn't for me maybe someone else will have fun with it. I just couldn't get into the story or the characters all that much. I wish I liked the romance more and the story more but it just felt like it was dragging on and on and the romance barely felt there. So while this wasn't for me, maybe someone else will have a good time with it.

Release Date: August 26, 2025

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press | Wednesday Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

The Good Vampire's Guide to Blood & Boyfriends by Jamie D'Amato had me at “Heartstopper meets Buffy in this queer paranormal rom-com where a college sophomore must survive becoming a vampire—and the cute boy who discovers his secret.”

-cute
-funny
-lighthearted and has a very sweet story
-humorous
-grumpy/sunshine romance
-paranormal
-amazing characters
-found family

Super fun quirky paranormal romnace that I couldn’t get enough of.

Thank You NetGalley and Wednesday Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7863778056

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-good-vampires-guide-to-blood-boyfriends-jamie-damato/1146689106

ARC Review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Adorable college campus romcom. While it leans towards cozy and lighthearted it focuses on trying to balance mental health with life changing experiences. A lifelong battle with depression and the difficulties of just being oneself.

There are parts in this story that just worked. The text messages and the message boards were a great touch and really gave that college campus feel. The fear of making the first move with the person you like: completely relatable.

I found myself wanting more romance or more vampire stuff. There were stretches of time where it felt like nothing was happening. Of course the good of this book is in the cute moments, Twilight fandom convos, and of course those oddball collection of pamphlets. Solid 3.75 rounded up to 4 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press | Wednesday Books for the ARC.

The Good Vampire's Guide to Blood & Boyfriends was a great mix of lighthearted fun, sincere romance, and paranormal chaos. It has everything you love about a quirky coming-of-age gay romcom ala Love, Simon, with the extra fun layer of vampirism.

Brennan is a lovable and relatable character, and I really found it compelling to have a newly-turned vampire character who has had previous thoughts and attempts of suicide. The idea of a character who deals with feelings of wanting to die becoming undead was a unique take, and I feel like the level of anxiety he felt about his newfound immortality was something I hadn't seen before and was really interesting to explore. If you want to get deep, there's a lot of possible things that Brennan's vampirism could be a symbol for that you could explore.

I absolutely loved Cole's character, another really relatable character for me. Someone who spends all their time taking care of others, trying to be the perfect person everyone needs and doing everything that others expect of them, and struggling with wanting to find more agency and make their own decisions, even if they might be dangerous. He was a great partner for Brennan, and I loved seeing how they each struggled in different ways and found ways to support each other through it.

There were some really fun modern details, like a vampire facebook group, using your vampire senses to be really good at laser tag, Twilight jokes, and centuries-old vampires being really bad at texting. There were some cool narrative devices using text threads, reddit posts, and other mediums throughout.

Thanks again to Netgalley and St. Martins Press/Wednesday Books for sending me an eARC to review!

The Good Vampire's Guide to Blood & Boyfriends is a charming college-set story about a boy who suddenly! Is a vampire! And the cute library guy he gets to know through the whole shebang. Of course there's more than that - a vampire society in New England, an ancient weirdo in the woods, a roommate who unfortunately cooks too much garlic in his pasta for a newly made vampire, a love-interest's-best-friend that WILL knife you, a pair of vampire leaders who are both fully inside modern times and fully outside of them despite their ages...

Okay, it's not that often I'm verbalizing my reactions to a book but I definitely had several instances of cooing and laughing aloud reading this book for reals - Cole is a cutie and he and our main character Brennan getting to know each other while also navigating a restart for Brennan and you know, the whole vampire thing, Listening to them falling in love was such a charming experience and I just had a really good time. (Also, with all the vampire books I've read, why have I never thought about *venom* being the thing that makes a bite pleasurable! Yeesh.)

The romance is closed door, which feels appropriate with the rest of the story, even if there were some hot heavy makeouts that lead to said door being closed! Loved the interspersion of social media and text messages and actual letters throughout, especially Nellie trying to figure out HOW to technology. The Redditors also had me intrigued (and laughing, I too assumed Mica was a guy.)

Additionally, there were really serious conversations about mental health and healing from certain events (see: the content warnings at the beginning) while knowing that depression and anxiety are things we do have to live with and can manage if we are unfortunately predisposed to having them. There's no excuses or apologies but just trying to live within our means. I appreciated how stark the language was around everything with regard to Brennan's mental health and everything he was trying for (even therapy techniques!).

I just really enjoyed this, but coming back to write the review I see the note HEARTSTOPPER MEETS BUFFY and please it's neither of these things! I know those are two very popular really superficially related things, but nobody here is a slayer and I enjoyed this more than Hearstopper and this book can stand on its own very well without those really basic comps.

Thank you so much to Wednesday Books for the eARC, I had a great time.

The Good Vampire’s Guide to Blood and Boyfriends is a college age queer paranormal romcom. This is both a funny and heartfelt story featuring newly turned vampire, Brennan as he adjusts to becoming a vampire. I enjoyed the romance aspect between Brennan and Cole, the librarian that caught his eye. This was the main plot line that kept my interest. I wasn’t really invested in trying to figure out who the ‘big bad’ was. We also didn’t learn enough about the vampire world and groups to really get invested in that. I also initially enjoyed the reference to Twilight and how they were bonding over it. However, it seemed odd to me to repeatedly turn other authors’ works into running derogatory jokes. I’m also a big fan of the found family trope and appreciate how well D’Amato utilized it. Please make sure to check trigger warnings before reading. The audiobook narration by Michael Crouch was fitting to the overall story. I felt that Crouch handled the various emotions that Brennan went through well making it easy to tell what he was feeling. I also felt the narration fit the college age vibes well. Overall, this was an easy to read and easy to follow audiobook.

The Good Vampire's Guide to Blood & Boyfriends by Jamie D’Amato was a bloody delight! (See what I did there?) It is a refreshingly original spin on the vampire genre that blends humor, heart, and just the right amount of bite. (I couldn't help myself with that one). From the very first page, D’Amato’s voice is sharp and engaging, creating a narrative that is both laugh-out-loud funny and surprisingly heartfelt.
The book reads like a cheeky self-help manual meets YA romance, following our newly turned vampire protagonist, Brennan, who is just trying to balance bloodlust with the complexities of teenage life. It’s clever, quirky, and bursting with personality—never taking itself too seriously, yet still offering thoughtful commentary on identity, acceptance, and finding your place in a world that doesn’t always understand you.

D’Amato’s writing shines with wit and warmth, and the characters are as endearing as they are eccentric. Fans of paranormal fiction, especially those looking for a fresh, comedic twist, will find The Good Vampire's Guide a delightful treat.

I recommend this for anyone who loves their vampires with a sense of humor and a beating (undead) heart. (I'll stop it now) ha ha. I am of the older demographic but this was quite the delight and helped me get into the Halloween mood while it slowly creeps up on us.
I received an advanced reader copy from NetGalley and have voluntarily left my honest feedback.

This is a cute gay romance about a newly turned vampire in college falling for the adorable student library assistant who is known campus-wide for providing blankets and vent sessions for any stressed student in need. I thought the balance between the romance plot and the more actiony vampire politics was done really well, and while some of the lines were a bit cringy at times, after reading The Last Vampire so recently, I'm willing to give those blips a pass.

🩸 A queer vampire rom-com with Twilight references? Yeah, I drank this one up.

The Good Vampire’s Guide to Blood and Boyfriends is a coming-of-undead-age story that’s equal parts bloody, awkward, and tender. And as a card-carrying Twi-Hard, every reference felt like a love letter to my teenage heart.

We meet Brennan, freshly turned and fumbling through vampire puberty — stealing from the campus blood drive, spiraling, and just trying to figure out who he is now. Enter Cole, the sweet library assistant who catches him mid-theft and instead of running, offers help… and maybe more.

It’s heartfelt. It’s messy. It’s funny in that painfully relatable way growing up always is, just with a little more bloodshed. And it’s a reminder of why we fell in love with paranormal romance in the first place. 🦇✨

This one hits shelves tomorrow — and trust me, you’ll want to sink your teeth in first.

#TheGoodVampiresGuide #QueerBookstagram #ParanormalRomance #ComingOfAge #BookRecommendations #ReadersOfInstagram #TwilightForever #ReadWithPippi #NewBookRelease #BookishSTL

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this novel!

Garlic and holy water might be a vampires weakness but mine is queer supernatural books. The Good Vampire's Guide to Blood and Boyfriends was a fun modern take on vampires. Brennan is killed and unexpectedly gets turned into a vampire. But when he is found out by Cole the resident cute nerdy librarian on campus he has to figure out how to truly live. I enjoyed the conversation surrounding mental health/ suicide and living forever. I felt a lot of connection to the character.

First off, the cover on this book is awesome! The Good Vampire's Guide to Blood and Boyfriends is a YA Queer paranormal romance that readers may want to take a bite out of very soon! It gets off to a slow start and if you follow my reviews, you know how I feel about slow....

Brennan is a nineteen-year-old young man who has not had an easy go of it lately. He is back at school after surviving a suicide attempt and finds himself turned into a vampire! Plus, his mother is pretty much doing her own things and not too present as he navigates his life. One positive thing in his life is Cole, the super handsome librarian who just happens to catch Brennan sipping blood from a blood bag! So once that cat is out of the bag, Brennan struggles to fit in, find balance, get answers as to how he was turned, is baffled by the rumors of a missing student and recent animal attacks.

This is a YA book, and it felt very YA to me - which is a good thing. It stays in its lane and isn't trying to be something it is not. This book is not scary, there is some violence, but it is not going to keep you up at night, checking under your bed, in the shower, or behind the curtain. What this book will do is entertain and have readers hoping along with Brennan and Cole for some answers as Brennan adjusts to his new reality.

This book does deal with some serious issues such as mental health, suicide attempt, sexuality, identity, and acceptance. While it does touch on some heavy subjects this book also has some light, fun, angsty, and entertaining moments.

The Good Vampire's Guide to Blood and Boyfriends begins with Brennan, having just recently been turned into a vampire. He's now questioning what this means for him: what should he eat, is he immortal now, will he sparkle? These are the important things he's trying to research at the library when he meets Cole. Cole and Brennan become confidants, and soon the two start investigating a vampiric threat to the students at their university.

Brennan is one of the most likable main characters I've encountered in a while. He's so sweet: before he was turned into a vampire, he was a vegetarian, he feels bad for the underpaid workers who have to fix a door that he accidentally breaks with his newfound strength, and he debates the ethics of where he should acquire the blood he must drink. He's also dealt with a history of mental illness, which has left him feeling like an outsider, and his newfound vampirism doesn't exactly help with those feelings. 

Cole is also adorable. He's a "mom friend" and a caretaker for their university's struggling freshmen. His optimism and openness complement Brennan's reservedness and anxiety-induced catastrophizing, but Cole has some issues he needs to work through as well.

Their relationship is so cute and supportive. These two made me melt with how precious they are together, and I loved how much they helped each other grow and learn. 

The mystery plot lurks in the background for most of the book. The story mostly focuses on Brennan's growth and his romance with Cole, but I enjoyed the twists and turns. There's a lot of fun and humor with the vampire mythology and society, too. One of the vampire elders who is helping guide Brennan through his new life stage made me laugh out loud a few times. There are also numerous shoutouts to iconic vampire media, including Twilight, Interview with the Vampire, What We Do in the Shadows, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. As someone who has loved vampire books, television, and movies since I was a teenager, this was such a joy to read!

The Good Vampire's Guide to Blood and Boyfriends is a genuinely funny and very endearing coming-of-age story. It deals with heavy topics thoughtfully and sets a hopeful tone. The blurb describes it as "Heartstopper meets Buffy," and I think that's the perfect comparison. It has the wholesome romance of Heartstopper with the quirky humor of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Since those are two of my absolute favorite things, it's no surprise that this was a big win for me. This is definitely going to be on my list of Best YA books of the year, and it's one that I'm really hoping we get a sequel to; I want more Brennan, Cole, and all their friends! 



My Rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 (5/5 stars)
Pages: 352 (Kindle Edition)
Tropes/Tags: Young Adult, Romance, Queer, Achillean, Paranormal, Vampires, Mental Health, Bisexual Main Character
Contains Depictions Of: Previous suicide attempt (not graphic, but it gets a lot of focus and it mentions the method), a few non-graphic small animal deaths, Anxiety/Depression (including panic attacks), Deaths, Homophobia

An older, hotter, gayer Twilight (minus the creepy stalker vibe) - who wouldn't want to sink their teeth into The Good Vampire's Guide to Blood & Boyfriends? Author D'Amato crafts relatable characters navigating college-age life with humor (those endless pamphlets!), sexy, grownup romance (Cole-swoon!) and real-world obstacles to overcome, like controlling or over protective parents, depression, anxiety and crushing self-doubt. It's giving Vampire Realness, and I was rooting for Brennan the whole way through.

I agree that this is a YA book, I’ve never been into Twilight etc so I feel like I missed some of the unsaid story. All the vampire research was interesting but I couldn’t get Brennans angsty existence. I’m not the target audience, 3 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley, I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this!

This book got me out of a reading slump! it's well paced and a cozy read. Brennan is a college student who recently was turned into a vampire. He doesn't remember how or by who. While researching what that means, he encounters a local cryptid! Together they figure out life as a vampire.

Brennan and Col were my favorites. Brennan really struggles with his mental health and the idea that he's not a good person while Cole goes out of his way to make sure everyone feels welcome and wanted. I felt like both characters were pretty relatable. I blew through this book in about a day.

Towards the end it seemed a bit rushed to have and solve a major conflict but it didn't take away from how I felt about the story. Overall a really well done book.

Brennan and Cole’s dynamic was my favorite part of this book.

I DNF’d at 50%. While it’s a cute story about navigating college, identity, and vampires, I personally struggled to stay engaged with the entire story. Brennan and Cole's friendship with hints of something more was really sweet and fun to read. I also really liked Brennan's vampire friends.

thank you netgalley for my ebook arc!

Yup- this is cute. Brennan discovered in all the fantastic vampire books available, none are actually helpful. Where is the how to? But Brennan wasn’t expecting to find a connection in Cole either. A Human. So Brennan starts his almost scientific research journal, hypothesis included, on figuring out how to be a vampire. While still figuring out how Cole fits into it all.

A relatable character in Brennan, being young, anxious, and overwhelmed in college. While also still being a vampire. And you thought your life was hard. The plot moves through the characters a little too quickly in the beginning, almost feeling like I missed a whole chapter or two. Told mostly in one point of view, as Brennan balances the idea of immortality with his own anxiety and depression and also told in the form of a zen, self help book that still felt like it fit in as part of the story and kept my attention.

As cute as Brennan and Cole will they, won’t they could be, the progression was a little too slow compared to the rest of the story. I really did enjoy all the characters individually- each one felt like their own character and for the most part, clever with a little humor. Like the first impression of Travis. It is a lot of college youth spiraling into anxiety, like every character did it- so it did feel overplayed in the overall character development. Like there needed to be more balance. And definitely some character moments that did not make sense, where there wasn’t a build up to support decisions made.

As a not cheesy romance person and not into pop culture references overkill, I could have done with more vampire plot in the first half. But that’s me. And the ending was lackluster.

Brennan's world is turned upside down when he is unexpectedly turned into a vampire. Worse, his crush finds out, when he accidentally catches Brennan drinking blood. Soon, Brennan and Cole are navigating his newfound vampire life together. But when a student goes missing and animal attacks increase near campus, Brennan has to figure out what is going on, even if it's dangerous.

This was a cute and cozy vampire romance, with a side of action. Brennan and Cole were absolutely adorable together. It was really fun reading about the dynamics of the vampire clan. It has plenty of humor, as well as references that I loved as a Millennial. The pacing well done, and I enjoyed the plot about Brennan's vampire clan working to stop an evil vampire uprising.

Note that this book touches on some heavy topics. There is a heavy mental health focus, with depression and anxiety representation. I really appreciated the positive way therapy was portrayed by the author.

Thank you to Wednesday Books for the advance copy!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for access to this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Peeps, I REALLY liked this one. At first, I just thought this was going to be one of those cute rom-coms where two college guys- Brennan, a vampire, and Cole, the cute librarian hook up and fall in love. But it was so much more. Because weird things are happening in and around the campus, and it is going to take Brennan, Cole and their human friends to help a gang of vampires solve the mystery.

Third-person perspective, short, punchy chapters, great characterization, and coping with being a vampire in the 21st century were all the ingredients I needed to keep me hooked. The spice is really low on this one, and so I do think it would be okay for high schoolers to read.






Expected Publication Date 26/08/25
Goodreads Review Date 23/08/25

A sweet YA paranormal romance.. Brennan is a newly turned vampire with depression, anxieties, and a ton of questions, and then the cute kid at the library, Cole, discovers his secret. There is an element of mystery as well, as murders are happening at their college. It is a cute little story with a dash of danger and coming-of-age as a vampire, kind of thing.