REAL VAMPIRES GET LUCKY

Author: Gerry Bartlett ISBN: 9780425221549 6/2008 PARANORMAL Publisher: BERKLEY

After four-hundred years, you'd think that by now I'd be able to know trouble when I smelled it... Blood. Type B. Human. Coming from the alley behind my shop. A female loan shark named Lucky had been attacked and left for dead. To save her, I, Glory St. Clair, did something I never ever wanted to resort to. I turned a human into a vampire. It's not that I regret changing Lucky. I had no choice. I will say though, eternity would have been safer without her. Vamps prefer a low profile. No Lucky. So what if she has a sexy rock star ex-boyfriend and great shoes? Who died and mae her Queen of the Damned? Her flamboyant behavior is not only drawing every vampire hunter within miles—it's bringing her would-be killer out of hiding too. Good news is, Lucky's mobster father is offering a big reward to catch him. Bad news is, underworlds are about to collide—and the odds aren't exactly in my favor.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Want to be amused and entertained? Do you like to laugh out loud? Think heroines should have brains and guts to spare? And how about your heroes? Like them hot and hunky? If any—or all—of these apply, pick up a copy of REAL VAMPIRES GET LUCKY. You won't be sorry you did. Gerry Bartlett's latest in her "Real Vampires..." series fits the bill for each of these quite nicely. And there are lots of extras, like wonderful secondary characters and snappy dialogue, to spare. A definite something-for-everyone story!

Glory St. Clair is a vampire who owns a vintage clothing shop. She's funny and smart, but without any pretensions at all... sort of a girl-next-door vamp. And she's got a protector (which she hardly needs!) named Valdez who is—are you ready for this?—a talking dog. Honestly, I think I'm in love with Valdez! His sarcastic wit and totally on-target comments made me laugh more times than I care to admit. Seeing the world through his eyes gives this story a dimension that I never would have believed could be as interesting as it is.

When Glory and Valdez find a woman dying in the alley behind Glory's shop, there's no time to lose. While Glory's never "turned" a human to the world of vampires, she's got to make a decision, and fast. She's either got to make this dying woman a vampire or watch her die. Valdez is pushing her to turn the woman, but Glory hesitates. Then, she makes a phone call, gets detailed directions on taking a mortal to the vampire lifestyle and "saves" the woman. And what a save she's made! Luciana Caravelli, a mobster's daughter, is a loan shark whose penchant for designer handbags and age-minimizing makeup is about to take a back seat to her more pressing need to learn to live like a vamp.

Talking dogs and gangster's goons aside, this story is wonderfully entertaining. I loved all the details, especially the shoe-lover's bits, vintage clothing references and rock star's paparazzi survival skills guide. The secondary characters are well developed and could easily support their own stories. The unexpected touches, like a new vampire's choice of shapeshifting "animals" made the story fun and funny because the reader knows that, given the choices, she just might make similar ones!

REAL VAMPIRES GET LUCKY is a must-read for anyone who enjoys comedy, romance and vampires. This story has all those things, and much more, tied in one neat bundle. Just delightful!

Kay James