Once Bitten, Twice Shy by Jennifer Rardin
A very different Vampire book. If you didn’t guess it would feature vampires by the title, the cover I have, with dark red lipsticked lips and dripping blood would give it away. That’s one of the hazards of ARC – Advanced Reader Copies – sometimes the cover you see isn’t what the final print run gets.
But this is not your classic vampire tale. The protagonist is a human female, Jaz Parks, working as an agent and assassin for the CIA, and while her previous crew had mostly been working killing vampires, she has just been assigned to work WITH one. One of the “good” ones, that is, an older – okay – legendary vampire named Vayl – who was even born in Romania in the 1700′s, though he now lives in the US.
Set in Miami, the story unfolds and with it, we learn more of Jazmine’s past, her family, and what brings her to this point. Her driven nature and fearless border on recklessness, and that is both her strength and liability. The battle she and Vayl face, with someone who is out to poison vampires as well as humans, unfolds quickly, even as we learn about Jaz herself.
It’s a fast-paced, action-packed book, not particularly gory, and very different than most damsel-in-distress/in love vampire stories. The characters are interesting enough, and the book feels like it could be just the start of an interesting series, without being too “stay tuned” about it.
I recommend it. Not too deep, but it won’t give you nightmares, either. Just a fun, different book in this genre.