Title: Sucker Bet
Author: Erin McCarthy
Series: Vegas Vampires #4
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal romance, Romance, Vampires
Dates read: 19th – 20th September 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Year: 2008
5th sentence, 74th page: Absolutely and utterly ashamed.

A night of indulgence…

Gwenna Carrick is a woman with a history – 900 years of it. As the vampiress ex-wife of the notorious vampire Roberto Donatelli, she has to keep a low profile. Not easy when she’s bathed in the neon glow of Las Vegas – especially when there’s a whole online group of vampire slayers bent on dealing her her last hand.

can feel like eternity…

A wild night with a stranger was not in the cards for Gwenna. But that’s what happened when she met Detective Nate Thomas. Their passion made her feel… well, alive again. But when Donatelli catches wind of the tryst, Nate tops his to-off list. Gwenna knows she hit the jackpot with Nate and won’t let her ex stand in the way. But they soon realize they have far more enemies than Donatelli – both on the Strip and underground…

This was a great finish to a really fun little series. Alright, there are three novellas which follow it chronologically, but I read them before reading the full length novella, and they don’t really add to the greater storyline. However, Sucker Bet does and it provides some much needed answers to the political and social intrigues which are peppered throughout the four main novels.

Alexis, Cara and Brittany are all very strong and independent women. Ones who not only know what they want from life, but also know what they don’t want. And who they don’t think they want. Gwenna on the other hand is much softer, subtler and a little more lost. She has a far longer history than the three mortal women and, because of this, more hang ups than they have. Which all made her a great lead to finish the series with. She was something different and unique in a series that is full of unique takes on the vampire romance subgenre.

I loved that although Gwenna is a little lost and unsure of what to do with her life, she is also sure of what she doesn’t want. And honestly, some people can’t even quite figure that out… that alone takes a strength of will. She also realises what a great catch of a man she has from the very beginning. She may be unsure of where they stand with each other, but she doesn’t hesitate to find a way to be happy with an incredibly hot human being… something that none of her counterparts in this series were capable of doing. Which is probably why I loved her so much and so quickly.

This was a great way to tie up the political intrigue and battles which have been an undertow and obstacle in all of the stories in this series. It finally removes Donatelli’s annoying influence from the lives of the characters I’ve come to love and made him realise just what he has lost. A bit of poetic justice that didn’t involve blood or death at the closing of the pages as the four main couples finally ride off happily ever after into the sunset. Plus, you finally get to find out why Kelsey calls Ringo Kyle all the time.

Image source: Amazon

Title: Deal or No Deal
Author: Erin McCarthy
Series: Vegas Vampires #6
In: Out of the Light, Into the Shadows (Lori Foster & Erin McCarthy)
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal romance, Romance, Vampires
Dates read: 28th July 2019
Pace: Fast
Format: Novella
Publisher: Berkley
Year: 2009
5th sentence, 74th page: Sergei’s face was impassive, and Rasputin grinned.

Katie has been wondering what happened on the night her family was killed for over 90 years. Michael has been looking for the woman that he loves since that same night. Will they find the answers that they need together, or will they be doomed to spend eternity without love?

There is something fun and kind of beautiful about Erin McCarthy’s stories. And it really doesn’t seem to matter what they’re about, where they’re set or what genre they fit into. This is yet another example. Although this is a novella set in the Vegas Vampires world, it had a bit more of an old-world feel to it. Or, maybe that’s just what I picked up on by having a character called Rasputin and a Russian princess who was almost killed.

For most of this story, all I could think about was Anastasia and Rasputin. The Disney-fied version with all of the songs. It really wasn’t a bad thing to think about while I was reading this story to be fair. I love that movie. I love the songs and I loved this novella. There was just something fun and engaging about it. Something about Katie (or Maria) and Michael that made you hope they got their happily ever after. And most definitely got their revenge…

There is nothing I love more in stories than when the bad guy dies. Not necessarily through the hands of the people they’ve wronged, but as an inadvertent consequence of their own actions. McCarthy is incredibly good at this slightly surprising form of poetic justice. There is always a fantastic consequence that makes me immensely glad, but it’s never quite in the form that I expect. And what happens to Rasputin is no different. It’s a bit surprising, and it left me with a huge smile on my face as I closed the final pages of the story.

Image source: Penguin Random House

Title: Bled Dry
Author: Erin McCarthy
Series: Vegas Vampires #3
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal romance, Romance, Vampires
Dates read: 16th May – 7th July 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Year: 2007
5th sentence, 74th page: But we will be discreet until the election is over.

Only in Vegas can a one-night stand with a vampire beat the odds – from the USA Today bestselling author of Sucker Bet and Bit the Jackpot…

Hooking up with a vampire has its risks – but getting pregnant usually isn’t one of them. Tell that to Brittany Baldizzi, who finds herself in the family way with no father in sight. After their one night of passion, vampire Corbin Jean Michel Atelier disappeared off the face of the earth – or at least off the Vegas Strip…

Corbin is a vampire with a cause – he is secretly trying to find a cure for his condition. But when he finds out Brittany is pregnant with his child, Corbin can’t keep his parental instincts from trumping his bloodsucking ones. Even when showing his hand could cost him the woman he can’t help but love…

It took me a lot longer to read Bled Dry than any of the other novels in this series so far. Mostly because Corbin kind of pissed me off. He might have been attempting to do right by Brittany throughout… but mostly he was just being a bit of a ham-fisted moron. And Brittany should have smacked him around the head far more times than she did… but, once I got over my smack-Corbin feeling, I actually thoroughly enjoyed this tale.

There are almost no romance stories in my shelves that feature a pregnant woman. There are many that mention a previous couple becoming pregnant, but none that actually have this as a central plot point. It was a nice change. Babies might not be my thing, and I’m unsure about motherhood, but I think it’s an integral aspect of our lives (for so many obvious reasons). The fact that it was the central point of the storyline and the reason for all of the complications (both positive and negative) was incredibly fun. It didn’t take away from the romance or the passion, but it did provide an entirely new standpoint that I just lapped up.

I’ve never read a story in which the vampire wanted to reverse the act of vampirism. Most of the tales end like High Stakes and Sucker Bet where the mortal significant other is turned to run off into the sunset living happily ever after. This didn’t quite end like that… and the fact that Corbin wanted to grow old with Brittany instead of living forever, well, I kind of liked that ending far more. It was about those finite, happy moments you have together and raising a family in a lifetime, not staying together for ever and having no reason to live every day like it’s your last…

Although the first two thirds of this story involved me mostly being pissed off because Corbin was being an idiot, once I got past that. And he got past his own stupidity, I actually really loved this story. It had that same cutesy, sweet feeling that I’m getting used to in McCarthy’s stories. And left me with the typical, nostalgic, happy smile that her works always leave me with.

Image source: Goodreads

Title: Bit the Jackpot
Author: Erin McCarthy
Series: Vegas Vampires #2
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal romance, Romance, Vampires
Dates read: 15th – 16th May 2019
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Year: 2006
5th sentence, 74th page: In fact, at the moment, as she stood up, she had a sly little smile of satisfaction on her face, despite her no-nonsense words.

The USA Today bestselling author of High Stakes returns to Sin City, where you can get bitten by the gambling bug – or by the sexiest vampire you’ve ever seen…

Campaign manager – and vampire – Seamus Fox has had his fill of women, since he’s been keeping tabs on his presidential candidate’s wife and female entourage. But suddenly he finds himself obsessed with a mysterious stripper who dances behind a screen. The sultry, yet shy, Cara Kim whets his appetite for more. Leave it to Seamus to fall fangs over feet for that rarest of Vegas attractions – a good girl. After a sudden run-in on the street, thought they may soon have a lot more in common…

This is such a fun, easy, cutsey little read. It doesn’t involve a lot of thought processes to actually read. But it definitely leaves you with a happy, completed feeling when you finish it. Alright, throughout the story there are a number of moments in which you want to just smack Seamus over the head. And tell Cara to get over her shit and be a real adult. But, as a general, this is a fun, easy and cute read. One that I will probably pick up again and again, whenever I just need something happy and cheerful. Something to remind me that the world is actually a happy place and true love does exist.

I never thought I’d read a story about a virgin stripper. It was something of a paradox. One that I wasn’t entirely sure I’d like at the beginning. After all, it is dealing with a number of extremes of a woman’s sexuality. But, somehow McCarthy makes it work. Cara is completely strong and independent. But she’s also incredibly vulnerable, unsure… and in so many ways, prejudiced. She has such odd ideals that make her act and think in a way that makes you want to smack her around the back of her head and tell her to get a clue. Which of course makes the book impossible to put down.

I don’t like uptight men. I don’t like them in real life. And I don’t like them in books. Generally. There is something about Seamus that made me start to think about revising my opinion of uptight men. Only a little bit because every stupid moment that he had was because he was completely rigid and unbending. This was not the kind of man that you think of as your dream man…or at least, it’s not the kind of man I could picture as that. But him and Cara work so incredibly well together that you still have a skipping heart every moment that you read about such a perfect couple.

Although this is very much a cutesy love story, I like how it becomes a little more complex with the back storyline. The election battle which is set up in High Stakes continues, but gains a lot of traction. Things start to get a lot more hairy and you wonder what evil levels the Italian will sink to next time. What the next plot will be and how the “good guys” are going to beat it. Everything you need to create a storyline that is not only fun and engaging, but also makes you impatient to turn the next page.

Image source: Goodreads

Title: High Stakes
Author: Erin McCarthy
Series: Vegas Vampires #1
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal romance, Romance, Vampires
Dates read: 9th April 2019
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Year: 2006
5th sentence, 74th page: Did you have a pleasant flight to Nevada?

From the USA Today bestselling author of Bled Dry comes a vampire-meets-girl story about lust and love in the city that never sleeps – except during daylight: Las Vegas…

He’s a bloodsucking freak of nature. But, unlike other politicians, Ethan Carrick is a nice guy – and a hot, casino-owning vampire. It’s election year for vamps, which means he’ll first have to escape his opponent’s hit men and then find a First Lady, like the smart and sweet Brittany Baldizzi. But when her protective sister, Alexis, steps in with a message for Ethan – Bite me – he realizes it’s no-nonsense Alexis who raises his stake. And as much as she denies it, she wouldn’t mind a romp in a coffin with him. But can a mere mortal make a centuries-old womanizer feel something new?

I have had a bad month. I needed something fun and happy to read. So I picked up High Stakes. And it was just amazing! I couldn’t put it down. I couldn’t get my mind off of the story. I can’t wait to open the pages of Bit the Jackpot. It was all just so cute and easy. A great, fun read to sink my teeth into (pun intended) when the world around me just isn’t quite working the way I want it to.

I’m not the kind of woman that most people would consider “traditionally beautiful and appealing”. I have average good looks and my personality is full of stubborn, difficult ticks. Especially when I’ve decided that I don’t want to do something. Which meant that I related very, very well to Alexis. The fact that she has a leggy, outgoing and social sister who tends to attract attention frequently just makes me relate all the more strongly to the lead female. The fact that Ethan decides to choose the difficult, non-traditional woman over the more outwardly suitable one… I thought it was just sweet. It shows that we don’t always need what we think we want in life. And that those little surprises that get you are the ones that make life fun and perfect.

Las Vegas features in so many TV shows and stories about America. It seems to be one of those destinations that everyone has been to or wants to go to on a messy weekend. Yet, this is the first story or series that I have read which is based in this town. It brings a whole less seedy side to light and makes it a lot more understandable why people like to travel here for a bit of fun. At least, for me. The use of romance to sit against the flashiness of L.A. works beautifully and helps to highlight the intensity and fun of each storyline.

If you’re single and alone, this is maybe not the best book to read. It’s just so damn cute and coupley… I was home alone the night that I read this and it definitely made me miss my partner. I may have started ringing him to hurry home, just so I could get an affectionate cuddle and kiss.

Image source: Amazon