Review: When Life Gives You Vampires

When Life Gives You Vampires by Gloria Duke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 Stars

So, it looks like we MIGHT ( I sort of hope so!) have a new series going on here.

Perfect for Halloween lovers and those who loved the Undead and Twilight series.

This book started a tad rocky for me. It seemed to be a rip-off from MaryJanice Davidson's first Undead novel,  , and, the more I read the more I recognized from the Undead series. When I really got into this book, I felt that this was more of a satire using all of the 1990's popular vampire books as the butt of the joke.

I got a few good chuckles at the beginning of this book (maybe even some guffaws!), but with the over-indulgence of Lily obsessing about her body image, her use of outdated colloquialisms, and her constant foul language, ugh! I mean, how many times can you use the abbreviation 'obvi' and not annoy people? In this book, it's used 25 times! It sort of reminded some of when J.D. Robb used the abbreviation of 'anal' for analyze/analysis!

Then add in her sexual obsession with Tristan, and I found myself rolling my eyes so often that I nearly popped them out of my sockets! The scenes were good but not overdone.

However, I stuck it out, and I'm glad I did. It did have a great ending, Lily learns some valuable self-image lessons, and I do believe that if there is a next book, I will be reading it - IF the author promises to tone down on the "legit' and 'obvi'!

*ARC was supplied by the publisher Sourcebooks/Casablanca, the author, and NetGalley.

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SYNOPSIS: "A paranormal Dumplin' for adults, When Life Gives You Vampires is part a journey of body positivity, part a story about learning how to accept love at face value, and part a hysterical romcom told through a paranormal lens.

Twenty-five year old Lily Baines is used to waking up hungover, overweight, and underemployed. Waking up with fangs? Not so much. But when it turns out a little light necking has more serious consequences than she ever imagined, Lily's determined to get to the bottom of it.

Tristan hadn't meant to turn Lily—it's against vampire law—but now that she's here, they need to team up to save their hides. They strike a truce, fending off other vampires, Lily's work-rival-turned-slayer, and her mother's tone-deaf romance and fitness advice—all while Lily faces down her insecurities about the fact that she lives in a diet-obsessed world with a body that will never age, never die, and never change. Can she learn to love the (plus size) woman she'll be forever more?"