Customer Reviews

A Girl's Guide to Vampires

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

If you're a fan of vampire romantic fiction, you'll enjoy this one. The basic premise is that our heroine, Joy, is accompanying her friend Roxy on a trip to the Czech Republic to try to visit a reclusive author of romantic vampire fiction and to explore whether or not vampires do exist. Joy is a disbeliever but she doesn't want Roxy to do this on her own, so she agrees to go along. Naturally, Joy is the one the vampire takes an interest in. In her acknowledgements Ms. MacAlister thanks Christine Feehan, so it's not surprising that the reclusive author's vampires have a marked tongue-in-cheek resemblance to Feehan's Carpathians, including the inclusion of a series of steps to soulmate-hood. If you like Feehan's books, you'll enjoy Roxy's obsession with the Rules of the Dark Ones.

This book was just so funny in sections that I laughed out loud. The heroine wasn't a petite little thing (a wonderful change of pace); the hero was mysterious and sexy; the setting was a nice change of pace - a GothFest in the Czech Republic; and the secondary characters were fleshed out enough to make them interesting and relevant. All and all, it was just a fun book and I enjoyed it.

Well first off I have to say that if you want to read a book that is full of humor, hot, sticky, passionate love scenes, great heros and fantastic heroines, story lines that keep you reading long after you should be asleep, then read a book by Katie MacAlister. I have read everything she's published so far and I eagerly await more.

One thing I really like about the way Katie writes is that she writes as if this were her story. You don't find many authors writting in the 1st person so its refreshing to read Katie's books.

A Girl's Guide To Vampires is a thrill ride. You have a lot of suspense and danger that keeps you guessing until the end. You have two wonderfully funny friends, Joy, the Heroine and Roxy the adorable best friend. The hero Raphael is.... Well let's just say I want one exactly like him! Raphael's rival Christian ain't too shabby himself.

I even loved the cover of this book. Its way to cute!
All in all I have to say that this is a WINNER!!!!
Run, don't walk to buy this book.

Wow! I am so happy to have discovered Katie MacAlister. She does what most authors cannot - mixes sexiness, romance and humor to create a perfect recipe for a book you absolutely cannot put down. In GGV, you also get a dip into the paranormal. This is not a "carbon copy" of Feehan's work (as one reviewer mistakenly believes); Rather, it is Katie's own brand of "semi-vampires" - Dark Ones. And boy are they yummy! What sets Katie's version of the paranormal apart is the combination of her sharp wit and funny dialogue which result in a lighter version of the paranormal. Katie's characters are likeable, funny and sexy. (especially the guys! The best part is the "guy who does NOT get the girl" at the end has his own book coming out in March - SEX AND THE SINGLE VAMPIRE - Can't wait!!) One reviewer hammered on the main female character - Joy. I had to search my memory to even recall the so-called temper tantrums and crying jags to which this reviewer referred. Made me wonder if she even read the book. What I recall is a strong-willed, self-deprecating, funny, sexy heroine who moved the story along at wickedly enjoyable pace. I find it even more amusing that this same reviewer can't fathom how two girls who "bicker and snipe" at one another could truly be friends!?! One has to wonder if this reviewer has any girlfriends. The relationship between Joy and Roxy is true to form for best friends who have known each other since kindergarten and are more like sisters. Their "bickering" is funny and right on the money! However, their affection and protective nature for each other is ever present and is also a fundamental part of their relationship. There are simply not enough good things to say about this great book. I was so disappointed when I finished it and cannot wait until March to read SEX!!

Heroine: tall and sturdy

Librarian Joy Randall has a guilty pleasure--she enjoys reading the "Moravian" vampire romance series. But she never for one moment believed there was a grain of truth to them until she visited the Czech Republic and met a Dark One up close and personal.

Trouble is, she's only met him psychically, when he drew her awareness within himself and let her feel him feeding. She has no idea what he actually looks like, which is unfortunate since he could be one of the many men who are fighting with each other to win her affections--and the prime suspect in a murder case.

What worked for me:

If one thing stood out overall in this story, it was the humor; there were some great lines of dialogue in it. (I would say the next most noticeable attribute was the heat of the sex scenes.)

The mystery piece was fun. I thought I had nailed down who the killer was, but the ending surprised me a bit.

There were not one but two delectable hunks to drool over.

Size-wise Joy was six feet tall and very sturdy.

What didn't work for me:

I had some trouble suspending my disbelief, not so much over the vampirism, but over some of the heroine's actions. I'm the kind of reader who puts herself in the main character's shoes, and I just could not see myself doing some of the things Joy did.

The first person point of view made it harder to get to know the other characters in the book. I also felt like Joy's best friend Roxy could have had more "screen time".

Overall:
"A Girl's Guide to Vampires" is a lighthearted romp for folks who enjoy humor in their paranormals, but for those who prefer their vampire books on the serious and scary side, it might not click.

Warning: It goes without saying that there are some elements of the occult in this story, but it also has some spicy moments sexually.

this is the second book by this author that I've tried (Noble Destiny was the other), and sadly I do not see what all the fuss is about. I noticed that in both books the heroine's behaviour and dialog, in particular, are very immature.

Maybe I'm just too old for this writer's style (I'm 36), but like another reviewer indelicately wrote, the heroine in this book is annoying and ditzy to the point of headache inducing. I also find the idea of a "airhead" heroine and a dark, brooding, intelligent hero hooking up highly implausible.

I was hoping for a fun, funny book-but in a intelligent way. I find many of these "comic" romances tend towards vapid, seemingly brain dead heroines-not my thing-I'd rather watch an Anna Nicole Smith show if I want that:)

For a funny and sexy vampire series-may I recommend the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris instead.

1 star.

This book reminded me a lot of backpacking through Europe. Random encounters, focusing on the other people you meet and kind of ignoring the sights, feeling thrilled by things that would bore you at home, looking for adventure in all the wrong places, not having enough changes of clothes.

However, the book ended up being kinda cheesy.

It opens with this Goddess summoning ceremony where a witch is helping Joy and Roxanne find true love. Roxanne is obsessed with a series of vampire novels and she is constantly making an ass of herself about them - first going to Hungary to hunt down the so-called "Dark Ones" and mooning over their tormented, romantic natures, and trying to explain the books and how true they are to everyone she meets...

She is also the reason why they end up spending the better part of their vacation in Hungary at a Goth Fair. This involves fighting off the attentions of a hammy faux-vampire and a whitefaced shrew, night after night.

At the beginning, during the summoning, Joy is warned that she'll have to pick between two men - one will lead her to happiness, the other to damnation. As long as I was curious about who that would be, I was glued to the book. When I figured it out, the book lost most of its thrills - at that point, it's just a matter of cleaning house, all the cards are on the table and there's still a third of the book left to go. I kind of had to trudge through the last bit.

This is not a very dark book. The vampires don't seem to do much other than search for their "Beloved" and there is a prescribed order in which the relationship between a vampire and his Beloved must progress. The thing is, what is the difference between a vampire who is totally absorbed in the search for his Beloved and a moony, generic romantic hero who is desperately longing for true love? Not much. Which may be fine - but if you are in the mood for vampire fiction, this may be a little unsatisfying.

I wavered on Joy too. Sometimes I liked that she was spunky and sarcastic. Other times I wondered if she knew how to have sex without talking about cheerleaders in her pants, and thought that she took her Informal American Charm a little too far, and slid into Ugly American territory - brash, a little thoughtless, pushy.

This is my second Kate Macalister book - the first was You Slay Me, the first Aisling Grey novel, and it was wonderful. Which is to say - a whole lot better.

In all my years of reading I don't think I've ever disliked a heroine as much as this one. 'Joyful' (teehee) is one of the stupidest women I've ever seen in print. Her friend Roxy gets the prize for most annoying. I haven't the least respect for Raphael given all the crap that Joyful heaps on him while he begs for more while gazing at her with pure lust. I don't think I laughed once - there's nothing funny in people who are portrayed as stupid, sick and messed up at these are. And what, pray tell, does the title have to do with the book? If the editors hadn't put the "tips" on the back cover there would have been nothing that related at all. It's a catchy title and cover that has no relationship to what's going on inside.

This is the first book I have read by Katie Macalister, and I was NOT impressed. Recently, I've been reading books in the vampire/fantasy/romance genre, and I enjoy the witty ones. This is a badly written book. The character Joy, apparently, loses most of her intelligence when she crosses the Atlantic, and becomes almost an entirely different character. I can see where the author was trying to go with her humor, but the execution was poor. If you've been reading books like "Undead and Unwed", I think you will be disappointed.
ALSO, as another reviewer remarked, the title has nothing to do with the plot of the book.
I might give Katie Macalister another try. Maybe this book is an exception. Several reviewers think highly of her books, but I would borrow the book. I'm not wasting any more money on this author.

I gave this book one star only because there wasn't any zero. Between the bickering and stupid dialoge between the characters you still had to put up with all the Cliché (so many) on each page. If you excluded the sex this book could have been written for a 13 year old. If I could ask for my money back for such a bad book I would but since my friend gave it to me - maybe I should ask for hers back.

Katie Macalister does it again. This is a warm, witty, laugh aloud book. The heroine is great (not annoying as one poor spirited reviewer so rudely commented) and is a good match to her hero. Katie Macalister's heroines are thoughtful and realistic, not wimpy doormats that spend the book wringing their hands and waiting for the hero to tell them what to do or what to think. The secondary characters are full blooded and keep your interest. This is a very entertaining book and a definite keeper!!