Grief Sucks

by K.L. Brooks

Lucy West’s introduction to vampires involves pepper spray, sirens, and an ER visit.

Court‑ordered into sobriety support meetings after a drunken spiral, Lucy has no patience for strange men—especially when one stares too long, has red eyes, and far too sharp teeth.

Lucy wants one thing: to forget. After witnessing her brother’s sudden, violent death, grief has hollowed her out, leaving her drifting through a life she barely recognizes.

Demi—awkward, out of time, and oddly sincere—crashes into her world and offers a dangerous solution: he can erase her most painful memory if she helps him survive the modern world. Teaching a centuries‑old vampire to use a phone, drive a car, and pass as human is supposed to be a distraction, but Demi can see her pain, and his quiet sorrow and unexpected kindness draw her in.

But forgetting comes at a cost. When events spiral out of control, Lucy must confront the grief she’s been avoiding and decide whether healing means letting go—or finally remembering.

Darkly funny and fiercely human, Grief Sucks blends supernatural weirdness with emotional depth and a slow‑burn romance.

Perfect for fans of What We Do in the Shadows and Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison, blending supernatural weirdness with sharp humor and emotional depth.

268 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 1, 2026

About the author

Hi! 👋

I’m K.L. Brooks, and I write paranormal fantasy grounded in the present with ghosts, chaos, and just a touch of romance. 💞 My stories are cinematic, fast-paced, and comedy-forward, full of characters making bad decisions (or watching others make them) in the most entertaining ways.

I love finding the humor in the bleak, bizarre, and all-too-human moments we’d sometimes rather ignore. If we don’t laugh, we cry—and I prefer to laugh.

Follow me on Goodreads to keep up with all my haunted adventures!

Stay spooky,
👻 KLB

Reviews

[The Book Ssirren]

This was a fun and lighthearted way to read about loss and grief. A vampire that can take that away for Lucy, all she needs to do is teach him how to be human. Simple right? I loved the giggles that this brought out, all while having a heavy topic that was made to feel lighter for the sake of the story. It felt very well balanced, and I really enjoyed both Lucy and Demi in this story.,

[Abby Draper]

This is such a poignant story about grief and love with silly bits mixed in. I also love a good vampire story, so that’s what drew me in. I wish there was more to this story!

Thank you to the author for giving me an advance copy of Grief Sucks! I found this on Instagram and I’m so glad that I did.

[Sophie]

Advanced Reader Copy Review 💜✨💚

Wow. Just wow.

A warm thank you to K.L. Brooks for providing me an advanced copy of “Grief Sucks.” This was a beautiful journey through the hard topics of grief, loss, and addiction, while holding such precious space for love, hope, and joy. Our FMC Lucy is lost in the storm of grief and addiction with the recent loss of her brother. Our MMC Demi (vampire), is the awkward calm in her storm when she feels drawn to him as they are both attending the same sobriety meeting. Though to be fair, she does pepper spray him first when he follows her out after the meeting for a quick nibble! What a meet-cute. Also the twists near the end? Fabulous.

As someone with a significant grief history, this was depicted so well. I found myself reflecting on my own healing moments across Lucy’s moments of healing. I cried. I cried, I laughed, and got the warm and fuzzies for these two.

Grief is truly love persevering! 5 stars!

P.S. I would be Demi’s juice box if he asked nicely tbh.

[Cassidy (Kenji Kishimoto’s Version)]

Rating: 4.5 Stars!
“What are you? A vampire?”

Gremlins. Ghosts. And Faries. Ohmy!

This book made me laugh out loud hysterically. It made me tear up. And the supernatural aspects were so fun and just kept growing and growing. It wasn’t just vampires, but also pesky gremlins, a deranged ghost, a slightly vengeful witch, and a$$hole fairies. It was so unique and a lot of fun!

“I haven’t killed anyone in centuries.”

This novel handled the concept of grief and addiction well. Grief isn’t something that ever goes away but slowly becomes a piece of you which was shown in our lead. Lucy, well. And healing from addiction isn’t a straight path. It’s full of ups and downs. That struggle was also written beautifully.
I highly recommend!

You can read this novel on Kindle Unlimited or purchase a paperback edition on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Booksamillion, or Waterstones!

[thisgrlreads]

Cracking open Grief Sucks feels a lot like stumbling into a neon-lit ER waiting room after midnight when everything already feels like too much to handle. K.L. Brooks drops us right into Lucy’s chaotic, court-ordered spiral after a devastating loss, and I instantly got sucked into that angry, overwhelmed headspace where you just want to shut the world out. The mix of messy urban fantasy, razor-sharp humor, and an entirely unexpected vampire encounter gave me that familiar, tight chest feeling of watching someone try to outrun their own shadow. You get totally wrapped up in the prickly friction and the slow-burn tension between the characters, making it a surprisingly witty and emotional ride.

[Kat M]

K.L. Brooks does a fantastic job in writing this book, it had that element that I was looking for and was invested in what was happening. The characters worked well in the paranormal romance genre and glad I got to read this. I was invested in the way the vampires were set up and am excited to read more from K.L. Brooks.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Veronica Faline]

This was an interesting blend of what felt like very grounded reality and fantasy. I think for me the fantasy could have been more but the way the author did it was new and you don’t read something new very often. I liked the overall themes of dealing with grief and if you like reality with a sprinkle of faeries you might enjoy this book.

[LizJ.]

Grief Sucks by K.L. Brooks is a weird, emotional, strange paranormal slow-burn romance. It has heavy topics but is balanced quite nicely with silly humor. The blurb got sucked me in but I wasn't really prepared which is a nice surprise. Great storyline and characters. I really enjoyed this book. Highly recommend.

[Kelly]

I enjoyed reading this book. I was quickly pulled into the story. I found the supernatural aspect and romance to be interesting. I will be watching for more books by this author.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Ladnamal]

This was an interesting story. It had an emotional storyline and heavier content, but that was balanced with some humour and lightheartedness.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[FaeFireAndSmut]

Absolutely loved this book!! The addiction and grief forward storyline was awesome to follow. It was kept light, funny and adding in a vampire like Demi was perfectly executed