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Dark Ones #1 - Dark Ones 1
A Girl's Guide to Vampires
All Joy Randall wants is a little old-fashioned romance, but when she participates in a "Goddess evoking" ceremony with her friend, Roxy, Joy finds out her future true love is a man with the potential to put her immortal soul in danger. At first the ever-practical Joy is ready to dismiss her vision as a product of too much gin and too many vampire romances, but while traveling through the Czech Republic with Roxy, Joy begins to have some second thoughts about her mystery lover because she is suddenly plagued by visions of a lethally handsome stranger. Then, when she and Roxy attend a local GothFaire, Joy meets Raphael Griffin St. John, head of security, and she becomes even more bewildered because the dark and dangerous Raphael seems too close to her dreams for comfort.
374 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 28, 2003
346 people are currently reading
7326 people want to read
About the author
Katie MacAlister
121 books5,976 followersFor as long as she can remember, Katie MacAlister has loved reading. Growing up in a family where a weekly visit to the library was a given, Katie spent much of her time with her nose buried in a book. Despite her love for novels, she didn't think of writing them until she was contracted to write a non-fiction book about software. Since her editor refused to allow her to include either witty dialogue or love scenes in the software book, Katie swiftly resolved to switch to fiction, where she could indulge in world building, tormenting characters, and falling madly in love with all her heroes.
Two years after she started writing novels, Katie sold her first romance, Noble Intentions. More than thirty books followed during the years after Noble's publication. Her novels have been translated into numerous languages, been recorded as audiobooks, received several awards, and placed on the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists. She also writes for the young adult audience as Katie Maxwell, and for the mystery world as Kate Marsh.
Katie lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and dogs, and can often be found lurking around online.
Two years after she started writing novels, Katie sold her first romance, Noble Intentions. More than thirty books followed during the years after Noble's publication. Her novels have been translated into numerous languages, been recorded as audiobooks, received several awards, and placed on the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists. She also writes for the young adult audience as Katie Maxwell, and for the mystery world as Kate Marsh.
Katie lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and dogs, and can often be found lurking around online.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 751 reviews
October 19, 2011
I didn't get far with this book at all.The story sounded good-a couple of American friends who love vampires decide to go to the setting of their favourite books to see if the vampires actually exist. I thought this sounded fun but the two idiot vacant headed bitches and their stupid comments all the time really bugged me. They were immature and annoying with all their playground taunts. I was waiting for 'You smell!' 'No YOU smell WORSE poopy pants!' or something similar! And then the caveman behaviour of the 'men' that they meet in the hotel bar that night had me gritting my teeth. The women were getting physically pushed around and hurt by these guys(I call that assault buddy!!!).I'd have checked out and gone home if men were shoving me down the stairs deliberately or treating me as if I was some kind of slag to be claimed and fought over because I'm sitting in a bar. I don't call that a romantic vacation! I call that a pretty damn scary place to be.Seduction is fine but intimidation and force ain't! No thank you, not my kind of book.
January 27, 2012
The title is false advertising! If you want an actual satisfying VAMPIRE story, this ain't the book to quench that thirst. You will be waiting and waiting and waiting for actual vampire action...and then the book ends. I tried really hard to get into this plot, but by the 50% mark it took a complete nose dive for me and never recovered.
Between the insufferable main character and her b-f-f, their utter stupidity, the unfunny dialog, the lame plot lines, the ridiculous NON-VAMPIRIC sex scenes...I just feel robbed.
This is the second vampire book in a row for me where there is discrepancy about human vs. vampire love interest. I would like to clarify that as a "VampireNovelFan", I am reading these kinds of series for smexy VAMPIRE action. Don't rope me in and just give general human stuff. When I want general human romance (which is never for fantasy books), I'll read it.
C'MON, people! Though I like vamps, I do try to switch it up with general urban fantasy. It's just that every so often I'll want to read a good straight up vampire story, and I'm batting 0 for 2 this year. If anybody can recommend a good standalone book for me, PLEASE DO!!
Do I recommend this series? Not in the least. I usually am all about lighter stories that take a comical approach, but this book overdid it to the point of where it wasn't enjoyable anymore. It probably didn't help that it later tried to add depth, but there was none because by that point I hated the book and wanted it over. I could say more; I probably should say more, but the more I write the angrier I get that I seriously wasted 3 days on this that I won't get back. I can totally understand everyone who didn't even bother to finish the book. As for me? Like a dolt, I usually have to finish no matter what. THIS book may have been just the thing I needed to break that habit. I will not be reading another installment from this series or any other book by this author. This seriously made me wonder why it's so hard to get published.
*Review also posted to Amazon
Between the insufferable main character and her b-f-f, their utter stupidity, the unfunny dialog, the lame plot lines, the ridiculous NON-VAMPIRIC sex scenes...I just feel robbed.
This is the second vampire book in a row for me where there is discrepancy about human vs. vampire love interest. I would like to clarify that as a "VampireNovelFan", I am reading these kinds of series for smexy VAMPIRE action. Don't rope me in and just give general human stuff. When I want general human romance (which is never for fantasy books), I'll read it.
C'MON, people! Though I like vamps, I do try to switch it up with general urban fantasy. It's just that every so often I'll want to read a good straight up vampire story, and I'm batting 0 for 2 this year. If anybody can recommend a good standalone book for me, PLEASE DO!!
Do I recommend this series? Not in the least. I usually am all about lighter stories that take a comical approach, but this book overdid it to the point of where it wasn't enjoyable anymore. It probably didn't help that it later tried to add depth, but there was none because by that point I hated the book and wanted it over. I could say more; I probably should say more, but the more I write the angrier I get that I seriously wasted 3 days on this that I won't get back. I can totally understand everyone who didn't even bother to finish the book. As for me? Like a dolt, I usually have to finish no matter what. THIS book may have been just the thing I needed to break that habit. I will not be reading another installment from this series or any other book by this author. This seriously made me wonder why it's so hard to get published.
*Review also posted to Amazon
June 21, 2015
Title of the German edition:
Blind Date mit einem Vampir
As much as I love Katie MacAlister´s "Aisling Grey – Guardian"-Series I can´t say the same about this book. I didn´t like the heroine Joy and her best friend Roxy very much. I kow this book and the constant bickering between the two friends is supposed to be funny but that´s just not my sense of humor. I wished sometimes Joy would just shut up and go on with her investigation because the plot per se wasn´t uninteresting.
Okay, there were some funny moments no doubt but Joy´s brainless babbling even during hot and steamy sex with her love interest made me only roll my eyes in exasperation.
Stupidly I already have bought the following two books so I´ll read them eventually but I don´t think I will purchase another one in this series.
And last but not least the title raised certain expectations of a vampire story but the only vampire in this book had a very marginal role .. much too little for my taste and my vampire addiction wasn´t satisfied in the least...disappointing!
Website of the author: http://www.katiemacalister.com/
Blind Date mit einem Vampir
As much as I love Katie MacAlister´s "Aisling Grey – Guardian"-Series I can´t say the same about this book. I didn´t like the heroine Joy and her best friend Roxy very much. I kow this book and the constant bickering between the two friends is supposed to be funny but that´s just not my sense of humor. I wished sometimes Joy would just shut up and go on with her investigation because the plot per se wasn´t uninteresting.
Okay, there were some funny moments no doubt but Joy´s brainless babbling even during hot and steamy sex with her love interest made me only roll my eyes in exasperation.
Stupidly I already have bought the following two books so I´ll read them eventually but I don´t think I will purchase another one in this series.
And last but not least the title raised certain expectations of a vampire story but the only vampire in this book had a very marginal role .. much too little for my taste and my vampire addiction wasn´t satisfied in the least...disappointing!
Website of the author: http://www.katiemacalister.com/
June 25, 2025
2023 Re-Read
For some reason, I felt the need to revisit the first book of this series, where the madness began. Suddenly, I realized that the witch Miranda, who only appears in the first pages of this book, is the mother of Fran in book 8. Characters really do recur in MacAlister's fiction! Plus I finally read the introduction and not only has MacAlister read Christine Feehan's books, the two women are buddies. No wonder she can subvert all of Feehan's vampiric tropes with such panache!
Joy and Roxanne are on vacation in Europe, staying close to the home of Roxie's favourite vampire PNR author, who she hopes devoutly to meet. She is completely sold on his Dark Ones, convinced they are real. Joy is the skeptic, until odd things begin to happen to her. But Joy has her eye on a certain amber-eyed head of security of the GothFaire that the women are attending. However, there is more than one man with eyes for Joy, and one of them is definitely a Dark One. He may be convinced that Joy is his Beloved, but she is not having it!
As is usual in these books (though I didn't realize it when I first read this one) there is plenty of running around, worrying about the various problems encountered, misunderstandings, and general mayhem. MacAlister writes humour very much to my taste, and the silliness appeals to me. Joy gets her way (as if there could be any doubt)—Dark Ones will have to have a lot more determination and mesmeric power to change the mind of such a mule stubborn woman! I do rather love her for her independent spirit.
Original Review
🎃🎃🎃
This was a silly rom-com version of a paranormal romance, but I liked it despite myself. It had things that I usually deplore, namely a main female character (and her friend) whose only aims in life seem to be finding a spouse. They behave in ways that I consider too stupid to live and instead of being rightly shunned by the men around them, they are considered merely annoying or “spirited.” If that isn't enough, the author has them doubt the ability of the police to solve a crime which they then meddle in. Have I mentioned how stupid they are portrayed?
And yet this story really effectively makes fun of the vampire paranormal romances that feature fated romance, mating bonds, and irresistible controlling dark men sweeping the women off their feet (Christine Feehan's Dark series comes immediately to mind for me). The tale begins with Joy as the sceptic, contrasted with her pal Roxanne, who has memorized a certain series of vamp PNRs and is a true believer. And they are, of course, going on holiday to the town in Europe where the author lives, after a scrying session with a Wiccan friend to determine their chances of finding suitable men.
So naturally it is Joy who attracts the vampire's attention, forcing her to be much less sceptical, though she can't figure out who he is, just that he is trying to mind-meld her. She proves to be rather resistant to being controlled or bossed around, being rather more truly independent than most PNR heroines. Oh, she's still besotted with the man she's chosen (and she's pretty definite on the fact that SHE has chosen), but there's much less of the claiming to be independent while knuckling under to his every demand. Well, except sex, she never turns that down.
As you can see from my ramblings, this book is a strange combination of strong, if silly, female lead in a cozy mystery type set-up. I mean it's printed by Avon, all right? It's got to be a romance with an HEA and some steamy scenes, yeah? It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea and I wouldn't want to read the next book immediately, but it would be fun to eventually see what's next for Joy.
Cross posted at my blog:
https://wanda-thenextfifty.blogspot.c...
For some reason, I felt the need to revisit the first book of this series, where the madness began. Suddenly, I realized that the witch Miranda, who only appears in the first pages of this book, is the mother of Fran in book 8. Characters really do recur in MacAlister's fiction! Plus I finally read the introduction and not only has MacAlister read Christine Feehan's books, the two women are buddies. No wonder she can subvert all of Feehan's vampiric tropes with such panache!
Joy and Roxanne are on vacation in Europe, staying close to the home of Roxie's favourite vampire PNR author, who she hopes devoutly to meet. She is completely sold on his Dark Ones, convinced they are real. Joy is the skeptic, until odd things begin to happen to her. But Joy has her eye on a certain amber-eyed head of security of the GothFaire that the women are attending. However, there is more than one man with eyes for Joy, and one of them is definitely a Dark One. He may be convinced that Joy is his Beloved, but she is not having it!
As is usual in these books (though I didn't realize it when I first read this one) there is plenty of running around, worrying about the various problems encountered, misunderstandings, and general mayhem. MacAlister writes humour very much to my taste, and the silliness appeals to me. Joy gets her way (as if there could be any doubt)—Dark Ones will have to have a lot more determination and mesmeric power to change the mind of such a mule stubborn woman! I do rather love her for her independent spirit.
Original Review
🎃🎃🎃
This was a silly rom-com version of a paranormal romance, but I liked it despite myself. It had things that I usually deplore, namely a main female character (and her friend) whose only aims in life seem to be finding a spouse. They behave in ways that I consider too stupid to live and instead of being rightly shunned by the men around them, they are considered merely annoying or “spirited.” If that isn't enough, the author has them doubt the ability of the police to solve a crime which they then meddle in. Have I mentioned how stupid they are portrayed?
And yet this story really effectively makes fun of the vampire paranormal romances that feature fated romance, mating bonds, and irresistible controlling dark men sweeping the women off their feet (Christine Feehan's Dark series comes immediately to mind for me). The tale begins with Joy as the sceptic, contrasted with her pal Roxanne, who has memorized a certain series of vamp PNRs and is a true believer. And they are, of course, going on holiday to the town in Europe where the author lives, after a scrying session with a Wiccan friend to determine their chances of finding suitable men.
So naturally it is Joy who attracts the vampire's attention, forcing her to be much less sceptical, though she can't figure out who he is, just that he is trying to mind-meld her. She proves to be rather resistant to being controlled or bossed around, being rather more truly independent than most PNR heroines. Oh, she's still besotted with the man she's chosen (and she's pretty definite on the fact that SHE has chosen), but there's much less of the claiming to be independent while knuckling under to his every demand. Well, except sex, she never turns that down.
As you can see from my ramblings, this book is a strange combination of strong, if silly, female lead in a cozy mystery type set-up. I mean it's printed by Avon, all right? It's got to be a romance with an HEA and some steamy scenes, yeah? It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea and I wouldn't want to read the next book immediately, but it would be fun to eventually see what's next for Joy.
Cross posted at my blog:
https://wanda-thenextfifty.blogspot.c...
April 4, 2010
Katie MacAlister’s A Girl’s Guide to Vampires is to put it mildly a disappointment. The transparent plot, one-dimensional characters and simple story form a perfect trinity of hackneyed and trite elements to take this novel crashing down. The writing style was okay until the reader gets to sentences like “The cheerleading team in my nether parts kicked into overdrive,” or “ ‘You’re going to be the death of me,’ ‘I’m not going to kill you baby. Just take you to heaven and back.’ Oh Lord did he!” Barf. Sentences like these made me want to scream. This reads like fanfiction, bad fanfiction, the kind most commonly referred to as “Mary-Sue fic” in which the main character is a desperate female and the plot involves all sorts of hunky men suddenly fawning all over her. Though I have never read a Danielle Steel novel, I assume this is what it would be like with a tiny pinch of the paranormal thrown in there. If you need a little more plot and a bit less porn I would suggest the reader look elsewhere for entertainment.
July 2, 2013
This book was totally a 5***** star read for me! FUNNY as hell and I think I probably laughed in my head every second page and out loud at least once a chapter. The heroine and ber crazy sidekick - best friends who can tell each other anything and call each other on anything - have very interesting senses of humor and both use them defence when they are nervous or uncomfortable. Although sometimes Joy was just plain lippy!
Raphael is your true alpha male - domineering and possessive and protective and sexy as HELL! OMG The picture of him you get in your head as Joy describes what she sees when.... (read the book - its WORTH IT!)
I enjoyed the cheesy side of this book and I can see that it would not be for everyone. I have a feeling that Katie MacAlister is an author that you either love or hate. Luckily for me I loved her sarcastic wit and sardonic charm and when a man growls at me I MELT (into a puddle of goo) just like Joy did.
Was it original life changing profound wisdom that will affect me forever? No but it made me laugh and lust and made my day funnier and sexier that it would have been without it. To me that is a book I want to read again and again and again... and dream of in between!
Looking forward to exploring the other books she has written - apparently there are dragons out there somewhere? I LOVE DRAGONS!!!!
Raphael is your true alpha male - domineering and possessive and protective and sexy as HELL! OMG The picture of him you get in your head as Joy describes what she sees when.... (read the book - its WORTH IT!)
I enjoyed the cheesy side of this book and I can see that it would not be for everyone. I have a feeling that Katie MacAlister is an author that you either love or hate. Luckily for me I loved her sarcastic wit and sardonic charm and when a man growls at me I MELT (into a puddle of goo) just like Joy did.
Was it original life changing profound wisdom that will affect me forever? No but it made me laugh and lust and made my day funnier and sexier that it would have been without it. To me that is a book I want to read again and again and again... and dream of in between!
Looking forward to exploring the other books she has written - apparently there are dragons out there somewhere? I LOVE DRAGONS!!!!
March 3, 2023
An odd title because this is anything but a guide. Perhaps to rectify that, the publisher of my Avon reprint edition put a list of five tips about vampires on the back cover, so maybe there's your guide. Actually, this is a fairly light-hearted adventure of two young women, best friends since kindergarten, on vacation in Europe, who get involved with a traveling Goth fair in a little Czech village and several of the twenty or so people who put the fair on. The boss, Dominic, presents himself as a vampire but he's pretty obviously a fake; could there be a real vampire on hand?
The story is narrated in the first person by Joy, whose best friend Roxy is keen to find a real vampire. She's read all the novels about vampires that were written by a particular author, she believes they're real, and she found out that the reclusive author lives close to that little village in the Moravian part of the Czech Republic that happens to be hosting the Goth fair. So she's excited to try to meet him and find out about vampires in real life.
Like most people, Joy doesn't believe in vampires, but she goes along on the trip--with qualms, though, because of a seance she and Roxy attended back in Oregon. A witch named Miranda went into trance to channel her Goddess, saying to Joy
Another reviewer has described Joy as both strong and silly; she's very impetuous, and her feelings of attraction, repulsion, and fear produce something you might call a comedy of embarrassment. Her friend Roxy is annoyingly enthusiastic and simply can't ever shut up. Some of their encounters with others made me laugh, but a good deal of it felt tedious. Still, overall, I liked this book.
The story is narrated in the first person by Joy, whose best friend Roxy is keen to find a real vampire. She's read all the novels about vampires that were written by a particular author, she believes they're real, and she found out that the reclusive author lives close to that little village in the Moravian part of the Czech Republic that happens to be hosting the Goth fair. So she's excited to try to meet him and find out about vampires in real life.
Like most people, Joy doesn't believe in vampires, but she goes along on the trip--with qualms, though, because of a seance she and Roxy attended back in Oregon. A witch named Miranda went into trance to channel her Goddess, saying to Joy
You will take a trip unlike any other you have taken. ... A child of darkness will cross your path. The child of darkness will hold your fate in his hands, but you must not be blinded by his unholy attraction, for down that path lies eternal night. ... There is a second man, a shadow, who stands behind the child of darkness. ... You must be careful which man you choose, for to decide unwisely between the two will cast your soul into eternal night.As you may well expect, that's the plot of the novel in a nutshell. And since it develops slowly, the rest of the important stuff is in spoiler territory, and I try to avoid spoiler tags. Maybe I can just say that three men, not two, fall instantly into lust and maybe love with Joy, and the competition among them builds to an exciting climax, but I didn't know which way the story was going till the very last few pages!
Another reviewer has described Joy as both strong and silly; she's very impetuous, and her feelings of attraction, repulsion, and fear produce something you might call a comedy of embarrassment. Her friend Roxy is annoyingly enthusiastic and simply can't ever shut up. Some of their encounters with others made me laugh, but a good deal of it felt tedious. Still, overall, I liked this book.
September 24, 2015
Wow, I don't even know where to begin my review of A Girl's Guide to Dating Vampires. I thought I was completely over the whole vampire train because I have been bored with most of the vampire books I've read, but I guess I was just missing something. Katie MacAlister has totally changed that for me. I've already got the second book in the series on hold at the library. I think the best part of it was that it didn't completely revolve around vampires, and the vampires didn't make a large appearance in the novel. I was always guessing, who is the vampire?, who isn't the vampire?
I loved, loved, loved the main character Joy and I thought Raphael was YUMMY!
I was laughing the entire time and I have to say, if I could pick to be any literary character I would say Joy. I loved her wit, snarky come-backs, and sense of humor. Plus, she got to be with the gorgeous, and yummy Raphael.
I thought I could predict most things in this book, but I found that I couldn't. There were twists and turns I wasn't expecting and it left me guessing until the very end. Also, did I mention Raphael was yummy?? Don't want to forget that!
It was a light, humorous, quick read. One that I will definitely be reading again. I already requested it from Paperback Swap.
I loved, loved, loved the main character Joy and I thought Raphael was YUMMY!
I was laughing the entire time and I have to say, if I could pick to be any literary character I would say Joy. I loved her wit, snarky come-backs, and sense of humor. Plus, she got to be with the gorgeous, and yummy Raphael.
I thought I could predict most things in this book, but I found that I couldn't. There were twists and turns I wasn't expecting and it left me guessing until the very end. Also, did I mention Raphael was yummy?? Don't want to forget that!
It was a light, humorous, quick read. One that I will definitely be reading again. I already requested it from Paperback Swap.
August 15, 2008
Honestly, I wasn't really stirred one way or another when I was reading the book - it was a way to pass the time at work. The obvious spoof on Christine Feehan's Carpathian novels was funny (because you know how formulaic those are), but the two main female characters irritated the absolute ever-loving shit out of me. I could tell Katie MacAlister was going for the type of wisecracking camraderie and pull-no-punches tell it like it is antics that other writers have done much better, but Katie didn't quite hit it. In fact, if I had friends like Joy or Roxy, I'd've punched them in the ovaries more than once.
The male characters weren't much better, the plot was so easy to figure out it was nearly transparent, and while it got a little better in the end, it was only a small improvement. I'll probably read the others in the series since I have them and I have nothing much else to do, but I can't say I'd recommend these to anyone else except my roommate so that we can laugh together. And because I like to force her to read mediocre books.
The male characters weren't much better, the plot was so easy to figure out it was nearly transparent, and while it got a little better in the end, it was only a small improvement. I'll probably read the others in the series since I have them and I have nothing much else to do, but I can't say I'd recommend these to anyone else except my roommate so that we can laugh together. And because I like to force her to read mediocre books.
March 5, 2018
I absolutely loved this book - it had me laughing out loud from practically the first page. I'm just glad I wasn't reading it in public or I'd have received no end of strange looks. I just can't wait to read the next book in the series.
Joy & her friend Roxy are both hopeless when it comes to love so they ask for assistance from a wiccan friend to find their true loves. Miranda's prediction for Roxy is quite straightforward - she'll find her true love within a month. However, when it comes to Joy things are not so simple - there are going to be 2 men coming into her life and if she fails to pick the right one then she will be in danger of losing her soul.
The 2 friends are both obsessed with reading vampire novels and love author C J Dante who writes a series about the Dark Ones. Roxy is convinced that the Dark Ones are real and is determined to meet the author & convince him to tell her how to find them. Joy is sure that they aren't real but is happy to go with Roxy to the Czech Republic to search for Dante.
They arrive in the Czech Republic & find themselves in the middle of a Goth Festival and soon start attracting plenty of attention, both good and bad. Roxy is determined to find a Dark One but with people from the festival walking around dressed as vampires spotting the real thing is going to be difficult.
I don't want to give any plot information away so I'll just say that there are plenty of crazy antics & twists to the story and I love the way the ending isn't what you're expecting. The book is filled with comedy, romance and lust with plenty of hot sex thrown in for good measure. If you want something light hearted but still with a paranormal twist then I'd definitely recommend this series.
Joy & her friend Roxy are both hopeless when it comes to love so they ask for assistance from a wiccan friend to find their true loves. Miranda's prediction for Roxy is quite straightforward - she'll find her true love within a month. However, when it comes to Joy things are not so simple - there are going to be 2 men coming into her life and if she fails to pick the right one then she will be in danger of losing her soul.
The 2 friends are both obsessed with reading vampire novels and love author C J Dante who writes a series about the Dark Ones. Roxy is convinced that the Dark Ones are real and is determined to meet the author & convince him to tell her how to find them. Joy is sure that they aren't real but is happy to go with Roxy to the Czech Republic to search for Dante.
They arrive in the Czech Republic & find themselves in the middle of a Goth Festival and soon start attracting plenty of attention, both good and bad. Roxy is determined to find a Dark One but with people from the festival walking around dressed as vampires spotting the real thing is going to be difficult.
I don't want to give any plot information away so I'll just say that there are plenty of crazy antics & twists to the story and I love the way the ending isn't what you're expecting. The book is filled with comedy, romance and lust with plenty of hot sex thrown in for good measure. If you want something light hearted but still with a paranormal twist then I'd definitely recommend this series.
March 27, 2008
The is the first book of Katie MacAlister's Dark Ones series. It's a wacky contemporary paranormal romance that spoofs Christine Feehan's Carpathians series, but in a friendly sort of way. I've also been reading MacAlister's Aisling Gray Gardian series, and all MacAlister's heroines seem to be impervious to embarrassment, even as they charge ahead with foolish actions. They are brazen women and yet strangely endearing, quirky characters. I've also noticed that the "mysteries" in her books withhold key clues until the last 50 pages or so, making it unlikely that the reader will guess where the book's going. I suppose a mystery fan would find that frustrating. It's a fun, entertaining series, though.
This particular book finds the characters Joy and Roxy on a vacation in the Chezch Republic pursuing their shared interest in a series of books about vampires. They are stalking the author who wrote them, and Roxy is trying to find a real vampire. They are also both looking for soul mates. There's a halloween goth fair visiting the town during their vacation and Joy becomes the love interest of three men - one might be a vampire, one might be a killer, and one might be the love of her life, or at least the lover of her dreams. Joy and Roxy spend their trip unraveling who's who. The novel has many steamy scenes with the man Joy takes as a lover.
This particular book finds the characters Joy and Roxy on a vacation in the Chezch Republic pursuing their shared interest in a series of books about vampires. They are stalking the author who wrote them, and Roxy is trying to find a real vampire. They are also both looking for soul mates. There's a halloween goth fair visiting the town during their vacation and Joy becomes the love interest of three men - one might be a vampire, one might be a killer, and one might be the love of her life, or at least the lover of her dreams. Joy and Roxy spend their trip unraveling who's who. The novel has many steamy scenes with the man Joy takes as a lover.
April 4, 2008
A Girl's Guide to Vampires was a nice and pleasant surprise. While I do get tired of Katie MacAlister's same heroine in every book I read, I could tolerate Joy more that most others. But lord can they be moronic, and not in a good way. I do wish she could expand her female leads to be different in both of their physical and mental aspects, and not be the same old monotonous ones over and over again. Always my gripe.
Now on to the rest of the book...
The storyline was interesting, there was some hilarious moments, and overall I enjoyed it better than most of the contemporary romances Ms. MacAlister has written. I am very intrigued by Christian and can't wait to read his book in this series. Roxy, on the other hand, reminded me of a little, annoying, rabid yappy dog. Yes, she could provide entertainment, but if I knew someone like that, I'd go insane, or else commit homicide. Otherwise the book was fine entertainment but not a keeper for me. Probably the main reason I read the whole book was because of the intriguing Christian and wondering about his fate.
3.75 stars
Now on to the rest of the book...
The storyline was interesting, there was some hilarious moments, and overall I enjoyed it better than most of the contemporary romances Ms. MacAlister has written. I am very intrigued by Christian and can't wait to read his book in this series. Roxy, on the other hand, reminded me of a little, annoying, rabid yappy dog. Yes, she could provide entertainment, but if I knew someone like that, I'd go insane, or else commit homicide. Otherwise the book was fine entertainment but not a keeper for me. Probably the main reason I read the whole book was because of the intriguing Christian and wondering about his fate.
3.75 stars
October 7, 2017
That was painful.
December 14, 2009
Hmmm, maybe it's my mood but I'm finding the heroine in this book snarky and immature as opposed to "witty" and "fun" as I've seen her described elsewhere. Maybe I'm just a grouch but she's managed to lampoon Wiccan's and Goth's and romance reader's in a way that is more insulting than hysterical. Or maybe I've gone and lost my sense of humor again.
Later: I'm throwing in the towel at 100 pages. I'm just not finding this funny, the heroine is idiotic and so is her best friend who runs off to Eastern Europe to find a group of vampires she's read about in a FICTIONAL novel. Roxy, the stupid and annoying best friend, is going to find herself a vampire and he'll fall truly, madly, deeply, forever in love with her instantly because he's attracted to her high IQ . . (no, even Roxy is not quite that stupid ~ she knows she'll nab a vamp because no man can resist her gorgeousness - please). Roxy drags Joy (the heroine) along for the ride.
This exchange, following many just like it, is what finally did me in:
The heroine to who I'm guessing is supposed to be the love interest:
"For your information Mr. So-Stuck-On-Yourself-You-Probably-Attract-Flies, I was not flirting! I do not play games! And I most certainly was not batting my eyelashes at you, so you can get that idea right out of the pudding that passes for your brain!"
"Pudding" he bellowed at me, outrage bristling from every pore.
"Vanilla. With lumps in it!" I bellowed back.
Witty, and quick this Joy is, eh?
Seriously, I could not make this stuff up folks.
Later: I'm throwing in the towel at 100 pages. I'm just not finding this funny, the heroine is idiotic and so is her best friend who runs off to Eastern Europe to find a group of vampires she's read about in a FICTIONAL novel. Roxy, the stupid and annoying best friend, is going to find herself a vampire and he'll fall truly, madly, deeply, forever in love with her instantly because he's attracted to her high IQ . . (no, even Roxy is not quite that stupid ~ she knows she'll nab a vamp because no man can resist her gorgeousness - please). Roxy drags Joy (the heroine) along for the ride.
This exchange, following many just like it, is what finally did me in:
The heroine to who I'm guessing is supposed to be the love interest:
"For your information Mr. So-Stuck-On-Yourself-You-Probably-Attract-Flies, I was not flirting! I do not play games! And I most certainly was not batting my eyelashes at you, so you can get that idea right out of the pudding that passes for your brain!"
"Pudding" he bellowed at me, outrage bristling from every pore.
"Vanilla. With lumps in it!" I bellowed back.
Witty, and quick this Joy is, eh?
Seriously, I could not make this stuff up folks.
August 28, 2010
This book is about a women and her friend traveling to a foreign country in search of the soul mates their witch friend predicted they would find. MacAlister's writing is smooth, witty, and freaking hilarious. I laughed out loud on so much of the dialogue and especially some of the monologue of the main character. The plot was strong, the romance was extra steamy, and the characters were wonderful. MacAlister has a strong command over vocabulary either, I loved the fact that she has written a romance that I didn't feel stupid reading. There is a reference to Christine Feehan's Carpathians in it as well which also made me laugh out loud. This book is definitely worth the read, as most likely the second one will be also. She will have you laughing and sighing through the book, I certainly was.
April 26, 2017
What is this tripe? I thought that this was supposed to be about vampires! It's implied in the title so why? Why!?!
September 7, 2015
3.5 Stars
I have read Ms. MacAlister before and frankly I’m not sure whey I didn’t pick up this series before now because I’ve loved her dragon books so much. There’s something about the over the top humor and totally unrealistic storylines (yeah, I’m saying unrealistic in a vampire book, don’t judge some are believable!!)
A GIRL’S GUIDE TO VAMPIRES introduces us to a world of vampires that is, of course, sort of secret. Except for the fact that one author has written a series of paranormal romances that a lot of women may think is based on reality. Which is why Roxy wants to travel to the Czech Republic in search of the author. She drags along a non-believer and her BFF Joy. Our heroine. They are slowly involved more and more with the people in the town in their search for the ever elusive CJ Dante. And as Joy finds herself in a mating dance with a vampire she has no choice but believe they are real.
If you want to take the book too seriously, then you won’t enjoy this story. It is meant to make you have a good time. Sometimes the dialogue is a little lame and cheesy but that’s part of the charm of this type of story for me. It was a fun read for me!
On the vampire front though, I have to say I hope the rest of the series explores more of it. I feel like we barely touched the surface of the Dark Ones as there isn’t a lot of full on vampire action in this book. There’s a lot of suspicion of vampires, and belief of matings and mental connections and such, but actual fangy action is at a minimum. And a lot of what we learn about the Dark Ones is through the stories that Roxy knows from Dante’s books. Can’t wait to explore more of that.
I have read Ms. MacAlister before and frankly I’m not sure whey I didn’t pick up this series before now because I’ve loved her dragon books so much. There’s something about the over the top humor and totally unrealistic storylines (yeah, I’m saying unrealistic in a vampire book, don’t judge some are believable!!)
A GIRL’S GUIDE TO VAMPIRES introduces us to a world of vampires that is, of course, sort of secret. Except for the fact that one author has written a series of paranormal romances that a lot of women may think is based on reality. Which is why Roxy wants to travel to the Czech Republic in search of the author. She drags along a non-believer and her BFF Joy. Our heroine. They are slowly involved more and more with the people in the town in their search for the ever elusive CJ Dante. And as Joy finds herself in a mating dance with a vampire she has no choice but believe they are real.
If you want to take the book too seriously, then you won’t enjoy this story. It is meant to make you have a good time. Sometimes the dialogue is a little lame and cheesy but that’s part of the charm of this type of story for me. It was a fun read for me!
On the vampire front though, I have to say I hope the rest of the series explores more of it. I feel like we barely touched the surface of the Dark Ones as there isn’t a lot of full on vampire action in this book. There’s a lot of suspicion of vampires, and belief of matings and mental connections and such, but actual fangy action is at a minimum. And a lot of what we learn about the Dark Ones is through the stories that Roxy knows from Dante’s books. Can’t wait to explore more of that.
January 9, 2010
Finally I have read the first one in the Dark Ones series. I hate reading books out of order and for some reason I started with the second book with this series. With how the first book ends I have the strong urge to pick up the second book again and find out what went on again.
In this book we have the adventures of Joy and Roxy in the Czech Republic. They are spending two weeks there looking for A Dark One (Vampire) and checking the local sites. They luck out (don't characters in books always luck out?) and there is a Goth Fair scheduled to be going on in the same village they are staying in and the final night of the fair will be held at an awesome (and seldom open to the public) castle.
Joy and Roxy immediately meet the people working at the fair including a certain hunky hunky man who makes Joy's knee's turn into warm butter.
There is mystery, hot sex, cool location, love, and snappy dialog in this one. One of my favorite lines in the book is when Joy states she is going to go and beat her man with a big dick (instead of stick) and never realizes her Freudian misspeak - but leaves Roxi rolling on the floor.
Another fun read!
In this book we have the adventures of Joy and Roxy in the Czech Republic. They are spending two weeks there looking for A Dark One (Vampire) and checking the local sites. They luck out (don't characters in books always luck out?) and there is a Goth Fair scheduled to be going on in the same village they are staying in and the final night of the fair will be held at an awesome (and seldom open to the public) castle.
Joy and Roxy immediately meet the people working at the fair including a certain hunky hunky man who makes Joy's knee's turn into warm butter.
There is mystery, hot sex, cool location, love, and snappy dialog in this one. One of my favorite lines in the book is when Joy states she is going to go and beat her man with a big dick (instead of stick) and never realizes her Freudian misspeak - but leaves Roxi rolling on the floor.
Another fun read!
July 27, 2009
I absolutely LOVED this book, and boy did it ever take me by surprise. Over the last few weeks, i've found myself having a hard time finding a book that could hold my interest after the first 100 pages or so.. That was so not the case with A Girl's Guide To Vampires...i devoured this book in less than 24 hours.
Katie MacAlister has somehow managed to bring to life a story that is at once funny, endearing, touching, sweet & sexy. With characters that burst off the page and feel like people you actually know.
In the end, there was only one thing that bothered me; the emotional turmoil that Christian was in by the end of the story, was heartbreaking. Although, it does offer the perfect set up for the following book in the series Sex And The Single Vampire
Katie MacAlister has somehow managed to bring to life a story that is at once funny, endearing, touching, sweet & sexy. With characters that burst off the page and feel like people you actually know.
In the end, there was only one thing that bothered me; the emotional turmoil that Christian was in by the end of the story, was heartbreaking. Although, it does offer the perfect set up for the following book in the series Sex And The Single Vampire
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 23, 2011
It took me a while to get into this book. It was really long and felt like I would never finish it.
The story follow Joy Randall and her friend Roxy as they take a trip to Czech Republic. After their friend's vision that they will meet and Joy will be a Beloved to a vampire, they begin suspecting multiple men of being a vampire at the local fair.
I didn't care for the introduction of so many characters, but I did come to really like Raphael St. John and Christian J. Dante.
As a relationship blooms between Raphael, another claims her as his beloved. Although they share mind communication, Joy is not convinced she's the right beloved.
But other problems trouble the fair as a murder spices up suspicions on everybody. Joy and Roxy make it their object to find the real killer to prove Raphael's innocence.
Raphael, however, doesn't need their help as he's keeping a secret of his own.
Over all, the book ended much better than it started and if I come across the next book I would probably read it.
The story follow Joy Randall and her friend Roxy as they take a trip to Czech Republic. After their friend's vision that they will meet and Joy will be a Beloved to a vampire, they begin suspecting multiple men of being a vampire at the local fair.
I didn't care for the introduction of so many characters, but I did come to really like Raphael St. John and Christian J. Dante.
As a relationship blooms between Raphael, another claims her as his beloved. Although they share mind communication, Joy is not convinced she's the right beloved.
But other problems trouble the fair as a murder spices up suspicions on everybody. Joy and Roxy make it their object to find the real killer to prove Raphael's innocence.
Raphael, however, doesn't need their help as he's keeping a secret of his own.
Over all, the book ended much better than it started and if I come across the next book I would probably read it.
March 1, 2014
Twaddle. Absolute twaddle.
March 17, 2022
good but not hilarious, I don't get how it's considered funny.
June 22, 2021
Zum Inhalt:
Als Joy sich die Karten legen lässt, erfährt sie zu ihrer Freude, dass sie bald den Mann fürs Leben kennenlernen wird. Doch was soll sie davon halten, dass ihr Traumprinz angeblich ein Vampir ist? Kurz darauf fährt Joy zu einem Gothic Festival nach Tschechien und dort Zeugin rätselhafter Vorgänge ...
Cover:
Das Cover meiner Version hat mir so recht gut gefallen. Wir sehen hier auf rot gehaltenem Grund einen angebissenen Apfel, wobei der Biss einem Herz ähnelt und wir sehen die Hand einer Frau. Das hat so nichts mit dem Inhalt der Geschichte zu tun und verrät auch rein gar nichts, wenn da der Titel nicht wäre, aber irgendwie musste ich immer wieder hinsehen und schließlich zugreifen. Ziel also erreicht.
Eigener Eindruck:
Joy und ihre beste Freundin Roxy lieben Vampirgeschichten aller Art. Besonders die Reihe eines bestimmten Autor hat es ihnen total angetan. Auf der Suche nach richtigen Vampiren reisen die beiden Freundinnen trotz der Warnung einer Freundin und ihrer gelegten Karten nach Tschechien, wo sie den Hinweisen aus den Büchern auf den Grund gehen wollen. Bei einem Gothic-Festival wollen sie mit ihrer Suche beginnen, doch bereits im Hotel kommt es zu eigenartigen Vorkommnissen die Joy an ihrem Verstand zweifeln lassen. Sie ist sich hundert Prozent sicher, dass sie ihren Vampir bereits in Form des attraktiven Security-Mannes Raphael gefunden hat, denn die Indizien weisen auf ihn hin und außerdem fühlt sie sich auch sofort zu ihm hingezogen. Gemeinsam mit Roxy und Christian, den sie ebenfalls im Hotel kennen lernen, begibt sie sich auf die Spurensuche, um ihren Verdacht zu untermauern und gerät dabei ins Visier eines kaltblütigen Mörders…
Die Geschichte von Joy und ihrer verrückten Freundin Roxy hat sich recht amüsant gelesen. Zwar hatte ich zu Beginn ein paar kleine Schwierigkeiten in die Geschichte hinein zu kommen, doch wenn es erst einmal geflutscht hat, dann konnte ich das Buch kaum aus der Hand legen. Den Vampirkult der in den aktuellen Romanen derzeit betrieben wird in einem Roman selbst aufs Korn zu nehmen, fand ich als Idee nicht schlecht und ich musste so manches Mal schmunzeln, wenn Roxanne mit ihren Buchweisheiten versucht hat Joy zu überzeugen, wer denn nun ein Vampir ist oder eben wer nicht. Und auch die Schauspielergestalten von dem Gothic-Markt hatten es klischeemäßig richtig in sich. Das war schon klasse gemacht und ich habe auch an so vielen Stellen herzlich lachen müssen, wenn Joy und Roxanne wieder einmal in eines Fettnäpfchen mit ungeheuerlichen Ausmaß getreten sind und doch war Joy als Protagonistin einfach nur nervig, wenn sie wieder einmal hysterisch wurde, rumgezockt hat oder sich aufgeführt hat, als wäre sie der einzige Mensch auf der Welt. Nein, Joy konnte ich nicht wirklich etwas abgewinnen und bin irgendwie auch dankbar, dass die Geschichte um sie jetzt recht wahrscheinlich zu Ende ist, zumindest verspricht mir die Fortsetzung eine neue Protagonistin. Doch egal wie, war auch das Happy End recht schön, auch wenn es schlussendlich für den Blutsauger nicht so optimal ausgegangen ist, wie es hätte ausgehen können. Schade und dramatisch irgendwie, aber ich habe Hoffnung dass wir eben jenen Blutsauger vielleicht doch noch einmal begegnen werden.
Fazit:
Ein Werk an dem sich sicher die Geister teilen werden. Für mich war es von der Protagonistin abgesehen ein wirklich amüsantes Werk, da hier mit allen Klischees rund um die Vampirwelt gehandelt wird. Emotionen sind hier leider doch ein bisschen sparsam gesät, wie ich fand, aber das Werk ist durchaus lesenswert.
Idee: 5/5
Charaktere: 3/5
Logik: 4/5
Spannung: 4/5
Emotionen: 3/5
Gesamt: 4/5
Daten:
ISBN: 9783802590689
Sprache: Deutsch
Ausgabe: Flexibler Einband
Umfang: 480 Seiten
Verlag: Lyx
Erscheinungsdatum: 01.08.2012
Als Joy sich die Karten legen lässt, erfährt sie zu ihrer Freude, dass sie bald den Mann fürs Leben kennenlernen wird. Doch was soll sie davon halten, dass ihr Traumprinz angeblich ein Vampir ist? Kurz darauf fährt Joy zu einem Gothic Festival nach Tschechien und dort Zeugin rätselhafter Vorgänge ...
Cover:
Das Cover meiner Version hat mir so recht gut gefallen. Wir sehen hier auf rot gehaltenem Grund einen angebissenen Apfel, wobei der Biss einem Herz ähnelt und wir sehen die Hand einer Frau. Das hat so nichts mit dem Inhalt der Geschichte zu tun und verrät auch rein gar nichts, wenn da der Titel nicht wäre, aber irgendwie musste ich immer wieder hinsehen und schließlich zugreifen. Ziel also erreicht.
Eigener Eindruck:
Joy und ihre beste Freundin Roxy lieben Vampirgeschichten aller Art. Besonders die Reihe eines bestimmten Autor hat es ihnen total angetan. Auf der Suche nach richtigen Vampiren reisen die beiden Freundinnen trotz der Warnung einer Freundin und ihrer gelegten Karten nach Tschechien, wo sie den Hinweisen aus den Büchern auf den Grund gehen wollen. Bei einem Gothic-Festival wollen sie mit ihrer Suche beginnen, doch bereits im Hotel kommt es zu eigenartigen Vorkommnissen die Joy an ihrem Verstand zweifeln lassen. Sie ist sich hundert Prozent sicher, dass sie ihren Vampir bereits in Form des attraktiven Security-Mannes Raphael gefunden hat, denn die Indizien weisen auf ihn hin und außerdem fühlt sie sich auch sofort zu ihm hingezogen. Gemeinsam mit Roxy und Christian, den sie ebenfalls im Hotel kennen lernen, begibt sie sich auf die Spurensuche, um ihren Verdacht zu untermauern und gerät dabei ins Visier eines kaltblütigen Mörders…
Die Geschichte von Joy und ihrer verrückten Freundin Roxy hat sich recht amüsant gelesen. Zwar hatte ich zu Beginn ein paar kleine Schwierigkeiten in die Geschichte hinein zu kommen, doch wenn es erst einmal geflutscht hat, dann konnte ich das Buch kaum aus der Hand legen. Den Vampirkult der in den aktuellen Romanen derzeit betrieben wird in einem Roman selbst aufs Korn zu nehmen, fand ich als Idee nicht schlecht und ich musste so manches Mal schmunzeln, wenn Roxanne mit ihren Buchweisheiten versucht hat Joy zu überzeugen, wer denn nun ein Vampir ist oder eben wer nicht. Und auch die Schauspielergestalten von dem Gothic-Markt hatten es klischeemäßig richtig in sich. Das war schon klasse gemacht und ich habe auch an so vielen Stellen herzlich lachen müssen, wenn Joy und Roxanne wieder einmal in eines Fettnäpfchen mit ungeheuerlichen Ausmaß getreten sind und doch war Joy als Protagonistin einfach nur nervig, wenn sie wieder einmal hysterisch wurde, rumgezockt hat oder sich aufgeführt hat, als wäre sie der einzige Mensch auf der Welt. Nein, Joy konnte ich nicht wirklich etwas abgewinnen und bin irgendwie auch dankbar, dass die Geschichte um sie jetzt recht wahrscheinlich zu Ende ist, zumindest verspricht mir die Fortsetzung eine neue Protagonistin. Doch egal wie, war auch das Happy End recht schön, auch wenn es schlussendlich für den Blutsauger nicht so optimal ausgegangen ist, wie es hätte ausgehen können. Schade und dramatisch irgendwie, aber ich habe Hoffnung dass wir eben jenen Blutsauger vielleicht doch noch einmal begegnen werden.
Fazit:
Ein Werk an dem sich sicher die Geister teilen werden. Für mich war es von der Protagonistin abgesehen ein wirklich amüsantes Werk, da hier mit allen Klischees rund um die Vampirwelt gehandelt wird. Emotionen sind hier leider doch ein bisschen sparsam gesät, wie ich fand, aber das Werk ist durchaus lesenswert.
Idee: 5/5
Charaktere: 3/5
Logik: 4/5
Spannung: 4/5
Emotionen: 3/5
Gesamt: 4/5
Daten:
ISBN: 9783802590689
Sprache: Deutsch
Ausgabe: Flexibler Einband
Umfang: 480 Seiten
Verlag: Lyx
Erscheinungsdatum: 01.08.2012
dnf
July 3, 2020Goddess
Goddess
Goddess
Ok you lost me
Goddess
Goddess
Ok you lost me
April 27, 2014
****0.5 stars****
I stumbled across this book as I was searching for something to read. The title got my attention and I read a couple reviews with no spoilers. Most of them said that it was a no brainer but entertaining. So, I got the on electronic version because I decided that I was not going to waste money on it and there's no spanish nor english version in Mexico.
A Girl's Guide to Vampires is the first of 10 (I think, seems there's a lot of .5s) books on the Dark Ones Series. Written by Katie MacAllister and published on 2003.
I'm going to do things a little bit different this time. I won't talk about the plot or the story, I am going straight to the review because I actually HATED this book. There are so many reasons why that I don't even know where to begin. First, I couldn't really understand what was going on on the story because the jumps between scenarios weren't really clear. The characters were completely underdeveloped.
Joyful, yes Joyful, the main character narrates the story. We do not know much about her, we do not know her exact age ( I think she is 24 years old because that is the age of her best friend and they've known each other from kinder garten), we do not know where she works, we do not know anything about her family, background or how she looks. We get to know that she is more on the chubby side somewhere in the book when the main male character carries her to her room after she passes out after having a vision sent to her by a vampire. She says something about how she is to heavy to be carried and of course the stud replies by saying that she is just perfect.
Roxy, her best friend and side kick, is a virgin obsessed with sex who is a huge fan of some vampires series and truly believes that they exist. That's why they go to the Czech Republic, to find vampires. Of course, Joy does not believe in them.
Raphael is the main male character, he is mysterious, he is extremely handsome, he is strong, he likes Joyful from the first time he sees her and decides that he is going to marry her because one of his family's traditions is that the men in the family know the woman they are going to marry at first sight. Oh yeah! He is incredibly well endowed, he only uses extra-large condoms. How about that? Ms. MacAlister must think that we, the girls, are looking for a man with a big... part and that's what she gave us.
Christian, the vampire of the story, happens to be the author of the books Roxy is obsessed with and is completely in love with Joyful. He thinks she is his Beloved and he is who sends all those visions to Joy. To let her know that he has marked her.
It took me so much to read this book, I was really trying to get through it. I'm not the type of person who closes a book without giving it a chance so I fought to get to the end of it. I truly felt that I was reading a fan fiction written by a 16 year old. The writing was horrible and the plot did not make sense. I found myself jumping long parragraphs until I would find some dialogue because I knew I wouldn't lose anything in between.
It is not funny, even though MacAlister really tries, is boring and some jokes made me roll my eyes. Actuall, I found some jokes horrible like Joy talking about mother advice during sex. I just think bringing your mother up during sex is gross. My humble opinion.
Roxy gave me a headache and to me is one of the most annoying characters I have ever read in my entire life. Joyful is a diva that suddenly, in the middle of a Gothfair, she is the object of desire of every man in sight. There are fights between guys over her, there are fights between girls over their men who are drooling over Joy and in the end she ends up wit Raphael. She ends up with a human! MacAlister wrote a vampire story only to leave the heroine paired up with a human.
Even though the story seems to be the first fan fiction written by a 14 year old, a bad one, the sex scenes do not apply to that age. I think that the sex scenes were more developed than the characters and the plot. Seems that the plot was an excuse to write the sex scenes. So, I do not recomend this reading for young kids. Actually, I do not recomend this book to anyone but especially for kids.
In the end this book gets a -2 in the scale 0-10. I wouldn't waste one dime on it and probably shouldn't you. I still think that maybe, just maybe, since it was MacAlister's first novel it is a really bad one and the next ones might just improve. I mean it is a series of 10 books. So, I might download the second book give it a shot through the first pages and if it seems to be the same thing as this one delete it and never, ever, go anywhere near this series.
I stumbled across this book as I was searching for something to read. The title got my attention and I read a couple reviews with no spoilers. Most of them said that it was a no brainer but entertaining. So, I got the on electronic version because I decided that I was not going to waste money on it and there's no spanish nor english version in Mexico.
A Girl's Guide to Vampires is the first of 10 (I think, seems there's a lot of .5s) books on the Dark Ones Series. Written by Katie MacAllister and published on 2003.
I'm going to do things a little bit different this time. I won't talk about the plot or the story, I am going straight to the review because I actually HATED this book. There are so many reasons why that I don't even know where to begin. First, I couldn't really understand what was going on on the story because the jumps between scenarios weren't really clear. The characters were completely underdeveloped.
Joyful, yes Joyful, the main character narrates the story. We do not know much about her, we do not know her exact age ( I think she is 24 years old because that is the age of her best friend and they've known each other from kinder garten), we do not know where she works, we do not know anything about her family, background or how she looks. We get to know that she is more on the chubby side somewhere in the book when the main male character carries her to her room after she passes out after having a vision sent to her by a vampire. She says something about how she is to heavy to be carried and of course the stud replies by saying that she is just perfect.
Roxy, her best friend and side kick, is a virgin obsessed with sex who is a huge fan of some vampires series and truly believes that they exist. That's why they go to the Czech Republic, to find vampires. Of course, Joy does not believe in them.
Raphael is the main male character, he is mysterious, he is extremely handsome, he is strong, he likes Joyful from the first time he sees her and decides that he is going to marry her because one of his family's traditions is that the men in the family know the woman they are going to marry at first sight. Oh yeah! He is incredibly well endowed, he only uses extra-large condoms. How about that? Ms. MacAlister must think that we, the girls, are looking for a man with a big... part and that's what she gave us.
Christian, the vampire of the story, happens to be the author of the books Roxy is obsessed with and is completely in love with Joyful. He thinks she is his Beloved and he is who sends all those visions to Joy. To let her know that he has marked her.
It took me so much to read this book, I was really trying to get through it. I'm not the type of person who closes a book without giving it a chance so I fought to get to the end of it. I truly felt that I was reading a fan fiction written by a 16 year old. The writing was horrible and the plot did not make sense. I found myself jumping long parragraphs until I would find some dialogue because I knew I wouldn't lose anything in between.
It is not funny, even though MacAlister really tries, is boring and some jokes made me roll my eyes. Actuall, I found some jokes horrible like Joy talking about mother advice during sex. I just think bringing your mother up during sex is gross. My humble opinion.
Roxy gave me a headache and to me is one of the most annoying characters I have ever read in my entire life. Joyful is a diva that suddenly, in the middle of a Gothfair, she is the object of desire of every man in sight. There are fights between guys over her, there are fights between girls over their men who are drooling over Joy and in the end she ends up wit Raphael. She ends up with a human! MacAlister wrote a vampire story only to leave the heroine paired up with a human.
Even though the story seems to be the first fan fiction written by a 14 year old, a bad one, the sex scenes do not apply to that age. I think that the sex scenes were more developed than the characters and the plot. Seems that the plot was an excuse to write the sex scenes. So, I do not recomend this reading for young kids. Actually, I do not recomend this book to anyone but especially for kids.
In the end this book gets a -2 in the scale 0-10. I wouldn't waste one dime on it and probably shouldn't you. I still think that maybe, just maybe, since it was MacAlister's first novel it is a really bad one and the next ones might just improve. I mean it is a series of 10 books. So, I might download the second book give it a shot through the first pages and if it seems to be the same thing as this one delete it and never, ever, go anywhere near this series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 9, 2015
I have read Ms. MacAlister before and frankly I'm not sure whey I didn't pick up this series before now because I've loved her dragon books so much. There's something about the over the top humor and totally unrealistic storylines (yeah, I'm saying unrealistic in a vampire book, don't judge some are believable!!)
A GIRL'S GUIDE TO VAMPIRES introduces us to a world of vampires that is, of course, sort of secret. Except for the fact that one author has written a series of paranormal romances that a lot of women may think is based on reality. Which is why Roxy wants to travel to the Czech Republic in search of the author. She drags along a non-believer and her BFF Joy. Our heroine. They are slowly involved more and more with the people in the town in their search for the ever elusive CJ Dante. And as Joy finds herself in a mating dance with a vampire she has no choice but believe they are real.
If you want to take the book too seriously, then you won't enjoy this story. It is meant to make you have a good time. Sometimes the dialogue is a little lame and cheesy but that's part of the charm of this type of story for me. It was a fun read for me!
On the vampire front though, I have to say I hope the rest of the series explores more of it. I feel like we barely touched the surface of the Dark Ones as there isn't a lot of full on vampire action in this book. There's a lot of suspicion of vampires, and belief of matings and mental connections and such, but actual fangy action is at a minimum. And a lot of what we learn about the Dark Ones is through the stories that Roxy knows from Dante's books. Can't wait to explore more of that.
Reviewed by Francesca
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February 23, 2014
I didn't understand how this actually happened, but the protagonist consistently would just start yelling at men. She's having a conversation and suddenly she becomes indignant and normal voice volume just isn't enough anymore.
I found the trust issues subplot, and how Joy dealt with it, really frustrating. And confusing. One minute
Anywho, it was a fun read if you like modern romances with a spice of the paranormal and copious amounts of boring pet names. Yes, baby, then you're in like flint.
I found the trust issues subplot, and how Joy dealt with it, really frustrating. And confusing. One minute
Anywho, it was a fun read if you like modern romances with a spice of the paranormal and copious amounts of boring pet names. Yes, baby, then you're in like flint.
March 9, 2010
This book was pretty good. I laughed outloud throughout the book. Joy and her friend Roxy remind me a lot of a modern day Lucy and Ethyl. I loved the romance between Joy and Raphael but felt really, really sorry for Christian. In the forward, Katie MacAlister thanked Christine Feehan and it appears that she patterned Christian after the Dark characters. Christian even used some of the same phrases that Feehan uses. I'm hoping book #2 will have him finding his "Beloved".
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 11, 2016
I originally gave this book 5 stars and marked it as one of my favorites when I read it 4 years ago. I guess the hundreds of books I've read since then have raised the bar a bit because I found both Joy and Roxy extremely annoying through most of the book. I guess as an introduction to the series it was okay. Most first books kinda suck. I only gave it 3 stars because I did enjoy the ending. Without that it would have gotten 2.
November 28, 2015
... ist der typische Erotik Vampir Roman mit Humor. Starke Heldin, die nur durch das unglaublich gutaussehende Objekt ihrer Begierde schwach wird. Jede Menge ab und an doch recht flache Witze und eine Menge Erotik. In diesem Fall vor allem Gedanken an diese. Auch wenn ich Joy doch recht sympathisch fand, war das Buch leider ganz genau wie man das erwarten würde und konnte mich jetzt nicht überzeugen. Schade eigentlich...
Das ist wohl auch einfach nicht mein Genre *seufz*
Das ist wohl auch einfach nicht mein Genre *seufz*
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