Tuesday, March 31, 2009

'Stakes & Stilettos' by Michelle Rowen

Since I started reading romance fiction I have realized that there truly is an abundance of different sub-genres within the romance category. And I have also been lucky to read romances that I really like. Every time I read one, I exclaim at the end, “That’s my favorite!”. I indulge myself in the hot, steamy ones and I love them but then I read a book like Stakes & Stilettos by Michelle Rowen which is the opposite of hot and steamy, and I love it too! Go figure.

Stakes & Stilettos is a paranormal romance. The heroine, Sarah Dearly, is a new vamp on the block with an honor of having drunk the blood of not one but two master vampires. She really wants to be a normal vampire girl, lead a love-filled life with her 600-year-old boyfriend Thierry, find a job that’ll allow her to be financially independent, and besides the fact that she is now immortal, be the cute, happy-go-lucky girl she’s always been. You know, it’s pretty much the regular, realistic dreams we girls have at some point in our lives. Unfortunately, all these plans will have to be put on hold when it turns out Sarah inadvertently made an enemy in high-school. This enemy is now an evil witch with a vengeance. And she is really bent on hurting Sarah, so much so that she turns her into a nightwalker, the most evil of the evil vampires that used to be blood-thirsty (pun intended), cold and ruthless killers. Oh, and there’s also the mysterious, Zorro-like vampire, who calls himself Red Devil, is a legend among vampires and seems to be saving Sarah’s life time and again. We soon find out that there’s a catch to it as well.

I absolutely adored Sarah Dearly. As her name implies, she really is a darling. She is very funny, sometimes quirky, a girl I would want to be my friend. All and all, Sarah is a vampire-next-door type of girl. She is also devoted to Thierry, despite the fact that others find him detached, cold and over-protective. The romance between the two is actually very tasteful (oh, those vampire puns), no overly hot sex scenes here, but that makes the book so much more relatable and just right. Ms. Rowen really knows how to balance the romance, the paranormal and the mystery elements. Not to mention, she is quite skilled at making readers laugh. Stakes & Stilettos is, in my opinion, a perfect romance book to entertain a reader at any time of the day. It’s light, funny, with endearing characters and a just-right touch of mystery.

******
Special Thanks to Hachette Book Group for providing me with a copy of this book.

Makes sure you visit Michelle Rowen's website for more paranormal fun.

2 comments:

  1. That book I would love to read :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, I think you would like that one. It really was a lot of fun reading it.

    ReplyDelete