Book Review: The Vampire and the Virgin by Kerrelyn Sparks

Book 8 in Kerrelyn Sparks Love at Stake series is The Vampire and the Virgin.  On a side note, I’m always puzzled by her book covers and titles of this series.  Having a few of her books, I find it odd how the book cover rarely matches the content of the book.  Or at least that's been my experience to date.  Anyway, I’m happy to report - despite the disparity between the cover and the book itself - I really liked this book.

Olivia Sotiris is an FBI agent and a psychologist to boot.  After dealing with one of the most malicious serial killers and successfully leading to further the sick bastard’s incarceration, Olivia finds she’s still being haunted by the psycho killer or possibly a would-be copy-cat killer.  As the pressures of her daunting job increase, her superior demands she take a well-needed vacation, and she soon travels to the remote Greek island of Patmos to visit her Grandmother.  While there, her Ya-Ya tries relentlessly to fix her up with every eligible bachelor on the island.  Despite the lovely intentions, Olivia still struggles with trusting men.  Unknown to most, she’s a walking lie detector - which makes her the ultimate FBI agent, but lousy at dating men.  And if a woman can’t trust men because they frequently lie...no wonder she’s still a virgin.

During her visit, she meets Robby MacKay, a vampire that, like her, is ordered to take some R and R in order to sort out some of his demons per se.  Robbie’s dealing with post dramatic stress syndrome after being held captured and tortured by Malcontent vampires (rogue vamps) and is in dire need of a psyche evaluation.  And let me tell you, with the chemistry these two have got going on….Olivia was just what the doctor ordered.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book from beginning to end. It had all the elements of a good book, i.e. romance, suspense, mystery and even humor. I had a few laugh out loud moments when Robby and Olivia were bantering via email (too cute.)  For me, Robby was a yummy warrior-type vampire and a bad ass one too.  Olivia, on the other hand, was strong and independent; the perfect counterbalance to Robby’s rugged vengeful nature.  Both were dealing with their own personal psycho demons, and I loved the way Sparks intertwined their pasts and made it significant to the plot.

I won’t tell you what happens or how it ends. Go read the book. It’s worth it. On my kilometer, I give it  The Vampire and the Virgin a 4.

Until next time…Love at Stake series is #11 of NPR Vampire Paranormal Romance Book List (1-25) .  If you haven’t seen the list, take a look at this old post.

Mina B.