REAL VAMPIRES HAVE MORE TO LOVE – Gerry Bartlett
Glory St. Clair Series , Book 6
Berkley
ISBN:  978-0-425-23697-0
December 2010
Paranormal Romance

Austin, Texas – Present Day

It's a fact that I just want to live my life, try to figure out the direction I want to take, and manage my antiquities clothing store, Vintage Vamps Emporium.  But now I have to contend with Rafe, formerly known as just Valdez , my ex-bodyguard.  Rafe, in human form, is one serious hottie and is really giving my libido a run for its money.  Valdez, as the Labradoodle he used to be, was a stalwart shifter warrior and a darling pooch you did not want to cross.

Things are supposed to be much simpler now.  I broke my fake engagement to Grammy award winning Israel Caine (long story – read REAL VAMPIRES HATE THEIR THIGHS to get all the dirt), and even though Jerry…er, Jeremiah Blade, my real lover and creator, and I aren't necessarily taking a “break” in our relationship, we're definitely cooling things down at my insistence.  Again, I say, I want to try things on my own and see what it's like to just be Glory.

But really, my plate's full.  I'm running my shop, trying to ignore my attraction to Rafe, and helping plan my best friend's bachelorette party and subsequent wedding.  I seriously do not have time to fend off the spoiled Westwood children who are intent on killing me in retaliation for killing their dad, Brent Westwood ( REAL VAMPIRES LIVE LARGE ).  As if that weren't enough, Rafe's past is back to bite him on his sexy butt, and you know I'm going to have to get involved.  That's just the way I roll.  I can't stand to see my friends get hurt, which may happen if I don't take matters into my own hands and fix these things.  I couldn't have picked a worse time to want to assert my independence because I sure could use Jerry's help right now…

Fans of the Glory St. Clair series may see a more resolute Glory in REAL VAMPIRES HAVE MORE TO LOVE.  She's always been good at going with the flow and seizing the day…er, night, but now Glory has stepped up and really wants to cement her niche in the Austin community.  She's been on an emotional roller coaster for most of the series, between being Blade's lover and later rejecting a “fiancé” who wanted to ‘give her every inch of his love' ( Preach it, Zeppelin! ) for turning him into a vampire.

Secondary characters abound in the entire series and many of them are back for a repeat performance in REAL VAMPIRES HAVE MORE TO LOVE:  Simon Destiny, leader of the Energy Vampires (literally, they suck the life out of whomever they can to survive); Jeremiah Blade, Glory's constant throughout the centuries she's been a vampire; Florence da Vinci, Glory's best friend; Richard Mainwaring, Flo's fiancé; Israel Caine, the aforementioned fake fiancé; Countess Cecilia von Repsdorph, another one of Glory's cool friends from Paris.  And that's just some of the vampires.  I haven't begun to mention Rafe, Glory's dedicated bodyguard now turned hawt! human; Aggie, a Siren who was once intent on drowning Glory and Israel to appease her boss, the Goddess of Night (REAL VAMPIRES DON'T DIET); and the Westwoods, who, yeah, want to kill Glory.  Sensing a theme here?

To be honest, I've only nicked the surface of everything that goes down in REAL VAMPIRES HAVE MORE TO LOVE, but I leave the rest for you to enjoy and find out what further trouble Glory is in for while Jerry is out of town yet again on urgent business.  For me, this series has just gotten better and better with each book.  Gerry Bartlett continues having her wicked way with vampire legend and even some mythology and history, and creating a plush series featuring Glory and her gang.  While I'd love to say that you can easily read VAMPIRES HAVE MORE TO LOVE without investing in the rest of the books (if push came to shove, you probably could), I think it's best if you start with REAL VAMPIRES HAVE CURVES and go from there.  You can find the entire series list at http://www.gerrybartlett.com/Reviews.html or http://realvampglorystclairfansite.weebly.com/real-vampires-have-curves.html .

While many readers are burned out on everything paranormal and urban fiction, the Glory St. Clair series is, for me, fresh, fun, and lighthearted.  I'll keep reading ‘em as long as Gerry Bartlett keeps writing ‘em.

Amy Cunningham

Editor's note to any not-so-cool readers like me: hawt is now the kewl way to spell and say hot .