Love at Stake..

Have you ever wanted to know how to Marry a Millionaire...Vampire? :)

I will be honest, Romance has never been my genre of choice. And then I was introduced to the paranormal genre a few years ago. It was more paranormal with a romantic undertone. And slowly with Karen Marie Moning's Highlander books, I found myself reading Romance with a paranormal undertone. I LOVE IT!

Kerrelyn Sparks mastered this with the Love at Stake series. While packing, moving, unpacking, full-time job hours and full-time Mom of Three hours; I managed to read the first 11 books in this series in about 10 days. She leads the series off with a Millionaire that you find it hard to not fall for. He loses his fang in a VANNA doll (read to find more out about Vanna White & Vanna Black!), and desperately needs to find a dentist who has vampire friendly hours.  

Enter Shanna. Conveniently, she is immune to the powers of mind-reading vampires, and that is intriguing like nothing else to Millionaire scientific genius, Roman. (YUM!) These two are polar opposites, and yet you root for Roman in his pursuit of her. 

You find yourself either loving or hating the many faces in the supporting cast of this first book. And to my hesitant excitement, I was eager to keep reading once I realized that I would be reading about a different person in each installment while the characters I became attached to in the previous book would become a supporting character! The thing about paranormal romance that keeps me reading is the "ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE" aura that comes with these story lines. Each "world" is different depending on how the author sees it. Ms. Sparks hit one out of the park with her vision of the Vamp world!

 The world she created is so much like ours, you find it hard to think that this isn't actually reality. You have DVN (Digital Vampire Network) with vampire soaps, and even in Vamps in the City, you have a storyline within a reality TV show, "Sexiest Man on Earth!" There are nightclubs, harems and so much more. Okay, the harem isn't par for the course nowadays, but these are some seasoned vampires. And what vampire series would be complete without some eager slayers? Unfortunately for the head of the government's STAKE OUT team, Sean Whealan (Shanna's father) these slayers are not as hardcore with their hatred of the undead. Sean and his team are immune to the mind-altering effects that vampires can have on humans due to varying levels of psychic ability. Throughout the series, the team slowly begins to disband as it comes to light that this world of evil, blood-guzzling (from a bottle) isn't the nuisance they were taught.

All the pairings are of the unlikely nature. (If they weren't, why would you continue to read?) Levitating children are born, were-panthers are adopted, some mortals are turned, the Malcontents continue to cause problems, the very thing that allows these Vamps to be civil bottle drinking beasts is threatened, and so many kilts and accents. Wow!

Sparks writes in vamps that are considered fledglings too.  "Gori" is one I never thought I would care to read much about. He is a playboy, a womanizer and a lover of disco. He is a newbie. His mother, a psychic who knows when you have found 'THE ONE' is still alive and worked with Roman before his son was attacked and turned to save his life. In his installment, "Sexiest Vampire Alive," you learn why he comes off the way he does and details in his past that having you rooting for his success with the daughter of the president. You read that right, the President of the United States of America! Ms. Sparks goes there.

When you think she has covered all she can, you are introduced to were-bears who eat Bear claws by the dozen, drug dealers turned good vampire just trying to take care of his family while claiming he is the Doctor of Love, and so much more. Every person you meet evolves throughout this series from Sean to the old grouch, Conner. Finally, I will close with how much I love the catchy and sometimes cheesy, pun-filled titles. The titles like "Eat Prey Love," "Vampire with the Dragon Tattoo," and "All I want for Christmas is a Vampire."

Kerrelyn Sparks has found a lifetime fangirl reader in me. I tell everyone about this series, find myself trying to figure out who the next book is going to be about! These books are so out of this world awesome, I could write a book about these books. But that would be silly, when I could just be re-reading these and daydreaming about if I could get my husband to wear a  kilt and pick up a Scottish accent! Until next time, keep writing Ms. Sparks! YOU ROCK MY SOCKS!!!

To check out this series, go to the author's website:
Kerrelyn's Website

Or to her Facebook Page:
Ms. Spark's FB Page