Confessions of a Vampire's Girlfriend [Paperback]

Confessions of a Vampire's Girlfriend by Katie MacAlister
Paranormal Romance -Nov. 2nd, 2010
4 stars

Confessions of a Vampire's Girlfriend is one book containing two short novels for Young Adults. Both novels are romance with paranormal and mystery elements. This book is a much younger and innocent version of Ms. Macalister's Dark Ones series novels.

In "Got Fangs", Francesca "Fran" Ghetti is sixteen and her father is remarried to a trophy wife. Fran, however, is abandoned to her mother's custody in a traveling circus, the GothFaire and Circus of the Darned, in Europe. Unlike other teenagers, Fran has special abilities. When she touches anybody with her bare hands, she can read their minds.

When Fran literally walks in front of a vampire, Benedikt, "Ben" Czerny on his motorcycle, Ben discovers that he has finally found the savior of his soul, his Beloved. Because of their link, they can talk with each other using their minds. But Fran's not ready to give up her independence and future, so she agrees to see Ben on the condition that he does not read her mind unless she authorizes it.

When somebody is stealing from the circus, Fran's mother, who's a witch, asks for Fran's help. If Fran helps the catch the thief, she is allowed to keep a horse she saved from the glue factory and date Ben without too much parental intrusion. Fran better find the culprit soon because the same person wants to stake her boyfriend. If she has anything to say about it, that won't happen.
In "Circus of the Darned", Fran is fitting in well with the strange characters that make up the attractions. Fran helps Tilbot, her wizard friend, to keep a enchanted necklace, the Vikingaharta. But through it, Fran accidentally resurrects a dozen Viking warrior ghosts. Now Fran has to find a way to send them home to Valhalla.

Worse, Ben is back. Right after she agreed to be his girlfriend, he left without an explanation. Even though Fran is mad at him, Ben refuses to share what kept them apart. Then her horse, Tesla, gets stolen. Can't a girl catch a break?!

Confessions of a Vampire's Girlfriend is a fun read for people of any age, but without the sex scenes. There are no sex scenes in this book for those of you familiar with this author. Even the violence is much less than in her adult books. It happens off stage for the most part.

The book still has Ms. MacAlister's sense of humor and wit that has drawn me to continually purchase her books. Because the stories were much shorter than her full size novels, she relied on a lot of stereotyping for her characters and scenes, which saddened me because her characters are her strongest points in her adult books.

Confessions is not as satisfying as her full-length novels, but together it left me wanting the next novel.

Reviewed by Jackie Fleming from Bookaholics Romance Club

"Got Fangs?" Oregonian teenager Francesca Ghetti is six feet tall and reads minds by touching objects. Her divorced mother is a witch who has dragged Fran to Hungary on a traveling show filled with freaks and geeks. Fran is almost run over by a motorcycle. The driver is a hunk who is actually taller than her, which is what freaks her out. She does not blink when she learns he is Benedikt Czerny, a Moravian Dark One over three centuries old, who believes she will save his soul. When Benedikt demands Fran and his sister stay home while he fights a demon; his American Amazonian prepares to kick demon butt and his if necessary.

"Circus of the Darned". Teenage psychic Francesca has somewhat adapted to her abilities like summoning the dead and her abnormal lifestyle as a member of the touring Gothefaire. Even for Francesca used to the absurd being the norm, things are more out of control than usual starting with the twelve dead Vikings she brought back to life or her dating a motorcycle riding vampire who is almost three centuries her senior. While mom objects to his bad overbite with dental costs so high; Benedikt insists she is his life-mate, he needs to insure that his beloved GOT FANGS too. However the biggest problem in Francesca's mind is he is a night person and she has a curfew.

This reprints the two tongue-in-cheek young adult adventures of Francesca the Amazonian psychic written as Katie Maxwell. The cast in each tale, whether they are normal, supernatural, or hybrid in-betweeners, make for a fun time. However, this omnibus edition belongs to kick-butt Francesca whose action-packed escapades will be enjoyed by the targeted audience and long-toothed readers; while writing as Katie MacAlister has brought Francesca back in a delightful adult adventure (see In the Company of Vampires).

Harriet Klausner

You know you're a fan of Katie Maxwell because you still refer to her as Katie Maxwell -- She goes by Katie MacAlister nowadays. And thank the Book gods for her, because her novels were my first introduction to the Young Adult lit world.

Before I start, I should explain that Confessions of a Vampires Girlfriend is comprised of two books: Got Fangs? (2005) and Circus of the Darned (2006)

I did read both books separately, but because they are currently Out of Print I decided to just review the omnibus edition, Confessions of a Vampires Girlfriend.

Got Fangs? and Circus of the Darned were some of the earliest vampire books I read. I am talking before Borders (R.I.P) and Barnes and Nobles' shelves were flooded with Paranormal/Fantasy YA.

Francesca was "every-girl" and I related to her instantly. She was an awkward teen trying to figure out where she belonged. Um, story of my life! How could I not find her incredibly endearing? And of course Ben was my first vampire crush. Yes, people, there were other sexy, less sparkly, vamps to choose from before Edward Cullen. Plus, Ben was different. He was all man...and he came with a sexy motorcycle. *le sigh*

Note to Self: Must stop using the word sexy.

As weird as it sounds, I have so many great memories with this little series. Like all of Katie's books, this one is such a quick and enjoyable read. If anything, just buy it for the HILARIOUS Viking ghosts. Trust me.

If you're interested, Katie published In The Company of Vampires (2010), a followup to Confessions of a Vampire's Girlfriend. Please note, however, that this is an ADULT book, so racy, sweat-inducing scenes are sexily strewn throughout the book.

Don't say I didn't warn you...

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 11 reviews  3.7 out of 5 stars