Vampire Interrupted: An Argeneau Novel [Mass Market Paperback]

With Vampire Interrupted Sands wraps up a great Argeneau vampire romance in a much deeper and complicated plot than usual and includes several twists that end up making this a fresh addition to her long running series.

Finally it is Argeneau matriarch Marguerite's turn to find her lifemate after playing matchmaker to all of her extended family in the previous books. Knowing of Marguerite's hellish 500 year marriage to a vamp who was not her lifemate, it is not surprising that Marguerite is a bit cautious when she first begins feeling the heated pull to gorgeous Julius Notte. Julius doesn't seem to feel the same reluctance to persue Marguerite as a lifemate even though he has lost a lifemate in the past, a relationship he refuses to discuss. It is actually this lack of disclosure that fuels his son Christian's search for information on the mother he never knew, and it is that search that brings Julius and Marguerite together as the case to uncover the truth is Marguerite's first in her new career as PI. But even as Julius promises not to hinder Marguerite progress, there is a mysterious assassin that keeps trying to take Marguerite out of the picture permanently. Determined not to suffer the anguish of loosing a lifemate again, Julius will do everything in his power to keep Marguerite safe, but will he reveal the painful secrets that have been hidden for centuries?

Without revealing any of the surprises, a nice thing about the romance between Marguerite and Julius is that both characters are presented as more mature than the leads in Sands previous romances -- even though Marguerite's son Lucerne is in reality only a hundred years younger. And because Marguerite and Julius are older characters, both have major past relationship issues that they have to overcome to be together. For Julius part of his past to overcome is that his loss changed him into a darker, more serious and grumpier person, so in the book it is fun watching him get hints from his son and a quirkly mortal on how to court a woman again after being alone for so long. Marguerite's martial nightmare makes her more cautious with Julius, but having known such unhappiness, it also makes her more suseptible to the lure of a happily ever after even though that sounds like a contradiction.

I liked Vampire Interrupted and it works fine as a standalone read, but it is original enough that you will still enjoy it even if you thought you were getting tired of the Argenaus. And if you can't get enough of them, Sands does a nice family reunion at the end of Vampire Interrupted bringing all the pairs together at Lissiana's child's christening. Sands has started including a Argenau family tree in the front of her books, so hmm, who's next? (Unless you have the ARC version of this book, heed the other reviewers' warnings and don't check out family tree until after you've read the book.)

The rest of the books in Lynsay Sands Argenau series:
A Quick Bite ( Book 1)
Love Bites (Argeneau Vampires, Book 2)
Single White Vampire (Argeneau Vampires, Book 3)
Tall, Dark & Hungry (Argeneau Vampires, Book 4)
A Bite to Remember (Argeneau Vampires, Book 5)
Bite Me If You Can (Argeneau Vampires, Book 6)
The Accidental Vampire (Argeneau Vampires, Book 7)
Vampires Are Forever (Argeneau Vampires, Book 8)

If you are looking for a new vamp series that has a similar 'bite', bag-feeding vamps and a bit of humour mixed in with the romance, you might want to give Kerrilyn Sparks Love at Stake series a try:
How To Marry a Millionaire Vampire (Love at Stake, Book 1)
Vamps and the City (Love at Stake, Book 2) (This is my favorite)
Be Still My Vampire Heart (Love at Stake, Book 3)
Sugarplums and Scandal (Contains a connected short)

Lynsay Sands's Argeneau series is one of my favorites. Unlike other series (by other authors) in which the writing seems to become forced, the storylines repetitive, or the multi-book story arc so tangled and confusing that you can't figure out what's going on, the quality of the Argeneau novels--the writing and the storylines--have been consistently great throughout the series.

_Vampire, Interruped_, is the story of Marguerite, the Argeneau matriarch. It has all the hallmarks of a Lynsay Sands novel--it's funny, exciting, sexy, and has a good mystery to spin the tale around. Well worth reading.

However, there are a couple problems that are more the fault of her editors than the author:

1- As mentioned in a previous review, the family tree in the front of the book spoils one of the larger plot points of the story. (NOTE: The previous review also contains the actual spoiler within the review--fair warning if you're reading these before buying the book.) I'd gently suggest to the editors at Avon that if family relationships are part of the plot, don't disclose that relationship information in the front matter of the book!

2- Overall, the editing is good (the copyediting, not so much), but there are a couple things that pinged my attention--one involving the disposition of Tiny's cell cellphone and the other concerning Christian's musical performances. In both instances, these are things that should have been caught during the editing process and weren't.

Bottom line: Classic Lynsay Sands and a great addition to the Argeneau series. A definite must read, but DON'T read the family tree in the front of the book first.

VAMPIRE INTERRUPTED

I didn't care for the last two Sand's books and hence my last two reviews on these series have been negative. I was hard pressed to pick up another Argeneau novel as they were starting to get monotonous and rather stereotyped. The rave reviews here made me give it a try. And for which I am so glad!!!! This is by far the best Argeneau novel in the series! In VAMPIRES ARE FOREVER - Sands set up a series of events that were terribly confusing but now, after reading VAMPIRE INTERRUPTED make sense.

VAMPIRE INTERRUPTED takes up right where VAMPIRES ARE FOREVER finishes and is told from Marguerite Argeneau's perspective. Having raised four children - and successfully found lifemates for all of them - and most of the Argeneau clan - Marguerite decided to take on a new career and try out her sleuth skills as a private detective. She is hired by Christian Notte - an immortal searching for his mother. Christian's father - Julius Notte will not tell is son who his mother is. To him she is dead - and that is the end of it.

Julius and Marguerite have met before - though she doesn't recall. He's also met Jean Claude Argeneau - Margeuerite's now deceased husband. Marguerite's marriage to Jean Claude was a living nightmare, something she doesn't discuss and above all is not going to repeat. However - Marguerite feels drawn to Julius - even as she lacks trust in him due to the fact that she is surprised that being Christian's father, he will not reveal to his own son who his mother was.

Marguerite's past contains answers to some of the weird events taking place - as all traipse to York in England - with hopes that the city will reveal some of the answers everyone is looking for.

Not as humorous as her previous books, VAMPIRE INTERRUPTED carries a more serious overtone. The attraction between Julius and Marguerite is palpable, yet there is obviously more to it than meets the eye. Both ancient immortals that have met in the past.

The plot was very inventive, well written and kept me on my toes - wanting to find out who the villain was and who in the end was Christian's mother. Even the title was very ingenious!

I do, however have to agree - with most reviewers here - that the editing was lousy!! The book is liberally sprinkled with error after error! Lynsay Sands needs to get new editors for sure. It ALMOST ruined such a fabulous book - ALMOST! Please try to overlook that and read this great novel - perfect plot telling Marguerite Argeneau's story. Lynsay redeemed herself with this one!!