Dating the Undead

PARANORMAL ROMANCE

Title: Dating the Undead
Author: Juliet Lyons
Publication date: 05/02/2017
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Kindle Unlimited: No
Cliffhanger: No
Rating: 3 out of 5

Blurb (from Amazon.com):
Silver Harris is done with clingy men--maybe men altogether. But when she shares a toe-curling kiss with a sexy Irish vampire on New Year's Eve, she decides maybe it's human men she's done with. Silver turns to the popular vampire dating site, V-Date. When the undead gentlemen come calling, soon she's in over her head. And her mysterious hottie is nowhere to be found...

Logan Byrne can't get that sassy redhead out of his head--or that kiss! When his boss assigns him to spy on V-Date members, he meets Silver again.

Turns out, the police are recruiting humans to snitch on vampires through the dating site. As the snark and sparks fly, feelings between Silver and Logan grow deep. Logan isn't sure he can go through with his mission to make Silver forget everything she knows about vampires...and betray her.
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But in the tight-knit London community of centuries-old vampires, history and grudges run deep and dating the undead can be risky business.

My review
This is one of those tough books to review. Books that I loved? Easy to rate and review. Books that I hated? Oddly enough, those are even easier to rate and review. But books that were just OK? Those are tough to talk about because they didn’t leave a strong impression on me one way or the other. This was one of those “meh” reads that I could’ve gone on living happily without. It wasn’t the worst I’ve ever read, but it was also far, far from the best.

With that in mind, I guess I’ll start with the positives:

• There’s an interesting premise here. A vampire dating site for fang-followers to hook up with the undead hottie of their choosing? Lots of potential there.
• Logan is a great character. He’s Irish, funny, sexy, snarky, and ready to do whatever it takes to be with the woman he loves. In my head, he was Captain Hook (aka Killian Jones) from Once Upon a Time, which totally works for me. (I do love me some Killian Jones)
• Pacing is smooth and there’s a great mix of emotional and action-y scenes to keep things moving along nicely.           

But there were plenty of negatives that irked the bejesus out of me, too:

• Silver, the heroine, is—I think—intended to be “spunky”. If she was in a Western romance, we’d say she was a “spitfire”. But many authors seem to mistake “spunky” for bitchy. If I had to label Silver, I’d definitely say she was a bitch. Case in point: after Logan has done nothing but help her (when he clearly could’ve killed her a hundred times over at this point), they have this little exchange:

“So, what do you want?” I ask, tucking my bag under my arm and gazing at him with narrowed eyes.

“Just to see you home safely,” he says. “It’s dangerous to walk around London on your own at night.”

I give off a little snort of derision and purse my lips, glancing up and down the quiet street. “Fine,” I say. “Walk me home.” I lean forward in what I hope is a menacing way. “But you should know, I have pepper spray in my purse and I’ve attended the finest self-defense classes in the greater London area.”

• I think a simple “thank you” or a “no, I prefer to walk home alone” would’ve sufficed. Oh, and three or four pages after this exchange? The bitchy/”spunky” heroine is making out with Logan and encouraging him to bite her. So, I guess I’d have to add “flighty” and possible “self-destructive” to Silver’s list of attributes. 
• There’s a little subplot about the police asking Silver to spy on vampires through the dating site that is completely unnecessary. The entire thing could’ve been left out of the story.
• Silver’s not even interested in the first vampire she dates through the website. She thinks he’s boring. Does that stop her from asking him to bite her? Nope. That’s about what I’d expect from a bitchy, flighty, self-destructive heroine like Silver. Just for fun, here’s another example of our heroine’s unique, um, charm:

"Get back here, vampire. I felt you up; now you feel me up. That's how it works in the twenty-first century. This isn't Jane Austen. I'm not bloody Elizabeth Bennet."

• I’m soooooo over the “evil woman who made me a vampire is out to kill my new lady love” trope in paranormal romance. Only Teresa Medeiros has done this one right, in my opinion.

So, for me, this one was “meh” with a side of “blah”. But if you’re a big fan of the genre, it’s not the worst thing you’ll ever read. (How’s that for a glowing recommendation?)

Full disclosure: I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Does this book contribute to or help crush the romance stigma?
Contributes. Silver’s attitude toward vampires is totally unrealistic, as is the super-quick nature of her romance with Logan.  

Other reading suggestions
For funny human-dates-paranormal creature reads, try the Naked Werewolf series by Molly Harper. ​

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