Review of "In the Company of Vampires" by Katie MacAlister

 OMG IT'S FINALLY HERE! The book I have been waiting years for! THANK YOU, KATIE for finally get Ben and Fran's story out there.

Disclaimer: This book was purchased for me by my aunt, because she is awesome. I was not given this book, nor anything else, in exchange for a review. I am an Amazon Affiliate, which means... please buy via my link?

Type: Paranormal Romance, Dark Ones, Reunion, Vikings run amok, Weasel Gold, Regaining a soul (or not), A were that knows nothing about relationships

Why this book?: DUH, it's BEN and FRAN! I've been waiting for this since finishing book two of the Goth Faire series!

About the book: Francesca Ghetti's best friend was just kidnapped. Fortunately, Fran managed to find her, but after a frantic phone call or four, she notices her mother has also gone missing. So Fran decides to return to Europe to hopefully find her mother and maybe see her exboyfriend Ben - oops, I mean just to find her mother. But more and more things are going missing, and life with Ben is getting interesting, so maybe she won't be running away again after all... Toss in some secret relatives, a gaggle of amazingly hilarious Vikings, a romance to sigh over, and you have the start of an AMAZING book.

This is it, the book I have been waiting for FOREVER, or at least it feels like it. When I started reading Katie MacAlister, I read *everything* by her, including her teen fiction series, the Goth Faire books, under the name Katie Maxwell. I inhaled them, and I still pick them up and re-read them from time to time. But they ended far too soon, after only two books. I resigned myself to never hearing more, until Katie announced Ben and Fran would be the hero and heroine of the next Dark Ones book. I followed all the status updates giving hints about the books, I eagerly read the blog posts, I entered all the contests hoping to get an advanced copy.. but alas, no. So instead, on the release day, November 2nd, I went to SIX stores to find my copy.. and ended up only getting it at 9:45 PM that night. My Mom ran out with me (it was a 30 plus minute drive there), and my aunt was kind enough to give me a gift card to buy it with. So there you have it, my not-so-epic tale of anticipation for "In the Company of Vampires." Maybe now I should get to the review.

I laughed out loud in the car, earning weird looks from my family. I snorted and threw my hands up during frustrating moments, earning weird looks from people in other cars on the interstate. And when it was over, I felt.. empty still. Katie MacAlister has recently mentioned that while Ben and Fran will feature in other Dark Ones books, they will not be the main characters again, at least it's not likely. And while Ben and Fran's story is mostly told, there are so many questions left unanswered, it was hard not to feel a little let down at the end of the book. In the first few Dark Ones books, things were mostly wrapped up by the end of each book, but we've started getting more and more questions in the past several books in the series - and now "In the Company of Vampires" added a dozen or so more.

I'm not sure readers that are not familiar with the original Goth Faire books would truly appreciate all of the jokes, and most importantly - Ben and Fran's relationship. And lucky for those readers, the two Goth Faire books have been released as an omnibus with a swankified new cover! That's right, Katie MacAlister released "Confessions of a Vampire's Girlfriend," so any interested reader could get caught up. Even without reading these books, however, I think ItCoV can stand on it's own as a hilarious story - the Vikings will literally make you laugh out loud. But I really do recommend reading "Confessions of a Vampire's Girlfriend" as well as the previous Dark One novels, not just for the backstory.. but because they are quite awesome. But anyways, I thought the book was handled well - Ben and Fran had been apart for so long (or barely seeing each other), that they had to re-learn who the other is, which means any reader new to the Ben and Fran books can re-learn right along with them... Or just learn, as they would not really be re-learning but.. Well, you know what I mean.

So I'm giving "In the Company of Vampires" by Katie MacAlister a FIVE out of FIVE (5/5). Any book that can make me laugh that hard and squeak in public deserves the highest rating possible. I'd probably give it a six if that wasn't fangirl-y overkill. If you need a laugh, and love a good reunion story with some paranormal friction tossed in, be sure to pick up "In the Company of Vampires".. or really any of Katie Mac's books.

Have you read this book? Tell me your thoughts in the comments! Want to read it? Pick up your copy at Amazon.com by clicking the link to the left.

Happy Reading!
~!~ Morning Glow ~!~