My Vampire Plus-One is a paranormal-contemporary romance by Jenna Levine. Amelia is an orderly accountant deep into the stress of the tax season, whose joke at a family dinner was taken far too seriously, and she couldn’t stop herself from going on with the lie. This lie now means she needs to desperately find a boyfriend to take to her cousin’s wedding. Good thing she quite literally ran into a loudly dressed, far too attractive man that same night and couldn’t help but keep thinking about him. Reginald is trying to hide from people who are hell-bent on seeing to his demise, and blending in isn’t something this vampire is capable of or actually enjoys doing. Still, nothing says normal like a family wedding. It’s just a fake dating scenario; nothing ever comes of those, right?
I found it quite easy to connect with Amelia. She is someone who likes order in all things in life to the point when one thing is out of place, her whole life feels like it’s spiralling into chaos, she worries far too often about far too many things, her family doesn’t listen to her, so she’s simply stopped trying to get them too anymore, and she’s so hard-working that everything about living a life outside of work isn’t close to being near her plate of priorities, and of course, I can easily relate to feeling judgement from my own cat; what cat owner can’t? She was also really supportive; I loved that side of her, to reach out and give care to others, even a stranger like Reginald. Maybe that’s because the only support she gets is from her friend Sophie or her brother Sam when she lets them in enough to receive it. And it was lovely that the support she offered Reginald returned when she needed it as well, without her having to ask for it. I did find myself just waiting, almost desperately, for her to push back and talk to her family openly about how they make her feel and to also just live a bit more, which is why Reginald was the perfect juxtaposition to Amelia.
Reginald is everything chaos; in fact, he thrives in it. He is loud in everything he does because he is not afraid to be seen, and his choice of clothing begs for it. I share his love for Twilight, and the idea of him loving it brings me endless joy. Aside from his terrible dress sense, there is so much about Reginald that I love. He doesn’t take anything too seriously; he’s sexy, confidant, protective, slightly self-absorbed, cares so deeply for those he’s marked as his, he’s super cute, and he’s a smitten little pup for Amelia. His only true connection is with his friend Frederick, but even with him, Reginald seems to create a wall; he has many walls or many facades he likes to hide behind to distract others, or maybe just himself, from the fact that he’s lonely. I loved watching him drop the facade, or perhaps just make a crack in it to allow Amelia to see more of who he is; it was such a lovely insight. I enjoyed this just as much as I enjoyed seeing Amelia let loose and give up a little control, but, let’s be honest, in that carnal scene, she had all the control, and Reginald loves it when she does probably just a smidgen more than he loves her talking taxes.
Unfortunately, there were a few things that made me lower my star rating as I read this book, and I know it’s an ARC, so some of this stuff may be altered before release, but the discord parts, the Collective sections, emails, bullet journal entries, and the talk of taxes were just far too often to be enjoyable, and while some of it could be amusing, I was rushing through it to get to the next part. In all honesty, the only times I was really gripped was when Amelia and Reginald were together or interacting with either of their friends because that added some much-needed spark of heat or humour to the book. I don’t want to give anything away, but there’s a big section later on in the book that, while it helped solve the problem at hand, was dreadfully slow, and I was fairly uninterested in it completely. There’s even something in the epilogue that I felt was completely unnecessary because I had already guessed who the real culprit was a few chapters earlier. And my final gripe was with Amelia herself. I did find her charming, and I connected to her very easily, but for someone so smart, she is shockingly oblivious. I thanked Sophie for making it so we could move past her miscommunication and that we could carry on with the romance at hand. But despite all of this, I do have to give Jenna Levine a shout-out for the perfect meet-cute, a perfect glimpse into what their future might hold in the epilogue, and for the surprising level of heat in this book; the scene was worth waiting for!
Admittedly, I struggled to rate this one. I loved the scenes when Amelia and Reginald were together, even the scenes when one or both of the characters were with Sophie and Frederick, but I struggled to find enjoyment when the chapter was solely on either main character. As I explained above, the talk of taxes, discord excepts, bullet journal entries, emails, and the Collective sections just felt as though they bogged down the speed at which I was reading. At times, they could be amusing, but I just wanted to skim through them. I was just eagerly awaiting the next chapter that had both main characters interacting again, with their easy-to-see and ever-growing chemistry. Despite how much I loved the humour and the surprising sprinkle of heat they shared later on in the book, I just wasn’t that taken with the book as a whole. Even still, I have to admit that Reginald and Amelia are perfectly made for each other, and that’s why I’ll be rating My Vampire Plus-One, Three out of Five Stars.
I’d recommend My Vampire Plus-One to those who like their paranormal romance to have some contemporary romance energy—anything with a fake dating scenario, main characters that appear to be complete opposites, the surprising twist of the buttoned-up character being cheekier than expected, humorous lines, a mild hit of heat, and of course, a HEA. This was my first Jenna Levine book, and while it wasn’t a complete hit for me, I’m very excited to try out My Roommate is a Vampire because I’d love to see where Cassie and Frederick began, and if you did read My Roommate is a Vampire, you’ll love to see where they are currently.
I want to thank Random House UK (Cornerstone) for allowing me the opportunity to eARC for My Vampire Plus-One via Netgalley. As this is an ARC, the final released copy (releasing 26th September 2024) may have been edited, and therefore the quotes I have used may no longer be in it. And because Amazon believes three stars is a bad rating, I will bump the rating of this book to four stars when I leave my review on that platform only.
Favourite Quotes
“His half-smile slid into a smirk. “So you think about me, do you?””
– loc 648
“How long had it been since a man had openly stared at me like this? Like I was someone he found desirable. Like I was something he wanted.”
– loc 1113
“There was something about him that displaced every molecule and atom and particle around us until all I could see was him.”
– loc 2249
“But I was nothing if not irrational. I was greedy and selfish, too. I’d take any amount of time Amelia was willing to give me and be grateful for it.”
– loc 2672
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Finer Details:
Title: My Vampire Plus-One
Author: Jenna Levine
Pages: 400
Publisher: Random House UK (Cornerstone), Penguin
Publication: 2024
Language: English
Rating: 3/5