My vampire plus-one

Tired of her family's never-ending inquiries into her dating status, Amelia Collins invents a plus-one for an upcoming wedding. The problem is that now everyone wants to meet Amelia's new boyfriend. With just a few days to conjure up a suitable fake beau, Amelia asks Reginald Cleaves, the weirdly charming and annoyingly sexy stranger who bumped into her outside work one day, if he would pretend to be her new romantic interest. Their simple fauxmance quickly becomes complicated, however, once Amelia discovers that Reggie comes with some baggage of his own that might be a tad difficult to explain to her family and friends. Whether she's describing vampire Reggie's adoption of journaling to get in touch with his emotions (samples of which are artfully sprinkled throughout the book) or Amelia's ongoing efforts to bring her latest corporate client into tax compliance, Levine (My Roommate Is a Vampire, 2023) is in fine literary fettle with her latest paranormal-kissed romance that brilliantly highlights her flair for creative characterization and deliciously humorous writing.

Steady, reliable Amelia Collins' is an accountant in a job that's stressful but reliably boring. Wanting to shake up her family's expectations for her up-to-now extremely dull and quiet dating life, she finds the perfect solution when she literally bumps into Reginald on the slushy streets of Chicago. Whether for his peculiar fashion choices or his ridiculous sense of humor, Reggie is the ideal fake-date for an upcoming family wedding. But Amelia certainly wasn't expecting to learn about his penchant for drinking blood and his complicated history that is considerably longer than the length of a normal human's lifespan. When Reggie's past pranks land him in hot water in the present, it's even more obvious how different he and Amelia are. Falling for a vampire isn't practical or predictable, but the more time she spends with Reggie, the more Amelia realizes he might be worth moving their relationship from fake to literally forever. VERDICT This hilarious, sexy novel about a surprisingly quirky and charming couple is the perfect accompaniment to Levine's equally vampire-filled debut, My Roommate Is a Vampire.--Jenna Harmison

*Starred Review* Tired of her family's never-ending inquiries into her dating status, Amelia Collins invents a plus-one for an upcoming wedding. The problem is that now everyone wants to meet Amelia's new boyfriend. With just a few days to conjure up a suitable fake beau, Amelia asks Reginald Cleaves, the weirdly charming and annoyingly sexy stranger who bumped into her outside work one day, if he would pretend to be her new romantic interest. Their simple fauxmance quickly becomes complicated, however, once Amelia discovers that Reggie comes with some baggage of his own that might be a tad difficult to explain to her family and friends. Whether she's describing vampire Reggie's adoption of journaling to get in touch with his emotions (samples of which are artfully sprinkled throughout the book) or Amelia's ongoing efforts to bring her latest corporate client into tax compliance, Levine (My Roommate Is a Vampire, 2023) is in fine literary fettle with her latest paranormal-kissed romance that brilliantly highlights her flair for creative characterization and deliciously humorous writing. Copyright 2024 Booklist Reviews.

Steady, reliable Amelia Collins' is an accountant in a job that's stressful but reliably boring. Wanting to shake up her family's expectations for her up-to-now extremely dull and quiet dating life, she finds the perfect solution when she literally bumps into Reginald on the slushy streets of Chicago. Whether for his peculiar fashion choices or his ridiculous sense of humor, Reggie is the ideal fake-date for an upcoming family wedding. But Amelia certainly wasn't expecting to learn about his penchant for drinking blood and his complicated history that is considerably longer than the length of a normal human's lifespan. When Reggie's past pranks land him in hot water in the present, it's even more obvious how different he and Amelia are. Falling for a vampire isn't practical or predictable, but the more time she spends with Reggie, the more Amelia realizes he might be worth moving their relationship from fake to literally forever. VERDICT This hilarious, sexy novel about a surprisingly quirky and charming couple is the perfect accompaniment to Levine's equally vampire-filled debut, My Roommate Is a Vampire.—Jenna Harmison