Narrated by Amy Rubinate
How to Seduce a Vampire (Without Really Trying) is a humorous, paranormal romance set in a fantasy world of mythical creatures, including vampires, shapeshifters, dragons, and even Amazon women. The fifteenth book in the popular Love At Stake series, it can easily be appreciated on a stand-alone basis. Further complementing this story is Amy Rubinate’s experienced narration making this a fun, enjoyable listen.
Zoltan Czakvar, a 700+ year-old vampire living in a castle in Transylvania (yes, this book definitely contains some stereotypical vampire lore), is on a mission to find his father’s murderer. Along his journey to discover the truth, Zoltan comes to what appears to be an untouched, arcane village of Amazon women. Upon his discovery, more than just his sense of revenge is piqued, as he stumbles upon Neona, a warrior woman, who he mistakenly believes is in need of protection from a leopard cat. He soon discovers it is her pet, leading to some funny repartees (especially between Zoltan and the leopard cat, who he can communicate with), and their unusual introduction brings to light a mutual attraction.
Neona, in turn, has her own mission. In order to ensure the survival of her people, she is required to find a mate – a task that is easier said than done when only women are allowed to inhabit her hometown which is full of feminist women who believe men serve no useful purpose other than procreation.
Finding Zoltan to be handsome, brave, and of seeming intelligence, she determines that he will be the one. It’s a task which Zoltan is not adverse to, even if he does find Neona much more inexperienced and naive than he originally could have imagined given her quest. Further complicating matters is the fact that Neona is hiding one whopper of a secret from Zoltan. And so begins Zoltan’s and Neona’s eventful journey that takes them on a crazy ride full of jests, danger, adventure, and romance.
While I found How to Seduce a Vampire (Without Really Trying) entertaining enough, truth be told, it did not grab my attention as much as I had hoped. Perhaps I have read or listened to one too many paranormal vampire romances. A sub-genre which at one time was my absolute favorite, today I find it harder and harder to find a true gem. While this book does contain some suspense and adventure, and some rather lightly described seduction and passion (normally huge draws for me), these areas were lacking a special spark. Instead, I found myself enjoying the humor most of all, especially with Ms. Rubinate’s clever delivery thereof.
Being a fan of a number of Ms. Rubinate’s past works, particularly Kiera Cass’ The Selection series, I had high expectations for this narration and she does not disappoint. I find Ms. Rubinate’s ability to deliver highly differentiated voices for both female and male characters enthralling, and was impressed with her interpretation of varying accents for the huge cast of characters from different countries and regions. While I have heard complaints that her reading of general narrative passages can be monotonous, I rather enjoy her style, as it helps me distinguish those passages from the more emotionally filled dialogue, making it blend into the background where it belongs.
Ms. Rubinate’s characterization of Zoltan, with his slight Transylvania accent, helps bring to life this old vampire’s protective, sexy package. Rounding out Zoltan’s embodiment is her pacing which communicates the nuanced jokes and underlying meanings that Zoltan so frequently includes in his words. Meanwhile, Ms. Rubinate expertly breaths life into her rendition of Neona by producing just the right sweet sounding voice that hints at her surprising innocence, a necessary factor for understanding Zoltan’s subtle humor.
All in all, How to Seduce a Vampire (Without Really Trying) is a slightly above-average story that is made even better by Ms. Rubinate’s narration. While comical, paranormal romances may not be at the top of my wishlist these days, I will definitely be sure to check out Kerrelyn Sparks’ other works, the next time I’m in the mood for one.
BJ
Narration: B+
Book Content: B-
Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in
Violence: Fighting
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Harper Audio
How to Seduce a Vampire (Without Really Trying) was provided to AudioGals for review by Harper Audio
An enjoyable entry and much better narration than some of the earlier ones. I had one small quibble, Emma, a former heroine in the series is English and this is a central part of her character, for those who follow the series her slight southern? drawl has the ability to distract from the story. Surely someone could have mentioned it to the narrator? Other than that, nice to have Zoltan’s story at last and a continuation of the Master Han etc story arc of the latter part of the series. If you like light vampire/shifter etc this series is worth a listen.
I loved this VAMPIRE book How to seduce a vampire but the end is not that good .I mean do they find the Dragon boy Xiao Fang is their another book where he is found WHAT !!!! PLEASE LET ME KNOW