Gloriana St. Claire, Glory to her friends, has decided to
reinvent herself once again, as often must happen with
vampires with a few centuries under their belt. Having
spent time in Vegas as a dancer, her next stop is Austin,
Texas, where she intends to open a vintage clothing shop,
Vintage Vamps Emporium. With her car loaded with clothing
and her mind-talking Labradoodle, Valdez, as companion,
Glory takes off in the dead of night to begin her new life.
In Austin, Glory's on-again-off-again lover (and creator),
Scot Jeremiah "Jeremy Blade" Campbell, tries to convince
her to return with him to his casino, all for her
protection, of course. Apparently there's a new vampire
hunter in town, collecting fangs of the undead, and his
most recent victim was Blade's best friend.
Independent Glory decides she'd rather stay in Austin with
her newfound vamp friends. She opens Vintage Vamps, and the
shop is an immediate hit, which brings her to the attention
of the vampire hunter, Westwood. Working with her friends,
who include a Casanova named Damian, his sister Florence,
Diana, who owns the muffin shop next to Vintage Vamps, and
a were-cat who manages the shop in the daylight hours, and,
of course, Blade, the intrepid group work to discover how
Westwood is targeting the vampire community, since most
vamps work to blend in with their communities. When more
vampires turn up dead, this time not at the hands of
Westwood and his high-tech hunting methods, they wonder if
perhaps there's a rogue vampire in their midst. Using
Kevlar bras and their highly developed senses, this band of
determined vampires sets out to destroy those hunting them
before more of their brethren are staked.
REAL VAMPIRES HAVE CURVES by Gerry Bartlett is a
hilariously delightful look into the vampire world. Glory
is upbeat and fun and the book is peppered with unique
characters who blow away many of the vampire stereotypes.
Valdez is one of my favorite characters, as fleshed out as
any of the "human" characters. I'm pretty picky about my
vampire worlds, and I found this one was comfortable and
not out of whack with the world in general. Readers will be
able to easily believe that there's a Vintage Vamps
Emporium in Austin. Add snappy dialogue and an entertaining
story and Ms. Bartlett has a winner. I look forward to her
next story, REAL VAMPIRES LIVE LARGE, coming in July!
What-did you think all vamps were pale, thin and brooding?
Don't I wish.
Gloriana St. Clair is an eternally "full-figured" vampire-
she just happened to be bloating when a sexy Scotsman sank
his teeth into her. She and said Scot-Angus Jeremiah
Campbell III, aka Jeremy Blade-have been on and off again
for centuries, currently off. A couple hundred years has
taught them how to press each other's buttons-in good ways
and bad.
Glory's headed for Austin and a new business venture:
Vintage Vamp's Emporium. After all, she loves clothes, and
she is an antique. Only problem is, there's a billionaire
techno-freak vampire hunter on the loose. Blade's in total
he-vampire mode, and wants Glory to move in with him so he
can "protect" her. But it's time for this vamp to explore
her own powers
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