"The latest addition in this hilarious vampire series has lots of new twists."
Reviewed by Paula Myers
Posted November 8, 2010
Romance Paranormal
Making her stand for independence isn't working out as well
as Gloriana St. Clair envisioned. Her former bodyguard,
Valdez, has assumed his human form, not only teasing her
with his great body but also with his fabulous cooking
skills. She's stressing out helping plan the wedding of
best friend Flo. Jerry, her maker, is walking temptation,
she finds herself the target of an assassination plot put
in motion by long-time enemy Westwood, the energy vampires
are courting her, and a demon has taken up residence,
causing hot flashes and tempting her with lust. When Glory
acts on an impulse, egged on by demon Alesa, her centuries
old relationship with Jerry is on the line. Independence
is one thing, but going it alone this time could be the
beginning of the end of her relationship with Jerry and
maybe her life. REAL VAMPIRES HAVE MORE TO LOVE is the latest in the
hilarious vampire series by Gerry Bartlett. Glory
St. Clair is a truly enjoyable character with her oh-so-
human problems. Her world is populated with a variety of
the wacky and creepy and super-sexy, and disaster is often
lurking nearby. The addition of Alesa is an interesting
twist bringing more trouble to Glory's already crazy life,
and meeting Valdez out of his labradoodle persona is a
treat. There are some unexpected twists in this latest
adventure. This one is hard to put down!
SUMMARY
Dangerous curves lie ahead in the latest hilarious novel
from the national bestselling author of Real Vampires Hate
Their Thighs. Glory St. Clair is a vampire with man trouble.
Between her on-again, off-again lover Jeremy Blade, smoking
hot rock star Ray Caine, and former bodyguard turned
apartment mate Valdez, there's enough man-candy around to
make even a gal with a liquid diet feel a sugar rush. Glory's got no time to enjoy it, though, considering that
she's in the middle of planning her best friend's wedding.
And let's not forget that there happens to be a hit on her
head, thanks to when she took out a techno-freak
billionaire. Now, between planning a bachelorette party and
dodging stakes, Glory has to decide which man she really
wants, before her love life meets an early grave...
ExcerptChapter One "Would you quit walking around here naked?" I’d
tolerated the smell of coffee and--much, much worse—baking
cinnamon rolls, but I’d be damned if I’d watch my new
roommate eat and drink wearing nothing more than a damp towel. "Why, Glory? Is the sight of my bare chest getting to
you?" Rafael Valdez licked white icing off one fingertip and
my fangs stabbed through my gums. "Listen. I’ve put up with your marathon showers until
there’s no hot water left for mine. And your cooking
smells." Oh, great. Tears. But was it fair? Rafe’s a
shape-shifter and seemed to have an insatiable appetite.
He’d spent nearly five years stuck in dog form acting as my
bodyguard. Now he was staying all too human and no longer at
my mercy for his menu. Who knew he was a gourmet cook? Of
course popping open a can of sweet rolls may not be gourmet
in some books, but I knew Nirvana when I smelled it. He polished off roll number six—yes, I’d been
counting—then stood. I would not notice the towel flapping
open. He strolled over—flap, flap--to lay a gentle hand on
my shoulder. Someone in this apartment was making a trip to
the nearest discount store to get jumbo beach towels
tonight. Since Rafe obviously didn’t care who ogled his
family jewels, that someone would have to be me. Serve him
right if I bought hot pink Hello Kitty. Let him strut his
stuff in that. "I’m sorry, Glory." He smiled, his dimples showing. It was still a shock to see Valdez the human hunk.
He’d been a cute dog, usually a Labradoodle with wavy black
hair. Still had the thick curly locks, with dark eyes to
match, but now there was a whole Latin lover thing going on,
complete with those teasing dimples that were an absolute
killer where the ladies were concerned. Not me, of course. We were friends. Nothing more. V
knew way too much about me. He’d been an up close and
personal witness to my love life, a tangled mess at the
moment. And he’d listened to me wail ad nauseam about my
issues. Which were numerous. I’m even afraid he knows my
deepest, darkest secret—the number when I stepped on a
bathroom scale. I’d just been through a weight loss
experiment and had a feeling he’d peeked. I mean, wouldn’t
you if your best friend had been weighing in mere feet away? "Forget it, V. I’m a mess. Doesn’t take much to set me
off these days." My voice cracked. Oops. Was another
meltdown coming? Personally, I was sick of myself. Made some
tough decisions lately and regretted at least one of them
almost instantly. "No, Glory, I’ve been an ass. I get it. Vampires can’t
eat. I know what it’s like to crave what you can’t have." He
pulled me into his arms and I felt weepy enough to actually
lean into him. Damn those cinnamon rolls. Out of a can, but
still. "It’s, it’s just that they smell so good." And he
looked so fine. And felt so warm and strong and… I sucked it
up and pushed back. "We need to get some things straight
here." I didn’t have to glance down to know that, hello,
part of him was already headed that direction under the
stupid skimpy towel. Nice to know Mr. Tall, Dark and Shifty
wasn’t immune to my dubious charms. Oh, who was I kidding? I still had on my shapeless
Snoopy nightshirt and hadn’t combed my hair since yesterday.
It was probably his breakfast Rafe was excited about. "Yeah, well. It’s your place. But I’ve got to eat."
His dimples were showing again as he headed back to sit at
the kitchen table. "I’ll scarf these down, then spray some
air freshener. Will that make you feel better?" I sighed and collapsed on the couch. "What would make
me feel better would be if you put on some clothes. Bought
some underwear, for crying out loud." "Whoa. Guess I am getting to you." He laughed. "Cut me
a break. I spent years naked inside a dog body. No wardrobe
necessary." He dragged a finger through a puddle of icing
and licked it clean. "And I’ve never been too crazy about
underwear. But for you, I’ll deal. I just haven’t had a
chance to shop. I’ve been trying to get this nightclub off
the ground." "Yeah, how’s that going?" I picked up my bottle of
synthetic blood. Yawn. Not even my favorite type. Because my
fave is expensive. And Glory St. Clair is always on a budget. "Not great. Everything costs more than I’d thought it
would. So today I finally caved and called an old friend.
She has plenty of money and likes the club scene.
Unfortunately, knowing Nadia, she won’t be a silent
partner." Rafe picked up his empty plate, rinsed it off and
set it in the sink. "Nadia? Is she a shifter too?" Even the name sounded
exotic. "Vampire. I worked for her back in the seventies.
She’s got bars and nightclubs all over the world. Austin
will be a new scene for her so she’s coming tomorrow to
scope it out. She wasn’t about to invest just on my say-so.
If she likes what she sees, we’ll strike a deal." Rafe
plopped into a chair across from me. Oh, he did not just flash me. I stood and stalked into
the kitchen to rinse out my glass bottle. We recycle. "Good luck with that. Now I’m going down to the shop.
Up here we need some rules. You’ve got to shower during the
day. While I’m conked out in my death sleep. The hot water
heater here only has one good shower a night in it and I
have a feeling you just took it." I strode over to the door
leading to the bathroom, dreading what I’d get when I tried
the water for my shower. "Sorry. My body clock’s still on vamp time. Work all
night, sleep all day, but with one eye open. You know?" Rafe
got up and sauntered over to face me. "Right. You went way above and beyond what any
paycheck required to protect me." I kept my eyes on his.
Otherwise, I’d be checking out that truly great chest just
inches from my nose. Didn’t help that his scent was as
familiar as my own. Hey, Valdez the dog had slept on the
foot of my bed for years. One inhale and I felt safe and
cared for. "We’re even. You saved my furry butt a time or two."
He grinned. "Like from a crowd of energy sucking psychos." "We’ll never be even." I couldn’t smile about that
memory. He’d almost been killed by a group of vampires who’d
been trying to get to me. "I’ll always be grateful to you.
But you’re off the payroll. And I’ve got to learn to deal
without a bodyguard now. We’re friends. Roommates. So sleep
with both eyes closed, buddy. You deserve that." I admit that, while I was determined to be independent
for the first time in my life, the concept freaked me out
more than a little. But I’d told my over-protective maker
and longtime lover, Jeremy Blade, to give me my space. That
included no more freebies like the twenty-four/seven
security he’d provided for the past, oh, four hundred years.
Stupid me had even turned down the chance to stay in
Hollywood and play house with amazing rock star Israel Caine. Sure I’m insane. But that’s me. Now I was out to prove
that I could stand on my own two vampire feet. In cute
shoes, of course. The fact that I’d cried myself to sleep
ever since I’d come back from Hollywood was just me being
stupid. "You deserve to be safe. How I sleep is my business,
Glory. Don’t stress about it." Rafe put his hands on my
shoulders. "And get this, lady." He stared down at me,
suddenly serious. No sign of a dimple. "Yeah, I’m your
friend and I’ll protect you if I see the need, with or
without a paycheck." "You shouldn’t--" I blinked when he backed me up to
the wall. "I don’t take orders from you any more. Right?" "Right. Rafe, what’s the deal"" His body felt almost
hot compared to my vamp subhuman temperature and it was so
close. I inhaled again but this time instead of "safe" I got
a sizzle of something I hadn’t expected. "The deal is I’ve watched you with Blade and Caine and
I figure there’s a reason you won’t commit to either one of
them." He moved his hands from my shoulders to my neck, his
thumbs doing funny things to the skin behind my ears. "Uh." I shivered, absolutely speechless for once. His grin was slow and knowing. "Don’t worry, Glory.
I’m not going to rush you. But one of these nights I’m going
to end up in your bed again and it’s not going to be lying
at your feet." He stepped back and headed down the hall, his towel
hitting the floor as he walked into the bedroom and shut the
door. I was left with the image of his perfect taut butt
burned into my brain. Dimples there too. Damn. # "Glory, I’m glad you’re here. Things have been crazy."
Lacy Devereau, my day manager and right-hand girl in the
shop, looked me over. "You okay?" "Fine. V’s been torturing me with his cooking again,
that’s all." I smiled at a customer who was heading toward a
dressing room with a vintage dress over her arm. "Business
good then?" "Okay, but that’s not the crazy part. It’s Flo. She’s
made this place into wedding central. You know I’m one of
her bridesmaids." Lacy glanced behind her and lowered her
voice. "You’ve got to stop her, Glory. She’s talking about
changing the dresses again. I don’t care if she is paying.
With the wedding only a few weeks away, they’ll never get
here on time." "You’re right. I’m on it." I picked up a pile of
receipts. The daily take hadn’t been too shabby. My vintage
clothing and antique store was on trendy Sixth Street,
between Mugs and Muffins, a coffee shop owned by a fellow
vamp, and a tattoo parlor. The location for Rafe’s nightclub
was a few blocks down. We weren’t far from the University of
Texas and my shop had become a hang-out for some of the
students. Since I called my place Vintage Vamp’s Emporium
and my bud Florence Da Vinci, the not so blushing bride, had
painted a vampire mural on the wall, we were really popular
with Goths and vampire wannabes. I’d tried to discourage
that at first, then played along, even passing out fake
fangs at Halloween. "Where’s Flo now? I’m not trying on any more
bridesmaid dresses." I’m Maid of Honor and had finally
persuaded my former roomie to go with black, slimming, and a
bodice that would cover a double D cup. Being a tiny size
six herself, Flo really didn’t get a full figured gal’s
issues with some of the cute little numbers she liked. "I’m right here, cara. Come see what I have in the
back." Flo had thrown open the door to my storeroom and
rushed forward to grab my hand. "You’ll love this dress.
Purple. Your color. It will look fabulous on you. Jeremiah
will take one look at you and--boom!—he’s yours again." Jeremiah. Jeremy Blade. Whatever the hell he chose to
call himself this week, he was my maker and once and almost
always lover. We’d parted ways in Los Angeles. He was there,
I was here. One of the reasons for my recent crying jags. "Jerry won’t be seeing me. He’s not here, remember?" I
didn’t resist when Flo dragged me into the back room. She
slammed the door. I hoped customers weren’t scared off, but
couldn’t get worked up about it. Jerry. I missed him. But
I’d told him we needed a break. So we were broken. Sniff. "He’ll be here. For the wedding. He’s going to be
Ricardo’s best man." Flo hugged me. "You’ll see. I fix
everything for my BFF." Ricardo or Richard Mainwaring was Flo’s husband.
They’d been married at one ceremony, but it hadn’t been up
to Flo’s standards. She’d decided she wanted a big wedding
and had turned into Bridezilla with fangs. Her rich brother
Damian was footing the bill so this was guaranteed to be the
wedding of several centuries. "Jerry said yes? He’ll stand up for Richard?" I
sounded a little skeptical because the guys got along fine,
but Jerry is a hard headed Scot and Richard is English
through and through. I guess I thought Richard would bring
over one of his old Vatican cronies for the occasion.
Richard is a former priest. Long story. "He was honored, of course." Flo flipped open a
magazine and stabbed a picture. "This dress. Cute? No?" "What’s with the manicure?" I couldn’t help noticing
that each nail wore a slightly different color. I lifted her
finger to examine the dress under it. It was cute. Actually
might work on my size twelve figure, if there was elastic
involved. Forget puff sleeves. Made my arms look fat. But
Jerry liked me in purple. And loved a plunging neckline. I
had visions of him seeing me walk down the aisle and… "Glory! I said I’m trying out colors for my wedding
day." Flo held out her hand. "Which one do you like?" I focused. Okay. The differences would probably not be
apparent to the casual observer, but Flo and I compared
colors to the fabric swatch from her wedding dress until we
finally settled on "Blush." "Es perfecto. Grazi, Glory." She hugged me again. "I
knew you would help me. Now I have another favor. Did you
see this?" She pulled a local newspaper out from under her
magazine. "What is it?" I glanced down and recognized the
picture. "Ray? He’s coming to town too?" Ray aka Israel
Caine. The other man I’d left in L.A. Okay, I admit it. My
heart, which barely beats anyway, gave a little jig of
happiness. Both my guys, hot vampires who I loved and had
decided I should give up, were coming to town. Would either
of them want to see me after the way I’d given them the
brush off? Well, Jerry wouldn’t have a choice, would he? And Ray?
I grabbed the paper. He was singing at a venue at the South
by Southwest Music Festival. The festival was held every
spring in Austin to give music producers a chance to hear
new talent. The article claimed Ray was coming with the
owner of his record label, another vampire, believe it or
not. Maybe Ray would drop by the shop. I’d been his mentor
and it had only been a few weeks since Ray had claimed he
loved me. But then I’d dumped him. Not an action guaranteed
to keep his love light burning. "Glory? Look at me." Flo fiddled with a bottle of nail
polish remover. "That favor?" "What is it, Flo?" I threw down the paper. How
pathetic. I’d been on my own for less than a month and I was
already imagining scenarios where both men in my life were
begging for me to come back to them. And then there’d been
Rafe’s interesting behavior. I’d looked like hell. Surely
he’d been playing me, hadn’t really meant that he-- "Glory, would you quit ignoring me? And blocking your
thoughts?" Flo frowned at me and shook my arm. "This is
serious, amiga." I hid my smile. Didn’t everything to do with my
friend’s wedding rank right up there with the desire for
world peace and half price sales? "Okay, Flo, I’m riveted.
What’s up?" "Ray, Israel Caine. He’ll be in Austin right before my
wedding, sì?" "Yes." I didn’t like the calculating look on Flo’s
face. She was blocking her thoughts too. But then she always
blocked her thoughts. Not that I usually tried to pry into
them anyway. But this was an emergency. "What do you want, Flo?" "I want Israel Caine to sing at my wedding, Glory. You
must ask him for me. Please. He’ll do it for you. You saved
his life. Sì?" "He’s done a lot for me too, Flo. We’re even." I
frowned down at that purple dress. Six to eight weeks for
delivery. But Flo would figure out a way around that minor
technicality, probably by throwing money at it. The major issue? Ray and Jerry at Flo’s wedding.
Sounded like a recipe for disaster to me. The two men hated
each other. Because I loved both of them. And Rafe would be
there, of course. I’d ask him to be my date. He’d love to
jump into a brawl with my name on it. I smiled.
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