Publisher: Avon
By: Kate Garrabrant
3.25 stars

NYPD Office Lara Boucher and her partner are called to the Plaza on Fifth Avenue to break up a loud and rowdy party. What she finds there is quite shocking. The man who answers the door is the most beautiful man she has ever seen. But even though he may be quite the looker, this won’t stop her from investigating a party gone too wild. She finds a man on the floor covered in blood, swords and knives lying around and a sex doll in one of the beds. Mister sexy pants has some explaining to do and she is going to cuff him and hail him down to the precinct for some questioning.

Two hundred year old Giacomo, also known as Jack, can’t believe he was left to clean up his friend’s mess of a bachelor party. Things got a little out of control because everyone got drunk on too much Blissky which is a drink for vampires made of synthetic blood, mixed with alcohol. Now it is up to Jack to erase the memory of these two police officers even though he is distracted by the lovely Officer Boucher. But Jack has a small problem; Lara will not succumb to his mind powers.

Things become even more confusing for Lara because she remembers everything perfectly about that night, especially Jack, even though her partner and other people in the hotel don’t. Something strange is afoot and Lara won’t rest until she finds out what it is. Lara may be a former Miss Teen Louisiana, but she also has quite the brain along with her looks. She is so tenacious that she even finds a way to sneak into a wedding where Jack is. Jack doesn’t know how to get rid of Lara, even though he would love to have her around, but can’t for the obvious reasons.

Lara is put on a case where female college students have gone missing. No one seems to know anything. It is like they have memory loss, exactly the same situation that happened at the hotel. Lara decides to go undercover to expose the criminals responsible. Everywhere she turns, Jack is there. He wants to help her because he knows that one of his kind may be behind the kidnappings. These two team up and Lara begins to fall in love with Jack. He even shows her a small part of his world, but wonders if she can accept him for who he is.

I can always count on Kerrelyn Sparks to deliver a great story. I have been a fan of her  Love at Stakes books since the beginning. They never get old and they are nice vampire romances with some laughs and wonderful characters. Secret Life of a Vampire will not disappoint her fans, especially with Jack, the sexy Italian vampire who is the son of Casanova. Jack is at odds with his sexual nature because he doesn’t want to be like his father who was quite the seducer of women. Jack wants to be a one woman type of guy and the woman he decides on is Lara.

Lara is a great heroine. She reacts to Jack exactly as I would. She is very attracted to him, but so unnerved around him because of his abilities. At one point she thought he was an alien! That gave me a good chuckle and she is not too thrilled that he can enter her mind and whisper those oh so naughty things he would love to do with her. Even though she knows Jack is not a typical human, she tries to accept who he is, and the way he woos her is wonderful.

The mystery of the missing college co-eds was a bit out there, but what I really enjoyed was the fact that Lara rushes to their rescue. She puts her life in danger to help those in trouble because it is part of her job. Kudos for Kerrelyn for writing a female character who doesn’t necessarily need a man to keep her safe. Lara could handle things quite well on her own and made sure Jack understood this.

Secret Life of a Vampire is perfect for vampire fans where the woman finds the man of her dreams but makes sure that he knows they are equal partners in their relationship. Kerrelyn has written another book that will make you laugh, sigh at the love scenes and have you wishing for you own sexy vampire, especially one that can teleport you to Italy at a moment’s notice.