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krisw's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
readlovereviewblog's review against another edition
4.0
Delaney is a pastry chef at a New York Italian restaurant that might be owned by the mob. She is funny in her banter and maybe a little ditzy. Her bright ideas get her in trouble. One thing leads to another, and soon she is in even more.
Hugh is in a predicament with his well-loved grandmother. She wants him to find love and make a family. Oh, his grandmother has specific ideas and puts stuff into motion. Nocturne Falls, Ga, isn't what she was expecting, but this kitschy place has a charm all its own. Wow, Hugh is so old-fashioned, but I like it. That this old vampire still speaks as if he is from another century. I also love that Delaney is an adult who can make decisions for herself, but she is full of sass and innuendos. I love that her personality shines so much, even when she is pretending.
This book is strangely absurd, but I love it because of that. The butler is wise, and I love how patient he is; of course, he figures it out. It couldn't get any worse; a bargain of sorts with the older woman now has her up to her eyeballs in deception and her dreams on the line.
Ah, the truth emerges unexpectedly through the characters' responses to seem more honest than lies. However, his reality has yet to be out. Apparently, as they get closer, his truth does come out in full. I like his protective instincts and her fearless personality. I like the book's direction: a little suspense, fear, and a new paranormal. I like how this book ends. This was a lovely light read.
I loved how quirky the characters were; they impressed me. The whole storyline is unforgettable but a great read.
Hugh is in a predicament with his well-loved grandmother. She wants him to find love and make a family. Oh, his grandmother has specific ideas and puts stuff into motion. Nocturne Falls, Ga, isn't what she was expecting, but this kitschy place has a charm all its own. Wow, Hugh is so old-fashioned, but I like it. That this old vampire still speaks as if he is from another century. I also love that Delaney is an adult who can make decisions for herself, but she is full of sass and innuendos. I love that her personality shines so much, even when she is pretending.
This book is strangely absurd, but I love it because of that. The butler is wise, and I love how patient he is; of course, he figures it out. It couldn't get any worse; a bargain of sorts with the older woman now has her up to her eyeballs in deception and her dreams on the line.
Ah, the truth emerges unexpectedly through the characters' responses to seem more honest than lies. However, his reality has yet to be out. Apparently, as they get closer, his truth does come out in full. I like his protective instincts and her fearless personality. I like the book's direction: a little suspense, fear, and a new paranormal. I like how this book ends. This was a lovely light read.
I loved how quirky the characters were; they impressed me. The whole storyline is unforgettable but a great read.
kathydavie's review against another edition
4.0
First in the Nocturne Falls magical realism series and revolving around a town in Georgia that celebrates Halloween 365 days a year — the easier to be yourself. The couple focus is on Delaney James and Hugh Ellingham.
My Take
Oh, man. Painter caught me with the first two paragraphs. Pomegranate. Strawberry. Thyme sugar sprinkles? Oh, yeah. And the further I read the more I was caught.
It's a cozy story about vampires and other supernaturals with a pair of protagonists I'm enjoying. Well, Painter is using third person dual protagonist point-of-view from Delaney's and Hugh's perspectives, which makes it easy to "hear" their thoughts and "feel" their emotions.
Oh, man...I DO love Delaney. She went to her father's wedding in Korea and stood up at the part about anyone objecting. Oh, YEAH!
It's so much fun to watch Delaney and Hugh work out their emotions and thoughts. Painter's plot to get them together was certainly a fun twist. He's so conflicted and so thoughtful. And such a self-sacrificing idiot.
I do have a niggle. If Delaney shot the video with her phone and sent it to the Brooklyn PD, how is it she doesn't still have it on her phone??
There's the kidnapping, baking, cooking, and wandering around Nocturne Falls meeting the characters, er, townspeople, but the action mostly seems to be Delaney and Hugh thinking through their particular issues.
Delaney's are reasonable. Hugh's? Not so much. He's had way too long to get stuck in his I'm guilty loop.
That said, it's a fun read, and I can't wait to dive into The Werewolf Meets His Match.
The Story
Oops, Grandmamma is tired of waiting for Hugh to find a mate...so she's arranged for a mail-order bride. One who knows all about his being a vampire.
Only. Delaney intends to swap places with the intended bride . . . oops . . .
The Characters
Delaney James is a server and "part-time" pastry chef at Rastinelli's Trattoria. When she's nervous, she spouts facts about chocolate. Captain Underpants is her Maine Coon. The Sweet Life is the candy-making cookbook she inherited from her grandmother. Her mother died of breast cancer when she was 15. Her father, a defense contractor, couldn't handle it and left her.
Nocturne Falls, Georgia, is. . .
. . . a small town partly owned by the Ellinghams where supernaturals are free to be who they are. Hugh Ellingham prefers to spend time in his lab searching for the formula that will set them free of Grandmamma's threats. His beloved Juliette died 300 years ago. Bartholomew Stanhill had been Hugh's valet. Now he's Hugh's rook, man-servant companion/secretary; he's dating Corette.
The Ellinghams
Elenora "Grandmamma" Ellingham, a.k.a. Didi, the dowager duchess of Sinclair in name only, is a vampire who turned her grandsons. Hugh, Sebastian (whose wife, Evangeline, left him) keeps the family's finances in order, and Julian who's a man whore. Alice Bishop is a witch who created the amulets for the Ellinghams; she's also head of the local coven. Alard Desmaris, a strange, wealthy Frenchman, was part of Lady Elenora's court back in 1665.
The women discarded by Hugh include Piper "Psycho Barbie" Hodge ("Prologue to The Vampire's Mail Order Bride", 0.5), Suzanna, Heather, Kim, and Veronica.
Hank Merrow is the werewolf sheriff. Mrs Caruthers, a.k.a. Hank's Aunt Birdie, is the police receptionist. Deputies include Alex Cruz, a panther shifter, and Jenna Blythe, a Valkyrie. Titus Merrow is Hank and Bridget's brother and the fire chief. Corette is a witch with three grown daughters. Skipper is a friend of Piper's. Pandora Williams is a witch and real estate agent. Nick Hardwin, a gargoyle who works as a bouncer at Insomnia, shared a tour in Afghanistan with Hank and is his friend.
The bitchy Vicky Keller owns Keller's Sweets-n-Treats, the town candy store. Mary, Vicky's daughter, is one of their sales people. The Hallowed Bean is the coffee shop. The Hodges own the local paper, the Tombstone — they love to get their revenge in print. The Poisoned Apple is a pub. Insomnia is a members-only club. Howlers is a popular local dive bar run by Bridget Merrow, Hank and Titus' sister. Yeah, she's a werewolf. Willa Iscove is a jeweler with her own shop, Illusions. Ramona works for Willa.
Elsa and Anna have trick-or-treat bags.
Brooklyn
Rastinelli's Trattoria is...
. . . in Brooklyn and owned by Anthony Rastinelli. Jose is a line cook. Samantha is a server and a friend of Delaney's.
Mrs Rastinelli is wife number two and dresses to ensure there won't be a wife number three. The smarmy, whiffy Little Tony is Anthony's son. Benny is a collector for Anthony. Lefty and Fat Eddie are more of his men. Dominic Ardito is with the other side.
Adelaide Poirot works at Eternamate, which specializes in unique and exceptional arrangements. Beatrice Mckenzie and Annabelle Givens are some of their clients. A rook is a half-turned vampire who serves a vampire's needs in exchange for immortality. Russell is Delaney's cheating ex-boyfriend.
The Cover and Title
The cover is fuchsia! Bats flying through that deep pink sky with a multistory mansion in the background. It's a gray besuited Hugh coming through the pink wrought iron gates, a solid wall on either side. On the left is the brown-haired Delaney sitting in a bright purple sleeveless dress with purple high-heeled sandals, and the furry, black Captain Underpants in her lap. On the right is a lit-up jack-o-lantern below the gate's handle and a brown sign with the series info in a pale yellow. The text is all white with a thick black outline with the title centered at the top, the author's name below Delaney's feet, and an info blurb below that.
The title is all about Delaney as The Vampire's Mail Order Bride, a faux bride at that!
My Take
Oh, man. Painter caught me with the first two paragraphs. Pomegranate. Strawberry. Thyme sugar sprinkles? Oh, yeah. And the further I read the more I was caught.
It's a cozy story about vampires and other supernaturals with a pair of protagonists I'm enjoying. Well, Painter is using third person dual protagonist point-of-view from Delaney's and Hugh's perspectives, which makes it easy to "hear" their thoughts and "feel" their emotions.
". . . based on your current amount of crazy, I'd say he dodged a bullet."Grandmamma is a piece of work. Blackmail appears to be one of her favorite activities. Then Delaney turns the tables on her, lol. Only...Hugh seems to be changing that game as well! Eeeek.
Oh, man...I DO love Delaney. She went to her father's wedding in Korea and stood up at the part about anyone objecting. Oh, YEAH!
It's so much fun to watch Delaney and Hugh work out their emotions and thoughts. Painter's plot to get them together was certainly a fun twist. He's so conflicted and so thoughtful. And such a self-sacrificing idiot.
I do have a niggle. If Delaney shot the video with her phone and sent it to the Brooklyn PD, how is it she doesn't still have it on her phone??
There's the kidnapping, baking, cooking, and wandering around Nocturne Falls meeting the characters, er, townspeople, but the action mostly seems to be Delaney and Hugh thinking through their particular issues.
Delaney's are reasonable. Hugh's? Not so much. He's had way too long to get stuck in his I'm guilty loop.
That said, it's a fun read, and I can't wait to dive into The Werewolf Meets His Match.
The Story
Oops, Grandmamma is tired of waiting for Hugh to find a mate...so she's arranged for a mail-order bride. One who knows all about his being a vampire.
Only. Delaney intends to swap places with the intended bride . . . oops . . .
The Characters
Delaney James is a server and "part-time" pastry chef at Rastinelli's Trattoria. When she's nervous, she spouts facts about chocolate. Captain Underpants is her Maine Coon. The Sweet Life is the candy-making cookbook she inherited from her grandmother. Her mother died of breast cancer when she was 15. Her father, a defense contractor, couldn't handle it and left her.
Nocturne Falls, Georgia, is. . .
. . . a small town partly owned by the Ellinghams where supernaturals are free to be who they are. Hugh Ellingham prefers to spend time in his lab searching for the formula that will set them free of Grandmamma's threats. His beloved Juliette died 300 years ago. Bartholomew Stanhill had been Hugh's valet. Now he's Hugh's rook, man-servant companion/secretary; he's dating Corette.
The Ellinghams
Elenora "Grandmamma" Ellingham, a.k.a. Didi, the dowager duchess of Sinclair in name only, is a vampire who turned her grandsons. Hugh, Sebastian (whose wife, Evangeline, left him) keeps the family's finances in order, and Julian who's a man whore. Alice Bishop is a witch who created the amulets for the Ellinghams; she's also head of the local coven. Alard Desmaris, a strange, wealthy Frenchman, was part of Lady Elenora's court back in 1665.
The women discarded by Hugh include Piper "Psycho Barbie" Hodge ("Prologue to The Vampire's Mail Order Bride", 0.5), Suzanna, Heather, Kim, and Veronica.
Hank Merrow is the werewolf sheriff. Mrs Caruthers, a.k.a. Hank's Aunt Birdie, is the police receptionist. Deputies include Alex Cruz, a panther shifter, and Jenna Blythe, a Valkyrie. Titus Merrow is Hank and Bridget's brother and the fire chief. Corette is a witch with three grown daughters. Skipper is a friend of Piper's. Pandora Williams is a witch and real estate agent. Nick Hardwin, a gargoyle who works as a bouncer at Insomnia, shared a tour in Afghanistan with Hank and is his friend.
The bitchy Vicky Keller owns Keller's Sweets-n-Treats, the town candy store. Mary, Vicky's daughter, is one of their sales people. The Hallowed Bean is the coffee shop. The Hodges own the local paper, the Tombstone — they love to get their revenge in print. The Poisoned Apple is a pub. Insomnia is a members-only club. Howlers is a popular local dive bar run by Bridget Merrow, Hank and Titus' sister. Yeah, she's a werewolf. Willa Iscove is a jeweler with her own shop, Illusions. Ramona works for Willa.
Elsa and Anna have trick-or-treat bags.
Brooklyn
Rastinelli's Trattoria is...
. . . in Brooklyn and owned by Anthony Rastinelli. Jose is a line cook. Samantha is a server and a friend of Delaney's.
Mrs Rastinelli is wife number two and dresses to ensure there won't be a wife number three. The smarmy, whiffy Little Tony is Anthony's son. Benny is a collector for Anthony. Lefty and Fat Eddie are more of his men. Dominic Ardito is with the other side.
Adelaide Poirot works at Eternamate, which specializes in unique and exceptional arrangements. Beatrice Mckenzie and Annabelle Givens are some of their clients. A rook is a half-turned vampire who serves a vampire's needs in exchange for immortality. Russell is Delaney's cheating ex-boyfriend.
The Cover and Title
The cover is fuchsia! Bats flying through that deep pink sky with a multistory mansion in the background. It's a gray besuited Hugh coming through the pink wrought iron gates, a solid wall on either side. On the left is the brown-haired Delaney sitting in a bright purple sleeveless dress with purple high-heeled sandals, and the furry, black Captain Underpants in her lap. On the right is a lit-up jack-o-lantern below the gate's handle and a brown sign with the series info in a pale yellow. The text is all white with a thick black outline with the title centered at the top, the author's name below Delaney's feet, and an info blurb below that.
The title is all about Delaney as The Vampire's Mail Order Bride, a faux bride at that!
laura_corsi's review against another edition
4.0
This was a lot of fun. I came across this book at Book Bub and read it on a whim. Definitely a pleasant surprise. I will definitely be reading more of Ms. Painter in the future.
rose8's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
So, I think I should start with saying that I had incredibly low expectations when I first picked up the book. I noticed it in my Goodreads list and laughed at the title and nearly moved on before I noticed the traction that the author had gotten with this series and in general. I mean, have you seen the number of good reviews?
As you can guess, I gave the book a chance and I would describe it as fluffy and cute. The story was simple, funny and pretty predictable, but it kept me engaged and reading it through until the end.
Even though I wasn't enamored with the plot of the story and the endless streams of cliches and similarities to other PNR books with vampires, I have to commend the author on the quality of her writing. It's clear that she put a lot of thought into each line and it really showed.
In addition, as a lover of first person in PNR, I was pleasantly surprised with how smoothly the story flowed in third person and appreciated the differing viewpoints of each character and truly felt connected to them in the brief time we spent together.
It may not be a book that I will read again, but it was a nice and pleasant read that I picked up when I had a bit of time to kill.
So, I think I should start with saying that I had incredibly low expectations when I first picked up the book. I noticed it in my Goodreads list and laughed at the title and nearly moved on before I noticed the traction that the author had gotten with this series and in general. I mean, have you seen the number of good reviews?
As you can guess, I gave the book a chance and I would describe it as fluffy and cute. The story was simple, funny and pretty predictable, but it kept me engaged and reading it through until the end.
Even though I wasn't enamored with the plot of the story and the endless streams of cliches and similarities to other PNR books with vampires, I have to commend the author on the quality of her writing. It's clear that she put a lot of thought into each line and it really showed.
In addition, as a lover of first person in PNR, I was pleasantly surprised with how smoothly the story flowed in third person and appreciated the differing viewpoints of each character and truly felt connected to them in the brief time we spent together.
It may not be a book that I will read again, but it was a nice and pleasant read that I picked up when I had a bit of time to kill.
annashiv's review against another edition
2.0
Was going to give this three stars but the last 30% really brought it down. I was already unimpressed with the writing, but it was easy to read and fun enough until the end. Then it just dragged the resolution. I get why, but it was just difficult to get through because there wasn't any real conflict by that point. I appreciated it didn't veer into the erotica side as it easily could have and had vibes of, but I was generally put off by their strong attraction to each other as it seemed so stereotypical and cliché. I'm fine with insta-love as well most of the time, and maybe I'm just not used to reading this kind of fluff, but I felt in this instance the insta-love was just lazy writing, like the author didn't want to invest time in building a relationship and so it just felt very much like a lustful relationship rather than built out of anything real, though she did try. I liked the characters even if sometimes they were a little bland. I wasn't a huge fan of the writing style, but the world is fun as everyone says. I just think it ended up being disappointing, even knowing what I was going into. I might try one more book of this series as it sounds particularly interesting to me, but I'm doubtful I'll do any more than that. It was just okay, and if it wasn't free on my kindle, I would have felt cheated. Still, I think people generally know if they like this sort of thing, and there's nothing wrong with enjoying a fun little romance like this. I'm just not sure it's quite for me.
egerbosch_dobgirl99's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
fmcfranny's review against another edition
5.0
This was amazing! So great I went out and bought the rest. the town it takes place in is amazing and a place i would love to visit. the characters are amazing and their repertoire is funny and steamy. i love these books.
edshara's review against another edition
4.0
Instalove...Check
Predictable situations with predictable resolutions...Check
Cheese Factor...Check
Did I still absolutely enjoy it...Check!!
I called this book a guilty pleasure read, however, I had no guilt reading and enjoying this whatsoever. I enjoyed Delaney, Hugh, Stanhill, pushy Elenora and even Captain(I'm not usually a cat person). I enjoyed the town of Nocturne Falls and the fact that it was a good mix of supernaturals. The author put her own unique twist on vampirism and it was good to see something new and different(to me anyway).
The story was solid enough. It was a good mix of danger(slight), romance, and secrets. Even though I was able to predict how much of the plot would turn out, their were still a few plot points that I found surprising and enjoyable.
This is my second Kristen Painter book that I've ever picked up but this is the only one I actually finished. I will definitely be continuing the series and thankfully I already have the second one checked out from my local library.
Predictable situations with predictable resolutions...Check
Cheese Factor...Check
Did I still absolutely enjoy it...Check!!
I called this book a guilty pleasure read, however, I had no guilt reading and enjoying this whatsoever. I enjoyed Delaney, Hugh, Stanhill, pushy Elenora and even Captain(I'm not usually a cat person). I enjoyed the town of Nocturne Falls and the fact that it was a good mix of supernaturals. The author put her own unique twist on vampirism and it was good to see something new and different(to me anyway).
The story was solid enough. It was a good mix of danger(slight), romance, and secrets. Even though I was able to predict how much of the plot would turn out, their were still a few plot points that I found surprising and enjoyable.
This is my second Kristen Painter book that I've ever picked up but this is the only one I actually finished. I will definitely be continuing the series and thankfully I already have the second one checked out from my local library.
kzimm2024's review against another edition
3.0
I was glad that the "secret" was revealed fairly early in the story so we could move past the supposed betrayal and lying to get to the relationship building. It was a great premise, the town and residents, it just didn't resonate with me to continue the series.