Wicked Game. WVMP book 1.

I'm a little vampire'd out. Ya dig? After the Twilight explosion everything was about vampires or werewolves (but usually vamps) so now I just want the vampires to be really well written or go away. Just for a while. Please. In my exhaustion I've been steering clear of vampire romances. Wicked Game (click here to go to Amazon) is about vampires. Actually, it's about vampires running a radio station. Hold on. I know what you're thinking. I'm happy to report that this isn't nearly as dreadful silly as it sounds. One of the main things that gets on my nerves, with the torrents of vamp romance flooding the literary scene, is all of the different "legends" surrounding mythical creatures. (Don't worry Raphael. I'm talking to you too Wrath. No, I don't really think you're just a legend. What Alban? Of course I don't think gargoyles are mythical either...but I had to say that or people would think I was crazy.) I liked this take on vampires. It wasn't conventional. It was a little far-fetched. Most importantly, it was not annoying.

Short Synopsis: Ciara (Kear-ah, not See-air-ah. Get it right.) is a (sorta) reformed con-artist who lands a job at WMMP radio station. The station manager has hopes of increasing revenue so that the station isn't bought out by the evil Skyware Corporation. Ciara discovers that the DJ's for WMMP are actually vampires who are stuck (mentally, musically...errr, fashion-ally) in the time period during which they became undead. Shane McAllister is a gorgeous grunge boy. (He was turned in 1995, duh!) There is also a Rastafarian, a greaser, a goth, a blues man (à la Muddy Waters), and a hippie. Each character is representative of an important musical era and has a show dedicated to said era. Follow Me? Ciara gets Shane into bed. Shane bites Ciara, which seals her belief in vampires. She decides to keep the job and comes up with a new marketing strategy. The DJ's admit to being vampires. The radio station becomes WVMP, "The Life-blood of Rock and Roll." Ad sales go through the roof. An ancient vamp cult doesn't like the publicity (even though the public is convinced the pitch is exactly that and nothing more) and sets out to bully Ciara and the vamps into pulling the plug on their new campaign. Add in some stuff with a paramilitary group who kill bad vamps and help nice ones, Ciara's long lost daddy-dearest (another grifter, yay!), some semi-erotic sex, and what do you get? A good read, that's what.

Jeri Smith-Ready did a good job on her characters; the plot moves along at a comfy pace. Will I read the sequel? Of course. And all of the other books from this series. I even liked the "playlist" (there are a ton of musical references, a lot of which I wasn't familiar with) enough to go to the author's website and listen to get a better impression of the station. I wish we saw more of Monroe (blues guy) because I think he's interesting and I like that kind of music. Hopefully he comes out to play a little more in the sequels. The feeding routine of the vamps made me a little squinchy. I'm a romance addict. I don't want the vampire hero to perform sexual acts on a donor so that he can drink their blood! Squinch squinch squinch. I want him to fall madly in love with the heroine and bite only her! This isn't that kind of book; it's more urban fantasy with a side of romance than vice versa. Most people wouldn't have a problem with that, but...I like my happily ever afters tied up with a nice little bow. There was no bow here.

Final Grade: B.