The Vampire's Mail Order Bride (Nocturne Falls, #1) by Kristen Painter

The Vampire's Mail Order Bride by Kristen Painter

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


My second book read by the same author on the same day. And, importantly, both first in their series. Why did I not, instead, read book 2 in the series I read earlier today? Because of two reasons: 1) this book here, the Mail Order one, is actually the main series that the other series spun-off of; 2) and I'd already owned this book - free. So, two free books read same day.

Two things to note: This is much more of a romance book than the other book I read today (Miss Frost Solves A Cold Case) - which was more of a mystery with a romance subplot, though this book, the Mail Order one, had mystery elements as well; & a) this book was slightly less humorous than the other book, b) though one of the laughs that erupted was based almost entirely on the fact that I had read that other book today, for, you see, I already had some information about a particular club, and the words that were uttered were funny with that prior knowledge (which is a little weird since this book here came before that other book).

Right, so - a young woman of about 27 works in a diner in Brooklyn. The story opens with her walking home after her shift, babbling to herself (I'm fairly certain this babbling was occurring inside her own brain, but this is NY so . . .), only to suddenly realize that she had left her apron and tips on the counter at her work. So she goes back to retrieve it. Which lead to her being in perfect position to witness, and record, her boss shooting a man. Now, it is true that the diner had a 'mob' vibe about it, and there was this vague overall feeling of the place being a mob hangout (which, strangely, unlike ever other such hangout I've known about in fiction and in real life, lead to the place being always packed - by people wanting to 'check out' the mobsters). And Delaney knew of this reputation, but, until this moment, she hadn't realized it was real.

As Delaney flees the scene, but before she exits the diner, her phone rings. Alerting everyone there that someone else was on the scene. She continues to flee. Ducks into a random open establishment. Which turned out to be a match-making place. Which lead her to steal a file, inform the woman in the file that the man had decided to turn down the offer, and Delaney took her place.

After gathering a few of her belongings and her 28 pound Maine Coon cat, Delaney drives from New York to Nocturne Falls Georgia (where the woman was supposed to go for this 'arranged marriage' type thingie). Unbeknownest to her: 1) the man hadn't actually signed up, it was his grandmother who signed the man up; 2) the man was fabulously wealthy, and handsome; 3) the grandmother, the man, and his brothers are all vampires - and the human woman Delaney was taking the place of, knew that they were vampires (though Delaney doesn't know).

And so human woman escaping the mob, assumes someone else's identity, and turns up at a huge mansion like place and meets . . .well, I've already indicated things but let's move on.

Everything I've relayed was in the opening parts of the book. The book unfolds from here.

I liked this book. I liked the story. I liked the actual chemistry the two people displayed. Still, I just liked the 'things' seen in that other book just slightly more than here. Heck, I even liked the cat in the other book more than the cat in this one (maybe because the cat in the other one seemed to interact with the story more than the one in this book).

Rating: 4.55

January 30 2018



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