I’ve read a lot of vampire books over the years and one that I’ve recently read and loved is My Vampire Plus-One by Jenna Levine. The most popular vampire books often tend to be gloomy and sad and dramatic… but this was fun.

This book is the sequel to My Roommate is a Vampire but can 100% be read on its own (and I actually think it’s better than the original!). It follows our main character, Amelia Collins, who is the definition of successful in every way but having a boyfriend. She’s actually pretty successful at staying single and that’s exactly what she wants. But her family have constant questions about her nonexistent dating life so when she gets yet another invitation to yet another family wedding she decides to get everyone to leave her alone by finding someone to pretend to be her date. And after 2 chance encounters with the odd but very handsome Reginald Cleaves, Amelia quickly decides that he is perfect for this role. 

But Reggie isn’t any normal person – he’s actually a centuries old vampire that’s on the run. So when Amelia asks him to pretend to be her date, he jumps at the chance because it’ll give him the perfect opportunity to hide in plain sight. But of course things aren’t going to be as easy as he expects it to be.

I don’t often find books ‘laugh out loud’ funny. I almost kind of hate when books are marketed as being hilarious because I always know 99% of the time I’m not going to be laughing. But this book? I laughed out loud multiple times. Another thing I tend to dislike (especially in romance books) is miscommunication… but this book also has that! However, the miscommunication isn’t super serious and a lot of the humour actually comes from this silly misunderstanding (that’s all about him being a vampire) that they have that doesn’t get resolved for a lot of the book. A lot of the book’s humour also comes from the fact that this is a vampire that doesn’t necessarily know how to live properly in the human world. And while it’s definitely funny, it’s not all fun and games and the more serious aspects of the story don’t feel out of place at all.

This book also has the fake dating trope which is, of course, a classic in the romance genre. I think this book does it well. It’s done in a very common way – the female main character needs a date to a wedding for whatever reason – but it still feels very fun and fresh. I guess the addition of vampires really helps because now I want to read more romance books with classic tropes that focus on paranormal creatures.

As I said, this can totally be read as a standalone if you’re not interested in the first one but it’s also a great sequel for people that did read and enjoy the first book My Roommate is a Vampire. Frederick and Cassie serve as minor characters but we get some really fantastic updates about their relationship and their lives together.

Overall, this is a super fun whacky paranormal romance that’s pretty perfect to read for spooky season (or really any time of year if you love vampires and the paranormal).