American Vampire (Early Review)

American Vampire by Jennifer Armintrout

He's the good kind of vampire...sort of.

Buried in the Heartland is a town that no one enters or leaves. Graf McDonald somehow becomes its first visitor in more than five years…and he was only looking for a good party. Unfortunately, Penance, Ohio, is not that place. And after having been isolated for so long, they do not like strangers at all.

Jessa’s the only one to even remotely trust him, and she’s desperate for the kind of protection that only a vampire like Graf can provide. Supplies are low, the locals are ornery for a sacrifice and there’s a

monster more powerful than Graf lurking in the woods. New men are hard to come by in this lonesome town, and this handsome stranger might be Jessa’s only hope for salvation.

Even if she has to die first… 

On his way to have a good time, the vampire Graf gets stuck in his worst nightmare. He stumbles into a town that has had no one enter nor leave for five years. If that wasn't creepy enough, then add in a terrible monster that preys on the townspeople. He winds up having to rely on the first person he meets in town, Jessa, a gruff and angry woman. Even though she hates his guts, she knows his stuff will help her if she can trade it for supplies so she can survive. It becomes an uneasy alliance as they both need each other if they hope to survive not only the monster, but the mob mentality of the townspeople as well.

In the beginning of this book Graf was a really pompous character, and I didn't really care for him at all. Come to think of it, Jessa didn't show the best impression either. She was dishing out just as much snark and nastiness as he was. It took me a long time to warm up to both of them because of this, but as time went on I realized that their behavior was just a front for inner turmoil, especially for Tessa. She's had an extremely hard time of it and it's a wonder she really is able to cope at all. As both of them showed more of their real selves, I started to really care for them. There is a lot of sexual tension between them and the progression is very realistic. It doesn't feel forced even though they started out basically hating each other.

This is a fast paced unique romance. I enjoyed the non-typical setting of it, as well as the unusual circumstances the two meet upon. Unlike many romance novels that feel incomplete at the end, this one is very satisfying. I recommend this to any paranormal romance fans that enjoy a quick read that leaves a sense of fulfillment at the end.

(Received from Netgalley)

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American Vampire

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