A Girl's Guide to Vampires (Dark Ones, #1)

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A Girl's Guide to Vampires (Dark Ones #1)

by Katie MacAlister (Goodreads Author)

3.75 of 5 stars 3.75 · rating details · 6,368 ratings · 353 reviews

All Joy Randall wants is a little old-fashioned romance, but when she participates in a "Goddess evoking" ceremony with her friend, Roxy, Joy finds out her future true love is a man with the potential to put her immortal soul in danger. At first the ever-practical Joy is ready to dismiss her vision as a product of too much gin and too many vampire romances, but while trave...more

Mass Market Paperback, 374 pages

Published October 29th 2003 by Love Spell (first published October 28th 2003)

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Sep 21, 2008 Inara rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novels-vampires, novels-paranormal, novels-romance-paranormal, novels-comedy-humor

Title of the German edition:
Blind Date mit einem Vampir

As much as I love Katie MacAlister´s "Aisling Grey – Guardian"-Series I can´t say the same about this book. I didn´t like the heroine Joy and her best friend Roxy very much. I kow this book and the constant bickering between the two friends is supposed to be funny but that´s just not my sense of humor. I wished sometimes Joy would just shut up and go on with her investigation because the plot per se wasn´t uninteresting.
Okay, there were some...more

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Oct 19, 2011 chucklesthescot rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: paranormal-romance, fiction

I didn't get far with this book at all.The story sounded good-a couple of American friends who love vampires decide to go to the setting of their favourite books to see if the vampires actually exist. I thought this sounded fun but the two idiot vacant headed bitches and their stupid comments all the time really bugged me. They were immature and annoying with all their playground taunts. I was waiting for 'You smell!' 'No YOU smell WORSE poopy pants!' or something similar! And then the caveman b...more

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Aug 22, 2011 Paige rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-books

It took me a while to get into this book. It was really long and felt like I would never finish it.

The story follow Joy Randall and her friend Roxy as they take a trip to Czech Republic. After their friend's vision that they will meet and Joy will be a Beloved to a vampire, they begin suspecting multiple men of being a vampire at the local fair.

I didn't care for the introduction of so many characters, but I did come to really like Raphael St. John and Christian J. Dante.

As a relationship bloom...more

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Jan 26, 2012 VampireNovelFan rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: lame-ass-vampire-wannabes, wish-i-dnf, love-triangle

The title is false advertising! If you want an actual satisfying VAMPIRE story, this ain't the book to quench that thirst. You will be waiting and waiting and waiting for actual vampire action...and then the book ends. I tried really hard to get into this plot, but by the 50% mark it took a complete nose dive for me and never recovered.

Between the insufferable main character and her b-f-f, their utter stupidity, the unfunny dialog, the lame plot lines, the ridiculous NON-VAMPIRIC sex scenes...I...more The title is false advertising! If you want an actual satisfying VAMPIRE story, this ain't the book to quench that thirst. You will be waiting and waiting and waiting for actual vampire action...and then the book ends. I tried really hard to get into this plot, but by the 50% mark it took a complete nose dive for me and never recovered.

Between the insufferable main character and her b-f-f, their utter stupidity, the unfunny dialog, the lame plot lines, the ridiculous NON-VAMPIRIC sex scenes...I just feel robbed.

(view spoiler)

This is the second vampire book in a row for me where there is discrepancy about human vs. vampire love interest. I would like to clarify that as a "VampireNovelFan", I am reading these kinds of series for smexy VAMPIRE action. Don't rope me in and just give general human stuff. When I want general human romance (which is never for fantasy books), I'll read it.

C'MON, people! Though I like vamps, I do try to switch it up with general urban fantasy. It's just that every so often I'll want to read a good straight up vampire story, and I'm batting 0 for 2 this year. If anybody can recommend a good standalone book for me, PLEASE DO!!

Do I recommend this series? Not in the least. I usually am all about lighter stories that take a comical approach, but this book overdid it to the point of where it wasn't enjoyable anymore. It probably didn't help that it later tried to add depth, but there was none because by that point I hated the book and wanted it over. I could say more; I probably should say more, but the more I write the angrier I get that I seriously wasted 3 days on this that I won't get back. I can totally understand everyone who didn't even bother to finish the book. As for me? Like a dolt, I usually have to finish no matter what. THIS book may have been just the thing I needed to break that habit. I will not be reading another installment from this series or any other book by this author. This seriously made me wonder why it's so hard to get published.

*Review also posted to Amazon

(less)

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Apr 03, 2008 faeriemyst rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: romance-paranormal, vampires, brain-candy

A Girl's Guide to Vampires was a nice and pleasant surprise. While I do get tired of Katie MacAlister's same heroine in every book I read, I could tolerate Joy more that most others. But lord can they be moronic, and not in a good way. I do wish she could expand her female leads to be different in both of their physical and mental aspects, and not be the same old monotonous ones over and over again. Always my gripe.

Now on to the rest of the book...
The storyline was interesting, there was some hi...more

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Mar 27, 2008 Anita rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: paranormal-romance

The is the first book of Katie MacAlister's Dark Ones series. It's a wacky contemporary paranormal romance that spoofs Christine Feehan's Carpathians series, but in a friendly sort of way. I've also been reading MacAlister's Aisling Gray Gardian series, and all MacAlister's heroines seem to be impervious to embarrassment, even as they charge ahead with foolish actions. They are brazen women and yet strangely endearing, quirky characters. I've also noticed that the "mysteries" in her books withho...more

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Dec 02, 2007 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of paranormal romance novels

Shelves: paranormal-romance

This is Book One of Katie MacAlister's "The Dark Ones" series. I was really looking forward to reading this series, since as everyone knows, I'm crazy about vamp novels (grin).

Yet this one just wasn't clicking for me. The timing of the humor was off and felt forced. The sex scenes were too graphic and laced with meaningless dialogue to be hot. The heroine was too childish and moody to be likeable. The writing seemed padded, making the novel about 80 pages too long. And worst of all the vampire...more

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Apr 23, 2013 t'irla ~The BookSlayer~ rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 3-star-read, angst, bodyguard-protector, humour, owned, paranormal-romance, pnr, snark, steamy, vampire, mc-v-h, mc-vamp-human

2 Snarky girls, handsome men..vampires..oh but are they??? Put your seat belts on there are more twist and turns in this book than there are driving through the Rockies.

Description:

All Joy Randall wants is a little old-fashioned romance, but when she participates in a "Goddess evoking" ceremony with her friend, Roxy, Joy finds out her future true love is a man with the potential to put her immortal soul in danger. At first the ever-practical Joy is ready to dismiss her vision as a product of too...more 2 Snarky girls, handsome men..vampires..oh but are they??? Put your seat belts on there are more twist and turns in this book than there are driving through the Rockies.

Description:

All Joy Randall wants is a little old-fashioned romance, but when she participates in a "Goddess evoking" ceremony with her friend, Roxy, Joy finds out her future true love is a man with the potential to put her immortal soul in danger. At first the ever-practical Joy is ready to dismiss her vision as a product of too much gin and too many vampire romances, but while traveling through the Czech Republic with Roxy, Joy begins to have some second thoughts about her mystery lover because she is suddenly plagued by visions of a lethally handsome stranger. Then, when she and Roxy attend a local GothFaire, Joy meets Raphael Griffin St. John, head of security, and she becomes even more bewildered because the dark and dangerous Raphael seems too close to her dreams for comfort.

My Thoughts:

Interesting take on the whole vampire story and what the soul means to them. But as my first Katie MacAlistar book kinda a disappointment. It really is kinda meh, a light fluff read. On top of this I just couldn't stand the female characters. Their arguing, snarking, and over all attitudes drove me crazy. At one point I almost put the book down but my GR friends assured me if I hang in there they get better. I think the world that KM was trying to build was interesting. Her male protagonists were pretty good but were missing that ..emotional attachment nesecary for the reader to really connect with them. Raphael IMO got too whipped too fast. I think there needed to be something that really got between him and Joy...so that she would grow up. I won't beleager this overall not a great read but I did like the premise so I will try the next book in the series.

2.5 stars for this disappointing start of a "could be interesting" series. I'll let you know after the next one if I recommend or not.

See t'irla's talk for more reviews: tirlastalk.blogspot.ca READ RATE REVIEW the author thanks you!(less)

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Dec 28, 2012 Scarlet Heavens rated it 1 of 5 stars

How the hell did I stumble upon this....nonsense?

Why do authors(many of them these days apparently) think that we women want to be pampered by an alpha dominating male?

I mean, who in their right mind would believe in vampires like Roxy does?
And Joy was such a hypocrite, saying all of the time that she didn't believe in vampires, but she pegged Dominic as a poser, and Raphael as a real vampire at first?
But nevermind that, because after barely a few pages you get the gist about who's the vampire a...more How the hell did I stumble upon this....nonsense?

Why do authors(many of them these days apparently) think that we women want to be pampered by an alpha dominating male?

I mean, who in their right mind would believe in vampires like Roxy does?
And Joy was such a hypocrite, saying all of the time that she didn't believe in vampires, but she pegged Dominic as a poser, and Raphael as a real vampire at first?
But nevermind that, because after barely a few pages you get the gist about who's the vampire and who's not. Even before stupid Roxy and prejudiced Joyful(I seriously rolled my eyes every time I read that word).
Needless to say, I didn't finish the book. I actually started reading the second one by mistake, and liked the first few pages, but I don't think I will return to it either.
Also, Roxy and Joy didn't seem to have a very mature friendship. They both seemed silly, and Miranda(was that the name of the witch?) was a very favourite character of mine.
The men, the men, Dominic, Raphael, Christian, all of them were fawning over the tall, curvy Joy, who thinks she's not sexy, though it turns out she is. I don't think most women would be so complex about their body, or at least, I hope so. I believe that honesty and acceptance towards your own body and skin will do you much better, rather than thinking you're unable to look sexy and beautiful just because you're tall, you have curves, or you're short and petite, until of course a swoon-worthy alpha male comes and demands you see yourself in a new light. It's just so cliche and boring to read about that type of characters.
"Not every man can carry me, I'm tall and heavy." This is paraphrasing, of course, because I would never bother to remember the exact quotes, but it is enough, I think, to get the point. And of course, then Raphael tells Joy that her tallness and curves make her sexy, beautiful, whatever.Again, boring and cliched. Sure, I know that some people do have a complex, but lately, so many female characters seem to have the same type of issues, only to have said issues resolved by a very hot, sexy, alpha male. HAVE SOME INDEPENDENCE, INSTEAD OF DELUSIONS.
Also, the so predictable plot, I felt sick just reading it. Now, let me tell you something. I might not be a very famous published author, or an expert, but, being interested in the field, I have managed to get my hands on some basic writing books, and they all tell the same thing about the plot: cause and effect. This one seemed to have overdone it; every one can see the effect if you tell the cause so clearly. With a bit of work and character development, you wouldn't write books whose ending can be predicted in the first few chapters.
For example, Roxy and Joy could have laughed at the books. Say, sure they're good fun, but unreal. Roxy needn't have been a virgin. Joy needn't have had a on-and-off guy she seemingly used just for sex. Also, they could have gone to the Czech Republic to look for vamps. Another reason could have taken them there. And Christian could have sent Joy the vision after he had met her. Raphael didn't need the family tradition. And many other things.
Needless to say, this book annoyed me more than I originally thought. (less)

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Aug 08, 2012 Liliana_c rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: no one

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. ****0.5 stars****

I stumbled across this book as I was searching for something to read. The title got my attention and I read a couple reviews with no spoilers. Most of them said that it was a no brainer but entertaining. So, I got the pdf for it because I decided that I was not going to waste money on it and there's no spanish nor english version in Mexico.

A Girl's Guide to Vampires is the first of 10 (I think, seems there's a lot of .5s) books on the Dark Ones Series. Written by Katie MacAllist...more

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May 12, 2012 Natasha McNeely rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: never-finished, reviewed

A Girl's Guide to Vampires is a book I bought a couple years ago because it sounded interesting. I never finished it.

As soon as I started the book, I developed a dislike for the main character and her friend; maybe because they seemed cliché, maybe because their overall attitudes just didn't sit right with me. Either way, that nagged on me as I continued reading.

I'll be honest, I don't think I made it through the second chapter.

The story did not catch my interest and that, combined with my disli...more

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May 04, 2012 Monique rated it 3 of 5 stars

I did not know what to expect when i picked up this book. The back gave no mention of characters or plot... It started a little slow for me, but overall I liked it. I thought it was hilarious! Sure the two women are a bit annoying but that was also was it was so funny. They have no filters on their mouths! Whatever they think (no matter how inappropriate) comes out of their mouths.

"But Raphael's a nice name. It's exotic. It's unusual. It-"
"Sounds like it belongs to a male prostitute," he interru...more

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Nov 06, 2011 Dawn rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-books, pnr, vampires

Joy and her best friend Roxy decide to travel to the Czech Republic for a Gothfare on Halloween. Roxy is a huge fan of a book series about Dark Ones, vampires (think the Carpathian series) and she is hoping to meet the author and perhaps some vampires. Joy on the other hand does not believe in vampires and is traveling just to support her friend. However as soon as they arrive Joy begins having visions of a vampire feeding and at the same time the vampire is attempting to woo her.

Overall the sto...more

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Oct 25, 2011 Rebecca rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed, paranormal-romance, vampires

On content and character development I'd give this book a 2.5, but I think MacAlister's writing is better than that so I'm going with a 3 overall. Unfortunately, the heroine Joy and her ditzy friend Roxy made me want to slap them, because they were so annoying. The two friends travel to the Czech Republic to look for vampires, because Roxy is convinced that the author of a series of vampire books knows the truth about vamps and Roxy wants to be a vampire's "beloved." Both she and Joy are TSTL at...more

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Aug 01, 2011 Madame X rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: paranormal-urban-fantasy, vampires

This book reminded me a lot of backpacking through Europe. Random encounters, focusing on the other people you meet and kind of ignoring the sights, feeling thrilled by things that would bore you at home, looking for adventure in all the wrong places, not having enough changes of clothes.

However, the book ended up being kinda cheesy.

It opens with this Goddess summoning ceremony where a witch is helping Joy and Roxanne find true love. Roxanne is obsessed with a series of vampire novels and she...more This book reminded me a lot of backpacking through Europe. Random encounters, focusing on the other people you meet and kind of ignoring the sights, feeling thrilled by things that would bore you at home, looking for adventure in all the wrong places, not having enough changes of clothes.

However, the book ended up being kinda cheesy.

It opens with this Goddess summoning ceremony where a witch is helping Joy and Roxanne find true love. Roxanne is obsessed with a series of vampire novels and she is constantly making an ass of herself about them - first going to Hungary to hunt down the so-called "Dark Ones" and mooning over their tormented, romantic natures, and trying to explain the books and how true they are to everyone she meets...

She is also the reason why they end up spending the better part of their vacation in Hungary at a Goth Fair. This involves fighting off the attentions of a hammy faux-vampire and a whitefaced shrew, night after night.

At the beginning, during the summoning, Joy is warned that she'll have to pick between two men - one will lead her to happiness, the other to damnation. As long as I was curious about who that would be, I was glued to the book. When I figured it out, the book lost most of its thrills - at that point, it's just a matter of cleaning house, all the cards are on the table and there's still a third of the book left to go. I kind of had to trudge through the last bit.

This is not a very dark book. The vampires don't seem to do much other than search for their "Beloved" and there is a prescribed order in which the relationship between a vampire and his Beloved must progress. The thing is, what is the difference between a vampire who is totally absorbed in the search for his Beloved and a moony, generic romantic hero who is desperately longing for true love? Not much. Which may be fine - but if you are in the mood for vampire fiction, this may be a little unsatisfying.

I wavered on Joy too. Sometimes I liked that she was spunky and sarcastic. Other times I wondered if she knew how to have sex without talking about cheerleaders in her pants, and thought that she took her Informal American Charm a little too far, and slid into Ugly American territory - brash, a little thoughtless, pushy.

This is my second Kate Macalister book - the first was You Slay Me, the first Aisling Grey novel, and it was wonderful. Which is to say - a whole lot better.(less)

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Jul 29, 2011 Brina rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Die Freundinnen Joy und Roxy fliegen nach Europa, um an einem Gothic Festival teilzunehmen.

Dort soll Joy lautet ihrer Freundin Miranda, einer Kartenlegerin, ihren Traummann finden. Doch dieser soll alles andere als menschlich, sondern ein Vampir sein.

Joy’s Freundin Roxy ist von der Vorstellung hin und weg, denn sie liebt alles, was mit Vampiren zu tun hat. Das fängt mit Vampirromanen an und endet mit Männer, die sich als Vampire verkleiden.

Recht schnell lernt Joy auch einen Mann kennen, der sie...more

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Jun 03, 2011 Lisa added it · review of another edition

I really loved this book just for the fact that it's a story any romance fan can relate to whether you prefer paranormal or contemporary. There is a good mix of both within these pages and the fact that the main character is a woman who- like a lot of us die-hard fantasy romantics - finds it hard to connect with real men that are so unlike the fictional heroes we instantly fall in love with is just genius. It instantly puts you in the book as any woman could be Joy Randall and in the book is exa...more

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Apr 14, 2011 Sarah Marie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I actually wanted to read the sequel "sex and the single vampire" first because I'd heard it was really good, but since they were both in the library I figured I'd read the first one, "a girls guide to vampires" first, just for something to do.

Like most reviewers I found most of the characters in this book extremely annoying. Joy seemed to be trying to be a strong independent woman asserting herself, but she came across whiny, paranoid, nosy and incredibly selfish. But most of all, apart from...more

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Feb 24, 2011 (´*•.¸ღBexღ¸.•*´) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

am so happy that I took the chance and purchased "A Girl's Guide to Vampires" as I've never read any previous novels by Katie MacAlister.
This novel was not only a good read, it is filled with humor, mystery, danger and to top it off, it's a wonderful love story - and it simply offers a little of everything to the reader. The characters, Joy, Raphael, Christian and Roxy jumped off the pages in living color into my world and my heart. You truly care about what happens to each of them. The charac...more

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Jan 27, 2011 Bronwyn Rykiert rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: vampires, paranormal-romance

This is my second Katie MacAlister book and even though I was disappointed with my first one after reading the reviews on Amazon with a lot of people saying iit was a funny book with lots of laughs I wanted to give it a go.

I did not find it funny at all, I don’t know what happened to my sense of humor. I loved Raphael and Christian but I hated Joy, she drove me crazy with a lot of her antics and ideas. I have a bad habit of reading the back page and because of what I read there, I had to finish...more

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Jan 22, 2011 Teresa Kleeman rated it 5 of 5 stars

Armed with only a wicked sense of humor and a bag of rune stones, an American woman untangles the threads involving a serial killer, vampires, and the handsome man who may or may not be what he appears.

Joy Randall and her friend Roxanne (Roxy) are at a Wiccan friends house Miranda. She does a reading for the girls and she tell's Joy that there will be two men, who will love her, but to be careful of the Dark One who wants to possess her sould he will condem her from the true love if she decides...more Armed with only a wicked sense of humor and a bag of rune stones, an American woman untangles the threads involving a serial killer, vampires, and the handsome man who may or may not be what he appears.

Joy Randall and her friend Roxanne (Roxy) are at a Wiccan friends house Miranda. She does a reading for the girls and she tell's Joy that there will be two men, who will love her, but to be careful of the Dark One who wants to possess her sould he will condem her from the true love if she decides wrong. Joy just says okay. For not believeing in that kind of stuff.

Roxy on the other hand believes in the Dark Ones. C.J. Dante who writes the books about the Moravian Dark ones and there Beloveds. Roxy believes everything that Dante writes. She is going to Europe to the Czech Republic, Roxy being the friend she is wont let Roxy go along as she speaks the language and she doesn't want Roxy to get into trouble.

Roxy is going to prove that the Dark Ones exist and she's going to find one or two for her and Joy.

Let me give you five tips to for Vampire Hunters:

1. Location, location, location.
Vampires won't be caught dead (ha!) in place like discos, ten-minute lube shops, or Switzerland. Remember, if you wouldn't be there, neither would a bloodsucker.

2. Trust your eyes. You know the handsome, annoyingly arrogant, self-assure man in the shadows with long hair and cleft in his chin? He's your vampire.

3. No matter how tempting it might be, do not "accidentally" acquire a paper cut on your finger and suggest your vampire kiss it to make it better.

4. Play it cool. Don't offer to accompany your prince of the the night on the talk-show circuit, and whatever you do, don't offer him your heart!

5. Most of all, remember: being a vampire is nothing to laugh about.

Has this got your attention? Read this book, this is the book that starts the whole series out. Joy is my kind of girl. She's beautiful, smart and she is a smartass. I love some of her sarcistic remarks, especially when it comes to Roxy. I really thought she was going to kill Roxy sometimes.

If you want a book that will have you crying tears from laughter. Read A Girls Guide to Vampires. (less)

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Jan 11, 2011 Ithlilian rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal-romance

I guess I'm not into chick-lit if that is what you consider this book. I couldn't get over how ditzy the main characters in this book were. I skipped over almost all of the conversation between the girls in this story, just so I could get to the actual plot, which was tolerable, but not great. The back of the book was definitely misleading. This is not a funny romp about the danger of not wearing necklaces because vampires might be attracted to you, and to not bear your teeth because it might be...more

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Jan 04, 2011 Amy rated it 2 of 5 stars

I don't know what to say. I guess if I was reading this on a beach somewhere (possibly drunk) I would think it deserving of 2 stars. But...I did finish it so, I gave it 2 stars instead of 1. The most annoying part of this whole book were the two female characters. How could anyone stand their constant bickering and sarcasm? I'm still in awe that any man, let alone three men were obessed with the lead character. She was so immature and stupid. There is a difference between being a strong,independ...more

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May 19, 2010 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2010, books-i-own-print

I absolutely loved this book - it had me laughing out loud from practically the first page. I'm just glad I wasn't reading it in public or I'd have received no end of strange looks. I just can't wait to read the next book in the series.

Joy & her friend Roxy are both hopeless when it comes to love so they ask for assistance from a wiccan friend to find their true loves. Miranda's prediction for Roxy is quite straightforward - she'll find her true love within a month. However, when it comes to...more

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Dec 14, 2009 BarkLessWagMore rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: romance

Hmmm, maybe it's my mood but I'm finding the heroine in this book snarky and immature as opposed to "witty" and "fun" as I've seen her described elsewhere. Maybe I'm just a grouch but she's managed to lampoon Wiccan's and Goth's and romance reader's in a way that is more insulting than hysterical. Or maybe I've gone and lost my sense of humor again.

Later: I'm throwing in the towel at 100 pages. I'm just not finding this funny, the heroine is idiotic and so is her best friend who runs off to East...more

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Apr 19, 2012 Anorielt added it · review of another edition

Erster Satz: "Wenn ich Gin trinke , habe ich immer die genialsten Ideen."

Vorsicht, enthält dicke Spoiler!

Also ich bin ja wirklich mit sehr wenig Erwartungen an Blind Date mit einem Vampir rangegangen. Ich mag Katie MacAlisters Bücher, ob nun die Dragon Love oder die Silver Dragon Reihe, aber um ehrlich zu sein ist ihr Schreibstil für mich nur in kleinen Dosen zu ertragen. Tatsache ist das die Bücher von Frau MacAlister immer in erster Linie humorvoll sind. Selbst ernste Szenen haben einen gewiss...more Erster Satz: "Wenn ich Gin trinke , habe ich immer die genialsten Ideen."

Vorsicht, enthält dicke Spoiler!

Also ich bin ja wirklich mit sehr wenig Erwartungen an Blind Date mit einem Vampir rangegangen. Ich mag Katie MacAlisters Bücher, ob nun die Dragon Love oder die Silver Dragon Reihe, aber um ehrlich zu sein ist ihr Schreibstil für mich nur in kleinen Dosen zu ertragen. Tatsache ist das die Bücher von Frau MacAlister immer in erster Linie humorvoll sind. Selbst ernste Szenen haben einen gewissen humorvollen Unterton und zerstören damit die Ernsthaftigkeit wieder. Das mag für zwischendurch ja ganz amüsant sein, aber ich würde nicht empfehlen die Bücher der Autorin direkt hintereinander zu lesen, denn irgendwann geht einem genau dieser Punkt nämlich auf die Nerven.

Ich wusste also durchaus was mich erwartete und Blind Date mit einem Vampir hat mich wirklich positiv überrascht. Es ist humorvoll, gut durchdacht und mit einem sehr interessanten Vampirmythos der hier zwar immer wieder erwähnt wird, aber doch nicht wirklich erklärt wird. Wodurch es auch in den Folgebänden weiterhin spannend bleiben wird. Worüber man sich am Ende des Buches absolut klar ist das die Vampire ein trostloses Dasein fristen und nur von ihrer Auserwählten erlöst werden können. Joy und ihre Freundin Roxy sind große Fans der Vampirbuchreihe über die mähischen Vampire und reisen schließlich in deren Heimat, nach Tschechien.

Man muss sagen das die beiden zusammen wirklich einiges an Lachern bringen und ihre Unterhaltungen wirklich sehr amüsant sind. Das ein oder andere mal musste ich wirklich den Kopf schütteln oder mir die Hände vors Gesicht schlagen weil mir Roxys Bessenheit und Überzeugung das es Vampire wirklich gibt, teilweise echt peinlich war. In diesem Punkt kann ich also vollstens mit der armen Joy mitfühlen. Es gibt auch wirklich mehr als eine Szene bei der ich mir dachte "Das gibts doch wohl nicht!" oder wo ich lauthals loslachen musste. Ich hatte also absolut meinen Spaß mit diesem Buch.

Allerdings gab es auch einige Dinge die mich gestört haben und (Vorsicht, jetzt kommen die Spoiler!) das vor allem aufgrund des Titels und der Kurzbeschreibung von Blind Date mit einem Vampir. Das Thema wird zwar mehr als einmal durchgekaut, aber erstens dauert es Ewigkeiten bis die beiden darauf kommen wer nun eigentlich der Vampir ist und zweitens verhält dieser sich den Großteil des Buches über wie ein normaler Mensch. Bei einem Buch mit diesem Titel hatte ich mir was das angeht doch mehr erhofft. Und vor allem (und jetzt kommt der größte Spoiler und gleichzeitig das was mich am meisten aufregte) ist Joys Angebeter Raphael, den sie aufgrund einiger Visionen und Gefühle für den Vampir hält dessen Auserwählte sie ist, überhaupt kein Vampir! Der gute ist ein stinknormaler Mensch und der wirkliche Vampir für den sie die Erlösung sein sollte, der spielt nur eine Randrolle und hat nicht die geringste Chance Joy für sich zu gewinnen.

Das fand ich wirklich nicht mehr lustig. Wenn ich schon ein Buch über Vampire lese, dann müssen schon ein paar Grundsachen vorhanden sein, was in diesem Buch leider so gut wie nicht der Fall war. Über die Hälfte des Buches habe ich mich sogar gefragt ob der Titel und die Kurzbeschreibung nur ein Jux sind und Joy und Roxy sich das mit den Vampiren einfach nur einbilden.

Dennoch gebe ich die Dark Ones Reihe noch nicht auf und werde mich jetzt frohen Mutes an den zweiten Band der Reihe. Diesmal allerdings als Hörbuch.

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Fazit
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Ein guter Anfang mit ein paar Schwächen. Ein bisschen mehr Vampir hätte es schon sein dürfen!(less)

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Sep 11, 2010 Soraia rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dark-ones, reviews

A Girl's Guide to Vampires caught my eye by its title and summary, as I'm always looking for paranormal series to read. Though, at first glimpse, it had everything to satisfy my reading preferences, it did not deliver what was promised.

Joy and Roxy are co-workers and best friends. Before a work related trip to Europe, they visit a friend who claims to be a witch and after some weird predictions they both set off to their journey with different expectations. Roxy is uber excited expecting to mee...more

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Jan 03, 2010 Alana rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: vampires, romance-paranormal

Joy Randall is a little on edge. Her Wiccan friend Miranda has foretold that Joy will meet two men, and that choosing the wrong one will result in her eternal doom. Not that she believes in that sort of thing, but still it's pretty creepy. So is the claim that she may meet a vampire on her travels - which her buddy Roxy is completely excited about. Joy's skepticism soon gets a heavy blow when she starts seeing visions from a vampire - the first step of Joining. And while she's not really a fan o...more

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Feb 08, 2013 Raquel rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: C Jasso

Freaking hilarious!

I read this because of some of the clever kitche titles later in the series had caught my eye. I'm so glad I did.

First, I'd like to say that I LOVE that it's written on more than a 6th grade level. There's proper grammar and everything! Plus, real words whose exact meaning for their context are used rather than dumbed down phrases. For example, "I shook my head with a solemnity that I hoped belied the aforementioned sottedness."

Second, the snark. Oh, the snark. I really can't...more

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Sep 27, 2011 heather ♥ rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: pnr-uf

This book annoyed the living shit out of me.

It's about two friends who love a particular book series about vampires, and travel to the place where the author lives in order to try to find vampires. They then proceed to use the books as an end all and be all of the "Dark Ones" as they call them. I cringed through half of the dialogue in the book, Joy and Roxy kept up with this whole "everyone's a vampire" thing and had no problems talking about it as though it was perfectly reasonable.

If that we...more

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About Katie MacAlister

For as long as she can remember, Katie MacAlister has loved reading. Growing up in a family where a weekly visit to the library was a given, Katie spent much of her time with her nose buried in a book. Despite her love for novels, she didn't think of writing them until she was contracted to write a non-fiction book about software. Since her editor refused to allow her to include either witty dialo...more

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“A compliment would be the last thing out of my mouth to a man who was so pigheaded that he could be served at a luau.” — 25 people liked it

“Stay here til I come to fetch you."
I no longer recognize you in the Republic of Joy," I loftily informed him. "Our diplomatic ties are severed."
Unsever them," he growled, "or the Country of Raphael will be forced to declare your republic a protectorate."
Dictator," I muttered.
For life," he agreed.” — 22 people liked it

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A Girl's Guide to Vampires (Dark Ones #1)

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