Rating: 4 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | All Romance | Amazon UK
Length: Novella
Augustin Carmichael, slightly overweight, bored, and lonely scours the Internet for something interesting and decides one night to look up vampire dating. As odd as it sounded, Augustin discovers that these sites do in fact exist. Who would have guessed? Not satisfied with scratching the surface, Augustin tries to sign up as a man seeking a man, only to get error. He then tries man seeking woman and woman seeking woman, always getting the same annoying error message until he gives up in frustration.
Augustin’s repeated attempts to sign into the site cause the coven leader, Claude, to investigate. Unfortunately Tony, his second-in-command, sends the wrong vampire on the reconnaissance mission. The ensuing fiasco sees Augustin taken back to the coven house against his will. Augustin meets other vampires and their mates and begins to see the situation in a different light, including seeing the good in Tony. Will it be enough for him to give up his life and family to become dinner for an admittedly hot vampire?
The title is was sold me on this book. I mean My Life Without Garlic? How cute! Now Augustin was a strange, neurotic man who could easily have been annoying, but never hit that point as far as I am concerned, although he came close a few times. Tony was a fun vampire, except I never quite understood his insta-love with Augustin. It just felt off in context with the rest of the story.
Bradford did a fabulous job with the secondary characters, at least in terms of variety. Although most were two-dimensional, they still managed to play their parts well. I did have to wonder about where the story was set since Augustin lived in the city and the coven house was set in the desert with nothing as far as the eye could see. This left me wanting more world building, just a little, to set my mind at ease.
This may not be the best book I have read, but it has some of the best lines in it. I lost count of the number of times I laughed out loud while reading it. It also added a different twist on the mates concept that was refreshing. Based on the witty dialogue, I say this is a light hearted, easy-read story for those who enjoy the trope.
