Review: Confessions of a Vampire's Girlfriend by Katie MacAlister

So, I am a huge fan of Katie MacAlister's Dark Ones books.  And I have several on the TBR shelf.  But I have been waiting to read them, because #8 In the Company of Vampires is actually a continuation of the adult relationship of Ben and Francesca.  The main characters from Got Fangs? and Circus of the Darned.  They have since been combined into one book, Confessions of a Vampire's Girlfriend. 

Now I am going to be very clear, most of the time, I am not into YA Romance.  The whole Twilight thing? *shudder* Let's just say, that I have a name for it: The Teen Drama Trauma and move on, shall we?  So, I have had this books sitting and waiting to be read.  I kept putting it off and putting it off.  It would probably still be on my TBR shelf, if not for all these Reading Challenges I see going up.  It got me to thinking, it is time to start clearing out some of the older books in the TBR pile.  On that note, I finally worked up the nerve and dived in. 

Honestly, it wasn't as bad as I feared.  The signature Katie MacAlister humor and snarkiness is there.  Yes, the 16 year old Francesca is moody and broody, but I think most anyone would have been in her shoes.  She is trying to make the best of it, but as she keeps saying, "Her Life is Weird."  

Fran is with her mom, touring around Europe as part of a Goth Faire.  The only one near her age is a 15 year old boy, Soren.  Fran's mom is a witch, her new friend Imogen is a Marovian (female vampire/Dark One) and Fran herself is a psychometrist.  Plus she is surrounded by all the other members of the Goth Faire, all of the strange and just a little out there.

Then she meets Imogene's brother Benidikt, who is a Dark One and claims that she is his Beloved.  The only one who can save his soul and that they are destined to be together.   It is right here, that the book could have made that sad, turn down Twilight lane and been all "Oh, we must be together forever" and "I can't exist without you".  Thank God it did not. 

First of all, Fran keeps calling Ben a Vampire, a term he dislikes.  Secondly, she doesn't really believe in the whole "Beloved" thing.  She wants to take it slow and just be friendly.  Ben keeps stepping in to save and protect her and Fran keeps telling him to let her fight her own battles.  It was wonderful!  

I read both books fairly quickly, and will admit I thought the second one ended rather abruptly.  It left me hanging and kind of wondering, "What the hell?"  I didn't really feel that there was a natural conclusion to the situation and it felt both rushed and forced.  I am hoping that when I start on In the Company of Vampires, set years later, it will resolve some of these feelings of "And???"