Review: Only Lycans Need Apply

This is the 9th book in the Broken Heart, Oklahoma series by Michele Bardsley.  This series started with I'm the Vampire, That's Why in 2006 and for those following the series, have been lucky enough to get about a book a year.  The basics of the series is that there is a town in Oklahoma called Broken Heart that has become a home base for parakind.  The series starts when 11 single parents (most due to divorce or widowhood) were killed by a vampire that had disease call the Taint.  The Constorium, a group dedicated to assisting parakind, basically bought up the town and set up shop in Broken Heart.  First to assist the new turn bloods and second to find and cure the sick vampire. Several prophecies are set in motion and the series covers the stories of those original 11 turn bloods and several plot lines.  

This is the second book specifically about the Lycan triplets that were introduced in the first book.  This is Drake's story and starts off with us being introduced to Moira Jameson.  She is an archaeologist on a dig in the Sudan.  She is continuing the work of her grandfather, looking for a specific tomb.  Moira is a sassy, brassy, kick ass chick.  I liked her a lot.  She was raised by her grandfather after her mother was killed when Moira was a child.

Moira meets Drake when he rescues her from a soulless vampire who was trying to use her to find the tomb.  But a group from Broken Heart save her and find the tomb first.  Then she is given a mind wipe and forgets about meeting Drake, discovering the tomb and realizing that vampires are real.  She finds herself back in the states at the college that her family endows, not realizing anything out of the ordinary happened on the dig.

They next meet when Drake is doing some surveillance on Moira, making sure that the bad vamp leaves Moira alone.  The bad vamp doesn't, Drake has to rescue her and eventually she gets her memories of their first meeting back when it becomes obvious that she will need them to figure out why the bad guys seem to be after her specifically.

There was so much going on in this book and I really don't want to give too much of the plot away, just some broad strokes.  There was a lot of action, and with the story shifting between Moira, Drake and Dove, Moira's assistant, you get a good overall sense of what is going on.  This book might be able to be read as a stand alone, but there are so many characters that are mentioned, that without reading the other books, there will probably be much confusion.  Don't read this book looking for a seriously scary story about vampires and shifters, it is much more tongue in cheek.  This book is much more in line with a romantic comedy that just happens to have paranormal elements in it.  It was a nice addition to the series and I really can't wait to read Dove's story.  I am giving it 3 stars on Goodreads.

When I found the ancient tomb of the two most powerful vampires in history, I knew I was in for a lot of trouble….

But archaeologists like me, Moira Jameson, are ready for trouble. Okay, maybe not human-species-threatening trouble. Or the kind of trouble that arrives in the form of a sexy werewolf named Drake. Yeah. Werewolf. And I thought ancient curses and walking corpses were a joke. Um…not so much.

’Cause a walking corpse named Karn wants to reveal vampires, and all of parakind, to the humans. And everyone else thinks that’s a bad idea. Then a pyramid mysteriously appears in Broken Heart, Oklahoma, and I’m appointed to get inside, survive booby traps, and awaken two very old, very hungry vampires. Luckily, Drake has my back (and my front). Unfortunately, archaeology sometimes reveals some very nasty surprises. And I'll have to decide between saving myself…or saving the world.