Just a bite: Vampire fiction

Acosta, Marta.  Happy hour at Casa Dracula

Hip, smart Milagro de Los Santos is minding her own business at a book party for Sebastian, the ex-boyfriend she’s not quite over, when Oswald, a mysterious, handsome stranger approaches her. The chemistry between them is potent, but after they accidentally exchange blood during a powerful kiss, Milagro finds herself feeling strange.—Booklist

Adrian, Lara.  Midnight rising

For journalist Dylan Alexander, it began with the discovery of a hidden tomb, thrusting her into the center of a gathering storm of violence and secrets. But nothing is as dangerous as the scarred, lethally seductive man who rises from the shadows to draw her into his world of dark desire and endless night. –Publisher’s description

Arthur, Keri.  Embraced by darkness

Part vamp, part werewolf, Riley Jenson plays by her own rules, whether it’s her stormy love life or her job as a guardian. But when her family’s alpha male demands that she solve the mystery of a vanished girl, Riley can feel a trap closing in around her. Because the job comes with a catch: if Riley fails, her own mother will die. –Publisher’s description

Ashley, Amanda.  Night’s touch

Cara DeLongpre wandered into the mysterious Nocturne club looking for a fleeting diversion from her sheltered life. Instead she found a dark, seductive stranger whose touch entices her beyond the safety she’s always known and into a heady carnal bliss. –Publisher’s description

Atherton, Nancy.  Aunt Dimity, vampire hunter

Near the start of Atherton’s engaging 13^th Aunt Dimity mystery (after 2007’s Aunt Dimity Goes West), series heroine Lori Shepherd, the overprotective mother of five-year-old horse-obsessed twins, is alarmed when her sons insist they saw a vampire during their riding lessons. From her strange friendship with the spectral Aunt Dimity, Lori knows anything’s possible, even vampires, though Lori fears a pedophile may be skulking in the woods outside the Cotswolds village where she and her family live. –Publishers Weekly

Bangs, Nina.  A taste of darkness

He’d lived a thousand years for this? It’s enough to make a vampire want to rush outside to soak up some rays, order garlic mashed potatoes, or fall on a wooden stake. But minds were meant to be changed. When Reinn meets Kisa, he realizes that his sexy werecat is worth dying for. –Publisher’s description

Kresley Cole. A hunger like no other

Sheltered Emmaline Troy finally sets out to uncover the truth about her deceased parents—until a powerful Lykae claims her as his mate and forces her back to his ancestral Scottish castle. There, her fear of the Lykae—and their notorious dark desires—ebbs as he begins a slow, wicked seduction to sate her own dark cravings. –Publisher’s description

Feehan, Christine.  Dark celebration: a Carpathian reunion

The seventeenth in Feehan’s Dark series, and the first in hardcover, features the Carpathians, their lifemates, and human friends who have gathered in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania to celebrate Christmas with a children’s pageant, a feast, and a visit by their fiercest hunter as Santa Claus. –Booklist

Tate Hallaway. Tall, dark & dead

Recovering witch Garnet Lacey manages Wisconsin’s premier occult bookstore. And a fringe benefit of the job is getting customers like Sebastian Von Traum-piercing brown eyes, a sexy accent, and a killer body. The only thing missing is an aura. Which means he’s dead. And that means trouble. –Publisher’s description

Harris, Charlaine. Definitely dead

In bestseller Harris’s perky sixth Southern Vampire novel to star Sookie Stackhouse (after 2005’s Dead as a Doornail), the telepathic waitress of Bon Temps, La., is off to (pre-hurricane) New Orleans to close out her dead cousin Hadley’s apartment. Hadley’s death six weeks earlier had been unexpected, since, as a vampire, she was already dead. –Publishers Weekly 

Erin McCarthy. High stakes

Unlike other politicians, Ethan Carrick is a nice guy-and a hot, casino-owning vampire. And with elections coming up, he’d like to find his First Lady-if his opponent’s hit men don’t find him first. –Publisher’s description

Maclaine, Jenna.  Wages of sin

“Maclaine’s attention to detail and description brings this sexy, adventurous paranormal romance to life…Clever Cin matches sass and bravery with an innocence and vulnerability that will allow her to grow and develop through what promises to be a highly entertaining series.” –Publishers Weekly

Raye, Kimberley.  Just one bite:  a dead-end dating novel

“Lil is a likable mix of Bridget Jones, Carrie Bradshaw and Dracula–charming, sweet, stylish, with just a hint of fang.”–Parkersburg News and Sentinel

Smith-Ready, Jeri.  Wicked game

A delightful read, part vamp romance, part ironic look at advertising’s powers of manipulation, part wry commentary on the takeover-ridden financial scene, and all entertainment.—Whitney Scott—Booklist

Sands, Lynsay. Bite me if you can

One minute Leigh is walking home in the early hours of the morning, and the next a vampire is sinking his teeth into her neck. Turns out it was a rogue vampire marked for termination, but it does Leigh little good because the damage’s already been done. She’s become one of them. –Publisher’s description

Squires, Susan.  The burning

It is 1821, and all who know the beautiful, mysterious Ann Van Helsing believe she is insane. Yet Ann’s curse is the deep psychic ability that allows her to know everything about another human being—their history, thoughts, and desires—simply by touching them. Overwhelmed by a power she can barely control, Ann roams the woods and caves near her estate, searching for an elusive peace. Here she encounters the man who will change everything…Publisher’s description

Squires, Susan.  One with the shadows

Full of colorful characters, romantic locales and vivid details of 1820s life, Squires’s newest (following One with the Night) has a delicious pace and plenty of thrills, and her vampire mythos is both mannered—almost Victorian—and intriguingly offbeat. Bound to net a wide audience of paranormal fans, this one may even convert devotees of traditional historicals. –Publishers Weekly

Stein, Jeanne C.  Blood drive

Anna discovers that her long-dead brother may have had a daughter-and the girl’s in serious trouble. There are some very dangerous people after her, but they’re about to learn that to a bounty hunter with an unnatural thirst for blood, even the deadliest human predators are easy prey. –Publisher’s description

Stein, Jeanne C. The becoming

Anna Strong is trained for anything-until she’s attacked one night, only to awaken in a dark world that exists between the living and the dead. Here, Anna struggles with her love for the two men who inhabit the realms of each: Max, a human DEA agent, and Avery, a Night Watcher who joins Anna in pursuit of the vampire who changed her life. –Publisher’s description

Stivers, Valerie.  Blood is the new black

Stivers's sly satire capitalizes on the lingering allure of The Devil Wears Prada, the bubbly appeal of Ugly Betty, the campy joy of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the drop-dead glamour of Fashion Week.—Publishers Weekly

Thurlo, David and Aimee.  Surrogate evil:  a Lee Nez novel

This wildly entertaining yarn dumps the traditional cop and fantasy genres into a blender on overdrive. The action races across the Southwest as the team confronts Newton Glover, an elusive criminal bottom-feeder who seems to have supernatural powers that surpass those of Nez. Great fun. Elliott Swanson—Booklist

Vaughn, Carrie.  Kitty and the silver bullet

Kitty’s radio show is as popular as ever and she has a boyfriend who actually seems to understand her. Can she finally settle down to a normal life? Not if this is just the calm before the storm. When her mother falls ill, Kitty rushes back to Denver—and right back to the abusive pack of werewolves she escaped a year ago. –Publisher’s description

Walker, Shiloh.  Hunters:  heart and soul

Two men. Two women. Paranormal warriors and eternal lovers who keep the undead in line by destroying those who have gone rogue. They serve as Judge, Jury, and Executioner. They are as merciless as their prey. And they are its soul. –Publisher’s description

Ward, J.R.  Lover awakened:  a novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood

Best new series I’ve read in years! Tautly written, wickedly sexy and just plain fun. Now here’s a band of brothers who knows how to show a girl a good time.—New York Times bestseller Lisa Gardner

Warren, Christine.  One bite with a stranger

“Christine Warren has masterfully pulled together vampires, shape shifters, demons, and many ‘Others’ to create a tantalizing world of dark fantasies come to life. Way to go Warren! --Night Owl Romance

Wellington, David.  13 bullets:  a vampire tale

Minimally plotted and driven by nonstop action, this gory vampire tale is of a piece with Wellington’s zombie novels (Monster Island; Monster Nation). –Publishers Weekly

Wellington, David.  99 coffins

Vampires and mortals fight a modern battle of Gettysburg in vampire hunter Laura Caxton's gore-soaked second outing (after 2007's 13 Bullets). When a college archeological dig uncovers a cache of Civil War–era coffins, each containing a corpse minus heart, grizzled detective Jameson Arkeley recognizes these remains as evidence of a forgotten Union vampire corps and immediately summons Caxton.  –Publishers Weekly

Whiteside, Diane.  Bond of fire

Highly creative and detailed as it winds its way through history, Whiteside’s latest sensual paranormal romance will knock readers’ socks off.—Maria Hatton—Booklist

Yarbro, Chelsea Quinn.  Borne in blood:  a novel of the Count of Saint-Germain

“Saint-Germain is a compelling figure, more appealing than the modern vampires of Anne Rice and Laurell K. Hamilton.”—Romantic Times BOOKreviews