An Argeneau Novel (Argeneau Vampire) - About a Vampire

Lynsay Sands knows humor and knows her target audience with her Argeneau Novels. I am not knocking them because I have purchased them all; it is a great escape from reality and the everyday drivel. This story focuses on Justin Bricker and his 'lifemate' Holly. It goes left when it is supposed go right - I liked the ending; it was a bit muddled but it was an overall good read. Bricker provides the laughs normally in these books but it had Anders and another enforcer getting him back. It was great.

I love these books,one of my favorites but this was soooo disappointing.I've been looking forward to reading Justin story ,I just feel like it was done completely wrong .we did get to fall in love with the characters at allll.it just ends with them in love .
How? I think the first part of the book toke way to long.holly should of when home had everything figured out ,than the rest of book nr them falling in love together,not just bammmm I love u

So happy. But so sad that I finished the book already. I was hoping for more pranks between Justin and the other enforcers. But I'm happy of how it all turned out and the surprise at the end! Now the unhappy wait till the next book.

i have read ALL of Lynsay Sands books and from one book to another i just cant get enough of her books. I'm always on the lookout for her newer books be it of this series or one of her other ones. I've even turned a few friends into avid readers of her books. All i have to say about this book is it was fantastic and i hope Anders and Decker's wives pummel them later :) to find out WHY they should you should read the book and trust me you shall be laughing at several points and feeling sorry for bricker in a few points.

About a Vampire: An Argeneau Novel This time it's Justin Brickers turn! After he has been sitting back and watching his friends go through the trial and tribulations as well as adding to them as they found their mates. He finds and uses his one turn to save his mate and then finds out she's MARRIED! He's SOOL .His friends might have a bit of payback in there too. They have laws saying they can't interfere in marriages so now what does he do?

Disappointing. Lynsay Sands has gotten on the marriage is an outdated idea bandwagon. Every one of her previous books has been excellent read and it looks like the next is great as well. While the situation itself is humorous, considering it happened to Bricker, I find Sands could have left marriage alone. It made the book really uncomfortable to read and I could not enjoy most of it. If you have strong positive opinions about marriage and working through problems then don't bother with this one.

So happy to get Bricker's story. Without recapping the entire story because others have done that (probably better). Bricker is a reoccurring character in the series. I know this is book 22 but if you have the time go to the beginning. There are a number of characters from previous books so it will help to understand some of the reasons for their actions.
The book is well written, great flow, not predictable. So a basic good read.
I liked getting a deeper look at Bricker, he has a personality crisis because he always got to be the young happy go lucky vampire. Here he has to reinvent himself, maybe grow up a little. Holly is likable and adapts to her life changing very well. Aside from a strict view on her wedding vows and how can you fault that. I did have some issues I will rant about below. Other wise this had really good emotion. I really felt for them.
***MINOR SPOILER***

Now the rant. I know Bricker gave previous male characters a hard time but he never actively worked against them. He tried to help even if he was clueless and would take care of and move their naked butts when they couldn't take care of themselves. The poor man had to hear, see and be party to most of our H/h's falling in love and figuring it out. In return they make it more difficult for him at every turn? As part of the plot it works, it's a good way for Holly to not have too much guilt but I want Bricker to get some apology or retribution. Sure the women had his back but I still wanted more for him. Also it kind of ended with a fizzle. A sweet tender fizzle but none the less.

I have read everyone of the stories in this series but this will be my last. I am so dissatisfied with this book I have been waiting forever to read. What in the world were you thinking making her married but I guess just because she cheated wihile dreaming was ok. No you made a life mate a whore how could you.

Not terribly absorbing but refreshing and relaxing. The Argeneau clan is large very efficient from artificial blood to hard line dealings. Stories, usually involved and you must watch for hidden humor and plot changes. This story is easy to follow and absorb. Take it on vacation, it is easy to picture the beach, an umbrella, a cool drink and this story.

I waited years for this book and I couldn't stand the storyline or the characters. Hugely disappointed I couldn't enjoy it at all it seemed like the book wanted us to be okay with cheating as long as it's with a life mate. Big fan, very disappointed.

So.... I've read the whole series in a big binge over the past few weeks until I reached "about a vampire" then made the mistake of reading the reviews. The three prominent reviews were all critical, one giving all spoilers and truly trashing the book. Up until now I wasn't a fan of Justin. Didn't like his immaturity and arrogance, so I was happy to buy into these negative reviews. DON'T LISTEN TO THEM! Maybe because of my low expectations I absolutely loved this book and now I'm a big Justin convert.

So I'm reminded of the old adage, if you can't say anything nice then don't say anything at all. You do a disservice to the author as well as prospective readers. So my review is more about the previous reviews than the book itself, if you've come this far through the series your already invested so read with an open mind and I hope you enjoy.

Avon needs to slow down when bring these books to the market. They're not the high-quality that they have been. This book was flat end dull. Lindsay Sands other books have been interesting, the characters are interesting, the plot is interesting , this is not. The husband and wife were such wimps, are they gooing to cheat? Does she loves him. She doesn't love him. Get over it. Get on with it the good plotline. I think that this book was rushed to the public and Lindsay Sands was pushed to put out this book and didn't have time to develop it as her other books are so well thought out. I hold much more hope for the new one coming out.

I LOVE this series. I've read every book several times, I have most of them in audio format as well and this was the most disappointing book in the series by far. Even more so because people who like the series generally like Justin and were extremely interested in his love story. Well, SPOILER ALERT, it was crap. She was married, but nominally so, so there almost no real drama or pathos.

The only thing carrying the plot is his obsession with life mate sex. It was his motivation for anything, and made him a complete idiot and oblivious to all the bad advice he was getting. I didn't get anything romantic out of them. There was so little growth for him to mature, which I assume was her intention. I felt by the end, when he made the same old "let me the list the reasons I love you" speech that is sooooo trite by now, that he just strung together qualities without really feeling them.

I'm so upset. I know it's just a book, but when you're 21 books in, you do have certain expectations. I will be figuring out a way to return this to audible if at all possible.

So.... I've read the whole series in a big binge over the past few weeks until I reached "about a vampire" then made the mistake of reading the reviews. The three prominent reviews were all critical, one giving all spoilers and truly trashing the book. Up until now I wasn't a fan of Justin. Didn't like his immaturity and arrogance, so I was happy to buy into these negative reviews. DON'T LISTEN TO THEM! Maybe because of my low expectations I absolutely loved this book and now I'm a big Justin convert.

So I'm reminded of the old adage, if you can't say anything nice then don't say anything at all. You do a disservice to the author as well as prospective readers. So my review is more about the previous reviews than the book itself, if you've come this far through the series your already invested so read with an open mind and I hope you enjoy.

Avon needs to slow down when bring these books to the market. They're not the high-quality that they have been. This book was flat end dull. Lindsay Sands other books have been interesting, the characters are interesting, the plot is interesting , this is not. The husband and wife were such wimps, are they gooing to cheat? Does she loves him. She doesn't love him. Get over it. Get on with it the good plotline. I think that this book was rushed to the public and Lindsay Sands was pushed to put out this book and didn't have time to develop it as her other books are so well thought out. I hold much more hope for the new one coming out.

I LOVE this series. I've read every book several times, I have most of them in audio format as well and this was the most disappointing book in the series by far. Even more so because people who like the series generally like Justin and were extremely interested in his love story. Well, SPOILER ALERT, it was crap. She was married, but nominally so, so there almost no real drama or pathos.

The only thing carrying the plot is his obsession with life mate sex. It was his motivation for anything, and made him a complete idiot and oblivious to all the bad advice he was getting. I didn't get anything romantic out of them. There was so little growth for him to mature, which I assume was her intention. I felt by the end, when he made the same old "let me the list the reasons I love you" speech that is sooooo trite by now, that he just strung together qualities without really feeling them.

I'm so upset. I know it's just a book, but when you're 21 books in, you do have certain expectations. I will be figuring out a way to return this to audible if at all possible.

About a Vampire is book twenty two in the Argeneau series by Lynsay Sands and it can be read on it’s own. It’s not necessary to have followed the story from the begging to pick this one up.

Holly is currently working as a part-time worker for a funeral home when she unexpectedly encounters Justin one night. Justin is there doing his Hunter job and disposing of the bad vampires that have been killed.

I liked About a Vampire as much as I could, but I was hopping for more. It lacked the humor that I have come to love and enjoy. It didn't have a very good explanation on why Justin is attracted to Holly. The only thing we get is that he can’t read her mind, which is one of the indications that an Immortal has found their lifemate. And, last their was no true conflict and so the story just dragged.

Justin’s lifemate in this one is Holly and it turns out she's married. Is married before her turn and after to a human. I kinda felt bad for Justin having to deal with finding his lifemate and then knowing he can’t have her; because she’s married. Holly on the other hand never wowed me. I get her wanting to be loyal to her wedding vows, but the more we learn about her marriage the more it sounds like it was convent and that they are friends with benefits instead of true husband and wife team. But, what really upset me about this story is Justin’s friends and colleagues. They where deliberately mean to Justin. They gave him very bad advice on what Holly likes. Yes, in the other stories Justin razed them and gave them a hard time when they found their lifemates, but he was never deliberately cruel and the women never got hurt by his antics. It was just so wrong and upsetting to see this. Then their is the ending where everything wraps up nice and easy and it’s all a ok. It was to convent of a way to wrap everything up and make it all turn out for the best.

The only thing that I truly enjoyed was the return of shared dreams. Why? It’s one of the indications of a lifemate and one that we haven’t seen in a while.

About a Vampire was an easy and comfortable read, but disappointing for me as a fan.

Rated: 2.5 Stars

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy:

ABOUT A VAMPIRE was a strange book with many fun scenes and characters, but there was definitely something missing: an antagonist. A book without a bad guy or even an big dramatic ending sequence feels a bit like a roller coaster that ends at the top of the ride.

This is all a shame, because the opening chapter was killer. It's funny, introduces the characters beautifully and has just enough foreshadowing to make you smile when things inevitably hit the fan.

Holly is charming, no-nonsense and newly a vampire. Bricker is... Bricker. He is a young-ish vampire who has been in most of the recent books, giving everyone who finds their life mate a hard time over how goofy they are acting. He is buff, sexy, and has always given off a devil-may-care attitude. All that disappears in a puff of smoke when he is put into the situation though. Since Holly is married, vampire law and Holly's moral code aren't letting him woo her with the full extent of his prowess. This leads into fun scenes where he tries to be charming and screws up quite a bit. These scenes were totally fun, especially for readers who know the series.

And yet... There was nothing at stake. There was not bad guy trying to keep them apart and no one trying to kill anyone. There was barely a love triangle with Holly's husband, and he got explained away so quickly at the end that I nearly hurt myself rolling my eyes so hard.

The worst thing that could have happened in this book is that Holly decides to stay true to her husband until he dies, and then comes to find Bricker fifty years later. For a series about immortals, that isn't super stressful for readers.

I read this book very quickly; it was a fun read. But without a antagonist or any action scene, it felt like the plot in this latest Argeneau novel never really took off.

I have never taken so long to finish a Sands book! I bought it the day it came out and I just today 10/14 finished it (What is that 15 days) . It sucked and how sad that it was Brickers story that went down in flames. I fully understand wanting to try a new story line but why fix whats not broken? This one was boring, sad, drawn out and it just simply sucked. Bricker is fun and full of life and his story showed NONE of that. Story line for more than half the book was about his mate and her suck butt life and how she is married and lord how many times did she have to repeat that line. His mate was already married and oh how lucky for him her husband just happened to be the life mate to Gia. Give me a break. The first chapter that was released was very misleading and showed great hope for a great story but it does nothing but get worse and crash and burn from that point on. I'm pissed off and want my money back.

I have to say that I am completely surprised by Bricker's book. We've seen him slowly become more and more annoying and irritated as everyone around him finds their life mates. I had some predictions about who he would end up with but I guess I was completely and totally wrong. I guess I expected a flash forward in time to get him together with the little girl that really won my heart. Sadly (I guess?) he doesn't end up with her and instead ends up with some unknown. Don't get me wrong, Holly is great and all, but I think that it took me a while to get over the flip.

So, Bricker. If you don't know him and are joining the series at book 22, you should think twice. Sure, they can read as a standalone book, but knowing Bricker's past helps me be less judgemental when just about everyone tricks him in one way or another. It was pretty funny and unique a meeting between life mates. Once I got over the whole "Bricker ends up with an unknown" thing, the story was pretty fun.

This story throws in a new twist - what if your identified life mate is already in a relationship (and married!)? Of course Bricker doesn't do anything easy, so I wouldn't expect a very simple HEA story, but don't worry - we still get there. The worst part of this story? I fell in love with Gia and then found out she doesn't even get her own story! Out of all the new characters we have met along the way, I always assumed that she would get her own story at some point, not mashed into another person's tale. I'm very disappointed by that, but at least she got a bit of story. She was probably the highlight of this book.

This the book that Lindsay Sands wrote to say to her fans and her publisher "I just don't want to write the Argeneau stories anymore". I usually enjoy Sands vanilla vampire stories, where she tames the dark creatures of classic literature down so that (barring an emergency), they only drink blood from bags. Each book centers around a made for each other love story. Her novels usually have elements of humor, but this one is flat. The only time it even approached Sand's usual humorous style was when the heroine grabbed a newbie vampire who was lost in mindless hunger and attacking a mortal, and shouted "Bad Boy!". When I finished the book, I actually said out loud, "I want my 8 bucks back".

There were so many directions this story could have taken, but to me, it was like Sands just said, "Bleep it, I'll end it I'll end it in the most obvious, unimaginative humanly possible".

What I didn't like: The main theme for one. That everyone of the so-called 'good guys' were convinced that an immortal couldn't remain married to a mortal, and they did their best to support the breakup of Holly's marriage. That theme alone, outside of the lazy clichéd writing was reason enough for me to give it a thumbs down. I was so disappointed in the poor unimaginative way that Sands took to end the novel. I didn't like the hero Justin. He was a pouty little boy (in a hundred plus year old body) that wanted his way, without considering the consequences of his actions. In the novel, he was so shallow, all his character cared about was getting Holly to drop her panties.

What I did like: Holly was a surprisingly good heroine. She was honorable and determined to follow her vows no matter the cost. I did like the way that Sands portrayed a busy working marriage as stale. It was realistic and made Holly's decision to take the hard road and stay with her husband even better because it wasn't all fun and roses.

In short, IMO, Sands writes tame fun love stories, and until this one, I haven't been disappointed. I hope About A Vampire is just a fluke.

So, let me start off first with stating that I am a HUGE, Ginormous, Enormous fan of Ms. Sands and her Argeneau Series and have every single one, either a hard copy or in my kindle when I finally got it. Anyway, I was kinda disappointed with this story. The premise is good, I mean if you've been following the series, you should already know all about immortals and life mates and such. With that being said, the idea of having a married life mate was pretty smart in my opinion. I was thinking all kinds of turns and loops these two would be facing trying to see how they can go around this. The fact that it was so bland, and I'm so sorry to say that because this series as always been entertaining and absolutely HOT!

Their story just really didn't do it for me. And come one, they're supposed to be smarter and more advanced than mere mortals, why the heck didn't Justin realize sooner that the things he was told that Holly liked where all lies? He didn't catch on when she hated the flowers? or the picnic in the beach? I mean, yes, guys can be pretty oblivious but man, oh man... smh.

Still, it was an interesting read, didn't hold up to the quality that the Argeneau always showed but it was still fun.

ABOUT A VAMPIRE is the 22nd book in the Argeneau series. Though each does stand on its own, I highly recommend reading them all and in the order of release.

I borrowed this as an audio book from my local library. This is a fantastic way to make the work day more enjoyable and speed on by (of course I had to warn my co-workers – two men! - that there would be some NSFW parts. They are so cool that they gave me space to not be embarrassed.

Let me be clear – though married, there was no cheating in this story. Holly is a lady! Working out the logistics of this mucked-up situation was no easy feat, but Lynsay Sands has risen to the challenge and done it with grace and humor, as always.

I loved the ending so much! I’m looking forward to many more Argeneau books.

Title: ABOUT A VAMPIRE
Series: Argeneau # 22
Category /Genre: Paranormal Romance
Recommended for: 18+ due to sexual content
Received from: Orange County Library

Enforcer Justin Bricker wants to find his Life Mate. At only a little over 100 years old, he’s still young to be looking, but being a self-proclaimed ladies’ man Justin figures it won’t be difficult to find the one. He actually gets more than he bargains for when he runs into mortal Holly Bosley late one night while he’s disposing of bodies after completing a job hunting Rogues. He forgets all about his task when he realizes that he can’t read Holly’s mind, which is the typical sign of a Life Mate.

Being so terrified of what she’s stumbled upon Holly, naturally, runs. But in her haste to get away, she mortally wounds herself. In order to save her, Justin has to turn her. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things since she is his Life Mate and all. Except Justin is in for an even bigger surprise when Holly wakes up and he learns there still might be a problem with Holly as his Life Mate: She’s married.

I loved that absolutely nothing goes according to Justin’s plans and perceptions in finding his Life Mate. It makes for many hilarious moments as Justin tries his hardest to win over Holly and keeps coming up short. To be fair, some of these failures are due in large part to Justin receiving payback from other Enforcers for the way Justin hazed them when they were finding Life Mates of their own. What these failures show readers is a very sweet side to Justin. He definitely learns a lesson in humility, but it was great to see how determined he was for Holly to understand why she should choose to be with him.

Holly has subconsciously fit herself in this little box of a life. Having grown up with archaeologist parents whom she was constantly on the move with, she ends up marrying her one and only childhood friend James Bosley. Until she’s changed, and thrust into the world of Immortals, she doesn’t realize how contained her life was. Even when she does realize the shortcomings within her life, she’s loyal to a fault. She doesn’t let any attraction she may feel toward Justin change the fact that she’s made vows to another man, which speaks volumes about Holly’s character. The very things Justin found stubborn in Holly were things I admired about her.

When I read the synopsis for About a Vampire I was immediately interested to see how Lynsay Sands could pull off the happily-ever-after with Holly being married already. For me, cheating scenarios are a slippery slope. You can have a likable and relatable character, but having them cheat runs the risk of the character losing credibility. Sands pulls off this challenge really well. I obviously won’t tell you how things play out specifically, but I still liked each character at the end of the day.

I think the only minor complaint I could give for About a Vampire is that I would have liked to see Justin and Holly have more one-on-one time together getting to know each other. These were the sweetest and most telling moments in the book, but I think at times dealing with Holly’s transition as well as Immortal/Life Mate politics, they were kept apart too much.

Overall, About a Vampire is a really good read. Even if you are new to this series you can easily pick this book up and enjoy.

I was going to leave this series after the last book as I haven’t been enjoying the direction that Sands was moving in but then I saw that the hero was Bricker. Cue about face. To be honest, I wish I hadn’t indulged as the book didn’t really meet my expectations.

Bricker meets his lifemate Holly in a crematorium while he is trying to dispose of some bodies. Holly sensibly decides not to stick around but unfortunately is mortally wounded while escaping. Bricker turns her and everything is hunky dory until he discovers that she is married and determined to be faithful.

Four reasons why it didn’t work for me:

1. I still have no idea why Holly and Bricker actually ended up together apart from the nanos deciding that they were a perfect match and great dream sex. Surely there should have been more.

2. The vampires are pretty immature. Rather than getting to know his lifemate, Bricker sends his mates in to find out what she liked and was more focussed on the great sex he was going to have than Holly as a person. It smacked of an awkward school-yard romance rather than an adult one, especially the scene where he had to ask for permission to kiss her. His friends thought it would be hilarious to sabotage the burgeoning relationship as payback for him teasing them while they tried to woo their women. If lifemates are so rare – doubting this one as we are up to 22 books in the series now – then their actions were pretty horrible and more befitting a bunch of teens who haven’t quite nailed social norms.

3. The vampires deliberately set out to wreck a marriage. Whether the marriage was going to fail or not should have been entirely up to Holly and her husband as they were the ones who decided that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. The vampires isolated Holly, ostensibly for her own good, and pushed her into romantic situations with Bricker. No one bothered to tell Holly that the intimate dreams she was having with Bricker were shared ones. We are repeatedly told that it is hard to be married to someone when you can hear their thoughts. Okay, so if that is true then why not let Holly attempt to live her real life and simply wait for her to fail? If the marriage somehow defied the odds and survived, then Bricker just had to wait for the husband to die before swooping in. He is immortal after all. I would have been much more comfortable if they had given her the basic skills to survive rather than shoving Bricker in her face.
4. The use of a dux et machina to resolve everything shouldn’t have been necessary.

It is hard to keep a long running series fresh so I applaud Sands for trying to find something different. Unfortunately what she came up with didn’t work for me. I can however recommend the earlier books in the series.

Bricker is adorable as usual and I enjoyed this one a lot, but thought the ending was a bit rushed.

Holly Bosley is content with her life, her marriage, and has great hopes for a career as an accountant once her schooling is complete. Working in a temp position, she’s doing the taxes for a funeral home. Ideal, it might not be, but it’s a good position even though she’s a little freaked out over the whole idea of what goes on at the place. Now having to visit the crematorium after returning to her office in the middle of the night because she’d forgotten her purse there and discovering some paperwork had been overlooked was truly freaking her out. Not wanting someone’s funeral to be held up because of late paperwork, she makes the journey across the dark and creepy cemetery to the building where not only are the bodies of the deceased cremated but they are also stored. Newly dead bodies stacked in a cooler awaiting their fate in the retorts…what the ovens are called by the staff. Discovering two men there that she doesn’t recognize was shock enough especially since they had their own stack of bodies on a gurney. Witnessing a head separated from its body fall to the floor in a splat was enough to send her fleeing for the door.

Justin Bricker was used to the dirty work that came with being an Enforcer in the world of immortals so a middle of the night visit to a crematorium was nothing new. Being spotted by a mortal that he couldn’t read and control was not. The young woman in her pajamas carrying scissors was not anything like he’d thought his life mate would be, but he wasn’t going to let her get away now that he knew she existed. When she fights to escape and falls on the scissors, Justin makes the quick decision to turn her and save her life. Excited, happy, and ready to be united with his life mate, to experience the amazing thrill of having his life mate with him, he’s shocked, disappointed and fearful of retribution when he discovers she can’t be his yet…she’s married.

Of all of the mortals who found themselves as the life mate of an immortal, I think Holly accepted the news and the idea of being an immortal the best, once she understood they weren’t really vampires that is. Although insistent that no matter how connected she and Justin were, her marriage came first and so she would never cheat on her husband. She even thought her sex dreams about Justin were cheating and when she found out they were shared, she was very unhappy about it. But overall, Holly was pretty cool with the idea of being immortal even if it meant dining on blood the rest of her life. I won’t tell you how things end up because that wouldn’t be fair to you but I will say that I wish the ending was a bit different. I felt it was rushed and Justin deserved better. He especially deserved to experience the ultimate in life mate sex but he does get his happily ever after with Holly, eventually.

Despite the weak ending, ABOUT A VAMPIRE by Lynsay Sands is a great addition to the Argeneau series. It’s a story filled with fun, teasing, Bricker’s usual young immortal quirkiness, and I couldn’t have picked a more perfect life mate for him than Holly. She’s a bit a klutz and quirky too. If you’re an Argeneau fan, you need to read ABOUT A VAMPIRE, book 22 in the series and the story we’ve all been waiting for a long time. For the rest of you, if you haven’t tried this series, you’re truly missing out on the most fun you can have in paranormal romance.

***eARC provided by publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest and unscripted review.

It was not to my liking .
If this was your first introduction to this series. DONT JUDGE IT BY THIS ONE. Go back to the earlier books.start there
I have read all of the Argeneau series and have looked forward to the new books being released. However I was truly disappointed in this book. Yes at some point the situation with lifemates and one who was human and married had to be addressed. In each story a life make was to be cherished, was to be looked upon as a gift so that you would not spend your immortality alone. Someone you could not read not control a true partner, not a sexual conquest/bed partner. Granted Justin bricker was very young ( just over a century) to have found his life mate . We all know or say that a teenage boy only thinks about one thing. For all intents and purposes Justin is for an immortal a teenage boy . Now that being said it was irritating to have Justin only think about the amazing sex that he would have with his lifemate there was no other mention of any other family life orientated activities that they might have. He was totally ignoring the fact that she was married,true he didn't realize before he turned her that she was married. However afterwards all he could think of still was if she had sex with him she would forget about her husband. he was so wrapped up in himself he was not thinking about the life she had before him. And the rest of the clan who were either telling him lies or trying to help him circumvent the rules about Not influencing / interfering in a mortals marriage were also not respecting the marriage vows.
I've read some of the other reviews of this book, and some were saying it was a great book somewhere saying it was a waste of a read but I thought I would find out for myself because I love the series. This was not a good addition to the Argeneau family.
read and decide for yourself.

Justin Bricker has yet to meet a woman he can’t win over, so his potential life mate should be no different, but instead of falling into his bed, Holly runs away and ends up mortally wounded in this spellbinding paranormal romance.

Holly may need Bricker’s help to control her new abilities, but she will resist his relentless seduction and the reader can’t help but get caught up in Holly and Bricker’s star crossed romance as Bricker breaks every rule to fight for his life mate. The chemistry is a smoldering heat that grows ever hotter throughout the story but the relationship has a major snag, Holly’s already married and she won’t break her vows which causes quite a bit of emotional turmoil for both Holly and Bricker and puts Bricker at a bit of a loss, which as you probably know is a bit unusual for him. The characters are strong, charismatic and win the readers over with their star crossed romance and the fast paced, smooth flowing plot ensnares readers with lots of suspense, turmoil and romance.

Anticipation builds as Bricker recognizes his life mate but ends up starting things off with a bang that will change everything including the way he thinks and expectation builds as other immortals take their stab at getting back at Bricker for his antics when they found their life mates which adds quite a few humorous but sad situations that make you feel for Bricker’s position. The well written scenes and details make it easy for the reader to become absorbed in the story while the intriguing events ensure that the readers can’t put the story down.

I have been looking forward to reading to Bricker’s story since I first met him and I have to say that Lynsay Sands created the perfect story for him because he certainly deserved to have to work for it but at the same time I have to wonder did he have to be tormented quite so much? Well…apparently so because I was certainly entertained by his story and I love the conclusion and how everything came together.

All I can say is poor poor Justin will get the payback of his life when He finds, saves, turns, trained and looses his life mate to her mortal husband. All the hell he played on his fellow enforcers stories will bit him on his ass when they including the arrogant Lucian will play their parts in his time with Holly. Including telling him of her fears, which they let Justin know the at loves, for instance he hates flowers, they represent death (she works for a funereal home) hates picnics, she was raised in deserts and loved outside for 18 years, Hates fish (but loves deep fried fish) hates dogs (she was attack at age 3), kittens, natures files or anything doing outside. She hates all that but Decker and Anders tell the poor sap that she loves all that, so most of his wooing her starts out bad. He wants the life mate sex but cant since she is married and he cant interfere with her marriage vows. But no one told his their shared dreams cant bring that passion into their lives, if only Holly know the truth.
Holly and her husband grew up together since her parents were archaeologist her husband's father was her dad's friend and his mother was a teacher, they were the only two kids on the dig sites and they were each other's firsts of everything. Until a night where she forgot her blood testing kit at her job, and found papers that had to be forgotten for the crematorium, which she took but upon delivering papers she found two men throwing is headless bodies and body less heads into the ovens. Warning all parents tell their kids----Never run with scissors, or your scab yourself--- she forgot that lesson and did indeed scab herself in her chest.

I'll say it again poor Justin----Pay back is a bitch----

4 stars

This was a very good story. I liked both Justin and Holly. Holly being married made things difficult but it worked out well in the end.

Holly is an accounting student that works at a mortuary. Her parents are archaeologists and she traveled around the world with them as a child. Her husband, James, was the son of her parent's co-workers and they grew up together, first being best friends and then later getting involved and then married.

Justin was born an Immortal and is around 100 years old. He works as an enforcer for the Immortal counsel, taking out rogue Immortals that break the rules that all Immortals have to follow. He's been sort of a ladies man and has given the other enforcers hard times when they've had problems winning their lifemates, thinking he'd have it easy when his time came.

Holly is diabetic and was getting ready to check her blood sugar before bed when she realized she left her purse with her blood meter in it at her work. She drives to the mortuary and while there, finds some paperwork that the night shift guy needs in the crematorium. She goes to take it to the other building but finds something unexpected when she gets there. Justin and Anders are in the area, taking out a nest of rogue Immortals. They're in the crematorium, using it to burn the rogue's bodies when Holly happens to come in. Justin tries to take over her mind and stop her from running (planning to wipe her memory of them) but he can't access her thoughts. This is the main sign of them being lifemates so he's pretty happy and runs after her. She freaks and ends up in an accident that mortally wounds her so Justin is forced to turn her into an Immortal before they can even talk.

Justin sees Holly through her turn but when she wakes up, he doesn't do very well at explaining things and she thinks he's a nut-job that thinks he's a vampire. It's about this time that Justin find out that she's married. He has to take her away for a couple weeks to teach her how to be an Immortal but she wont consider him as a lifemate because she's determined to be true to her marriage vows. Things aren't helped at all by the fact that Decker and Anders lie to them both, making Holly think she's not really Justin's lifemate, insinuating that Justin is just a nut that really wants a lifemate and turned her in a mistaken plea for her to be his. They also tell Justin they're helping him but tell him all sorts of lies about Holly's likes and dislikes so he's constantly doing everything wrong. I have to admit that I felt really sorry for Justin in this...he may have given the other guys a hard time when they found their lifemates but he never purposefully sabotaged their efforts. Regardless of these issues, Holly does find herself attracted to Justin and it's only her determination to be true to her marriage vows that keeps her from being with Justin. Things don't go well for Justin and there's a separation and some pain and drama before things get straightened out in an unexpected twist that allows them to get their HEA together.

I enjoyed this story very much (except when I wanted to kick Decker and Anders in the balls). Holly was a good woman that tried to do the right thing even when she really wanted something else. Justin was a sweetheart and I felt for him when he struggled so hard to win Holly while not trying to put undue pressure on her. I was really happy with how things turned out and relieved that it was handled in a way that was good for all concerned. Id' recommend this story (and the whole series).

* note - I listened to the audio version of the book and the narrator did a really good job.

Enough have been said why this book was a dissapointment, however I wanted to add something hoping is not a spoiler. A book that had a lot of promise, descended into a place where everyone behaved out of character, were mean, and played vengeful child games with Justin. Justin got a bad deal all around, he was a second runner up at the end of the day. The end was predictable, it was easy to guess since the issue of how to turn someone was discussed; and even though I 've surmised what would happen at the end to make it all work out, it still stunk when it came all about. The female lead hit me the wrong way, I thought she was unpleasant and spoiled, full of dislikes and quirks, still not sure what was to like about her. In reality Ms. Sands latest books have decreased in quality to the point I check them out from my library, since they are not keepers.

I could have dealt with most of it, but the way the end came around was contrived and put together with duct tape. Not sure who was more dislikable, the wife or the husband, and James sure had no loyalty and was ready to look out for himself when his chance came. She was as other reviewers quoted, whinny, rude, hard to please, and wait, throwing up because she saw a fish with the head on it, please give me a break. I dislike people who turned their noses to different food...

This was so cute and funny. Holly Bosley, a married, freshly made vampire, is the life mate of Justin Bricker, but while Justin may be over 100 years old, he is not a very mature for his age. He is kind of like a teenager with his first love, and let us face it, his friends are just not that mature either. Justin knows the rules say he cannot influence a married woman to become his life mate. Holly is married to someone else. Justin has been a bad boy, and he made fun of his fellow immortals when they found their human life mates. It is their time to get even. He was given some bad intel about her likes and dislikes, which resulted in hilarious consequences (okay, not really hilarious for her).

This is my first Lynsay Sands book, so I don't know if they are usually full of this in your face humor, but this one definitely was full of it. If you are not a fan of the fart joke and somewhat childish humor, this might not be a read for you. I like a fun, childish, light-hearted book. I am gathering this isn't her normal writing style... based on some of the one star reviews. I hope they are wrong because if humor isn't her forte I might not find the rest of her books quite as enjoyable.

This book did not have a "deep" writing style. It was a great romantic comedy. It was not a bodice ripper. It was not filled with deep meaning. I like it. (I wouldn't have minded a little soft porn, but it wasn't real explanatory.). I liked it for it being a good romantic comedy with a paranormal tweak.

*Spoilers ahead*
I never really cared much for Justin Bricker in the books leading up to this, as his constant teasing of new lifemates was annoying and repetitive. Therefore, when I saw that his own lifemate was already married, I was glad to see him get a taste of his own medicine. The real victims here were Holly and her husband James. Not only was she happily married when she first met Justin, but her husband was a genuinely nice guy. Normally in romance novels where one of the romantic leads is married, the common resolution to that is that the spouse is abusive in some way, or a cheater, or has some sort of addiction, or is neglectful. That trope is usually firmly in place so that we the readers will feel that the H/h is justified in wanting out of the marriage. That was not the case here at all. James is guilty of being a normal human being with flaws just like anyone else. Ms. Sands attempted to make up for Holly's falling for someone else by having James conveniently be revealed as the lifemate for another immortal.
I'll be honest. That bothered me something awful. Here we have poor Holly as a victim of circumstance. She's turned into an immortal without her consent (which has happened too often in this series), she's told repeatedly that her marriage is now doomed due her new immortal status as her new mind-reading ability will allow her to read his occasional less-than-flattering thoughts (once again, not her fault), so why not just embrace this stranger as your new mate, with the only reason given is "because nanos don't make mistakes."
I suppose I should be happy that James is given a pity prize for being ousted as Holly's spouse, but I couldn't feel anything but anger on his behalf. It's even explicitly stated by both him and Holly that if they'd stayed mortals, they would have had a happy life together, with children, grandkids, and growing old together. It's also been stated that mortal marriages are regarded as sacred and untouchable to immortals, and there are laws in place to prevent immortals from breaking them up. Because of this, I was upset throughout the whole book, getting madder with each chapter as Holly's resolution to stay faithful to James is treated as a joke by everyone around her. James and Gia conveniently turning out to be lifemates at the end made me sick to my stomach, as it was the final nail in the coffin for what was once a peaceful, loving marriage. Bottom line, this was just a wish-fulfillment book about the grass being greener on the other side.

I have very mixed feelings on this book. While it is well written as always by Lynsay I have an issue with the story itself. I have always enjoyed Justin Bricker and was so happy he was getting his story told. I was okay with his mate being a mortal who was married and wanted to remain faithful. My issue came with the other immortals and how cruel some were. I understand wanting payback for his teasing but they took it to the extreme and Holly was also a victim in that regard. So it lost some of its interest. My other issue was that was all there was to the story. It seemed one dimensional without anything else going on. I still look forward to more Argeneau books and still give this a 4 even though for me it fell flat.

I'm a huge fan of the series and I waited in suspence for this book. I was sadly disappionted with Justin story. This book was lacking in almost every aspect compared to its predecessors. Probably the worst book of her career.
In Justin defense he did give all he friends a hard time with their lifemates but he never sabotaged them and what they did to him was highly uncalled for. My impression of Lifemates is that they are rare and to be cherished by all immortals. What they did wasn't some kind of harmless prank. They risked not only Justin's happiness but also his future and sanity which could have resulted in his eventual death as well as his mates. It was severly cold and caused me to feel a lack of respect and dislike of those characters. The female heroine i felt was unimaginative in character. Other than her loyalty their was nothing really admirable about her. Also knowing Justin to be a really funny character from previous other books I was expecting to find his story to be a fairly gutwrenching in hilarity. But other than a couple funny lines it fell flat.

With immortal good looks and scorching charisma, Justin Bricker has yet to meet a woman he can't win over. His potential life mate should be no different. But instead of falling into his bed, Holly Bosley runs away and ends up mortally wounded. To save her, he has to turn her. And then Bricker learns the shocking truth: Holly's already married.

Holly wakes up with a bump on her head, a craving for blood, and a sexy stranger who insists they belong together. She needs Bricker's help to control her new abilities, even as she tries to resist his relentless seduction. Choosing between the world she knows and the eternity he offers is impossible. But Justin is fighting for his life mate—maybe even his life—and he'll break every rule to do it.

Review:

I think everyone who has read this series has been waiting for Bricker to get his own story. And it is exactly what you would expect or hope would happen for him.

Bricker has probably driven every other immortal insane when they were in the middle of finding their life-mate and now it is payback time. Not only does he find a possible life-mate, but she runs with scissors (didn't her mama tell her not to run with scissors?lol) from him and falls and impales herself. Bricker must use his one turn to save her. Come to find out Holly is married, a new one for the series, if I am not mistaken and of course it happens to Bricker. Holly remains true to her marriage vows even as they start getting closer. Then all the guys who he gave a hard time to try to sabotage Bricker and Holly with wrong information. This is just some of the funny and ironic things that get in the way of Bricker and Holly becoming true life-mates. Bricker and Holly really have a hard time getting to the point where they can be together. Unlike the other books in the series, the sexy times really only come into play in the second half of the book and mostly through the shared dreams. Like the others in the series this is a combination of paranormal, fun and sexy romance. Other than the ending feeling a little rushed, I think this book helped give this series a freshening up.

I am so happy to have received an advance copy to review! Loved Bricker and Holly's story and I wonder who is next?

4Stars

*Received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.*

Does anyone know how long I have waited for Justin’s book? It seems like forever. And, now that I am reviewing it, I can honestly say that it was worth the wait even though I was totally frustrated with the storyline! Justin finds his life mate and she’s married? Really, Lynsay, really????

I was so looking forward to his book and his HEA and was really surprised with the way she took this story. But, with Justin’s sense of humor, it was only natural that his story would be a little off the beaten path. And, thank God for all the other life mates making his life as miserable as he made theirs as they were trying to gain the trust of their better halves. It was wonderful watching him go through what so many have gone through before him. Anders and Decker letting him know that paybacks are definitely a bitch made this book interesting and hysterical.

As for Holly, well she had a lot of decisions ahead of her. I give kudos to Lynsay for not taking her character where I thought it was heading. She took everything pretty much in stride considering her life as she knew it, was over. So, does she pick the comfortable, unsatisfying life she was living with her husband or move on to what could be an incredible, long, satisfying life with the man who showed her how great sex could be and claims to be the only man in the world for her?

How does Lynsay Sands do it? This is the 22nd book in this series and each and every story is original. That is not an easy task and the sign of one incredible author. What’s even nicer about this series is that you don’t have to read all 21 books before this. Each one can be read as a standalone and you won’t be lost. But, if you truly love Paranormal Romances and enjoy books that are fun, different and not your normal vampire book, then you will want to read the rest of this series.

It’s very easy for me to explain why I keep reading and enjoying the Argeneau Series …. The writing is impeccable, the stories are amusing and the characters are just wonderful. So, yes, I will wait for the 23rd installment of the Argeneau’s, I will read about any one of the interesting and fun characters that she will write about, I will wait to see what Marguerite has up her sleeve and find out if Lucien ever loses his grumpiness.

Review copy provided for an honest review.

I was very disappointed in Bricker's story. In fact, it is the first Argeneau book I didn't like and had trouble finishing. The whole concept was unpleasant, downright silly and totally hard to believe. I was very concerned when I read the back cover that this was not going to be to my liking. The story started off bad and kept getting worse. What if Holly's marriage was perfect instead of mediocre.What if her husband was madly and passionately in love with her? What a terribly sad story this would have been. But Sands made him distant and dispassionate. Lucky Bricker. I was bored with Decker and Anders pranks and didn't find them at all funny. I missed the tension and pull between Bricker and Holly. I hope this is the last time Sands tries a similar type of approach and goes back to what makes this serious so much fun to read.

The Argeneau Vampire Series is a definite buy for me, and this story is no exception. This series is different from other vampire (sorry, immortal) romances out there, with it's origins in science and the humor spread liberally throughout.

Throughout this series, Justin Bricker has been the Casanova, the one who made fun of the others' bumbling as they found their life mates. I absolutely adored seeing him get his comeuppance, as well as the payback from his fellow Enforcers, and his transformation into a one-woman, caring male was a delight.

Holly was an enjoyable heroine as well. Curious, honorable, sensible (most of the time). Her inner dialogue had me chuckling out loud more than once.

There were some surprises in this story that made it an even better read than usual. No spoilers here, but let's just say I am very happy with the way things turned out at the end :-)

Not my favorite one in this series. I wanted a whole lot more for Bricker's story and this one really frustrated me. What I think was supposed to be funny - his friend's giving him wrong info about his lifemate so he would have a hard time wooing her - went a bit too far. Finding your lifemate is serious business and it was almost disrespectful what they did to Bricker. I also found the ending a bit contrived, I predicted it and then dismissed it as being all too convenient, so it was a bit of a let down when I got to it. What I did love was the writing and there were spots of the trademark Sands humor and heat, so I'll keep moving on with the series and hope the next one works better for me.

Justin Bricker is an immortal enforcer and one night his life mate literally and figuratively stumbles and falls right at his feet, onto a pair of scissors. He is forced to turn her into an immortal to save her. Quickly he discovers his life mate is already married to a human. The immortal laws prohibit him from telling her too much or using any persuasion to try to gain her affection. Any feelings she may have for him must be her own without his influence. Since Justin is responsible for her change, he is also responsible for teaching her how to live amongst humans as an immortal. He has a short amount of time to teach her and for her to realize that he is her destiny, her life mate.

Holly wakes from her fall to discover the change. She isn't quite sure what to make of the handsome lunatic. She quickly realizes that what he is telling her is true and that she is an immortal. Holly just wants to learn how to live with her new reality and then get back to her normal life with her husband. Although the more time she spends with Justin, the harder it is to fight this new attraction. Justin & Holly have a lot of things going against them, the biggest is the fact that she is married to human. Justin's fellow enforcers also think this is the perfect time to pull the ultimate prank on Justin and hilarity ensues. Just when I thought I had the story all figured out Lynsay Sands throws a curveball and Justin & Holly's happily ever after is even more perfect than I expected. Justin & Holly's Story gets 5 STARS from this reader!

About a Vampire is Book #22 in author Lynsay Sands, Argeneau Series. These books can be read in order, but can also stand alone. As a fan of the series, I recommend you read them all in order. The relationships that develop are even more special, as characters from previous books reappear to play small parts in each new story. This series is one of my favorites of all time, The Argeneau Series is a must read for any paranormal romance fan!

**I received an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I honestly loved this book and have just ordered a paperback copy for my home library**

I really love Ms Sands work. All her books are wonderful and keep you glued to the pages. You just can't stop reading. But this series I love the most from the first book I was hooked. I have re-read the series so many times. But I'm sad to have to tell you this one I want be re-reading. I was a little disappointed that Justin didn't really have to work at or understand what it meant to search for a mate. To me it came about so soon, I mean he hadn't quit eating yet and sex seemed to be all he cared about. No one seem to care that Holly was married, that she loved her husband and want to honor her vows. They just acted like she should just forget it. Then to make her husband a mate to Gia was a little much. I feel that Justin should have turned her, trained her and the walked away. Let her find her way back to him if that is what she wanted. The whole story just felt a little off or rushed... I can't wait for the next one. I was so glad to see Dante story.

The Argeneau Vampire books are my favorite PNR books. In fact, it is one of my favorite series that I have stayed with when others have fizzled out. About a Vampire did not disappoint. In fact, there were some twists that made it that more special and an awesome read. Justin Bricker is always giving the other men a hard time when they are trying to woo their life mates, so when he meets his of course they lead him astray with some things. Which makes for some funny issues. To top it off, Holly, his life mate, is already married in the mortal world. She is honorable and tries to do the right thing. I love how it wasn't the insta-love and everything works out perfect from the start. I can't wait untl the next one!

I have read all the Lindsay Sands vampire book and enjoyed all of them till this one. This was boring. The only action is the male vampire trying to convince a married woman to leave her husband to stay with him. I had difficulty liking the characters. This woman was married and to a good person but the author seems to be trying to convince the reader that it was Ok to cheat if you have found your life mate. DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK!. Skip it and go to her next book in the series, Runaway Vampire, which earns 5 stars in my book.

I've been thinking of reading the Argeneau books forever. Since I recently signed up for a digital library card at my local library I borrowed this book. #22 in the series I did read the entire book. It was a good story and I quite liked Justin and Holly but it felt like I was reading a contemporary novel of two, young, star-crossed lovers. Justin turned Holly into an "immortal" and so now, in addition to a whole lot of carbs, they need to drink blood to keep their inner nanos happy.

I would rather have had the story without its pseudo-vampiric (scuse me - immortal) elements.

At least now I'll not read the entire series. I shall leave that to someone that better appreciates these immortals.

Note: Free from Author

Dear Lord. That was awful.

This book has no plot to speak of. Thought I'd give it a fair chance, and I did... But. Seriously. The high point was where Holly died from running with scissors. The low point was... Well, the rest of the book.

Most of the book... No really, almost the whole thing... is a newly turned vampire in a house with other vampires. They go to the grocery store, or to a restaurant, or have twin cousins come over. They eat sandwiches and chips and Coke. There is a moonlight walk on the beach. If you are thinking that this sounds like a soap opera... Yup. Seriously. Vampires can be totally bad ass and you're wasting page space describing the smell of salt and vinegar chips?

There's even a scene in the beginning where Holly goes home and sleeps in her own bed and the vampire guy comes and watches her sleep all night. If you think you've heard that before, you must have heard of Twilight.

Having given this wretched tome much more than its fair shake, I say... Learn from my mistake. Read something else.

What a waste!! I used to read Lynsay Sands for her fun, fast paced books. Sadly, the last several have been big letdowns with this one being the worst. Who knew vampires could be sooooo boring? It almost seemed like someone else had written it. Then there were the unnecessarily graphic barf scenes. Three, if I remember correctly, with one even describing "yellow bile, with chunks of apple". Oh, and the leading man describing his lady love as looking like she was one of his nephews, after making a stinky diaper, followed by the information that despite looking like it, she had indeed not made a mess in his car. REALLY??? Nowhere in any romance novel should these types of references be made. UGH!!! Permanently off my list of authors to read.

Nothing too new in the series but there is still good humor, guys giving guys crap,messing with Justin.

I did expect something bigger for Justin. Holly being married just didn't hit the challenge factor too well for me and she was a bit on the whiny side. I was really expecting a warrior type, take no crap persona.

Over all good supporting 2nds, sticking with the main theme and classic Sands humor makes for a good, not great, but good humor read. I'm certainly not ready to give up on the long running series that needs some new bad guys. For the good vs evil and not just big hunky alpha male gets ordinary human woman. Hell US women get to go to combat now and woman around the world have been in combat positions and even commit mass murders. Step up the female persona to give these guys a run.

Ms. Sands has done it again. She took a premise I was not comfortable with and turned it around to create an amazing romance that was impossible to put down once the conflict became clear. I actually enjoyed myself and relished the convoluted process of the hero and heroine falling in love.

First, fans of the series know that Bricker has been a pain in the behind to a lot of the other Immortals when they found their life mates. He was relentless in making fun of them and enjoyed himself to the max. In About a Vampire Justin Bricker gets his comeuppance delivered to him in spades. I figured out easily enough that two of his buddies had it in for him but it wasn’t until the very end that the author let me in on the secret. There was one more person turning the payback screw on Justin and I never would have guessed. That revelation made me laugh out loud. I bet other readers will get a chuckle out of it too.

The fact that Ms. Sands had Holly actually honoring her marriage vows impressed me. The heroine was loyal, steadfast and pragmatic, to a point. However, she is only human and temptation is only a kiss away. Knowing how life mates work in this series, it was only a matter of time. But how was the author going to handle it knowing how the heroine feels about her being a wife? Interesting ploy and it worked.

And, of any hero in the series, Justin Bricker is the perfect hero to be in such a romantic pickle because in all the books in the series, he sort of had it easy but in About a Vampire, his free ride has come to a screeching halt. I was completely entertained by his confused and confounded situation. I mean, he knows he has to respect her wishes and her vows, he knows that he can’t interfere with a mortal’s marriage and even knowing all of that doesn’t stop him from imagining, conniving, yearning and trying to come up with clever solutions that fail at every turn. That is, until he comes up with a plan.

Readers of my reviews know how much I’m in disfavor of highly detailed sexual dream sequences. I consider them fillers and a waste of space. However, Ms. Sands has cured that failing with shared dreaming. In those kinds of dreams, two protagonists are experiencing the same things and are affected by them simultaneously. That means they create ripples of effect in their waking lives and I thoroughly approve of that approach. Shared dreams do have an effect on their relationship and plot movement, as such, they are worth reading every single spicy moment because there are details not to be missed that are relevant later on.

Unlike many books in the Argeneau series, there are no villains to combat and no one to rescue in dramatic fashion; this is a solid character driven romance. The fact that Justin turned his life mate, a woman who was already married, is the biggest kind of personal conflict a story could have. How the author managed to get around that ginormous hurdle is a feat of great imagination and storytelling genius.

Some readers might think it ‘convenient’ in the way the conflict was ultimately resolved, but I found it fits with my needs as a romance reader. I want the happy ever after, and I want a tidied up, all threads accounted for, kind of ending especially when a story is not a cliff hanger. Ms. Sands satisfied that need and that’s good enough for me.

About a Vampire is as sexy, fun, entertaining and delightful as a reader could wish. Fans should get plenty of chuckles at Bricker’s expense, especially in light of all his past shenanigans. Holly is really cute and her history is rather interesting. It’s that personal history that lends itself to the belief in the final outcome. Holly is Justin Bricker’s life mate, and it’s a wonderful thing. I definitely recommend this story to new and established fans alike.

originally posted at long and short reviews

Let me start with this is my very first book by Lynsay Sands. Several of my friends have read her books and have raved about her vamp series. Being a PNR fan I was intrigued and kept thinking I needed to give her a try. When the opportunity to review her latest I said heck ya! The blurb for About a Vampire sounded good. On closer inspection, I see it is book #22 in a series. YIKES! One I have not read. Oh, dear. Sometimes jumping into a series works, sometimes it doesn't. Fingers crossed!

Annnnd... About a Vampire was good. Justin and Holly were certainly likable characters. She's very sweet with a interesting yet okay childhood. Justin I found to be fun guy although I didn't find him to be a big hubba-hubba sexy vampire (I'll get to the whys in a moment). They found themselves in a very inconvenient position with her being his life mate and her being married to someone else. Can we say awkward much! Justin is determine to have her, just as determine Holly is to her marriage vows.

Justin, thy middle name is persistent! And you really should have known better than to trust Anders and Decker with their intel on Holly. Justin's attempts to woo Holly all seem to fall flat thanks to those two. While others may have found it attractive that a man was doing everything to charm his life mate to join him, I wasn't so keen on it. Yes I get it. Life mate = soul mate = THE one and ONLY for him. Justin's actions seem to fall on the too desperate side for me to find attractive. Don't even get me started on the life mate shared dreams!

There's quite a few secondary characters in the story that I found interesting. I've peeked and see they've all had their own story and yes I think it is worth going back and reading those books. About a Vampire did work just fine for me without reading any previous titles. It was fun and for the most part, entertaining with minimal amount of any ick to make the vamps all GRRR SCARY! The ending did seem a bit rushed and the HEAs a bit too pat for my taste. I like my PNRs to be just a bit darker and, that wasn't happening here. Still, it was a good read and worth recommending. If the chance to read Ms. Sands' books came up again I wouldn't say no.

I received this book from the JeepDiva for the express purposes of an honest review. The opinions and rating of this review are solely mine and in no way was I compensated.
Stars - 3, Flames - 3

SPOILERS AHEAD.
I love the Argeneau Vampires and Bricker has been one of my favorite characters. I was very excited when I saw this book was about Justin. That's all of the excitement I got from it. The book fell completely flat. I am not even sure I am going t finish it. I skipped ahead to the end to see how Holly's marriage gets resolved and gagged it was so trite and predictable.
These books have always had three things going for them, great characters, action and humor. This one has none of them.

Justin is a shallow, immature child who is only interested in how soon he can get Holly to have sex with him. Of course he's only a little over a hundred which in vampire years makes him an adolescent but he's never seemed that childish and whiny before. Maybe because the older vampires have lost interest in sex it makes their finding it again more interesting. Ms. Sands might have been better off letting Justin's character mature a little more before introducing his lifemate. Holly is a boring woman with a boring life. Her only redeeming feature is her loyalty to her marriage vows but the only time she thinks of her husband is when she's tempted to break them. And by the way, she never calls her husband the whole time she's gone?! and he never calls her?!

The most action in the book is Holly seeing Bricker and Anders in the crematorium and running away and falling on the scissors. The rest of the book is people grocery shopping, eating, talking about sex, dreaming about sex and then doing the same things again. Boooring!

I suppose Decker and Anders lying to Justin about what Holly likes is supposed to be the humor in this book. It's just mean and makes Justin look pathetic. Why does it take him so long to figure out they lied and why is it so hard for Holly to just tell him she doesn't like what he's doing? This is not funny at all.

Even the end and the resolution of Holly's marriage is obvious from almost the beginning and incredibly trite. She spends all of the first part of the book reminding people (and herself) that she's married and then pfft, it's over and done and she's HEA with Justin and James is with Gia.

I guess you could say this book is like the movie Star Trek V - you read it to say you have, own it to have a complete collection but never look at it again.

4.5 Stars
Sexual Content: Sexual
Language (Profanity/Slang) Content: Mild
Violent Content: Intense

Justin Bricker has finally found his life mate, but there is one complication... she is married. He cannot force her to divorce her husband.

Holly Bosley thought her life was content. She was going to college to become a CPA and working part-time at a funeral home. She was married to her long time childhood friend. She meets Justin and her whole world is turned upside down.

Passion grows between Justin and Holly but Holly fights it because she is married and feels the vows she spoke meant something.

Even though this is the 22nd in a series it is a standalone book. I read it before reading any of the others and enjoyed it tremendously.

All the characters played a vital role in development of the story. My favorite were Decker and Anders who were "friends" of Justin's who were just trying to help him woo Holly.

This is not a serious paranormal it is a hilarious story, I laughed until I cried. I felt the passion between Justin and Holly. There was also times where I was so mad I could hardly wait to turn the page to see what would happen next.

Ms. Sands knows how to balance the humor with the passion to make an entertaining book.

-- LINDA

All books reviewed by Once Upon a Romance are furnished by the publisher or publicist for a fair and honest review.

Justin Bricker finally gets his life mate. His friends get their retaliation on him for all the crap he gave them when they found their life mates. Lots of the typical Argeneau Vampire humor you expect from Lynsay Sands. Even the premise of the story, Holly almost dies because she is running with scissors, is funny. Problem is that Holly is married and it’s against the rules for an immortal to mess with a mortal marriage. From the beginning, you can easily guess how the book will end, but it’s still a fun ride.

I have read all of the Argeneau family vampire series and have enjoyed them, some more than others. This was Justin Bricker's story of finding his life mate Holly Bosley. This story had a twist and a big problem for Justin in that his life mate was already married and by law he could not make her his life mate because of it unless she became widowed or they divorced. While I did enjoy this story I did not find it as interesting as the authors other stories as it did not seem as if Justin and Holly had much interaction and time together. I must say though that I have enjoyed several of the other books especially Nicholas's story and also Luciens so I still highly recommend the series.

What can I say? I am a Lynsay Sands/Argeneau fan, and I enjoy every single one of her books. This one was a little different, since Bricker's lifemate is married to a human (if you are familiar with the series you know that is a problem). I did not see the solution coming, and it was a delightful surprise. Kind of enjoyed seeing Bricker get his comeuppance too.

I felt like this book kind of dragged nothing exciting or fun just annoying things not nearly as good as the other books could have definitely saved money and skipped this book or just give it away for free I usually read books over this one will be a pass

Lindsay Sands never fails to entertain. If you follow the Argeneau Vampire series, which is a must, this books rates 5+++. Characters are familiar, toss in humor, love, lifemates, and you have a great read.

This was a fantastic story to read. The characters are so funny. I love the way they interact. it's always a blast reading all of the stories, and I had missed these stories so I'm hoping to find the next one!

ABOUT A VAMPIRE is the 22nd book in the Argeneau series. Though each does stand on its own, I highly recommend reading them all and in the order of release.

I borrowed this as an audio book from my local library. This is a fantastic way to make the work day more enjoyable and speed on by (of course I had to warn my co-workers – two men! - that there would be some NSFW parts. They are so cool that they gave me space to not be embarrassed.

Let me be clear – though married, there was no cheating in this story. Holly is a lady! Working out the logistics of this mucked-up situation was no easy feat, but Lynsay Sands has risen to the challenge and done it with grace and humor, as always.

I loved the ending so much! I’m looking forward to many more Argeneau books.

Title: ABOUT A VAMPIRE
Series: Argeneau # 22
Category /Genre: Paranormal Romance
Recommended for: 18+ due to sexual content
Received from: Orange County Library