Teresa Medeiros

Paranormal/Vampire Regency

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There's just no call for anyone in the "outside world" to be making sport of romance.

As we all know, nobody does it better -- and with more alacrity -- than those of us on the inside.

Of course, airing this tidbit for general consumption is a little like complaining to a girlfriend about your husband -- you want her to commiserate, but God help her if she points out her own list of his faults.

We're never going to convince folks who've never read or enjoyed romance that the books are as empowering and well-written as we know them to be.

So why fight it, when it's oh so much fun to take control and add our own self-deprecating humor to the mix?

That's what Teresa Medeiros does when she has a bit of fun with the hottest sub-genre around in her new novel -- the witty, tender, and deliciously sexy, "The Vampire Who Loved Me."

Julian Kane is the quintessential tortured-in-his-soul rakehell.

At least he would be if he had a soul. When he was turned into a vampire, the old anima flew the coop along with his will to do anything but exist, search for the vamp who owns his soul, and daydream in the dark about the 17-year-old innocent who once saved his immortal life.

Five years older and wiser than when she worshipped him with teenaged, Byronic passion, Portia Cabot is certain Julian must still feel something for her -- especially after the way she went about saving him.

Since he's been incommunicado for five long years, his returning so suddenly has everyone suspecting he's responsible for a recent spate of murders in London -- ones in which the female victims' bodies are found drained of blood.

And Portia, too, makes the assumption obvious to her: Julian needs her help, not only to renew the search for his soul, but also to give him reason to care whether he finds it.

Medeiros has a way with romance, a deft writing style that embraces and expresses the lovely emotions we expect, while exploring dynamics and drama that make the best romances sing.

In "The Vampire Who Loved Me," she turns today's hottest paranormal romance theme into one that doesn't take itself so gosh-darned seriously.

The mythology is tried-and-true Stoker stuff, but Medeiros pokes good fun at elements like mind control and shape-shifting, while respecting the humane elements of her vampire hero and those who love him.

That search for humanity is really what draws the protagonist toward redemption - or a big ol' stake through the heart -- in any vampire tale worth its garlic.

I could spend lots more time writing great stuff about "The Vampire Who Loved Me," but I've got a ripped bodice to mend. While I'm doing that, I suggest you --

Buy the book.

www.TeresaMedeiros.com

Next week's review and AuthorView: "Thrill Me to Death," by Roxanne St. Claire