Much Ado About Vampires (Dark Ones #9) by Katie MacAlister
Paranormal Romance
Paperback
October 4, 2011
Signet

Reviewed by Tori

Favorite Quote: “A Beloved should never keep things from her Dark One.”
“I’ll be sure to pass that along to the next Beloved I see.”

Corazon Ferreirs (Cora) is not having the best of days. Her sister married a vampire, her husband dumped her, and when she decides to undergo past life regression at a party, she witnesses her own death and watches a vampire kill the one responsible. So imagine her surprise when during a house inspection with her ex-husband’s new trophy wife, she inadvertently absorbs a demonic power making her 1/3rd of a demonic “tool” and is sent to a supernatural purgutory and saves the life of the killer she saw in her dreams.

Sexy Dark One Alec Darwin is tired. He was sentenced to Akasha by the council for crimes committed against fellow Dark Ones and had decided to end it all with he wakes up to find a beautiful woman offering her blood to him. Alec has never met Cora before but feels an instant overwhelming bond with her, a Beloved bond, but that can’t be possible because he saw his Beloved killed hundreds of years ago. Plus, Cora seems to dislike him.

Cora isn’t sure what is going on. One minute she is wandering through a house and the next minute she’s in the desert on a tour of a demonic purgatory. When she turns down the “Torture and Dismembering” seminar to find a way to escape, she happens upon a gorgeous unconscious man. Realizing he’s a vampire gives her pause because she really doesn’t like vampires but she can’t let him die so she offers him her blood. When Alec awakes all he can think is who is this woman, why did she bring him back to life, and how fast can he get her on her back? From there is becomes a comedy of errors as Cora and Alec fling insults all while trying not to react upon the strong attraction they feel towards each other.

“Stop that.”
“Stop what?”
“Stop tempting me with your manly stubble. And chin. And jaw. But mostly your chin. Did I mention your stubble?”.

“What in the name of the saints are you going on about now?”
“Your too damned handsome. Ok? I don’t like handsome men. I won’t have it, do you understand me! I will not have it! Stop being handsome!”

“Your part of my punishment aren’t you? It’s not bad enough the council banished me to the Akasha-they sent you to drive me insane, didn’t they?”

Alec realizes Cora is in some serious trouble when Bael’s minions come looking for her to relieve her of the “tool”. They escape Akasha and Alec leads them to fellow Dark Ones’ home, Pia and Kristian), in hopes of learning more about her predicament and to hide from the council. What they find is Alec’s previously dead Beloved who wants him back. Add in some overzealous monks, a demon lord who sense of fashion is only mastered by her sense of torture, and you have a recipe for a crazy no holds barred comedy of errors

I was happy to learn we would be getting Alec’s story in Much Ado About Vampires. We first saw him Zen And The Art Of Vampires and again in Crouching Dragon and Hidden Fang. We know Alec isn’t all that bad and there had to be a really good reason for what he did, right? Well there is and here we find out exactly what happened and why. Much Ado About Vampires, number 9 in Katie MacAlister’s Dark Ones series, is a lighthearted and humorous paranormal romance that is heavy on the characterization and light on plot. Sexy vampires, over the top bad guys, and other eccentric characters will have you in stitches as you watch Alec and Cora race to stay ahead of those who want to control the power Cora has inside of her.

Cora and Alec were hard to get to know in the beginning, Cora more so then Alec. She comes off bi-polar. The constant back and forth dialogue (speech and telepathy) was hard to follow and Cora’s antagonism towards Alec was strange. She saw him kill someone but it was revealed in a hypnosis session. I thought it was odd she instantly believed what she saw with no reservations. Sex right off the bat is a turn off for me and I found them having sex especially unbelievable given her strong antagonism towards him. Plus, Cora speaks of her body parts in the third person. I’ve never been a fan of people who speak of their breasts as people.

I began to enjoy the story more once they are out of Akasha and Cora settles down. The storyline picks up pace and the plot starts revealing itself. Alec and Cora do make a great couple. Cora is still unsure of the whole beloved issue. Alec is alpha to the core while Cora’s exuberance and snarky side has him wanting to kiss her one minute and strangle her the next. She has a sarcastic devil riding on her shoulder whom she gives free rein too.

“Well, you know, the Occio is a really big deal. It’s one-third of the tools of Dale.”

“Bael.”

“Bael, sorry. I call him Dale. It’s a little thing we do.”

I also like how defensive she gets of Alec and tries to protect him; much to his dismay. She may be unsure about him but nobody else can. Alec isn’t as dark and broody as the rest of the Dark Ones featured. He seems more to laid back and I found his feelings towards Cora to be sweet. He isn’t going to force the joining until he is 100% sure this is what she wants too. I love how romantic he is…calling her ‘querida” and ‘my heart.’

Multiple story lines run parallel, twisting and turning to keep you guessing with little clues given along the way. There are some revelations that may raise a few eyebrows. New and old characters are in abundance and they will have you giggling and snorting through out.

All in all I found this a funny lighthearted story that will be a must have for fans of Ms. MacAlister’s Dark Ones world.

Overall Rating: C+

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