This is an enjoyable, quick romp. It's very similar to her other books, with the uppity American charming the brooding mysterious Dark One. It is repetitive, but it is a fun read so it doesn't really matter much.

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If you like mysterious vampires known as the Dark Ones, castles filled with treasure unlike any you can ever imagine, a heroine more content to translate obscure languages than work charms, and a supporting cast of imps, betrayers, and immortals, then SEX, LIES, AND VAMPIRES is definitely the book for you.

Nell Harris is the type of woman who delights in the old-namely, in ancient artifacts. A junior professor of medieval history in Seattle, she's been lured to the Czech Republic by Melissande Banacek to view the Holy Grail of her profession-the Graven Plate, a breastplate from a suit of armor made in the late 1300's at the castle of Churburg. A legend among medievalists, no one has ever laid eyes upon the interlocking plates that detail the history of a knight-errant. For Nell, this is the opportunity of a lifetime. Unfortunately, upon her arrival at the home of Ms. Banacek, she gets a little more than she bargained for.

Nell is not one to believe in paranormal beings or things that go bump in the night. So, when she spots a common Central European Imp in Melissande's living room, she's a little unnerved. When Melissande goes on to inform Nell that she's a Dark One, a Moravian vampire, Nell decides that the lady must be insane. Next, this strange lady goes on to tell her that Nell herself is a Charmer. A demon lord by the name of Asmodeus has taken Melissande's brother and nephew hostage, and a fellow vampire by the name of Adrian, whose also known as The Betrayer, is responsible for it all. Bound to Asmodeus by a curse, Melissande's brother and nephew cannot escape. Hence the need for Nell, who as a Charmer has the power and ability to charm the curse.

All would be easy if not for the fact that Nell has forgotten that ten years ago she actually believed in charms, curses, and her abilities. After a charm gone wrong killed her best friend, Nell buried herself in the past-and tangible evidence. Now she's been tricked into helping a boy who can only survive with her help-and in return, she'll have sole possession of the Graven Plate.

Greed and the desire for tenure may be the motivating factors at the start of her journey, but joining forces with Adrian, who isn't what she first thought him to be, is what keeps her going. There's more at stake than the release of a vampire and his son, and it's up to Nell and Adrian to combine their powers to rescue a society on the verge of collapse.

SEX, LIES, AND VAMPIRES is full of fun characters, quirky dialogue, and the redeeming power of love. This isn't the first book I've read by Ms. MacAlister featuring the Dark Ones, and it most certainly won't be my last. I love Ms. MacAlister's world of vampires and supernatural beings, and once you pick up one of her books, I'm sure you'll feel the same.

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I loved this book. I read everything in this genre that I can get my hands on. This book grabs you right from the start. It even made me chuckle out loud a couple times!
Kathy J

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Too much fluff for my taste. The book was cute and a quick read, but I thought it could have been much, much better. The plot was good, but the characters were completely one-dimensional - I never connected with any of them. If the author had put in a little effort instead of just trying to go for the laughs, she might actually have written a substantial book, rather than just an "ohmygawd-i-found-my-true-love-in-only-ten-pages" story.

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As always Katie MacAlister delivers laughter. Her sense of humor is to die for. I couldn't put it down.

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There is alittle too much mush for my likes but a pretty good read.

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Captivating...Who should I trust?

Thank God, finally a good read in this series! Although repetitive story lines: Dark brooding evil vampire falls for witchy beloved with a big nasty bad guy waiting in the shadows to destroy them... yada, yada. This one in the Dark Ones series from Macalister is better written with a more interesting chase. Unfortunately this is not a stand alone novel. With all the inventive vocab, and captivating suggestive characters (who should I trust senarios), one can easily get lost with out reading the previous two novels. Fun read:)

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This is by far Ms. MacAlister's best Dark Ones book to date. Her writing seems to be a lot more polished in this book as opposed to the first 2 in the series--although the second book was leaps and bounds above the first. There were a few just plain silly scenes in this installment, but since it's meant to be a lighter read than, say, any of Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter books (my personal favorites) I guess that's acceptable.

All in all, an enjoyable read. Good for a sunny summer afternoon at the beach.

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