Erin McCarthy - High Stakes

He's a bloodsucking freak of nature. But, unlike other politicians, Ethan Carrick is actually a nice guy. Not to mention a very hot, wealthy, casino-owning vampire. It's an election year for vampires, which means he'll first have to escape his opponent's hit men. Then he'll have to find a suitable First Lady, preferably here in Vegas.
Brittany Baldizzi fits the bill. She's smart, pretty- and sweeter than a glass of diabetic O-Negative. But her protective sister Alexis steps in with a message for Ethan: Bite me. It's then that he realizes it's the sexy, no-nonsense Alexis who raises his stake. And as much as she denies it, Alexis wouldn't mind a romp in the coffin with him. But can a mere mortal, even one who risks her life for him, make a centuries-old, womanizing vampire feel something entirely new?

Comment: I've had this book in the pile for years and finally got to it. At the time, the colorful cover caught my eye but I must say, now I've read the book, it isn't the most suitable, even though the content is what I'd call PNR chick-lit...

In this story we have a world in which vampires exist and live hidden among humans. Ethan Carrick is running for president of the vampire organization and he believes his chances of winning might increase if he has a first lady next to him. His dentist Brittany happens to be competent, beautiful, naturally friendly and has vampire blood, which makes her the perfect candidate, even though he doesn't seem to have any chemistry with her. Although he convinces Brittany to be his date, it's her sister Alexis, arriving at Ethan's casino to rescue her sister, he sees as someone he wants to know better, but she really isn't suitable...

Alexis thinks her sister was brainwashed but while trying to bring her home, she sees herself more and more involved with Ethan and his vampire business. She also likes Ethan and likes spending time with him but... can they really have a steady relationship?

This story is easily labeled as fluffy and simple and without much substance and while all that can be correct, it's also a little limiting. It's true not much happens here and what does is dealt with in a very simplistic way, in terms of narrative, but I think one can see the interesting elements for more than what they seem and the cover can be a bit too much in this regard.

This is the first book I try by this author, and the writing style is easy to follow, but it is true the plot isn't very complex, which means I won't likely read more by her. Nevertheless, it is a suitable book to read for a short period, it's entertaining and perfect to read, perhaps, between books one needs to pay more attention to. I liked the easy way we could turn the pages and the fact the conflicts used weren't so silly nor too dramatic that this would be unreadable.

Ethan and the other vampires live among humans but most don't know about them. They can pretty much blend in and live normal lives, Ethan is even running for president of the vampires, which can be fun on its own. On one hand, I liked this simple acceptance of what is the vampire life, and how the tone of the book was lighter than others out there, so no oppressed nor dangerous vampires living in obscurity over some kind of curse, wanting to be left alone for eternity, but even having characters who are reserved or bad people anyway, made reading this a fun experience.

However, I suppose the author took the light aspect too far and often i'd think the characters, vampires or not, were too superficial and under developed because there wasn't much to them nor to their personalities besides the basic. I know that was intentional, but after a while, it became a bit boring to read about characters who would not really be developed. There are certain situations and plot moves which gave some flavor to the story, namely the fact Ethan has an opponent in the campaign but nothing really engrossing was happening.

The romance was also very quick and weakly developed. I liked it that they were initially attracted to each other despite the obvious animosity between them, but once they admitted they wanted each other, everything was so easy and without any complexity in their decisions, choices, behavior... the truth is that there isn't much about these characters to make the reading about them anything special. Sometimes I can still imagine whatever I want if things don't evolve the way I would choose but here, there really wasn't much to it. This is readable, helps to pass the time but it's not something to recommend.

Grade: 5/10