Stef's Review: M. Leighton - For the Love of a Vampire

M. Leighton - For the Love of a Vampire

• Pub Date: June 18, 2011
• Publisher: CreateSpace
• Format: Paperback/Ebook, 276 pages
• Age Range: Young Adult
• Source: Amazon

Like most seventeen year olds, Ridley Heller thought she had her future all planned out. What she wanted most in life was to get out of small town Harker. Her only goal was to keep her mouth shut and her grades high so she could win a cheerleading scholarship to Stanford. But that was before she met Bo.

In Ridley’s wildest dreams, she could never have planned for someone like Bo, for a love so intense it left her breathless. No human girl could.

A haunting stranger that watched her from afar, Bo stole Ridley’s heart from the moment she laid eyes on him. But he has secrets. Bo’s a vampire. Both his past and his present are a danger to Ridley, but the biggest threat is not her blood; it’s her heart. He’s feeding a thirst for revenge that will cost him his life, and it may already be too late.

The more darkness Ridley uncovers, the more she realizes that her life will never be the same—with or without Bo. Can she sacrifice her future and her heart for someone who has a death wish?

I like a good vampire story, so I dove into this one because it was free, and I liked the cover photo. The synopsis wasn't bad, but it promised the usual: vampires have secrets, heartbreak is imminent for one reason or another, danger galore, etc. etc.

I was pleasantly surprised by a few things in this book, and was meh about others. Ridley is supposed to be blending in with her popular crowd friends so she doesn't rock the boat, can remain captain of the cheerleading squad, and get a cheerleading scholarship to Stanford. At the beginning of the book, Ridley is introduced as being someone who doesn't subscribe to the typical cheerleader mentality, she stands apart, she just can't show it. Now, I remember high school... and yeah, sometimes the mean girls were mean, but the mean girl of this school was a little over the top to me and also not quite believable. Something about how she was written just screamed, "trying too hard to show she's a bitch". We get it. Aside from that, Ridley did okay blending, but that all changed when Bo showed up.

Suddenly Bo is pointing out that she's a fraud, because she won't stand up for what she thinks about these popular kids. So part of the story line is Bo basically getting Ridley to be herself, and that wasn't bad. There's some good side plot stuff going on there with Ridley's family, and although it's sad, I did like that the family situation wasn't completely predictable. I also liked that Bo's story wasn't the norm; he's definitely not all he appears to be... There were some solid plot developments going on, and I liked that what was going on with Bo wasn't anything that can be guessed because the concept of it isn't really presented until the end of the book.

Overall, I give the book a three. I liked it enough to get the second and third books (at this point I've finished the second one, and am about to start the third), and other than the trying-too-hard-to-talk-teen bits here and there, it was written decently enough. I got the other books because I really do want to find out how the author resolves the issues with Bo.

Bottom line: It's 99¢ on Amazon so if you're looking for a vampire story that's a little different, check this one out.

Rating:

3/5 book squirrels