HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE VAMPIRE by Kerrelyn Sparks, Love At Stake #1, Rating: B+

Shanna Whalen is in the witness protection problem, having testified against some bad guys in her previous life as a dentist. The crime she testified about was the murder of her best friend. Since the she has been unable to function as a dentist, getting squeemish at the sight of blood. She works the night shift at a 24-hour dental clinic. One night, the bad guys find her and her life is turned upside down. Not just by the bad guys either.

Roman Draganesti is a vampire and a scientist. He's come up with blood products so that vampires don't have to feed on humans. In other words, he's not so bad a vampire. One of his scientists comes up with a life-like doll that a vampire can feed on. Testing the new product, Roman loses one of his fangs. He happens upon Shanna in her desperate time of need and takes her in, offering her his protection when he realizes one of the men after her is his arch-nemesis. Only problem is, he can't control her mind to get her to re-attach his fang, believing he's asking her to implant a wolf's tooth in his mouth.

There are some great scenes before Shanna realizes just what/who Roman is. And when she does find out, she reacts with class and dignity, processing the information and taking it in stride. Her past catches up to her in an interesting, and somewhat heartbreaking way, as she finds out that the things she believed weren't exactly so.

I really enjoyed reading this story. Shanna and Roman were fun to get to know and watch things sizzle and pop between them. I look forward to reading the next book in the series and rate this one an B+.

©Susan Falk and phantomroses.com