Review: The Vampire Next Door

In this third installment of Chase’s lively, sexy, paranormal trilogy, we meet witch Morgaine, who is deathly afraid of the dark, and her vigilante vampire neighbor Sly, who has his reasons for hating sunlight. Sly needs Morgaine’s magic to help heal a broken fang, but with further help, and sometimes hindrance, from the wacky apartment dwellers around them, they may become each other’s last hope for a normal life…

As mentioned above, this is the third installment of Ms. Chase’s Paranormal Chick-Lit Strange Neighbors series. (I reviewed the second book, The Werewolf Upstairs, HERE.) Although you probably don’t need to read the earlier books to enjoy this story, it would give you a bit more background on and history of this little apartment building full of paranormal activity.

The primary focus of this book is on witch, Morgaine, and the building owner’s father-in-law, vampire Sly.  After Morgaine has a makeover from Goth to pretty blonde, Sly realizes he is attracted to his long-time friend.  The two are a little shy and reluctant to share their feelings (especially at first because of Morgaine’s cousin, Gwyneth, who has shown a little interest in Sly as well).

I have to say that once again, a story doesn’t have to “mean something” to be enjoyable. This is one of those stories.  The character development wasn’t all that great, but I enjoyed Morgaine and Sly.  Their “courtship” and mutual attraction didn’t really strike me as overly passionate (they did a lot of talking), so when they finally got it on, it seemed a bit over the top to be going at each other like animals. However, after their initial encounter, I enjoyed the relaxed and sweet development of their love for one another.

The side plot lines in this book were a bit much this go around. First, Sly’s vampire maker is stalking him – this vampire is “evil” according to our resident witches, and yes, he did kill Sly’s wife some 20+ years ago because HE HAD A CRUSH on Sly.  *shakes head* I wish there had been a bit more development of Malvant’s character and involvement in the overall storyline.

Second, Sly needs to earn cash, but due to his “condition” (vampire) he is limited for job opportunities. Gwyneth comes up with the idea of building a still and creating moonshine. This is an example of the sometimes outrageous humor Ms. Chase uses throughout the story.  In some cases it works, but in others it seems a bit too silly. In this case Gwyneth seemed a bit too crazy about moonshine, but if you just roll with the humor, you’ll find yourself laughing out loud at times.

The other neighbors all had a part in the story as well. It was fun to see where everyone had been and was headed. We learn more about Gwyneth and quiet Nathan, find out about Merry and Jason’s soon-to-be-born infant, hear from Chad the ghost, and even Roz and Konrad make an appearance now and then. But what I don’t understand is new super, Jules, and new tenant, Lily.  They are just odd, and their “romance” is out of place. The characters add very little to the story and I just scratch my head and wonder why they were put into the story.

Overall, this story is a fun read. It’s quick and easy, light and fluffy – perfect for the beach. You have to just go with the flow and not take the story seriously.