The Vampire Who Loved Me by Teresa Medeiros

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Happy Love in the Night Readathon! I spun my spinner wheel Monday night, but I planned to respin until it was a novella. During the week I don't get as much reading time, so I wanted to make sure it was something shorter. That way I'd feel better with my stats going into the weekend. However, my first spin was The Vampire Who Loved Me by Teresa Medeiros. Since I've been in such a historical romance mood lately, this was perfect since it's a paranormal and historical romance. Hopefully it'll help kick me into the paranormal mood. This is book 2 in her Cabot series. I read the first book After Midnight earlier this month for the Rake Appreciation Society. After loving it and knowing this readathon was coming up, I had to add it to my tbr! I used it for the Read a Sequel prompt on the board.

We pick up about 6 years after the events of After Midnight and Julian has finally come back to town. There's also murders of young girls happening at the same time, so there's confusion on if it's actually Julian. He has become even more jaded in his time away. Portia finds him at a duel and is the first to approach him. I absolutely loved their reconnection, I was laughing but also my heart hurt for Portia. She has always been into the fantasy elements and more whimsical things, but she still is treated like a child by a lot of people, including her own family. She ends up protecting Julian a couple times from his brother. She actually deigns to ask him about his time away and if he found the vampire that created his master to get his soul back.

Things get a little bit twisty as Portia uses herself as bait and then we meet Valentina. She is the sire of Julian's sire and now has his soul. We also find out that not only did Julian find her, but they ended up being lovers for a time. Julian also apparently is still drawn to Portia and had called her name out during their intimate times and when sleeping. So goes about the twisty turns in figuring out if Julian is going to fight to get his soul back.

I liked this book just as much as the first, just in a different way. The Vampire Who Loved Me definitely had a darker and more broody vibe than the first. It also was a lot more angsty than the first. What didn't make this a 5-star for me was the too much waffling of Julian's feelings. He kept pushing Portia away for her own safety, or to do his vampire things and such, but kept being drawn to her. It also was interested to learn what actually happened in the crypt during the climax of the first book. There's also the guilt that Julian feels from that event. I really enjoyed this book overall, it just felt like the whiplash between wanting Portia and only Portia and pushing he away happened  a couple more times than needed. 

Another thing I didn't like was how unlikable Adrian and Caroline were in this book. I get that we were in Portia and Julian's povs this book, but I felt like if you read the first book their characters where different. I didn't like that they were made to be the "bad guys" as much as they were. I feel like Adrian did get better at times, but it just felt out of character for them. Even more so probably since I just read the first book not too long ago. When these were originally published, there was about a year difference. I also didn't really need the plot points with Wallingford. While the duel was a fun opening chapter, I wish it would've stopped there. He was just extra drama throughout that felt unneeded to the overall story. Although I guess he brought the doctor at the end of the book. But then we wouldn't have needed the doctor without him. So yeah, unnecessary. 

Anyways, if you enjoyed After Midnight, definitely give this book a try. It was a fun read, just in a different way! I'll definitely be trying more Teresa Medeiros. Her books always suck me in and really enjoy her writing style. It's been very atmospheric so far!

Have you read The Vampire Who Loved Me?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: The Vampire Who Loved Me, Teresa Medeiros, 4-stars, 1 day, eBook, 373 pages, published in 2006