Wicked Nights by Nina Bangs

Donna Nolan is a talk show host of the radio show Donna till Dawn. And she's been doing pretty well for herself until she'd started fielding calls from a woman who claimed to be under passionate attack by a vampire who worked at the Castle of Dark Dreams in Galveston, Texas. The woman claimed that her vampire lover came to her every night, making love to her all night so that she was exhausted in the morning.

Donna believed the woman was insane, but she let the woman talk, only to be "rewarded" with many similar calls by a group of woman she calls "the Pod", who all claim to be hounded by supernatural lovers from the Castle of Dark Dreams. Eventually, Donna was persuaded by her bosses to travel to Galveston and do an investigation into the claims of creatures at the Castle. She didn't particularly want to go, but with interest in her show dropping, she needs to do something to keep the interest of her viewers.

But this comes at a very bad time. Her parents are thinking about divorcing, her sister is wanting to marry a man she's only known for two weeks (and this will be her third marriage), and her brother is giving up time with his wife in Disneyland to stay with the kids. Donna has an opinion on all of this, and is spending time on the phone to let them know her opinions- all of which convey disapproval. But when she ducks out of the tour of the Castle to buy herself some chocolate and sugary treats, she comes to the attention of a different kind of supernatural entity.

Sparkle Stardust is a supernatural matchmaker, and she thinks that Donna would be perfect for Eric MacNair, the man who often plays the Dark Vampire character in the castle. He has a sweet tooth of his own, and his secret is that he really is a vampire, and he's one of the three supernatural creatures who work there. All three of them pretend to be brothers- one a demon, one cursed by a goddess to protect the last living member of his family of enemies, and one a vampire- Eric.

The minute Eric looks into Donna's eyes, he's intrigued by what he sees, and he can't keep himself from being interested in her despite her take charge, must be in control ways. Worse, he finds himself wanting to make and help her lose control while trying to keep the secrets of the Castle and his friends/"brothers" safe from her prying. But can he trust her to keep his secrets and the secrets of those around her while an enemy vampire named Taurin is determined to hurt Eric in any way possible, which includes hurting Donna to get to Eric.

And Sparkle isn't the only matchmaker determined to get her claws into the pairing of Eric and Donna. Sparkle's opposite number in the ranks of Supernatural matchmakers is Asima, number one handmaiden of the Cat Goddess, and she's completely convinced that Sparkle's way is too vulgar and makes Donna look like a tramp. She's all for dignified, very 1940's stylish looks and ideas, and the two of them are starting a Supernatural catfight over who gets to help Donna land Eric and how she does it.

Poor Donna! With a hot man to handle, two plants in her room that only get a bloom from sex and sexy energy, and the fight between Eric and Taurin, she's soon going to have more to handle than a one-armed wallpaper hanger. But as she slowly begins to fall for Eric, can she learn to let go of her ultra-controlling ways and just feel? Or will the revelation of Eric's true nature be more than she can handle? And who will win the fight to help Donna seduce Eric into true love? Lustful Sparkle, or Elegant Asima? Can Donna make them work together instead? And can a mortal human ever find everlasting love with a vampire?

Okay, I'll start off the bat by saying that Nina Bangs is a good writer. Certainly, I enjoyed the interaction between Eric and Donna, and I certainly felt the heat that built between them until it came out in open, very hot lovemaking. I loved most of the other characters, including the Castle's manager and resident wizard with a tongue full of snark, Holgarth. The two other hot guys, who are very obviously set up as sequel-bait (because this was the first book in a trilogy) are also well-drawn, and by the end, you do want to read their own books.

But what completely ruined the book for me was the appearance of Sparkle Stardust, Asima and Sparkle's helper, Gabriel. I guess Nina Bangs finds them cute and interesting, since they have shown up in every single book by her that I have read, but for me, they came close to completely ruining the book. Every time I was ready to read more about Donna and Eric, there came Sparkle and the competition, butting her nose in and (for me) derailing the story yet again. This became a real struggle to finish the book because I flinched every time they showed up, and they seemed to show up an awful lot.

I don't find Sparkle interesting or funny, and I am tired of reading her in every single goddamn story, which makes me rather hesitant to pick up any more by this author because of fearing that these characters are going to ruin another book for me. Now, I realize that other readers must like these characters, and this is a definite YMMV, but I am usually there to read about the two main characters, and these secondary characters ae getting in the way of me enjoying Nina Bangs' books. And while I might have found the follow-up books interesting, now that I know Sparkle will show up in this series, I have no reason to read them. Recommended with a significant caveat that may end up destroying your reading enjoyment.