Love, Sex and Vampires

So, as I'm prepping for the Main Library's Rocky Horror Buffy program, I find myself thinking about vampire romance books, and what a weird kind of thing they are.

I mean, I know tons of girls (and not a few boys) who love these kind of girl-meets-boy/girl-falls-in-love-with-boy/boy-turns-out-to-be-undead love stories. Once upon a time, I really got into them too, and I will admit, I still enjoy a good vamp-y read.

But, if you think about it, a vampire would make a rotten boyfriend. You couldn't really take them anywhere, at least during the daytime, you couldn't go out to eat and there's that whole drinking your blood and making you their slave thing.

Maybe the vampire lover is popular because everybody knows that it can't really happen, so it's a kind of dangerous fantasy, but still completely safe. Or maybe it's because there are very few ugly vampires in romantic fiction. It could also be because a vampire is the ultimate project boyfriend -- not only do you need to help him cut his hair and organize his CD collection, you must SAVE HIS SOUL!

Well, whatever the reason, here are three recommendations for new-ish good romantic vampire books.

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. This one is by an author right here in the Valley! Bella moves to Forks, Washington, where it's always rainy and gloomy. She becomes fascinated the handsome but distant senior Edward. Although he seems aloof, Bella feels there is more to him that meet the eye. She discovers that Edward is a vampire, but that he and his clan have renounced hunting humans. Edward is drawn to Bella, but his attraction to her could spell her doom.

Got Fangs by Katie Maxwell. Fran's mom is a real witch. No I mean a real witch. She travels around Europe in a GothFaire, selling her skills alongside others with supernatural gifts. Fran has to travel with her, and to add insult to injury, Mom is encouraging Fran to use her gifts of reading the thoughts and feelings of others through touch at the Faire. Despite all the weirdness, Fran thinks she can get through the next few months, at least until Benedickt shows up. Ben is really hot -- especially for a 312 year old vampire. When Ben declares that Fran is his Beloved -- the one woman who can redeem his soul. Now, not only does Fran have a devoted, and infuriating admirer, but she has to solve the mystery of who's stealing from the GothFaire, a question which may not be as simple as it seems...

Peeps by Scott Westerfeld. I don't know if you'd call this a romance really, but it is kinda sexy. When Cal moved to NYC from Texas for college, he lost his virginity -- and found a whole mess of trouble. You see, the girl with whom Cal slept with was a "peep" or parasite positive. She passed the disease on Cal and now he too is a -- well, Cal doesn't like to use the "v" word. Cal works for the Night Watch, an organization dedicated to hunting down the peeps, most of whom are bloodthirsty cannibals. Through his work, Cal discovers that something much worse than the peeps is threatening NYC, and he is in the thick of the conflict.