Summer Knight, by Jim Butcher

Rating: 4.5/5
446 pages
2002
Publisher: Roc
Source: My collection

Description: Ever since his girlfriend left town to deal with her newly acquired taste for blood, Harry Dresden has been down and out in Chicago. He can't pay his rent. He's alienating his friends. He can't even recall the last time he took a shower.

The only professional wizard in the phone book has become a desperate man.

And just when it seems things can't get any worse, in saunters the Winter Queen of Faerie. She has an offer Harry can't refuse if he wants to free himself of the supernatural hold his faerie godmother has over him--and hopefully end his run of bad luck. All he has to do is find out who murdered the Summer Queen's right-hand man, the Summer Knight, and clear the Winter Queen's name.

It seems simple enough, but Harry knows better than to get caught in the middle of faerie politics. Until he finds out that the fate of the entire world rests on his solving this case. No pressure or anything... (from the back cover)

Dark Lover, by J.R. Ward

Rating: 4/5
393 pages
2005
Publisher: Signet
Source: library ebook

Description: In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing more than Wrath, the leader of The Black Dagger Brotherhood.

The only purebred vampire left on earth, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But, when one of his most trusted fighters is killed-leaving his half-breed daughter unaware of his existence or her fate-Wrath must usher her into the world of the undead-a world of sensuality beyond her wildest dreams. (from Goodreads)

Discount Armageddon, by Seanan McGuire

Rating: 5/5
344 pages
2012
Publisher: Daw
Source: Present

Description: The Price family has spent generations studying the monsters of the world, working to protect them from humanity - and to protect humanity from them. Enter Verity Price. Despite being trained from birth as a cryptozoologist, she'd rather dance a tango than tangle with a demon, and is spending a year in Manhattan while she pursues her career in professional ballroom dance. 
Sounds pretty simple, right? It would be, if it weren't for the talking mice, the telepathic mathematicians, the asbestos supermodels, and the trained monster-hunter sent by the Price family's old enemies, the Covenant of St. George.
To complicate matters further, local cryptids are disappearing, strange lizard-men are appearing in the sewers, and someone's spreading rumors about a dragon sleeping underneath the city.... (from the back cover)

Fledgling, by Octavia E. Butler

Rating: 3/5
Publisher:BBC Audiobooks America
10 discs
Narrated by
2005
Source: Library book

Description: Fledgling, the late Octavia E. Butler's final novel, is the story of an apparently young, amnesiac girl whose alarmingly un-human needs and abilities lead her to a startling conclusion: she is in fact a genetically modified, 53-year-old vampire. Forced to discover what she can about her stolen former life, she must at the same time learn who wanted--and still wants--to destroy her and those she cares for, and how she can save herself. Fledgling is a captivating novel that tests the limits of "otherness" and questions what it means to be truly human. (from the back cover)

Borne in Blood, by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Rating: 4/5
Publisher: Tor
367 pages
2007
Source: My collection

Description: The year is 1817.  In Switzerland, the Count Saint-Germain leads a comfortable life with his paramour Hero whose husband died fighting Napoleon. Saint-Germain's loving kindness cannot keep Hero from missing her children who are being raised by their hard-hearted grandfather. 

The Count has become intrigued by the work of an Austrian noble investigating the properties of blood, a subject always of key interest to a vampire.  But when the noble's beautiful ward fixates sexually on the Count, the vampire fears for himself and his gentle lover. (From GoodReads)

As Shadows Fade, by Colleen Gleason

Rating: 4.5/5
Publisher: Signet Eclipse
342 pages
2009
Source: My collection

Description: Directly descended from the very first vampire hunter in the Gardella family, Victoria knows she must continue the lineage so humanity will have protectors against the undead. While Sebastian Vioget appears to be both the perfect warrior and lover to ensure the Gardella Legacy, Victoria cannot forget Max Pesaro - the former slayer still haunted by the vampire queen Lilith's obsession with him. 

But it is Lilith's obsession that may save all of humanity. Demons, enemies of both mortals and the undead, have found their way to earth. To defeat them, vampires and slayers must fight side by side. But Lilith wants Max in return for her cooperation; a small price for the world, but too high a price for Victoria. (From the back cover.)

Roman Dusk, by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Rating: 2.5/5
Publisher: Tor
344 pages
2006
Source: My collection

Description: Rome is crumbling. The child-emperor, Heliogabalus, diverts the Roman populace with parties, circuses, and celebrations, while his mother and grandmother jockey for power behind the scenes. The government is riddled with scandal and no business is conducted without bribes which grow ever larger. Religions joust for prominence, with factions of Christians seeking to overthrow the ancient Roman pantheon. Courtesans, once honored for their skills and protected by special guards, have become targets of opprobrium. (From the dust jacket.)

When Twilight Burns, by Colleen Gleason

Rating:4/5
Publisher: Signet Eclipse
344 pages
2008
Source: My collection

Description: Ruining Victoria's homecoming, a vampire stalks the streets of London—during the daylight. Not only is Victoria not able to detect the vampire with her heightened senses, but she's being framed as the prime suspect behind the killings.

Meanwhile, her heart is still divided between the enigmatic Sebastian Vioget and her fellow slayer Max Pesaro. The battle is made even more difficult by the legacy of a vampire's touch—a vampire who left in Victoria's veins boiling blood that forces her to fight evil on two fronts: against the new breed of undead threatening London and against the darkness within herself. (From the back cover.)

The Bleeding Dusk, by Colleen Gleason

Rating: 3.5/5
Publisher: Signet Eclipse
346 pages
2008
Source: My collection

Description: As Rome prepares for its Carnival, the new leader of the city's vampire hunters must prove herself as never before. For, in order to gain access to the secrets of a legendary alchemist, Rome's vampires have allied themselves with creatures as evil and blood thirsty as they are.

Reluctantly, Victoria must turn to the enigmatic Sebastian Vioget for help, just as Maximilian Pesaro arrives to help his fellow slayers, whatever the sacrifice. Desire puts her at the mercy of Sebastian, while loyalty binds her to Max, but can she trust either man? Especially when a seductive vampire begins luring her into the shadows... (From the back cover)

Rises the Night, by Colleen Gleason

Rating: 4/5
Publisher: Signet Eclipse
334 pages
2007
Source: My collection

Description: Lady Victoria Gardella Grantworth de Lacy has been a vampire slayer for just over a year, balancing her life as a peer of Society with the dangerous role that takes her out on moonlit streets, stake in hand. She has learned brutal and heartbreaking lessons about the sacrifices that must be made in order to save humanity from the evil that secretly preys upon it, but she has not wavered in her vow to fight on.

Now in Italy, a powerful vampire is amassing the power to control the souls of the dead. As Victoria races across Europe to stop what could be the most deadly army the Gardellas have ever faced, her unlikely companion is Sebastian Vioget, a man as tempting as he is untrustworthy. But when Victoria discovers that she has been betrayed by one of her most trusted allies, the truth will challenge her powers as a Ventor and as a woman... (From the back cover)

The Rest Falls Away, by Colleen Gleason

Rating: 4/5
Publisher: Signet Eclipse
347 pages
2007
Source: My collection

Description: Vampire have always lived among them, quietly attacking unsuspecting debutantes and dandified lords as well as hackney drivers and Bond Street milliners. If not for the vampire slayers of the Gardella family, these immortal creatures would have long ago taken over  the world.

In every generation, a Gardella is called to accept the family legacy, and this time, Victoria Gardella Grantworth is chosen, on the eve of her debut, to carry the stake. But as she moves between the crush of ballrooms and dangerous moonlit streets, Victoria's heart is torn between London's most eligible bachelor, the Marquess of Rockley, and her duty. And when she comes face to face with the most powerful vampire in history, Victoria must ultimately make a choice between obligation and love... (From the back cover)

Howliday Inn & The Celery Stalks At Midnight, by James Howe

Rating: 2.5/5 & 3/5
Publisher: The Listening Library
About 4 discs (Howliday Inn) and 1.5 discs (The Celery Stalks At Midnight)
Narrator: Victor Garber
1982 & 1983
Source: Library book

Description: Howliday Inn
Harold and Chester could hardly believe it. The Monroe family was going on vacation without them. Bunnicula, the family rabbit, would be boarded with a neighbor. But they, the family's loyal dog and cat, were to be sent away with strangers; to a place called Chateau Bow-Wow. Chateau Bow-Wow, observed Chester, soon after they arrived, could more properly be called Howliday Inn. Though what was howling, neither of them knew. Chester had his suspicions however; only a werewolf could make that chilling sound. 

The Celery Stalks at Midnight
Bunnicula is missing Chester the cat makes a chilling discovery--Bunnicula the vampire bunny has vanished from his cage in the Monroe household. Everyone knows that vampire victims become vampires themselves--and the neighborhood gardens reveal the ultimate horror: bloodless zombie vegetables Determined to save Bunnicula's victims and the unsuspecting Monroes, Chester leads the valiant friends on a wild bunny chase. (From the back of the audiobook)

Bunnicula, by Deborah and James Howe

Rating: 5/5
Publisher: Listening Library
About 1.5 CDs
Narrated by Victor Garber
1979
Source: Library book

Cover note: Not the cover of the audio collection I'm listening to. This one matches my old copy of Bunnicula.

Description: Beware the Hare. Is he or isn't he a vampire? Before it's too late, Harold the dog and Chester the cat must find out the truth about the newest pet in the Monroe household--a suspicious looking bunny with unusual habits . . . and fangs. (From the back of the audiobook.)

Review: This book is, still, a cute, fun read.

Allegedly written by Howard the dog, we get to watch Chester's frantic attempts to warn the Munroe family of the danger that lurks in the form of their new pet and, when that doesn't work, his various attempts to slay the vampire in their midst, from his rather bewildered perspective.

Needless to say, its pretty clear that the vampire is not actually dangerous, unless you're a vegetable, and everything ends happily.

I loved this book as a kid, and it doesn't seem to have any references that would make it seem dated to a modern audience.

Firelight, by Kristen Callihan

Rating: 4/5
Publisher: Forever
372 pages
2012
Source: Barnes&Noble.com

Description: Miranda Ellis is a woman tormented. Plagued since birth by a strange and powerful gift, she has spent her entire life struggling to control her exceptional abilities. Yet one innocent but irreversible mistake has left her family's fortune decimated and forced her to wed London's most nefarious nobleman.

Lord Benjamin Archer is no ordinary man. Doomed to hide his disfigured face behind masks, Archer knows it's selfish to take Miranda as his bride. Yet he can't help being drawn to the flame-haired beauty whose touch sparks a passion he hasn't felt in a lifetime. When Archer is accused of a series of gruesome murders, he gives in to the beastly nature he has fought so hard to hide from the world. But the curse that haunts him cannot be denied. Now, to save his soul, Miranda will enter a world of dark magic and darker intrigue. For only she can see the man hiding behind the mask. (From the back cover)