Moon Dance by JR Rain

Mother, wife, private investigator...vampire. Six years ago federal agent Samantha Moon was the perfect wife and mother, your typical soccer mom with the minivan and suburban home. Then the unthinkable happens, an attack that changes her life forever. And forever is a very long time for a vampire.

Now the world at large thinks Samantha has developed a rare skin disease, a disease which forces her to quit her day job and stay out of the light of the sun. Now working the night shift as a private investigator, Samantha is hired by Kingsley Fulcrum to investigate the murder attempt on his life, a horrific scene captured on TV and seen around the country. But as the case unfolds, Samantha discovers Kingsley isn't exactly what he appears to be; after all, there is a reason why he survived five shots to the head.

You'd think that I'd be bored with vampire stories by now, but I'm not. Because I still love the creatures of the night, and especially when an author can put a nice new spin on it. Like this one. Sam Moon is a vampire by accident and now she's stuck behind taped-up windows while she does housework and big-brimmed hats when she picks up her kids from school. I really liked how she didn't give up on her human life and I definitely loved how she was with her kids: she was a great mum and I could completely understand how she did not want to give that up. But her husband has starting pulling away from her, believing she is a danger to him and their kids. While I could somewhat sympathise with that, part of me wanted to smack upside the head for leaving it 6 years!

Now that she can't work during daylight, Sam had to turn private investigator. Just saying, as a vampire, that is practically the perfect gig: sneaking around, enhanced senses and all that. Her case in this book is finding out who shot Kingsley. Even though it wasn't a very tough case, I did appreciate the mystery. Plus, it allowed Sam to get to know Kingsley, who had some very interesting secrets and knowledge to share.

And while there were quite a few silly little typo's and I had no idea what the point of turning into a creeping giant bat hybrid was, I still liked this story and did read it very quickly. I liked Sam and her outlook on life, I liked her tough exterior and snarky moments as much as I loved when she dropped her guard. I liked the banter she had when Kingsley and I even liked the old detective that asked too many questions. In fact, I think I appreciated the characters more than the story! Not that the story wasn't good, but the secondary characters were well-rounded without taking the focus off the main plot. 

This isn't the best vampire novel I've read, but it was entertaining and an easy enough read for me to enjoy it. Plus it was different and funny with its sweet and sometimes scary moments that I would happily recommend it to any fan of the genre. 

Published 10th August 2009 by Crop Circle.