My Vampire Plus-One

Last year I absolutely loved My Roommate Is a Vampire, and I couldn’t wait to continue the My Vampires series. Now Jenna Levine is back with My Vampire Plus-One, this time starring Reginald Cleaves (introduced in the first book) and a new character, Amelia Collins (Cassie’s best friend Sam’s sister). Amelia is tired of her family pushing her to date again, and with another cousin getting married and inviting Amelia to bring a plus-one, she’s in need of a fake date. After coincidentally running into the same weird man twice in two days, Amelia asks him to pose as her boyfriend in attending the engagement party and wedding. Reggie is just odd enough to say yes. They quickly start to develop real feelings for each other… but how will Amelia react once she find out that Reggie is a vampire? And what about this mysterious group, known as The Collective, that’s hunting him?

Tropes & Narrative Devices:

• Vampires!
• Fake dating
• Opposites attract
• Snowed in
• Various excerpts beginning each chapter
• Dual first-person POV (Amelia and Reggie)

What I Liked:

• Reggie is “intentionally erratic” and “dresses like a stolen car.” I already knew from My Roommate Is a Vampire that Reggie was an entertaining and unusual character, and that is on full display throughout My Vampire Plus-One. He’s such a riot! He’s a prankster, loves jokes, dresses in a way that draws everyone’s attention (fuzzy yellow coats? pink boas?), and is just an all-around silly guy. Reggie does have a serious side hidden deep within, but for the most part, this character is hilarious and lights up every scene he’s in. I love how Reggie contrasts with Amelia, a hard-working accountant with a limited sense of humor. As with Frederick and Cassie before, this is a case of opposites attracting.
• Bonkers humor and situations. Speaking of how ridiculous Reggie is, everything about this book is so light-hearted and fun. I can be picky when it comes to silliness or quirky humor in books, but something about Jenna Levine’s writing style makes it work really well for me. Similar to Sarah Hawley’s Glimmer Falls series, the My Vampires series is the kind of random fun that is perfect escapism for me.
• Low-stakes fake relationship. Amelia and Reggie are fake dating for the sake of attending her cousin’s engagement party and wedding, keeping her family off her back about being single. It may have started off as sarcasm that her family failed to pick up on, but Amelia’s commitment to keeping up appearances wins out. I love how she’s looking for a guy who’s just bizarre enough to go along with such an absurd plan. Reggie is totally that guy. They don’t have to do much to convince Amelia’s parents that they’re together; quite the contrary, they’re eager to welcome Reggie into the family.
• Low-stakes danger Reggie is in. Besides the romance at the heart of this book, there’s also the danger that Reggie is in. Some 150 years ago he might have been involved in The Incident, which The Collective (a group of vampires) is still mad about. They want to capture Reggie and punish him for his alleged crimes. As with the previous book, the danger surrounding our leading man is more silly fun than anything else. It adds to the stakes, but won’t have the reader biting their nails with fear. The resolution is kind of hilarious too!
• Excerpts beginning each chapter. Every chapter begins with something extra: a text exchange between Reggie and Frederick; emails between Amelia and her awful client; portions of Reggie’s bullet journaling; passages from various tomes about vampire happenings; even some telegrams. They add context to what’s going on, build out the world further, and make the reading experience even more fun. I laughed at so many of these excerpts! They also kept me reading even when I’d planned to stop after finishing a chapter; I had to read ahead to see what the next chapter would start with… then I’d just keep going. It made the whole book fast-paced and a quick read!

What Didn’t Work for Me:

• Nothing, this was great!

Final Thoughts

I loved My Vampire Plus-One from start to finish. It’s a little ridiculous and random, but so much fun! Amelia and Reggie jump off the page as characters, and the whole world is a joy to fall into. Both of the My Vampires books have been fabulous, and I look forward to reading more from Jenna Levine. Maybe the witch introduced at the end of this book will get her own story? I’m ready for it!

Special thanks to the publishers at Penguin Random House, Berkley, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Get the Book

You can buy My Vampire Plus-One here – it’s available as a paperback, ebook, and audiobook.

My Vampire Plus-One by Author
Series	My Vampires (#2)
Audience	Adult
Genre	Paranormal Romance
Setting	Chicago, Illinois; Wisconsin
Number of Pages	400
Format I Read	Ebook (NetGalley ARC)
Original Publication Date	September 17, 2024
Publisher	Berkley

Official Summary

About My Vampire Plus-One

Nothing sucks more than fake dating a vampire in this paranormal romantic comedy from the USA Today bestselling author of My Roommate Is a Vampire.
 
Amelia Collins is by definition successful. She would even go so far as to say successfully single. But not according to her family, and she’s tired of the constant questions about her nonexistent dating life. When an invitation to yet another family wedding arrives, she decides to get everyone off her back once and for all by finding someone–anyone–to pose as her date.
 
After a chance encounter with Reginald Cleaves, Amelia decides he’s perfect for her purposes. He’s a bit strange, but that’s fine; it’ll discourage tough questions from her family. (And it certainly doesn’t hurt that he’s very handsome.) For centuries-old vampire Reggie, posing as her plus-one sounds like the ultimate fun. And if it helps his ruse of pretending to be human, so much the better.

As Amelia and Reggie practice their fauxmance, it becomes clear that Reggie is as loyal to her as the day is long, and that Amelia’s first impressions could not have been more wrong. Suddenly, being in a real relationship with Reggie sounds pretty fang-tastic.

Excerpt from My Vampire Plus-One

WHEN I GOT TO THE GUY’ S TABLE, I DUG MY FINGERNAILS into the meat of my palm, willing the pinch to ground me.

He hastily slammed shut the notebook he’d been writing in and set it to the side. Then he fixed me with those startling bright blue eyes. “Um. Hello?”

I hesitated, teeth worrying at my bottom lip. “I need a favor.” I hated how small and nervous I sounded. Too late to back out now, though. I pulled out the chair across from his and sat down.

His eyes widened in surprise. “You need a favor?”

I gathered my courage as he continued to gaze at me. Up close, I couldn’t even lie to myself and pretend he was unattractive.

 I reminded myself that that didn’t matter. All that mattered was that he said yes.

“I do,” I confirmed.

He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. “I don’t usually do favors for people.”

His voice dripped with condescension. I stared at him, astounded that someone reading a literal dragon magazine could sound so cocky.

“You know what? Forget it.” I’d come up with some other way—some grown-up way—to deal with this situation. I didn’t need to resort to pranking my family. I was an adult. I was an accountant. This was beneath me.

I pushed back from my chair and stood to leave.

“Wait,” he said. It sounded almost like pleading. “I didn’t finish.” “Was something going to come after telling me you don’t do favors for people?”

He shook his head. “No, what I said was I didn’t usually do favors for people. But I did disrupt your evening last night, and I did say I’d make it up to you.” He shrugged. “I didn’t think you’d take me up on that since I didn’t think I’d see you again. But since here you are . . . I’d be willing to consider it. Depending on what the favor is, of course.”

He motioned for me to join him. I hesitated. What sort of person had a default no-favors policy? But I was without options.

“Thank you,” I said, taking the chair I’d just vacated. “You’re welcome. So . . . what do you need, Amelia Collins?” I could do this. I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders,

and said, “I need someone to pretend to be my boyfriend at a family wedding.”

He stared at me. A group of noisy teenagers filed past our

table and made their way over to the counter. We paid them no mind.

“I’m sorry, but . . . what?”

“I know this sounds bonkers—”

“It does,” he agreed. “Very deeply bonkers.”

“I swear this will all make sense after I’ve explained.” I paused, considering. “It’ll maybe make sense,” I amended.

“I am all ears.” The corner of his mouth quirked up into an amused half smile. Damn it, his lips were extremely distracting. It occurred to me that I didn’t know his name. I hadn’t put know his name on the list of fake date criteria I’d just made, but it suddenly felt like important information to have.

“Actually, could you tell me your name first?” He raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“You know my name, but I’ve just been thinking of you as Mr. Fedora Asshole.” That earned a surprised laugh from him. Dammit, did even his laugh have to be attractive? “It puts us on unequal footing.”

His half smile slid into a smirk. “So you think about me, do you?”

I’d always thought blushed to the roots of her hair was just a figure of speech. Turns out I’d been wrong. If my shoes could blush, they’d have been doing it. “Not at all,” I lied. “I mean, except for last night, when you nearly killed me when you mowed me down on the sidewalk.”

“You have an exceptional flair for the dramatic for an accountant.”

“I have a completely average flair for the dramatic for an accountant,” I said, feeling a little unhinged. Talking to this man felt like trying to walk in a straight line on a listing ship. “Which is to say, I don’t have one. And you’re certainly one to talk. Last

night you were wearing a fedora and a trench coat when it was, like, twenty degrees outside. You were dressed like you . . . like you . . .” I trailed off, flailing for the right words.

He winced. “Like I wanted to be seen?”

“Yes,” I said. “Exactly like that. You seem dramatic as hell if I’m being honest.”

“Ordinarily that observation would please me,” he said, looking very displeased. “But given present circumstances, I’m not thrilled that my best attempts at blending into the background didn’t work.”

I had no idea what that meant. It didn’t matter. We were get- ting off topic here. We were wasting time.

“Listen,” I said. “Are you going to tell me your name or not?” “Oh,” he said, as if just remembering I was there. “Sure. Reginald.”

“Reginald?” That was . . . certainly an unusual name for someone my age. “Is that actually your name?”

“Why would I give you a fake name?”

 I shrugged. “You seem the type.”

He snorted. “Fair. But Reginald is my actual name.” “And your last name?”

He sighed. “My last name is Cleaves. My full name is Reginald Cleaves. So. Now that you know who I am, will you explain to me why you need me to pretend to be your boyfriend?”

Excerpted from My Vampire Plus-One by Jenna Levine Copyright © 2024 by Jenna Levine. Excerpted by permission of Berkley. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.