The Vampire's Mail Order Bride

Nocturne Falls, Book 1

By: Kristen Painter

Narrated by: B.J. Harrison

Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

Welcome to Nocturne Falls, the town that celebrates Halloween 365 days a year.

The tourists think it's all a show: the vampires, the werewolves, the witches, the occasional gargoyle flying through the sky. But the supernaturals populating the town know better.

Living in Nocturne Falls means being yourself. Fangs, fur, and all.

After seeing her maybe-mobster boss murder a guy, Delaney James assumes a new identity and pretends to be a mail order bride. She finds her groom-to-be living in a town that celebrates Halloween every day. Weird. But not as weird as what she doesn't know. Her groom-to-be is a 400-year-old vampire.

Hugh Ellingham has only agreed to the arranged setup to make his overbearing grandmother happy. In 30 days, whatever bridezilla shows up at his door will be escorted right back out. His past means love is no longer an option. Not if the woman's going to have a future. Except he never counted on Delaney and falling in love for real.

Too bad both of them are keeping some mighty big secrets....

©2015 Kristen Painter (P)2015 Kristen Painter

So much fun!

What did you love best about The Vampire's Mail Order Bride?

I really enjoyed the character development of the protagonists; you feel like you're part of their world and want to hang out with them.

What other book might you compare The Vampire's Mail Order Bride to and why?

The book is really one of a kind (I mean it's like Halloween year round!), but if I had to compare I'd say it's maybe a bit like the Half-Moon Hollow series by Molly Harper

What does B.J. Harrison bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I read the book and listened to it, so hearing B.J. Harrison lend voices to the characters was an added bonus. He has a real talent for inflection and you feel as if each character has his or own voice. I'll admit I was skeptical about the choice of narrator at first, but I was so wrong!

Any additional comments?

Take a chance, use a credit, and listen to this book... it's light, fun, and entertaining! I loved this first book, and the other books in the series are wonderful also. I anxiously await more from Nocturn Falls.

Very fun and light hearted

I really enjoyed this book because of the fun characters and cute romance. There was little language no smut so all and all a good read.

Good Start to a Series

Good fun read! Predictable, rough in spots, easy listening. Nice to see a paranormal author not use porn to sell books.

Definitely a fun read.

Definitely a fun read. I enjoyed it enough to read the next book. If you're looking for something kind of funny and lighthearted these books may be for you.

Another fairy tale love story with a happy ending.

Kristen Painter's books are predictable from the title alone, but we like what we like. I found the series through a search of Molly Harper type books. The Half Moon Hollow books will suck you in with stories of vampires, werewolves and witches. No I don't work for Molly Harper, but I do like her and Kristen Painter's work. :)

Very good story :)

4 stars

This was a very good story. I liked both Hugh and Delaney and enjoyed their story very much. This is the first story I've read by this author and I liked it well enough that I'm likely to try more of her work in the future.

I just had to mention that because of the permanent Halloween theme of the town, I had "This Is Halloween" from the movie Nightmare Before Christmas going through my head off and on while reading this. :D

Delaney is a waitress in an Italian restaurant that dreams of being a sweets chef and having her own shop. She makes the sweets in her spare time but hasn't been able to get a job doing it yet so she toils away as a waitress to make money. Delaney's mother died from cancer and her father wasn't really there for her so she's pretty much on her own outside of a huge cat (27 lbs) that she loves.

Hugh is a vampire that is hundreds of years old. His family has owned most of the town they live in for years and it's become a supernatural haven. Since the town has a Halloween theme all year round, the supernatural elements can live more openly and people think it's just a trick for the tourists. Hugh's Grandmother is the head of their family and is a vampire as well. She turned Hugh and his 2 brothers and now rules over them using a combination of love, guilt and leverage.

Delaney is just out of work one night when she realizes that she forgot her apron at work and it has her tips in it. She goes back to grab it and since it's after hours, she just sneaks in the back. Unfortunately for her, she hears some stuff going on, gets curious and sees something she shouldn't have. When Delaney tries to escape before anyone knows she's a witness, she makes a noise and is chased. she gets away but knows that she has to leave town until the police can take care of her boss. While escaping her pursuers, she ends up in a matchmaking office and manages to substitute herself for one of the prospective brides for a man down in Georgia (which Delaney figures should be far enough to hide). Delaney is able to grab her cat and some cloths before taking off for Georgia.

Hugh had a wife that died and he felt guilty because of the circumstances. Since then he's held off from committing to a relationship past a certain point. His Grandmother is tired of it and wants grandbabyvamps so she signs Hugh up for the supernatural matchmaking agency and uses her leverage over him to force him to give a relationship with the woman a try. When Delaney shows up as "Annabelle" she's a lot different than Hugh expected and he finds her refreshing and attractive. Delaney feels bad about lying to Hugh but she's in a bind and tries to play her part. The truth actually comes out pretty quickly but Hugh is starting to like her by then so they agree to really make a go at things as themselves. There are some problems to deal with...like Delaney's boss's thugs, a venomous ex of Hugh's, and Hugh's own ingrained issues. It takes some time and getting past some drama and danger but Hugh and Delaney come through things well and end the story starting a well deserved HEA together.

This was a very enjoyable story. Delaney was great and I really liked her as a heroine. Hugh was a very good hero. He had some issues and I got a bit frustrated with him over those issues, but they worked for his character and as a plot device so it was alright. My main complaint about this story is the multiple things that seemed to have been left a bit unfinished at the end (concerning Delaney's boss and also Hugh's Ex). This wasn't huge issues but it bugged me a little that they didn't seem to be fully concluded. Outside of that, I enjoyed this story a lot. The story moved at a good pace so I was never bored and although I wouldn't term the book as funny as a whole, there were some parts that I thought were hilarious and had me bursting out in laughter. Overall, I liked this story very much and would recommend it. :)

* note - I listened to the audio version of this and the narrator did a very good job. There is a preview for book #2 at the end of the narration so the story actually ends about 21 minutes earlier than expected (at 8:26/8:47).

fast funny draws you in

ok i at first was like a male as the voice but then it was like perfect fit. i laughed and fussed . love it ready for the next one. good fast funny. perfect trip listen.

Cute Story

I have just listened to this story for the second time this year. It is a light hearted story that makes you smile. It is full of characters that you will become more familiar with as the series continues.

Average, ok, forgettable

A cute average romance. Entertaining enough but not one I will listen to again. Performance was very good. Nice clean romance.

Good Story

It was cute, but I wish she included the love scenes. She just glosses over them. The voice wasn't a good match.