Vampire State of Mind by Jane Lovering

Pages - 288

Published by Choc Lit on June 29th 2012

Fangs dripping bloodstained saliva the vampire came at me from the far side of the graveyard, moving fast. 
Goodreads Summary

Jessica Grant knows vampires only too well. She runs the York Council tracker programme making sure that Otherworlders are all where they should be, keeps the filing in order and drinks far too much coffee. To Jess, vampires are annoying and arrogant and far too sexy for their own good, particularly her ex-colleague Sil, who’s now in charge of Otherworld York. 

But when a demon turns up and threatens not just Jess but the whole world order, she and Sil are forced to work together, and when Jess turns out to be the key to saving the world it puts a very different slant on their relationship. The stakes are high. They are also very, very pointy and Jess isn’t afraid to use them, even on the vampire that she’s rather afraid she’s falling in love with ...

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This was my first taste of Choc Lit and quite frankly, I will be devouring a whole lot more! I loved this book! Loved it! Loved it! Loved it!

The best way to describe this book would be to call it a very  British paranormal, urban  fantasy wrapped in a chick lit coating of humour and romance.  The romantic nature of this book is the central essence of the story as you watch circumstances bring together two unlikely matches; at the same time they are also battling with some rather nasty Otherworlders who are intent on world domination. 

From the moment, Jessica the main protagonist stepped on the page, she had me giggling into my fingers. She is hilarious!  Imagine Buffy, Brigid Jones style, with a sense of humour. When you put her in a room with the rather hot, brooding,  lust fuelled vampire Sil and be prepared to watch the pages sizzle. There is a bonfire of emotions just waiting to explode between these two as they skirt around each other, avoiding the feelings that consume them both. Add Liam, (Jessica's working side-kick)  to the equation, and you get your very own Fairy Godfather, providing tea and custard creams to smooth out the complicated rollercoaster of forbidden romance.  I loved the part Liam played and even though he is a secondary character, every time he appeared he just brightened up the story like a Halloween glow stick. 

Jessica has a lot to deal with in this story - half way through the book, her past catches up with her and steals her breath away, showing her that her life isn't what she thought it was. The story then really gets going, as the plot steams ahead to a thrilling ending.

I would read so many more chick lit books if they were like this. I love that it was funny, yet set in the British version of an urban fantasy. When I say British, I'm thinking of comedies such as The Office and Stella, showing that the British can do vampires, only we do it with a touch of the legendary British saracasm.  I really enjoyed this author's writing style and I look forward to acquiring more of  her books in the future.