The Vampire Shrink (Kismet Knight, Vampire Psychologist, #1)

by Lynda Hilburn

As a rational scientist who knows full well that vampires are all hokum, Kismet Knight is the perfect choice to counsel troubled wannabe vamps. That is until she meets Devereux: a sexy, mysterious man who claims to be a real - and immensely powerful - 800-year-old vampire. Before she knows what's happening, she is pulled into a whirlwind of inexplicable events that start her questioning everything she once believed about the paranormal. Kismet Knight is about to achieve her dream job - but becoming the Vampire Shrink is going to change her life. Forever.

• ISBN10: 0857387286
• ISBN13: 9780857387288
• Publish Date: 5 July 2012 (first published 28 October 2007)
• Publish Status: Cancelled
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Quercus Publishing
• Imprint: Jo Fletcher Books
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 400
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

The Vampire Shrink is a book that I've wanted to read for a long time, and now that I read it, I'm feeling underwhelmed. I loved the idea of a psychologist who specializes in people who believe they are vampires, or who are looking to become vampires, then actually meeting a real vampire and questioning everything she ever knows. Which is basically what happens to Kismet when the master of the local vampire coven comes to see her after learning that one of the vampire-hopefuls has been to see her.

I did really like The Vampire Shrink in the beginning. It was really interesting to see a character viewing vampires from an academic, mental health perspective. It's definitely not something I had read before. Even after coming face to face with Devereux and witnessing some of his abilities, Kismet isn't sold on the idea of vampires. Of course, she has to start believing sometime or things would be needlessly drawn out and repetitive. It takes an FBI agent who's been on a case involving dozens of bodies drained of blood to make her believe though.

While the focus is on the murder plot, The Vampire Shrink does have a romance. I'm not really invested in it, but I did really like how it was handled. There's not a love triangle (yet), but Kismet is sleeping with both Devereux and Alan. And they know about each other! But no one is forcing her to choose, and she's not agonizing over who to choose. She's just doing her thing, and that's awesome! I don't think I'll be continuing the series, but if I was, I'd be hoping this ends in a triad. One man for the day, and one for the night!

Like I said, I enjoyed The Vampire Shrink in the beginning, but then it kind of plateaus, then drops off. I just really didn't care about this investigation much. And I was really annoyed by the amount of times this woman forgets to lock her door, allowing any and all weirdos to just walk in and wreak havoc! Another thing that really bothered me was the focus on skin, particularly pale skin. Kismet is constantly bringing up how pale she is (not in a complaining way), and how she's fascinated by Devereux's skin which is much lighter than hers. And translucency is sexy! And being fair skinned is a blessing. Yep, you read that right. That actually made me cringe.

The Vampire Shrink was an okay read. It had some great ideas that I was excited to see play out, but ultimately it just fell flat.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[wyvernfriend]

Up to the point where she was involved in a ceremony where nothing was explained and everybody just kept going "later" to her I liked this story. However, this was a sticking point for me. It's a lazy cliche being used in too many books to bind the heroine to the supernatural creature without actual consent being involved and this is where I have issues with a lot of Urban Fantasy. Without consent this is morally dubious at best and downright issue-laden at worst, and what's worse for me is that this is becoming a regular feature of books I'm finding.

Safe, sane and consentual. These are three words that should dominate romance but they don't, they're not even regularly discussed and this character (and her creator) is a shrink.

The story starts with our heroine Kismet Knight dealing with a girl who wants to be a vampire which leads Kismet into the vampire underworld of her city and some relationships with people who will change her life forever. Including a guy who is trying to get his revenge on the man she is falling heavily in lust with.

It wasn't bad but I think it could have been better.

[Linda]

This has a different take on vampires than most popular vampire books around these days. Kismet is a successful psychiatrist, who is very attuned to the emotions of her patients and other people around her. When she gets a new patient - Midnight, a vampire-wannabe - she has to question most of her beliefs. Are there beings different from us humans? For real?

The vampires in this story are still gorgeous, like most vampires we read about are. Devereux is amazing, tall, blonde, auqa-eyes and not too bad for a vampire. Then there's Bryce, who takes his pleasure from killing his food. And humans do not know about vampires either, there has been no 'coming-out' or drinking bottled blood.

The plot is built in a believable way, and the story is quite fast-paced. There is quite a lot of humour, some very nice sex-scenes, and a lot of confusion on Kismet's part. After a two-year dry-spell, she suddenly has several men showing interest in her, and she has to figure out how to deal with that, as well as with the fact that she is starting to believe vampires really do exist.

All of the story is also gravitating around her private psychiatrist practice, and the way she deals with both human and undead clients is great.

[stressedrach]

The Vampire Shrink was a great read, it really captured my imagination, When I began to read, it was like I was being sucked into the book,if you pardon the pun, I WAS Kismet!
I loved the way her thoughts were written into the book as well as what she actually said.
She had a great sense of humour considering her past.
I was disappointed that the book wasn’t longer and more in depth in the end scenario although I know there is a second book so it can still progress now we know all about Kismet it leaves a lot of room for other things in the new book.
With action, romance, sex, fantasy, paranormal it made for a brilliant book and I really can’t wait for the release of the next book Blood Therapy