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

by Lynda Hilburn

[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.