Present Day Las Vegas, Nevada

Tales of the Vegas Vampires began in HIGH STAKES, which told the tale of Las Vegas casino hotel owner Ethan Carrick and his plan to choose the perfect candidate's wife to help him in his re-election to the office of President of the Vampire Nation. Best laid plans and all that, things didn't turn out as he envisioned, but led, instead, to a happy-ever-after, which is saying something when one is as good as immortal. But this is not Ethan's story; it's his sister Gwenna's. Never mind now how Ethan became a vampire 900 years ago; he was forced to turn his sister shortly after to save her life. Gwenna recently left her 300-year seclusion in York, England to attend Ethan's wedding. Unfortunately, this puts her once again in the vicinity of Roberto Donatelli, her ex-husband, vice-president of the nation. Now Donatelli is not a nice guy, but he does love Gwenna in his own possessive, controlling way, and he wants her back.

After 900 years of letting men manage her life, don't you think it's past time for a woman to get a backbone? Gwenna Carrick does. First, her father in those long ago medieval times, then her over-protective brother, then her manipulative ex-husband, and now her brother again, all have taken care of her...and she's let them. No more.

Gwenna spends a lot of time in her room on the computer where she's joined an e-mail loop made up of would-be vampire slayers in order to keep an eye on them. She has gathered clues that some of the serious members are planning something sinister to take place in Las Vegas. As QueenieG, she arranges to meet Slash87, one of the most vocal, face-to-face. But when she arrives at the agreed upon locale, she finds a dead body instead. This is how Gwenna becomes mixed up with a mortal, Las Vegas Police Detective Nate Thomas. Nate is also protective as one might expect from his profession, but he learns to listen to Gwenna and respect her as a person...and more. She talks him into letting her help investigate this murder and the ones that follow.

SUCKER BET brings back the heroes and heroines of HIGH STAKES and BLED DRY in another highly entertaining episode of the Vegas Vampires. Written in a catchy style with wit and warmth, it's every bit as riveting as the earlier novels. (These also include BIT THE JACKPOT, but Seamus and Cara don't appear here.) Still, SUCKER BET focuses mainly on Gwenna and Nate. The romance is fresh; Gwenna has had only one lover and that ended with her divorce 300 years ago. She's almost a virgin! And, given her sheltered background, this is a coming of age story, if that can be said of someone who has lived nine centuries. Nate is going through a rough patch in his personal life at the time he and Gwenna meet. Undoubtedly, they will both quickly endear themselves to any reader with heart. That's not all, however. There is that whole vampire slayer thing that Gwenna's convinced is mixed up in the murders; there is danger to both Gwenna and Nate, trouble from her ex and others, and topping everything is the inevitable question of how to reconcile the impossible. Where can a relationship between a vampire and a mortal who doesn't believe in such things go?

SUCKER BET has great characters and a cleverly devised plot that work together for a completely satisfying reading experience.

Jane Bowers