The Librarian’s Vampire Assistant by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

Who killed Michael Vanderhorst’s maker? It’s a darn good question. But when the trail brings Michael to hellishly sunny Phoenix, Arizona, his biggest problem soon becomes a cute little librarian he can’t seem to stay away from. He’s never met a bigger danger magnet! Even her book cart has it out for her. And is that the drug cartel following her around, too? “Dear God, woman! What have you gotten yourself into?”

Things go from bad to worse when local vampires won’t play nice.

Can this four-hundred-year-old vampire keep his librarian safe and himself out of hot water? Can he bring his maker’s killer to justice? Yesterday, he would’ve said yes. But yesterday, he didn’t have a strange connection with a librarian. Yesterday, people weren’t trying to kill her.

Series: The Librarian's Vampire Assistant #1 | Publisher: Mimi Boutique  |  Genre: Paranormal Mystery  | Source: Freebie | Rating: 3.5 Cups

 

It’s been a minute since I’ve read a book by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff—and I’ve heard so many people rave about this series—so when I spotted that this one was a freebie, I decided to give it a go.

 

Here’s what’s going on. Arriving in Phoenix to collect his sire’s ashes and uncover what really happened to his sire, Michael finds himself transfixed by a klutzy librarian who seems to be attracting her own kind of trouble. When Miriam—the librarian—mistakenly thinks Michael’s there to apply for the assistants position, he goes along with it in order to keep her from harm. Although Michael arrived in Phoenix with one mystery, he now has the added mystery of finding out who wants to harm Miriam.

 

Knowing Mimi Jean Pamfiloff’s style of writing I knew this was going to be snarky and unique and I wasn’t disappointed.  I did have fun with this one but it also had a few issues.

 

Michael’s a four-hundred year-old vampire (who looks barely legal) with a penchant for strong coffee and eggplant. While his dress, speech, and knowledge proves his age, he often acts like a college freshman and I would think that having lived for so long he would acted a bit more mature. I found Michael easy to like but I also found his actions occasionally annoying.

 

Miriam was such a klutz—even the book cart had it out for her—and she definitely knows how to throw out some snark. While I found her likable, she had a way of talking down to Michael because she thought he was much younger than he was and that started to get old fast.

 

There’s two mysteries in this one. The mystery of who killed Michael’s sire and why as well as who is after Miriam. Both mystery threads are handled nicely and evenly. While there were twists and turns, I was hoping there would be more investigating going on. 

 

While this is primarily a mystery, there’s a start of something between Michael and Miriam but, honestly, I wasn’t sold on their connection. I’m hoping that the next book will sell me on their relationship, otherwise it’s going to feel off kilter.

 

There’s a plethora of interesting secondary characters ranging from Lula—Michael’s assistant who I liked but had an odd moment—to  Mr. Nice—a scary vamp with an addiction to romance novels.

 

Overall, it was a read. There’s now four books in the series and I’m eager to see what happens next.

The Librarian’s Vampire Assistant Series

The Librarian’s Vampire Assistant #1

The Librarian’s Vampire Assistant #2

The Librarian’s Vampire Assistant #3

The Librarian’s Vampire Assistant #4