Book Review: Love Sucks

Title: Love Sucks
Author: Lauren Hammond
Published: 2010

In England during the seventeen hundreds, Cara Jones had her human life ended for her and she became a creature of the night. One moment she's an adolescent young woman living her life, the next she's lurking in the streets at night looking for her next meal. The vampire slayings in England became so brutal the whole race was nearly wiped out. So Cara and the clan she called her extended family fled to the U.S. to make a home. They kept to themselves and stayed out of trouble by feeding on recently deceased corpses and cleaning out blood supplies at local hospitals. When one of the clan members makes a mistake, they are once again being hunted and Cara is the only one who makes it out alive. Cara is officially the last vampire on earth. So when Cara awakes from a two hundred year slumber, she awakes to a new city, new people, and a new way of life. Cara sets out on a journey to find her soul mate, the one person who is designed for her. Along the way she encounters a zany new friend, a jealous co worker, and a man whom she can't live without. Dr. Jared Sayers is her destiny. Will Jared give up everything he knows to be with Cara? Or will she wander the earth for the rest of eternity alone?

My thoughts: Can you imagine waking up one day - as a vampire? This is what Cara does. Confused with her new strength and sudden blood lust, she soon puts two and two together and realizes that she is a vampire. And she takes this new insight impressively well! Why concern yourself with things you can't change? Cara quickly accepts her fate and adjusts to a new lifestyle. In my opinion Cara left her old life behind so easily that she came across as almost unemotional. One thing I admired about Cara though, was how brutally honest she was! She was so sure of herself and what she wanted, and told people about her feelings instead of playing games.

The idea for this story was really good, but it could have been executed better. The story suddenly jumped days or weeks ahead of time from one sentence to the next, which of course left me really confused! The characters and the scenes could have benefited from some developing and more descriptions, and the dialogs sometimes fell flat. But when you write a book in a novella format - it's understandable that you might have to offer some ingredients to fit the format!

About 1/3 into the novel Cara falls asleep - and wakes up about 300 years later, in the 21st century! (She must have been veeery tired!) Haven't we all wondered what people who lived in the 17th century would think if they saw the world today? Or how it would be to wake up in the future? Cara does exactly that, and she is amazed with the whole new world in front of her! People dress differently, act differently and talk differently, and there are so many new inventions to adjust to. And now, being the only vampire in the world, Cara is determined to find her soul mate. But things aren't as good as they seem, a man from Cara's past is surprisingly alive and out for revenge...

This event definitely added some suspense and danger to the story, and I couldn't wait to read the dramatic quietus.

But then, the novella ended with a cliffhanger! I really wasn't expecting that! Curious readers will have to wait for the sequel A Sucker For Love (2011) to read more about Cara's adventures!

Rating: 3 of 5

Read my review with Lauren Hammond here! Follow Lauren on Twitter or visit her website/blog here.