The Vampire of Blackpool is my first taste of Catherine Green’s unique brand of supernatural horror and paranormal romance, and it most certainly will not be my last.
This opens edgy and dark, with Meredith Hanson, a reclusive author who is really a centuries-old vampire, dumping the bodies of her latest two victims in the ocean. She is old, bored, and looking for a challenge. She is not so much careless as she is carefree, taking risks in the hopes that somebody might bring some excitement into her life.
Enter Samantha Morris, an adorable little witch who is passionate, romantic, and fierce. Their relationship is an awkward one at first, almost accidental in how they keep coming together, but there is a surprising romance there that works precisely because of the opposites-attract vibe.
The other person who arrives on the scene to bring that excitement is Ryan James, a vampire hunter. While Meredith was looking for someone like him, a worthy adversary to give her life some color again, coming on the heels of Samantha’s insertion into her life creates a dilemma for a vampire now trapped between passions.
Less a love triangle and more a love affair threatened by outside forces, The Vampire of Blackpool worked equally well as both a romance and a horror novel, with Green never shying away from what it means to be a vampire. I loved the characters here, the atmosphere, and the hints of deeper world building that I am sure are more fully delivered on in her Redcliffe Novels. This could have gone soft, with a contrived happy ending for all, but I loved the way it came together in the end.
I am officially bitten and ready to slake my thirst with Return of the Vampire Hunter next!
Author of British paranormal romance series The Redcliffe Novels, Catherine Green was raised on books from a young age and has happy memories of Saturday mornings spent in her small local library, devouring the contents of the shelves. Catherine has always been fascinated by the supernatural world, and it feels natural for her to write about vampires, werewolves, witches and other mystical creatures in her contemporary stories.
Sally Bend 
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