Book Review- Samantha Watkins: Chronicles of an Extraordinary Ordinary Life by Aurélie Venem

   

Young librarian Samantha Watkins has always been perfectly content with her humdrum existence. Never easily fitting in with anyone anywhere, she feels most at ease in silence, among stacks of books. Sam believes in leaving fantasy and drama to the characters in her beloved novels. But one night when she leaves work late, she finds herself center stage in a tale of vengeance and terror.

Samantha is rescued from a gang of vampires by Phoenix, a mysterious and otherworldly man. Suddenly her paranormal adventures take a far more extraordinary turn than any story she’s ever read. Phoenix, her savior, is actually a vampire as well, tasked with stopping his peers from killing. With no possibility of returning to her former life, Sam becomes his assistant. Together they investigate a series of mysterious disappearances and attempt to save the human race from a horrible fate. Battling vampires thrills and empowers Sam, but where does she stand with supernatural Phoenix? Could Phoenix, through their work together, become a different man?  AMAZON LINK

5 STARS

This was a great roller-coaster of a ride ! There is plenty of action,mysteries, emotions and dangers. I will say.. there was a lot of eye rolling especially by Phoenix..a bit overdone to my way of thinking. i will say though that there  is also some really good world building as well.
Samantha and Phoenix made for really interesting main characters. I know that Sam found herself in some tense, dangerous, scary times but at one point I wanted to slap her for some of her "tantrums." Still I had to give her points for being smart and courageous and pretty creative in some of her situations. Even with her tantrums I still wanted to see her have a good outcome and maybe even some romance. The question of her black eyes wasn't answered in this book although it sure created a lot of interest by other vampires. Another question came up this time about Phoenix. Was he really the cold fish he seemed to be? Hmm, it seems like that might not totally be the case.
Two of Phoenix's MANY MANY years old friends show up in the story adding more drama. Francois I liked, Karl not so much.
Sam develops a friendship with several people in the area, Angela, Dannie and Matt. They enrich her life but complicate it as well.
I loved all the adventure of the story but I was startled by the ending. Because I was left a bit hanging like in a cliffhanger. Or if I want to look at it another way, it leaves the door open for more adventures. I still felt like this book deserves 5 Stars just because it was so good and so full.

I  borrowed this book for free with my Prime Reading membership.