Red-Haired Ash Reads

Ildaria Garcia has been on the run for a century. But also has some vigilante tendencies that tend to get her in trouble with the Enforcers and Lucean, so when she gets in trouble again she is forced to quit school and finds a job working for a vampire night club. What she doesn’t expect is to find her new boss, Joshua James Simpson Guiscard (GG), to be her life mate or for him to refuse to be turned. 

Ildaria was introduced in the book Vampires Like It Hot. She was a member of Vasco’s pirate crew and was a troublemaker even then. She left the island to try and start a new life but her trouble continues to follow her. I really loved Ildaria. She was a badass who has had a difficult life. She doesn’t trust men and finding her lifemate means learning to trust, especially when it comes to sex. I loved how far she went to protect herself, and accidently turned herself in the process. 

GG is human and has appeared a few times throughout this series. I have always liked GG so I was excited to see him finally find a mate. He refuses to be turned due to the trauma of witnessing his mother’s turning but his mother is determined to still find him a life mate in the hopes he changes his mind. Because of this, Ildaria doesn’t tell him right away that she is his life mate for fear he will push her away. We do see him finally change, but I think the circumstances around it aren’t great because he doesn’t necessarily do it for himself or Ildaria, he does it out of jealousy, which I didn’t love. 

GG and Ildaria have a slow building relationship compared to many other couples in this series. The life mate dreams are strong between these two but physical intimacy takes time between these two. Ildaria has trauma around sex and is a virgin because of it. We see her seek therapy for help with her issues, which is always a good point. I really enjoyed their slow building relationship and how strong of a couple they felt in the end. Also GG and Ildaria were just adorable together and I hope they pop up in future books. 

Overall, while this series has had its ups and downs, I am still enjoying it after thirty-one books. I am curious to see who will find their life mate next, also I want to see the next Argeneau baby now that we know someone is pregnant. 

TW: references to rape, child molestation, domestic abuse, knife violence, and death of a parent, 

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Previous books and reviews for the series:

#1. A Quick Bite
#2. Love Bites
#3. Single White Vampire
#4. Tall, Dark & Hungry
#5. A Bite to Remember
#6. Bite Me If You Can
#7. The Accidental Vampire
#8. Vampires Are Forever
#9. Vampire, Interrupted
#10. The Rogue Hunter
#11. The Immortal Hunter
#12. The Renegade Hunter
#12.5. Bitten By Cupid
#13. Born to Bite
#14. Hungry For You
#15. The Reluctant Vampire
#15.5 The Bite Before Christmas
#16. Under the Vampire Moon
#17. The Lady is a Vamp
#18. Immortal Ever After
#19. One Lucky Vampire
#20. Vampire Most Wanted
#21. The Immortal Who Loved Me
#22. About a Vampire
#23. Runaway Vampire
#24. Immortal Nights
#25. Immortal Unchained
#26. Immortally Yours
#27. Twice Bitten
#28. Vampires Like It Hot
#29. The Trouble With Vampires
#30. Immortal Born