Title: Something Old
Author: Toni Collins
Paperback
Pages: 186
Publisher: Silhouette (Now Harlequin)
ISBN: 9780373089413
Release Date: June 1993
Book Details: Standard paperback dimensions.
Where To Find It: Well here’s the thing, friends, it looks like second hand may be your only option. I’ve checked Harlequin for eBook format, Barnes and Noble, and there’s just nothing. Thrift Books is the only place I’m finding it right now.
Time that the story takes place? Current day of 1993
POV? Third Person
What caught your eye? Vampires baby! It was just such a shock to find that Silhouette was publishing a Vampire novel in their normal monthly offerings.
Did you enjoy it? I did. Of course I did, Vampires are involved.
Was it predictable? It is.
Was it sexy? Tame? Very tame.
Did you find it funny? Entertaining? I wouldn’t say laugh out loud funny, I certainly smiled at particular scenes. Very entertaining.
Would you read it again? I would actually. I mean, I did for this review.
Is this part of a series? Yes and no. This isn’t part of a series by the author, but of Silhouette that month, You’re Invited Series. There were five books: Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, and Lucky Penny. And perhaps I’m misremembering, but I truly don’t recall Silhouette doing a theme month like this. All the books were released in June (clearly a thing about June Weddings), they weren’t interconnected in anyway, save for the titles. Does anyone else remember Silhouette doing this for other months? Let me know if you do remember.
Let me start out this review with an apology, this book is just nowhere, as stated above, it looks like second hand is going to be your best bet. But I am shocked and stunned that it isn’t at least available as an eBook, which is a shame as this is a sweet book. Also, I truly couldn’t find anything about the author. There were several authors that popped up with that name, yet not one of them claimed to be a writer of romantic fiction.
Okay, moving on!
Gabriella “Gabby” Thorne is our adorable leading lady. She works for the International Intruder which is a tabloid magazine similar to Weekly World News. Elvis is alive and well and communicating with aliens and making werewolf babies and all that jazz, you get the point, and our Gabby is one of the reporters there.
We have to talk about Gabby for a minute. I wasn’t being condescending when I said she was adorable, because she is, she really and truly is. She dresses in overtly bright colors, royal blue sweaters with neon green leggings and hot pink ballet flats, which all go fantastic with her copper hair. The thing that I really appreciated in the writing of Gabby is that as the character is reflecting on being in love—which she has never been—and recounting her crushes and interests, she includes the crushes she’s had on actors and rock stars. Which is something that I’ve never seen acknowledged before in a book. I love that the author recognizes how important those fleeting crushes (for some of us, obsession, might be a better word) on celebrities are. Unrealistic? Sure. Valid? Hell, yes.
Thank you Toni Collins for giving us fangirls that one.
The book starts off with a group of women around the water cooler commenting on the fact that they haven’t gotten a glimpse of their new owner and our hero, Adrian Lacross, an 900 year old vampire who was, and I guess still is, a 12th century prince.
And this is where we come to my first off the record rant: Why isn’t this book longer, bigger, turned into a weekly television show that gets four movie sequels, rebooted for the modern age, all the books are re-released with new covers and we can all sit around and complain how the “original” was way better than this crap they’re trying to peddle now?
This book is jam packed with stuff that deserved more than 186 pages. I haven’t even gotten to the part where Gabby’s grandfather, Otto—who has raised her and her brothers since the death of her parents—has raised the children on stories of the great Van Dammes, Vampire hunters in the old country.
And . . . Adrian’s arch enemies!
Otto knows Adrian, he’s known Adrian since he was eight years old. And now his granddaughter has got the feels for him.
Seriously, why the hell wasn’t this book longer? It’s all gold, pure double dipped gold. I could go on and on about the little bits of awesome in this book, which I don’t think I’ve stated clearly enough is only 186 page long. There’s seriously too much awesome to go into, but we’re here for the romance.
Sure the romance aspect of this story is predictable, as it should be when you read something from Silhouette Romance, the leads are going to get together. It’s just a matter of how to make it all work out in the end.
As is classic with most Vampire romances, the undead hero longs to be mortal again, to live the mundane life of going for walks in the sun, going out during the day, getting married and having kids. Did I mention that Adrian has hired a company to develop this super duper extra special sunblock that would allow him to go out in the sun? I’ve read a few piles of Vampire novels in my time, romantic and just regular fiction, and never has a Vampire thought to make a freaking sunblock that would allow him to stroll about in the sunlight. Come on, that one’s awesome.
The conflict of the romance is the history of the Van Dammes and Adrian Lacross, the romantic aspect of this story is gentle and pleasant. Gabby and Adrian get along well enough for them to become smitten kittens. There’s no sex in this book, mostly heated flirtations and kissing. Adrian is rather old fashioned in his courtship ways and Gabby isn’t one to just go for it, she’s waiting for love. It’s really the other parts of the story, I don’t think I mentioned nearly enough, is only 186 pages long, that round out the story with more than sufficient conflict for the characters to overcome.
If you are lucky enough to find this book, grab it. Yes, it’s tame, but damn what a story. And I really meant it, I wish this were longer than 186 pages.
