Dark Dates by Tracey Sinclair - Review

Dark Dates by Tracey Sinclair has been on my radar since back in August when Tracey appeared on my Getting To Know... feature, which you can check out here if you'd like. I'm actually surprised I hadn't picked it up before as it's something that's right up my street, so when Tracey was looking for people to review Dark Dates I waved my arms around loudly. (That makes sense I promise).  

About The Book

All Cassandra Bick wants is to be left to get on with doing her job. But when you’re a Sensitive whose business is running a dating agency for vampires, life is never going to be straightforward – especially when there’s a supernatural war brewing in London, a sexy new bloodsucker in town and your mysterious, homicidal and vampire hating ex-lover chooses this moment to reappear in your life…

Witty, sharp and entertaining, Dark Dates is a heady mix of vampires, witches and werewolves – with the occasional angel thrown in – and introduces Cassandra Bick, a likeable heroine destined to join the ranks of fantasy’s feistiest females.

My Review

This book is so much fun! There were times that I laughed full on out loud (sometimes in not the most appropriate of places... ahem). I loved all the characters and I'm already looking forward to continuing with the series. 

Cassandra or Cass I swear deals with everything the same way I do - sarcasm and food! She is the perfect mix of everyday woman and one who can defend herself with whatever is nearby even if it is by accident. She feels so very real to me and I really enjoyed her honesty about what (*read who) she thought was hot and how awkward she is around people on a day to day basis. 

Medea is a great sidekick character, she is powerful, intelligent and beautiful and there is even more to her than meets the eye. Katie who you meet later in the book, I'm still not 100% about yet, BUT she is definitely interesting and certainly surprised me. 

Now to my absolutely favourite character - Cain. Yes he is a completely heartless a$$hole at times, but he's hot and he's a bad boy with a soft side and who doesn't want that in their fictional boyfriend? There are also so many more interesting things I could say but I would be spoiling far too much so that will have to do. 

I can see why people would like Laclos as he is basically lust personified and who knows what will happen further into the series, but for now I am full on #teamcain. 

The story is really interesting as there is a war brewing in the vampire world and somehow Cass has got herself mixed up in it and decides to try and deal with a lot herself while the menfolk (Cain and Laclos) preen and stalk about like peacocks. They do come in more than handy when they're needed though and make up for lost time. 

Throughout there are some brilliant references to pop culture and I loved that I could pick some out, though I think I missed the Buffy ones as I've only ever seen the original movie but none of the TV series. 

Overall a really, really good and enjoyable book and as I said I can't wait to pick up the next book in the series. I know this has been  more of a ramble than usual, but this happens when I really like a book. 

I gave this book 5 stars. 

Getting To Know...Tracey Sinclair

Today on Getting To Know... I am very lucky to have Tracey Sinclair, author of the Cassandra Bick Chronicles.

You're currently writing your Cassandra Bick Chronicles series and have most recently published the third instalment Angel Falls, will there be more books in the future?

Yes, definitely – I’m currently working on the next one.

The Cassandra Bick Chronicles are supernatural and contain vampires etc. Do you believe any such creatures exist or have existed in the past or do you believe they have developed from folklore and misunderstandings?

While part of me would like to believe in supernatural beings, I think it’s far more likely that they stem from folklore, superstition and a misunderstanding of certain phenomena that we’ve now explained through science – plus of course the fact that human beings have always loved fantastical stories.

If you could be a supernatural being, what would you choose to be?

I’d be a vampire as long as I didn’t have to kill anyone! I’m a vegetarian…!

You have previously written a collection of short stories, No Love Is This, as well as two collections of Dark Dates stories, do you have a preference over writing a novel or a short story? 

I think they both have their strengths and their difficulties, and I like both – not every idea can be, or should be, stretched into a novel, and some of the most beautiful things I’ve ever read have been short stories. I also think they’re quite discrete skills – not all novelists can write good short stories, and vice versa. In the Dark Dates world, writing short stories gives me an opportunity to explore different viewpoints and characters outside the main narrative arc, which has turned out to be enormous fun.

If The Cassandra Bick Chronicles became a TV show, who would you like cast as Cassandra?

Ooh, people ask me that and I’m always stumped. I think Kat Dennings or Lizzie Kaplan would manage the snark, but I’m not sure they could do the British accent!

Do you have a favourite character that you have written so far?

I love all my Dark Dates crew, honestly. They are so much fun to write.

When you're writing, do you have a set routine that you follow or a certain place to sit and write?

In terms of routine, for the longer pieces I start by doing short sketches of scenes to get a sense of character, and play with ideas. Then I do a first draft – and sometimes a second – in longhand (I get through a lot of notebooks!) and usually do a third or even fourth draft before I send it out to my beta readers and then do another couple of polishes before it is done. I don’t have certain writing places – anywhere is good. I am weirdly fussy about notebooks and pens, though.

When you're not writing what would we find you doing?

Napping, mainly…

Have you always known that you wanted to be an author?

Yes. I’ve always written stories, and always loved it.

Do you have a favourite author?

In terms of authors I admire, it’s an enormous list, but in terms of authors I feel genuine affection for, no one can beat Terry Pratchett. I cried when he died!

Thank you so much to Tracey for taking the time to answer my questions!

To connect with Tracey Sinclair

The Dark Dates Website
Tracey's Twitter @thriftygal
The Dark Dates Facebook page

To pick up a copy of Angel Falls click here.