Guest Post
Guest Post: A Guide to Vampires from Juliette Cross

The first time I saw the 1980s flick Lost Boys, my teenage heart raced with excitement and was thoroughly stolen by the dark and broody Jason Patric. From that moment on, I was hooked to the vampire romance. And while there have been dozens of adaptations of the beautiful monster—from sensual to beastly to kickass to sparkly—they all possess this indefinable allure we can’t resist. Though our favorite vampires fall under more than one category, let’s break it down and look at the different types and why we love them.
- The sensual seducer. This falls into the category of Lestat or another of Anne Rice’s vampires who lure their prey to the dark with sensual promise, then bleed them dry. This vampire’s ageless beauty and magnetic power is potent. The victim of their seduction can lead to either their death or the most powerful love of all. In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the count’s powerful hold over his beloved Mina pulls her into his dark embrace, exactly where she longs to be.
- The wounded monster. The one who is haunted by a tragic past and heartbreak and who uses his power to seek vengeance on his enemies. I can’t help but think of Dracula Untold in which Vlad III (played by the lovely Luke Evans) becomes the monster to save his family and his people. Of course, it has tragic results, but he pounds his enemies into dust—literally—for what they’ve done.
- The sparkly protector. Okay, okay. Let’s talk about it. Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga introduced a brand new kind of vampire—the sparkly, vegetarian type who prefer to live nobly among humankind. Whatever you may think of the series, one thing is for certain. Meyers developed a unique, original vampire who, in my humble opinion, is a heroic, noble kind of beast. And I find him delicious, especially when Edward is fighting off temptation and losing. 😉
- The kickass warrior. Hell yeah. This happens to be my favorite. You can find him in any number of fabulous book series. Dmitri and Viper in Nalini Singh’s The Guildhunter series, Lucan and fellow hotties in Lara Adrian’s Midnight Breed series, J.R. Ward’s The Black Dagger Brotherhood, and on and on. These guys are super alpha and deadly as ever. There is no subtlety to their allure. It’s a punch to the gut that melts right down into your panties. These vampires make for one sexy, action-packed, intense love story.