Vacationing with the Vampire in Hallow’s Cove by Lyonne Riley – That’s What I’m Talking About…

Audiobook review: Vacationing with the Vampire in Hallow’s Cove by Lyonne Riley

Vacationing with the Vampire in Hallow’s Cove is a quick monster romance. Maisie is put on mandatory leave from her job, so she picks a rental in Hallow’s Cove, not knowing it’s primarily a monster town. (Humans are aware that paranormals exist in the world.) Barnaby is a 200+ year old vampire who runs a local bookshop, and much to his chagrin, rents out the apartment above his shop. 

I’ll just state this up front: this is a book I should have DNF’d. The story is mediocre at best. I never saw the attraction between Maisie and Barnaby. She’s a young gamer/coder. He’s super stuffy and old fashioned. Between the way Barnaby speaks, thinks, and acts, and the narrators’ performances, Barnaby seemed like he was an old butler, despite looking young. So I got a creepy vibe from their relationship rather than feeling the romance. On top of that, when they first meet, he’s attracted to her smell and wants to devour her. The pair falls in love very quickly, and they enjoy lots of sex.

Narration: the story shared via alternating first person POVs of Maisie and Barnaby, with Ryan portraying Maisie’s POVs and Masterson performing Barnaby’s POVs. Ryan is young sounding, fitting of Maisie. She portrays the anguish of Maisie as she discovers she’s made a big error at work and must take mandatory leave. She alters dialogue slightly based on character gender. Masterson has a deeper voice suitable for Barnaby, but his performance is a bit stiff at times making it feel dramatic. He softens and pitches his voice higher for females, but it sounds like a man pretending to be a woman, rather than a natural voice. 

As I mentioned, I didn’t see the appeal or attraction between Maisie and Barnaby. Some of it is due to the way the story is written and the simplistic storytelling, but some of it is due to the narrators’ performances which emphasized the age difference and silliness of the story.

My Ratings
Story: D
Narration: C-

Jen

About the Book:

After making a big mistake at work, Maisie is told to take a mandatory vacation and get her head on straight. But when she chooses Hallow’s Cove as her retreat destination, she doesn’t realize it’s a town inhabited almost purely by monsters—including her grumpy new landlord, Barnaby.

It’s no secret that Barnaby the bookstore owner is a vampire, but he’s long since tamed his urge to drink human blood. That is, until Maisie arrives in Hallow’s Cove. Her blood smells utterly wonderful, and Barnaby finds himself drawn to her scent just as much as he is to her genuine, curious personality.

But Barnaby fears his attraction, too, because he carries a inside every vampire is a monster, one that’s never been seen or written about. The closer he gets to Maisie, the higher the risk that it could escape containment. When sparks fly between them, will the hidden creature emerge and ruin his chance at love?