Lynda HilburnRezensionen

just finished reading this book and i absolutely loved it! not going to put any spoilers in.. but its a nice change from kick butt female hero's.. this shows how a normal woman would realistically react and even get pee'd off at the main male 800 year old vampire! shes not ninja girl with mad skills but shes not a wall flower either.. huge kudos to the author!

The Vampire Shrink was a great read, it really captured my imagination, When I began to read, it was like I was being sucked into the book,if you pardon the pun, I WAS Kismet!
I loved the way her thoughts were written into the book as well as what she actually said.
She had a great sense of humour considering her past.
I was disappointed that the book wasn’t longer and more in depth in the end scenario although I know there is a second book so it can still progress now we know all about Kismet it leaves a lot of room for other things in the new book.
With action, romance, sex, fantasy, paranormal it made for a brilliant book and I really can’t wait for the release of the next book Blood Therapy

song healer, vampires, interesting, might be a series there.

What I liked: I liked that Kismet was a psychologist, and we got to see some of her sessions with her patients. I liked that it explored the vampire wanna be subculture a little.

What I didn't like: During the first portion of her book, when Kismet was having sessions with Midnight, she would speak to Midnight, and then in italics, we would hear her thoughts on the conversation. In her private thoughts, she did not seem like a very nice or compassionate therapist. At times the book reminded me too much of Laurell K Hamilton's vampire series. Especially when the action switched to Dev's nightclub, with his secret vampire lair underneath.

I gave this book 3 stars. I use the goodreads ratings suggestions, where 3 stars means "I liked it". I don't consider this to be a bad rating.

Awful. Awful. If I could give a .25 star I would. The writing is amateurish. The plot is dumb. The characters are less than one-dimensional. Not worth time or money.

The Vampire Shrink by Lynda Hilburn is a story about a rational psychologist named Kismet Knight who, in her practice, meets and counsels a troubled teenager who renames herself, Midnight, in response to her fascination with vampires. While Kismet is a strong skeptic of the supernatural and quickly makes attempts at addressing Midnight’s potential diagnosis based on textbook symptoms, she becomes not only intrigued with the richness of Midnight’s vampire “fantasy,” but also becomes the center of its very real, warring feud.

Kismet’s assumptions are slowly dismantled in meeting the immensely powerful and passionate, 800-year-old vampire, Devereaux, who not only claims to be real, but also happens to be the leader of his vampire coven that covers its anonymity through a popular, goth nightclub called The Crypt in the town of Denver.

The plot intensifies as the book progresses and the vampire world is revealed. It’s a sharp page-turner that will compel its readers to sit for hours engrossed in its plot, romance, and dark magic.

The narrative is surprisingly mature for what I had expected to be a paranormal, YA novel, but appreciatively so. Aside from overtly clichéd, fantasy names like Kismet, Midnight, and Devereaux, the voice of the main character, Kismet, is consistently mature for a shy, self-conscious introvert-turned-passionate and expressive, sexual prowess.

The book delves deep into dark magic, supernatural power, and demystifies the mythological stereotypes and folklore usually associated with vampires to reveal a dark, powerful, and sensuous breed—who, though may seem to have similarities with its human counterpart, is emphasized to be a very real, rare, and superior form of species.

To read the rest of my review, you're more than welcome to visit my blog, The Bibliotaphe Closet:

http://zaraalexis.wordpress.com/2012/11/29/book-review-the-vampire-shrink-by-lyn...

Thanks,
Zara

Ok I finished the book, but with every chapter I disliked Kismet more and more. How anyone would want such a stupid, insipid boring main character for thier novel is beyond me, and don't even get me started on why ever make was 'good looking'.
Nothing new, different in this novel, just badly written clichés.½

A little dense in some places, and a bit rushed in others, this book nevertheless kept my attention and certainly induced me to pick up the sequel as well. I haven't read the first book in the series, but found I wasn't lost. I did think that some of the mentally ill vampire patients were portrayed as a bit of a side show - there were a few places where I felt the portrayals were disrespectful - but it wasn't enough to put me off from enjoying the book, and I hope to see more from this author. The theme is rare in the genre, and the plot had enough surprises to impress me.

This was even better than book 2 - very interesting to watch the MC fall apart mentally. It seemed very realistic, actually. A new big bad guy, and lots more delving into the character's metaphysical side. I was glad to see her stop cringing away from exploring what she can really do. Admittedly the BD thing was a little predictable, lol.

First off, I have not read any other books in this series so I am going out of my comfort zone to read this short story!

Too Freakin cute and funny after reading this I will definitely be adding the other books in this series to my wish list. I thought it was quite hilarious. No real background, no real plot, just a crazy visit to a psychiatrist.

I am just not connecting with the main character at all. Too much touchy-feely romance, with not enough reality of life maybe.

DNF page 146
I don't usually rate books I haven't finished, because I figure I can't judge it as a product. But I DNF this book because I was so not enjoying it, which is a pretty clear indication of it's worth/value to me. So, I'm dropping a rating on this bad boy.

I literally couldn't take any more. I hung on as long as I could. I tried to at least make it to page 150, but even the four more pages seemed too much to bear. This is one of those books that makes me wonder about people who say getting published is hard (I know it really is, but stick with me) because this book is horrible and it found someone willing to publish it. The writing is stilted and simplistic. The plot is just another cookie-cutter vampire romp and there are so many familiar and over-used tropes that I seriously think I've read every single thing that happened so far in at least a dozen other books.

There are so many elements of this book that, though familiar, drive me nuts.
-The hetero-normative, traditionally beautiful woman (in this case fair skinned, skinny, with dramatic hair and big boobs) who talks about herself as if she isn't and can't figure out why men are paying attention to her and pretends no men have before. Yeah right.
-The lusting over a man she actively dislikes and saying things like 'I guess my body didn't get the memo,' as if to suggest women have no control over their sexual urges.
-Making out with a guy less than five minutes after almost getting raped by another. Sure, that's when most of us are feeling our most amorous.
-A love triangle.
-Fist person dialogue. Gah, WHY?
-The single past lover who was sexually inadequate. (I bet if I kept reading I'd find out in the first sex scene that she never had an orgasim.)
-Unnatural dialogue and unbelievable interactions between people
-The constant internal monologue, that is overly focused on sex (as if it wouldn't be annoying enough on it's own)
-The unrealistic teenagers
-Insta-lust
-You've been chosen, you're the chosen one
-WORST OF ALL, the fact that this MC has had the existence of vampires irrefutably proven to her like 50 times and is still insisting that she doesn't believe in them and is acting as if they don't exist. It has totally undermined any credibility the book had. Plus, it means none of her reactions to things are believable either. She's too vapid and stupid to deserve any more of my attention.

I could probably go on and I only read roughly half the book. Man, totally disappointed. I have not finishing a book. But I'm not punishing myself anymore.

I reckon that Lynda finally found perfect middle ground with this series. Last year when I reviewed The Vampire Shrink it was heavily leaning towards paranormal romance, albeit quite an awkward one.

Blood Therapy feels like a better, stronger book. Although it's still cross-genre between paranormal comedy and mystery, PNR factor is diminished to the point of it being almost farcical.

Not surprisingly I really enjoyed this book, once I let go of all my expectations, and I'm sure you'll do too. Kismet has a full life having to deal with her stunningly beautiful and perfect in every way master vampire as a lover, but as a psychologist she sees that his confidence and sense of well-being is slowly unravelling because he failed to catch and still can't track a serial killer vampire who attacked him and Kismet few months ago.

Kismet's vampire self-help group also doesn't work as well as she hoped. Some of her patients hoard dead bodies like toy soldiers, others keep trying to kill themselves or fail to move out from their overweight masters who remind them of their mothers... It's a frustrating mess, but someone has to clean it up.

Not only Lucifer is still after our psychologist, she finds out the unfortunate truth that unless she learns how to protect her brain from Devereux's power, sooner or later it will turn to mush. What a revelation, and in a middle of a vampire ball hosted by Brad and Angelina, no less!

Poor Kismet is desperate for any help, be that from an overly-amorous FBI buddy, mystical zen-vampire in charge of vampire library or even perverted Dracula... Plus the annual Psychology convention is coming up, and someone keep killing pretty psychologists.

Crazy, twisted fun. Recommended.

Before I start on the review, here is my heartfelt plea to Quercus!

Guys, honestly, the cover is atrocious - fake blood and peroxide-burnt hair? What were you thinking?!! It hurt my eyes. This is how you imagined delicious Devereux with his lustrous long hair the colour of moonlight? Like Curt Cobain-wannabe?

Now getting back to my review. This is a revised and extended version of the original story which I read in 2007. Of course, when Lynda HIlburn contacted me, I was very curious to see how the story will differ from what I remember.

The Vampire Shrink was different in 2007 and it stayed refreshingly different in 2011, only got better.

Kismet Knight is a young psychologist with her own practice in Denver. She is pretty, very clever being a daughter of two scientists; she breezed through her school and university at quicker pace than normal and as you can expect I'm leading you to the conclusion that she is a geek at heart, socially inept, have very few friends, she is still recovering from a broken relationship from 2 years ago and have more phobias than I can count on my fingers.

Enter her client, a vampire wannabe girl, who regularly goes to Gothic club The Crypt and worships his owner Devereux who she claims is an ancient vampire. Fascinated, Kismet decides to explore the subculture of people pretending to be vampires and die-hard Twilight fans, and *gasp* maybe write a research book on the subject. So she places an ad in the local paper calling herself The Vampire Psychologist.

All Hell breaks loose.

Enter Devereux, with whom the author had so much fun you won't believe it. He is just as beautiful and dramatic as Jean-Claude (at least his taste in clothes) and he's got every imaginable power you can give him. He even has a wand! *naughty, naughty, it's not what you were thinking about*

Enter vampires with multiple mental disorders, trail of bodies drained of blood, psycho killers, different dimensions, Druids, magic and a gorgeous FBI agent a la Mulder.

Because Kismet is so unsure of herself and doesn't handle relationship very well, some of the things which would have bothered me in a different book are actually amusing. Devereux is not below being a pompous ass and directing Kismet's life, and because it's an untried field for doctor Knight she stumbles and flails a lot.

Kismet also has a peculiar self-deprecating sense of humor and her inner geek comes out at the most unfortunate time. I loved the references to Twilight, Harry Potter and even Jocker from Batman. I loved Doctor Knight even if I wasn't keen on all Devereux yummy goodness. Sorry, I just love my vampires dangerously wicked, down and dirty... *grinning* although this man wasn't without some major talents.

But Kismet? Kismet I definitely want to know more about. *hint-hint*

Favorite quote:

He brought his hands around from behind him. They held a huge bouquet of pink roses and a box of chocolates.
"Gifts for you, my love."
He leaned in and brushed my lips lightly with his. The familiar, delicious scent of him filled my nostrils and my lips instinctively puckered in anticipation of more of the same.
Instead he burst out laughing. "You have pigs on your feet!"
(Kismet is wearing Miss Piggy slippers)

Loved the story right up to the end. The last few chapters just didn't seem as tight as the rest of the book. I believe I read somewhere that this book will be re-released in 2012 with a re-write. (Good - the story itself deserves the extra effort by Ms. Hilburn.)

And I can see the Vampire Shrink being turned into a series. Vampires are surly as screwed-up as humans.

Loved the story right up to the end. The last few chapters just didn't seem as tight as the rest of the book. I believe I read somewhere that this book will be re-released in 2012 with a re-write. (Good - the story itself deserves the extra effort by Ms. Hilburn.)

And I can see the Vampire Shrink being turned into a series. Vampires are surly as screwed-up as humans.

Successful Denver psychologist starts counselling vampire wannabes only to discover that some of them are the real thing. Before long she's entangled in vampire turf wars, murders, and one-and-three-quarter love affairs.

An enjoyable, exciting read marred by a couple of small flaws. One is the over-use of the words 'colour' and 'colourful' in both US and UK spellings. Another is the strange mix of orthographies. Most of the book seems to use US spelling, but in the digital version I read, UK variants intrude.

The ending lays the groundwork for at least one sequel, which I'll probably read if I can only make some inroads into the huge pile of to-be-read books on my computer and iPad.

The second installment in the Kismet Knight, Vampire Psychologist, Blood Therapy, picks up a short time after the conclusion of The Vampire Shrink.

With the deranged vampire that kidnapped Kismet in book one, Lucifer/Brother Luther, still on the loose, much of the plot action is concerned with the search for him as he continues to stalk Kismet and resumes his killing spree - this time targeting female psychologists with a resemblance to Kismet. Hilburn maintains suspense as Lucifer moves ever closer to recapturing Kismet

Meanwhile, the emotional storyline involves Kismet reconsidering her intimate relationship with Devereaux, especially given Alan's continued interest, as she learns more about the Master Vampire. I can't blame Kismet for being concerned and I like that she takes a step back here and thinks about the repercussions of the relationship, and the secrets Devereaux is still keeping.

My biggest issue with Vampire Shrink was the trouble I had reconciling the analytical, sensitive, intelligent Kismet we were introduced to with the caricature that she became. Thankfully her character is less hysterical in Blood Therapy, though Kismet's penchant for second guessing herself is still an annoyance. Overall, Kismet is adjusting well to the paranormal underground, give or take surprise meetings with a celebrity or two, and she is managing her unique clientele sensibly. I like that seeks help with her emerging abilities in Blood Therapy and manages to wrest some control of her life back.

Devereaux is also much more interesting in this installment. The 800 year old vampire is frustrated and angry about his inability to capture Lucifer, not just because of the danger he poses to Kismet but also because lesser vampires are questioning his leadership as a result of the failure. There are glimpses of vulnerability which I prefer over the broody alpha type and his struggle to overcome his 'nature' is sweet, and occasionally funny.

There is humor and romance along with plenty of angst in Blood Therapy and I think it is a much stronger and better balanced story than the introduction to the series. I am looking forward to seeing how the third book, Crimson Psyche, develops.

This book was...hmmm. There were several times I had to put the kindle down because I was laughing so hard, and pretty sure I wasn't SUPPOSED to be laughing at that point, but sometimes it was just so melodramatic, over the top, and cliche, that I couldn't help myself! It was the british version so the editing and punctuation is slightly off from what I'm used too, it look me forever to get used to ' versus " during dialogue. It was slightly campy, but totally engrossing at the same time.

I must confess that even though I gave these books bad reviews. I think Ms. Hilburn is very talented. I can see it in every idea and the world she created. I wondered if this was one of those raw talent things that I myself as a writer have faced. In a rush to meet time constraints or make a name for ourselves we rushed into things but forgot to polish and probe the books for things that don't make it our best. I wish her the best and will watch her career with interest. I know for a fact I will revisit successive editions of The Vampire Shrink because with talent there is hope.


It took me a long time to get through this book because it really didn't hold my interest. I can bang out books with the best of them if they hold me in. I'm not sure what to say about this story. It seemed a bit pointless. When Dr. Kismet (I'm not sure they ever mentioned a last name) meets Midnight, a young, goth woman forced into therapy by her family she is sucked into the world of Vampires. There she meets Alan, an FBI agent in pursuit of a serial killing vamp and Devereaux, the leader of the local vamp contingency. Both are hotter than hot and in definite pursuit of Kismet, who still can't believe in vampires until she has sex with one. Toss in a bad guy with homicidal tendencies, his partner who's split personality and inter-dimensional travel and the whole thing seems like it might add up but the ending builds up to awesomeness then dies a horrible stunted death of an anticlimactic scene. I'm going to read the second book and hopefully it can be redeemed.

1 out of 5 Nerds

Book 2 didn't redeem it at all. I couldn't make it through the first 20 pages. I quit and erased it from my Novel. I think I was still stinging from the first one and had my mind made up. It may in fact have been awesome but I was still in a bad place from Book 1. I do vow to go back a try again when I'm not being a weenie.

This has a different take on vampires than most popular vampire books around these days. Kismet is a successful psychiatrist, who is very attuned to the emotions of her patients and other people around her. When she gets a new patient - Midnight, a vampire-wannabe - she has to question most of her beliefs. Are there beings different from us humans? For real?

The vampires in this story are still gorgeous, like most vampires we read about are. Devereux is amazing, tall, blonde, auqa-eyes and not too bad for a vampire. Then there's Bryce, who takes his pleasure from killing his food. And humans do not know about vampires either, there has been no 'coming-out' or drinking bottled blood.

The plot is built in a believable way, and the story is quite fast-paced. There is quite a lot of humour, some very nice sex-scenes, and a lot of confusion on Kismet's part. After a two-year dry-spell, she suddenly has several men showing interest in her, and she has to figure out how to deal with that, as well as with the fact that she is starting to believe vampires really do exist.

All of the story is also gravitating around her private psychiatrist practice, and the way she deals with both human and undead clients is great.

I must confess that even though I gave these books bad reviews. I think Ms. Hilburn is very talented. I can see it in every idea and the world she created. I wondered if this was one of those raw talent things that I myself as a writer have faced. In a rush to meet time constraints or make a name for ourselves we rushed into things but forgot to polish and probe the books for things that don't make it our best. I wish her the best and will watch her career with interest. I know for a fact I will revisit successive editions of The Vampire Shrink because with talent there is hope.


It took me a long time to get through this book because it really didn't hold my interest. I can bang out books with the best of them if they hold me in. I'm not sure what to say about this story. It seemed a bit pointless. When Dr. Kismet (I'm not sure they ever mentioned a last name) meets Midnight, a young, goth woman forced into therapy by her family she is sucked into the world of Vampires. There she meets Alan, an FBI agent in pursuit of a serial killing vamp and Devereaux, the leader of the local vamp contingency. Both are hotter than hot and in definite pursuit of Kismet, who still can't believe in vampires until she has sex with one. Toss in a bad guy with homicidal tendencies, his partner who's split personality and inter-dimensional travel and the whole thing seems like it might add up but the ending builds up to awesomeness then dies a horrible stunted death of an anticlimactic scene. I'm going to read the second book and hopefully it can be redeemed.

1 out of 5 Nerds

Book 2 didn't redeem it at all. I couldn't make it through the first 20 pages. I quit and erased it from my Novel. I think I was still stinging from the first one and had my mind made up. It may in fact have been awesome but I was still in a bad place from Book 1. I do vow to go back a try again when I'm not being a weenie.

I'll take half the credit for my disappointment with The Vampire Shrink. There's just nothing new here, when it had the potential to be one of a kind. Unofortuantely, I got the same old story, the same old characters. I'm sadly disappointed - this had the potential to be like Interview With A Vampire, but, you, know, actually good. With narrative introspection into the state of vampirism without being so blindingly boring as Anne Rice's faux-journalistic endeavor was. Some readers, especially those with a voracious and appreciative appetite for all things fanglike (maybe the Twi-Moms that Kismet takes potshots at?), will read this and love it. I just could never get into the story being told; I never found the 'mystery' a t the heart of everything to be compelling, or really even a focus of the narration. In the end, I think reception for this is much like Royal Street, which has garnered high reviews from others but I personally fought to finish. I was lured to this particular novel by the unique idea of a human psychologist to the undead - and evil, murder-y vampires at that. So it's easy to imagine my dismay when that idea is further and further abandoned in favor of a much less interesting and much more predictable urban fantasy plotline about sexy head vampire, Devereux.

I was never really engaged in this novel - the first hundred pages are particularly difficult and layered with clunky dialogue and endless exposition. Details that could easily have been shown or subtly woven into casual conversation are blatantly - and oddly - stated. Kismet is so wooden as a narrator that it's hard to get a feel for her as a person, much less view her as a conflicted and engaging woman. Her prolonged refusal to accept Midnight's claims got old, fast and hurt her credibility when she so abruptly changes perspective a few chapters on. For a rewrite of a previously published novel, The Vampire Shrink Pt. II: This Time With More Feeling (or should that be "The Vampire Shrink: The Redux"? Or "The Revamped Vampire Shrink!") could still stand to do with some authorial and editorial work. I so much wanted to like this, but so much of it strains feels familiar, or done before: the main character is too perfect (especially in the looks department. A mix of Megan Fox and Angelina Jolie? Really? I am supposed to relate to this character?) and the plot is far too predictable and typical for the PNR/UF genres. As for nearly everyone else present and accounted for in the cast here, they all feel familiar and uniformly indistinct.

Maybe the main reason (after the fist listless and exposition-heavy introduction) I couldn't get into The Vampire Shrink was that I didn't buy the romance. When it was quickly apparent that the mystery element would take a backseat to the graphic lovin' between (yes, I'm calling it) the insta-loving protagonist and Dev, I pretty much mentally checked out. Sure I read along to see what would happen and how the chips would fall, but this human/vampire romantic relationship felt rehashed and lacked individuality from any other novel in the genre. I am still giving this nearly 3-stars because there are some amusing moments and I did find the magic-aspect to be somewhat clever. However, neither are enough to interest me in book two of this really-long-titled series, Blood Therapy. I'm sure this is purely a case of "it's not you, it's me" type of situation, but this book and I did not see eye to eye, so Kismet Knight will continue her nocturnal adventures without my readership.

I really enjoyed this book had a hard time putting it down to get some sleep.A very diffrent take on the vampire thing Kismet is a very intellegent women that is very aware of her senses.The characters in this book are very easy to relate to .The story is very easy to follow and a bit naughty it gets very deep into descriptive scenes and leaves me feeling .like im reading soft porn every now and again.The characters in this book are described so well i felt like i was there in the scene a bit like a fly on the wall.The men she developes feelings for are a bit on the perfect man fantasy side atleast for me .They almost seem to good to be true .The story is very well written and i will look foward to reading it in the future it is one of my favorite titles to date.I would recommend this book and give it 5 stars easily.

Up to the point where she was involved in a ceremony where nothing was explained and everybody just kept going "later" to her I liked this story. However, this was a sticking point for me. It's a lazy cliche being used in too many books to bind the heroine to the supernatural creature without actual consent being involved and this is where I have issues with a lot of Urban Fantasy. Without consent this is morally dubious at best and downright issue-laden at worst, and what's worse for me is that this is becoming a regular feature of books I'm finding.

Safe, sane and consentual. These are three words that should dominate romance but they don't, they're not even regularly discussed and this character (and her creator) is a shrink.

The story starts with our heroine Kismet Knight dealing with a girl who wants to be a vampire which leads Kismet into the vampire underworld of her city and some relationships with people who will change her life forever. Including a guy who is trying to get his revenge on the man she is falling heavily in lust with.

It wasn't bad but I think it could have been better.½