Why can't I have an entire book of Ophelia? :sigh:

I greatly enjoyed this short story about the Terror of Amsterdam learning to matriculate. I am a little bummed that unlike "I'm Dreaming of an Undead Christmas", which was a direct lead in to Gigi & Nik's romance in THE DANGERS IN DATING A REBOUND VAMPIRE, this story was a set up for THE ACCIDENTAL SIRE and Meagan...not further adventures of Ophelia.

Still so much fun learning about who Ophelia was and how she was thinking the last few books. ( )

You've asked for years when Ophelia and Jamie would get their own story and now it's here! How will Ophelia adjust to living in a dorm room now that she has been banished from the Council and forced to matriculate at college with Jamie? Communal showers! Horrible, pretentious roommates! Humans who try to be FRIENDS! The horror! ****This was a very short book/novella but Ophelia becomes a sympathetic figure while still being a bad-ass. ( )

Visiting Half-Moon Hollow is a guilty pleasure that I indulge in when I'm looking for an éclair read: a lightning flash of escapist fun that is light and simple but packed with good things.

"Big Vamp On Campus" is a mini-éclair, a novella in the Half-Moon Hollow series, that focuses on Ophelia, one of my favourite characters, and captures her during a period of transition.

In previous books, Ophelia, a 400-year-old vampire who looks sixteen and wears a Hello Kitty backpack, has been the Big Bad: a power-hungry bureaucrat with a lethal temper and a reputation for spectacular acts of violence.

"Big Vamp On Campus" follows on from Ophelia's dastardly deeds in "The Dangers Of Dating A Rebound Vampire". Ophelia has lost her powerbase and is being punished by being sent to college "to engage in a normal college experience" so that she can demonstrate that she can control her homicidal impulses.

What follows is a pleasant slice of college life in which Ophelia gets to try out being normal by doing exotic things like making friends with nice people who have no agenda that she has to worry about or respond to. True, Ophelia still unleashes violence on her annoying vampire roommate but no actual torture is involved and the roommate really is unpleasant.

Ophelia was always more than a self-serving, paranoid, manipulative predator. With her blood-mate and her sister, she is capable of demonstrating passionate loyalty and her own peculiar brand of affection. What makes this book work is seeing Ophelia explore that side of herself and expand the radius of the circle that contains US rather than THEM.

This is a fun book for the fans but not the right place to start. If you're new to Half-Moon Hollow, I recommend that you go back to "Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs" and take the journey from the beginning.

I recommend the audiobook version, read with skill by Amanda Ronconi. Click on the SooundCloud link below to hear a sample.

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Set on the University of Kentucky campus, Big Vamp on Campusis a cute little side story about one of the more mystery vampires of the Half Moon Hollow supernatural set. Ophelia has been busted back to into the public domain as her punishment from the World Council for the Equal Treatment of the Undead. Of course, since she has been in existence for over 400 years, hijinks ensue. Given the length, there is no time for an overly complicated plot, but there is time for character development. Ms. Harper also gives readers a potential hint about future troubles.

Big Vamp on Campus is one of those books that is purely for those who have been with the series for a long time and is a nice little diversion while fans wait for the next installment of the series. It is nice to learn more about Ophelia and get to know the girl behind the fangs. Some of her issues are amusing, but the whole story is a little more subdued than usual. This is in part due to the brevity of the story and in part because Ophelia is the main character – someone who is not known for her witty repartee and gaffes. Still, it is enjoyable and whets the appetite. ( )