$200 a month to rent a room in a beautiful brownstone in the perfect neighborhood in Chicago is cheap, and despite it setting off all the red flags for her best friend, Sam, Cassie decides to go see it. As it turns out, the place is dark and the furniture is decidedly antique and outdated, but the owner seems fine, if a little weird. Frederick J. Fitzwilliam is dressed like something on Downton Abbey and he has a few odd rules for staying there, but the price is right, and Cassie jumps at it. After all, it will go a long way in helping her get on her feet with the smattering of part-time jobs she holds, and with his schedule being the opposite of hers, they'll hardly see each other.
As a result, their interactions during the first few weeks of her living there consist of notes they leave one another, such as Cassie asking questions about possibly raising the temp in the frigid home, or what the WiFi password is. She's also taken to drawing little doodles on the notes she leaves, and since he is so complementary of her art, it gives her a charge. She's so bolstered by his complements that she enters a juried art show with one of her pieces combining a painting with found pieces of trash - her specialty, and she's applied to be an art teacher at the prestigious Harmony Academy.
When Cassie gets off work early one evening and comes home unexpectedly, she discovers a bunch of blood bank bags in the fridge. Before she can get over the shock, in comes Frederick and his buddy, Reginald, who is also a vampire, and Reggie can't help but scarf down a blood bag in front of her. For the comedy of it all, you see. Before Frederick can even explain, Cassie bolts out of the house and crashes on Sam's couch, not sure what to make of it. However, once she finally gives Frederick the chance to explain, she discovers that he desperately needs her to help him integrate into the modern world, since he's been in a coma for 100 years and is not up to date on current events. And yeah, he's also a vampire. Despite the terrible crush she has already developed on him and the impending doom it probably spells, she decides to stay and assist the helpless and handsome vampire, but of course, nothing is ever easy. It seems Frederick's mother has arranged a marriage to one Esmerelda Jameson of New York, a fellow vampire, and despite Frederick's insistence that he won't marry someone he doesn't love, his mother doesn't want to hear him. Besides, Frederick doesn't want to fully admit it, but he is falling for this mop-headed artist who has come into his life. With everything against them, what chance do they stand? When Frederick goes missing, Cassie will have to use every ounce of her wits if she has any hope of seeing him again. And she really wants to see him again.
My Roommate is a Vampire is a comedic romp about an odd pairing. What I enjoyed the most were the notes, texts and emails the characters communicated with, which told the story in a fun way. This book is a romantic comedy, but for me, it droned on for too long with the sex scenes. I'm not a prude, but I don't need or want explicit and verbose explanations, personally. If that's your thing, you might really enjoy My Roommate is a Vampire.
