Love Bites (Sofie Metropolis) - Softcover

Still finding her way as an investigator, Sofie Metropolis is running her uncle's Queens, New York, private-detective business while he is in Greece. Ivan Romanoff, who is rumored to be a vampire, asks Sophie to investigate the deaths of several young women who have been found drained of blood; given his reputation, Romanoff is afraid he will be charged with the murders. Sofie's mother also wants her to look into the disappearance of a Greek American young woman, Roula, and an actress has hired her to examine the practice of the plastic surgeon who botched her surgery. Wary of accepting a case from a purported vampire, Sofie decides not to take his money but finds herself investigating the deaths anyway, as the cases connect, leading to danger, both real and supernatural. Complicating matters are the sexy Australian bounty hunter Jake and baker Dino, who are both romantically interested in Sofie. The supernatural elements, engaging humor, quirky characters, and the ethnic backdrop--not to mention Sofie's sense of style--are all reminiscent of Janet Evanovich's Between-the-Numbers series and should appeal to the same audience. --Booklist, February 15, 2011

The fifth Sofie Metropolis novel (after 2008's Working Stiff) from Carrington (the pseudonym of Lori and Tony Karayianni) offers plenty of fang-in-cheek fun. When 19-year-old Roula Kalomoira disappears, to the dismay of the entire Greek enclave of Astoria, Queens, in New York City, suspected neighborhood vampire Ivan Romanoff asks PI Sofie to clear his family, including his slippery nephew, Vladimir, of any connection to the missing Roula or the blood-draining murders of local women by a killer dubbed "the Bleeder." As tabloids speculate on the existence of a secret vampire society in Queens, Sofie downs caffeinated frappés and savors the two heartthrobs in her life, Aussie "bounty hunter" Jack Porter and Greek baker Dino Antonopoulos. Meanwhile, a former movie queen wants Sofie to dig up dirt on disgraced physician Weston Westervelt (aka "the Chop Doc"). Zany Sofie, while rarely breaking a fingernail, closes another case in bubbly Greek style. (Apr.)
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