This book starts out strong. I loved the concept as a whole but felt there were some slow points in the story and then the ending was high speed. I will give the next book in the series a chance.

Can't believe it took me this long to pick this up, I absolutely loved it , from the cover to the main character's themselves, and how their interactions made me laugh with how they did things , so much so that I can't wait to pick up the next book which I have .

I have conflicting emotions about this book. The pretty cover and the "a vampire reality show" tagline intrigued me and made me ask for the eArc. I thought I was going to get a The Selection(/The Bachelor) with vampires and mystery, but it wasn't that. I'm not sure what it was, actually. I'm giving this book 3 stars, because it wasn't incredible, but neither horrible.
I liked that the protagonists acknowledged their feelings for each others soon enough and I didn't have to see the male lead date every girl on the reality show. However, at the same time, because there was no competition and the reader knew they were ending up together, this book felt so long, because there was no tension. It's the reason why it took me so long to finish it.
Even the side-plot about the killer wasn't really interesting. I thought it would have been more like a mystery with all the clues and the reader could try to guess who was it. Even in hindsight, I cannot fathom where the clues were.
It was interesting how the vampires were portrayed: they needed to stay in the coffins during the day and not only not in the sun. However, overall, the world-building was a bit lacking.
The protagonist, Autumn, is very relatable and with Oliver she was cute.
The thing I hated is that Oliver said something bad about Mr. Darcy and I couldn't – still can't – get over it. It was one of his first sentences, so I hated him for the whole book (probably another reason why it was so difficult and boring for me to keep reading). However, he too was cute with Autumn, so he won't ever be one of my book-boyfriends, but I wish him well in his relationship.
I reevaluated him a bit near the end, during a steamy scene. This book has got some hot scenes, but, as far as I'm concerned, the hottest part was Oliver saying "You tell me then, tell me how far you want to go tonight and I’ll stop whenever you say". Whoever said that asking for consent during sex turns down the mood was absolutely wrong.
In conclusion, I'm not sure I'll read the sequel.

Thank you to netgalley and the author and publisher for allowing me access to the eARC of this book in exchange for a review.

Apologies for the late review life has been hectic.

This was an interesting concept for a book that I found interesting, the romance was good and fun. i also loved the fantasy elements to this book with the vampires and the bachelours feel to the book it was funny and fantasy and fast read. loved the writing style would read from this author again

Autumn signs up to be on a reality Bachelor type show called Forever After, which features a vampire bachelor, Oliver, Oliver is doing the show for money and Autumn just wants to experience something new and has no intention of winning. Because she doesn't care Autumn lets her snarky personality have free rein and the hilarity ensues. Then when someone starts murdering the other women on the show things get complicated. Lots of humor, suspense, and snarky romance make this a fun read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC! As soon as I saw vampire reality show, I was sold. It did not disappoint with all those typical Bachelor-esque tropes. Plus, it’s a murder mystery! Plus, there’s some spicy scenes! I loved this book and can’t wait for the next one.

Read an ARC.

Four stars for concept and execution. This is definitely well written, intriguing, and steamy! Everything I could have wanted in a reality show book about vampires. Especially enjoyed the hints at the broader world, what happened when vampires/werewolves revealed themselves and how many of them have rockstar status (or already are)!

Unfortunately had to rate it a 3 because I could not get past one of the plot tropes concerning the elimination of contestants and for how long it took to build up steam the ending kind of withered away, felt very rushed.

In ‘Forever After’ we meet Autumn Reid. Autumn is a librarian, and has always lived a safe and sheltered life. Now she is determined to do something different. So she signs up for a real life dating show called Forever After. This is a dating show featuring a vampire and the winner of the vampires heart gets to choose cash or immortality.

Oliver Gray really needs money to save his home. So when he gets asked to act as an duke in a reality show, he can’t resist. Doing the show should be easy work, but when Oliver meets Autumn and realizes she is his true mate, things get complicated.

So.. I totally admit that this book sounded kind of cheesy. I mean, set in a reality show fighting for the ‘bad boy’s heart? But this book just had something about it I enjoyed. The two main characters Autumn and Oliver where really fun to get to know. I loved Autumn. She was just someone I could easily imagine being friends with. And Oliver? Well.. Hello.. He is a duke, more than a hundred years old and he is really handsome. What’s not to like about him?

The whole reality show part, and the murders didn’t really necessarily work for me. I honestly felt like the mystery part was a bit redundant. And I couldn’t really picture the whole reality show part. But I liked the characters, and the whole vampire part enough to not let that bother me. Above all I really enjoyed the romance between Autumn and Oliver. Oliver was just so loveable. I especially loved how he was totally smitten with Autumn from the start.

‘Forever After’ was a fun read I definitely enjoyed.

Autumn feels like her life is going nowhere so she chooses to go on a vampire dating show to change things up a bit, never intending to win. But then she meets Oliver, the vampire and her mind slowly changes about him and about winning.

Oliver doesn't want to do the dating show but he needs the money to keep from losing his home so he agrees to go along with the producers on how they want him to act and the show to progress. But the show is thrown for a loop when people start being murdered.

So when vampires came out of the shadows and humans know they and some other paranormals exist, Oliver lost a lot of money because his stocks went down so now he needs to make money to keep his family home. A vampire dating show sounds like a great idea because there are some humans that want immortality or money and those are the choices for the winner of the show.

The attraction between Autumn and Oliver wasn't instantaneous and I really liked that. It took some time for them to get to know each other and find that they liked one another. But I did think it was weird for the show to keep going forward when people kept turning up dead.

The setting though was way too cute. There were bat messengers, hearse transport cars and bed coffins but it wasn't creepy at all. Finding out who the killer was and why was fun because I never saw it coming. This was such a fun vampire romance.

Disclosure: I was given an e-ARC of this book via NetGalley but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Ironically, I hate reality shows in real life, but can't seem to get enough of them as a plotline. LOL. And I thoroughly enjoyed this foray into un-reality. Forever After was a quick, very enjoyable read. I loved Autumn's sarcasm, she had me laughing out loud a few times. Oliver was typically dark and brooding, but I still enjoyed him and his interactions with Autumn.

This was one fun take on vampires and I ate it up!

With prompting from her father, Autumn signs up for Forever After, a bachelor remake with vampire Oliver as the dashing single man looking for love (or a way to save his home and keep paying his employees). Neither is all that excited to be part of this show and with their brief and brusque first meeting, it makes the tension even more torturous for them and delicious for the reader.

Toss in a murderer, attraction between mains that everyone notices, and sneaking around to have important "conversations" i.e. stolen kissy times, and you have one entertaining read.

If you're a contemporary romance or romcom reader who's not sure about diving into a paranormal romance, this is your gateway book.

It's sweet, spicy, funny, and dramatic in all the right ways.

Review
4⭐/5⭐
Forever After by Ashley R. King

I received an arc of this book from netgalley and city owl press in exchange for my honest review.

Autumn Reid is a small town librarian who decides to shake things up in her mundane life and joins a dating show with a twist! The suitor is a vampire named Oliver!
Oliver Grey is a real life english duke vampire who's in need of money to save his failing estate so he begrudgingly agrees to become the suitor on forever after.
This book was very surprising and I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would. There is murder, mystery, tv show drama, witty banter, and serious chemistry going on! Overall this was entertaining and surprising. The story was well paced and kept me interested.
Bachelor and pride and prejudice vibes with vampires! Amazing! I loved it and I can't wait for the next one of the series.

"He'd thought this opportunity was perfect for her - his exact words had been, "it says here he's a duke, there are moors, and he's romantic and broody. You love romantic and broody!"

I have received an ARC through NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own and left voluntarily. Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy.

Genre: contemporary fantasy with vampires, romance, mystery
Tropes: vampire and mortal romance, competing for love, hate to love, reality show, mates
Series: Vampire Reality Show #1 (can be read as a stand-alone)
Cliffhanger: No
Spice: 2.5/5

This book was a breath of fresh air. I've been reading exclusively romance and fantasy this year and, while this is still what I enjoy, I needed something a bit different, and Forever After delivered. It's the first book of the Vampire Reality Show series, but it doesn’t end with a cliffhanger and can be enjoyed as a stand-alone.

》》The Plot《《

In a modern day world where vampires and werewolves have come to light and, even though not extremely common, they are known and accepted by society, Autumn Reid has decided to escape her boring, monotonous life and sign up for Forever After, a new version of the Bachelor, where the male lead is an old Vampire Duke. The prize for the winner? Immortality by the Vampire's side or a large amount of cash.
Oliver Gray, a bankrupted English duke, finds the solution for saving his estate in an unexpected manner: by agreeing to be the Vampire bachelor of a new reality show. And while he's sure he can't find his mate there, at least he's willing to try and play his part, even with the frustratingly attractive and stubborn girl, whose name sounds like a season.
But when people start dying and all the clues point to a vampire inside the house, Autumn and Oliver have more to solve than the feelings that may or may not exist between them.

"Autumn," her name was a rumbled escape, moonlight over the moors, heaven and hell, all things combined.

The story was fast-paced and dynamic, keeping you entertained exactly in the same way a real life reality show would. The bonus part? The touch of urban fantasy. There was no hocus pocus and no magic or funny business going around, but the sheer fact that vampires, werewolves and zombies were present has set the story apart from a normal romance. It's interesting and indeed different. It's easy to read and even easier to get fond of. And you get a bit of everything and a balanced mixture of sugar, spice (literally) and everything nice.

》》Characters and Relationships《《

👩🏽 Autumn Reid

"Everyone had a weakness. Superman and his kryptonite, Elizabeth Bennett and her ability to jump to conclusions, and Autumn? Well, hers was an English accent on a handsome man."

I find it hard to label her, because she is something between what you would expect and what takes you aback. Sarcastic at times, totally rational and definitely indecisive about who she wants to be. I think she's still discovering herself, so maybe our purpose was to discover her along the way too.

🧛🏻 Oliver Gray

"He's cute, yeah?" Teagan grinned.
Cute? He was built of otherworldly beauty, everything about him beginning to be sketched or painted. No, Mr. Masterpiece Classic wasn't handsome.  He was freaking gorgeous. Stunning. Get my engine revved up, make me think dirty thoughts, handsome. "

Dark, brooding, several years old and blue-eyed? The perfect recipe for the male MC. Throw in the word MATE in there, and any SJM fan will be interested.

🧛🏻👩🏽 Oliver and Autumn

Strangers to hate-love, to lust, to mates - not unexpected, but fun to follow and the banter is totally om point. Feels a bit like a hot and cold game, but you can see the way it is supposed to end, but let's be honest, we can only be glad for happy endings, right?

👩🏽👩🏻Autumn and Teagan

"I've had enough bats to last me a lifetime. It's like we're living The Vampire Diaries right now and not the fun, steamy parts either. Where's my Damon with his sexy, little smirk?" Teagen lifted the parchment, shooting Autumn a smile. "I already know where your Damon is."
Autumn sat up. "You know what? I was going to argue, but you're right."

Yes, yes, yes - some proper female supporting females here. And a very nice friendship, though it was a bit of an insta love between these two girls. But, well, maybe sometimes you just know from the first glance when you find a good friend.

》》Conclusion《《

I enjoyed it and it definitely was different from what I've been reading this year. It reminded me a bit of The Selection in the beginning, but the resemblance was to scarce to actually keep that comparison in mind along the way. The writing was fast paced and didn't give you the chance to get bored and I definitely think it would make an entertaining TV show. There's a bit of everything: vampires, mean girls, reality show vibes, murder mysteries, romance and mates.
And the ending, while not exactly shocking, managed to surprise me with the killer - not who I was expecting, good think I'm not a PI, I guess.
All in all, I encourage you to give it a try. It's the perfect way to find new obsessions, while also enjoying tropes that are already well known and loved.

Forever After by Ashley R. King was just an all-around fun, paranormal read. Yes, there was romance (and it was hot), but there was so much going on that the romance was just one of several major plot points and I found myself caught up in all of it.

Librarian Autumn Reid needed to step out of her day-to-day life, and what better way to change things up than to try out for the latest dating reality TV series: Forever After. Vying for the chance to be the last girl standing, Autumn will compete against the likes of vampires and werewolves in order to get the top prize. If she wins, Autumn can choose to either marry 150-year-old vampire Oliver Gray and become a vampire herself, or... take a huge cash prize. Going into the competition, Autumn knows which one she'd choose, but then she meets Oliver and her world is turned upside down.

There was so many tropes packed into this one paranormal romance that it would be comical if it wasn't so well done. I ended up loving how so many elements worked together to create a overall fun read.

The major tropes that King hit upon in Forever After include:

Fated mates: I don't want to give too much away and spoil the romance part of the book, but we do get to see fated mates in this story. I thought King handled it really well. There was no immediately jumping into bed, or immediate, undeniable desire between the mates. They had to work up to it, and I thought that was a great take on the trope, providing for spice but allowing it to still have history.

Reality dating competition: Are there other books out there that feature a vampire as the main guy in a reality TV dating show? Have I just been missing them, or is this a whole new thing? I loved the idea behind all of this and found it really unique. I love a good reality show/falls in love on camera angle, and King successfully flipped the script and turned our bachelor into a vampire.

Murder mystery: As if the whole reality TV thing wasn't enough drama, King through in a murder mystery as well. I don't want to spoil anything, but I can safely say I did not see the big reveal coming. However, I will say that I wished there was more action and/or drama involved after the big reveal. Once we find out who the culprit is, it seemed like everything was wrapped up a page later. I definitely could have used some more drama or resolution here, but I know the plot was centered on the romance and that's where the attention to detail went.

He's a duke: So, as if being the first vampire bachelor wasn't enough, Oliver is also an English duke. When I first read that, I thought it was going to be too much. We have vampires, reality TV, murders - did we really need to add in another thing? Honestly, I could've taken or left the whole duke thing. It does play heavily into Oliver's reasons for even doing the reality show in the first place, but it seemed mostly like fodder for the others to poke and prod at him. The whole duke thing was alright, but since Autumn didn't care about his status, I found myself not caring much about his status either.

Overall, Forever After was a fun read. I honestly expected it to be too much with all the tropes King incorporated, but I didn't feel that way at all as I was reading it. It was fun, it incorporated a lot of interesting elements and tropes, and I can't wait to see where King goes with this series.

This was acute book, but honestly felt like the delivery was a little too light for the plot. I thought the humor was fantastic and the premise unique and intriguing. I loved the characters, but I felt like some of it was just a little to underwhelming. There were all these moments when danger and drama set in and then just no emotional connection. There were perfect set ups for emotional turmoil with the other women, and the female protagonist becoming jealous, but there was none of that, the few times it almost happened that emotion just dissipated, it was kind of boring as far as the angst for our heroine. It felt a little too easy for the couple. Then there’s all this murder, mayhem and craziness happening and yet the main characters barely bat an eye most of the time. It’s very unrealistic, not that vampires aren’t fantasy anyway, but I want to believe it. This I just didn’t believe half the time. I also thought the crazy deaths were the perfect opportunity for anti vampire faction talk, but no it was as if vampires and supernaturals came out a few years before and the population just welcomed them, that was kind of odd too. you’d think they would at least mention having to deal with the people who wno don’t like them or people not liking inter species relationships like the show is about, or people thinking those turn lose there souls or something, but no it was just all easy going on that front which seemed weird. All in all, it was a cute book, but I feel like the plot and vibe needs work in places,

This was an entertaining book. It had a creative premise, and the characters were interesting. The plot line held my interest and I wanted to find out what would happen. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

Three and a half
What can I possibly say about this unusual paranormal romance ? Oliver is a somewhat impoverished Vampire ( a Duke no less ! ) living in a time where Vampires and Werewolves have finally been outed. His friends have convinced him to go on television and star in a dating show in order to earn enough cash to save his estate. What he hadn't expected was Autumn ! Autumn is very much human, clearly antagonistic and unfortunately also Oliver's Mate ! Well you know the show must go on so Oliver is struggling to keep that particular fact quiet but as contestants start dying it's only a matter of time before Autumn becomes the next target !
So yes a mixture of a paranormal Bachelor type show, full of murder and suspense and all wrapped around a romance. I actually found this easy to read but to be blunt was somewhat nonplussed that the show just kept going as the contestants kept getting killed. I would happily read something else by this author because this was a fun, entertaining not to forget steamy read.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

I enjoyed this story despite it not quite being what I expected. I thought the character development was great, and the motivations were laid out well.

I thought that the mystery could have had a few clue laid down in advance however on balance this was an enjoyable book.

“Ruin me, then. Ruin me every day for the rest of our lives.”


First I would like to thank City Owl Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read an arc of this book. I am honored to have been given the chance to read it and give an honest review.

Forever After is a story following a young woman named Autumn Reid who lives in the small town known as Covey Crossing. She often spends her life between the pages of books, living with the heroes and heroines of her beloved stories and hardly going outside of her comfort zone. When she sees an ad for a new dating reality show known as Forever After, she decides to jump at the chance for an adventure, daring to step outside of her comfort zone for once in her life. The eligible bachelor of this soon to be hit-television show is not only a duke but also a vampire. The winner has the choice of choosing cash or immortality, though Autumn does not expect to get that far. She is merely seeking a change from her dull life, she had not expected to fall in love.

Oliver Gray, the duke and eligible bachelor in question, is in desperate need of money to save his estate. So, when he’s offered the bachelor spot on Forever After he is quick to accept. But like with most contracts there is a catch--he must wear Victorian clothes and pretend to have been hibernating for the last one hundred years. Upon accepting the contact, he had not expected to meet a feisty smart mouthed human, especially when something inside him insists that she is his fated mate.

Oliver and Autumn’s dreams of love and romance may be cut short when a killer takes out the contestants one-by-one. As the show's finale nears, will they get their forever happily-ever-after?

This book was an absolute delight to read, I could hardly put it down! Not only were the characters fun and reliable but the pacing of the story was fantastic and each end of a chapter left me wanting more. This book gave me a The Bachelor and Pride and Prejudice vibes, with a touch of vampires, of course! I absolutely loved the chemistry between Autumn and Oliver and the slow burn of their budding romance despite the horrible first impression they made of one another. They were both filled with such wonderful banter that had me laughing as I made my way through the book; the few Pride and Prejudice references throughout the book really got me!

Autumn was a character that I especially liked, she was someone I found myself relating to very much. It’s not very often I’m able to see myself in a character from a book, so it was very nice to have that sense of familiarity with the character. I also really enjoyed the sense of mystery to this story, I never knew quite where the story and characters would lead me and it left me guessing, which I loved! At one point I felt I had it all figured out, until the author surprised me with a very well executed plot twist!

If you’re a fan of vampire romances, witty banter and slow burn romances, then this is a book I would highly recommend! You will be extremely satisfied with the entire wonderful experience! I am very much looking forward to reading the next book in the series, I already know I’m going to love it!

What a fun, completely quirky paranormal romance!

Going into Forever After, I had no idea what to expect. I'd almost say this book has a rom-com feel, mixed with vampires and other things that go bump in the night. The dating television show was a unique plot setting for the story and I enjoyed seeing how it all played out. Autumn and Oliver were fantastic together, great enemies to lovers/fated mates trope.

I will say though, I felt like the romance aspect was the best part of the book, which is most likely what you're reading this book for anyway. The murder/mystery aspect just felt unnecessarily thrown in and it seemed like a lot of details were glazed over or characters reactions seemed dulled down for one reason or another. The dialogue was a bit clunky in places and I couldn't connect to Oliver's character until a good way through the book which was a bummer since I loved Autumn so much from the get go.

Overall, I did enjoy this book! It was a quickly-paced, sometimes silly story and if you're looking for something to enjoy for an evening or two, I recommend giving this book a try :)


Thank you City Owl Press via NetGalley for the e-ARC to read and honestly review.