ARC Review: Velvet by Temple West (Jessica's Review)

Title: Velvet
Author: Temple West
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Paperback, 416 Pages
Expected Publication: May 12th, 2015
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Summary: First rule of dealing with hot vampire bodyguards? Don't fall in love. After losing both her parents before age seventeen, aspiring designer Caitlin Holte feels like her whole world has been turned upside down, and that was before the terrifying encounter with a supernatural force. Then, she learns that her hot bad-boy neighbor, Adrian—who might have just saved her life—is actually a half-demon vampire. Suddenly Caitlin is stuck with a vampire bodyguard who feels that the best way to protect her is to become her pretend boyfriend. Trouble is, Caitlin is starting to fall in love for real, while Adrian can never love a human. Caitlin trusts Adrian to keep her safe from his demon father, but will he be able to protect her heart?

I received an ARC copy of Velvet through Swoon Reads in January of 2015 (thanks to good friend and author of The Styclar Saga, Nikki Kelly!!!), and I'm SOOOO glad I did. Let me tell you, I could barely get through a paragraph of this book without snapping a picture of a page and sending it to Amber to giggle about it. Temple West is a fantastic debut author who is blazing a trail towards stardom. Seriously. She is my freaking HERO. So this review is pretty much going to be me raving about this book. Fasten your seatbelts, people.

It's not very common that I give a book five stars, and it's pretty much nonexistent that I can't find a single thing I dislike about it. I mean, it was an ARC copy so there were some typos that set off my inner Grammar Nazi, but that comes with the territory and I was more than happy to deal with it.

So first, the story itself. I read the back cover of the book and automatically my brain zeroed in on the word vampire. And since I'm being honest here - I cringed inwardly. I've read a million and one vampire books, and each one was seemingly worse than the next, which would mean that Velvet was going to be downright awful.

Man, was I wrong. 

This book is like no vampire book I have ever read before. First of all, Caitlin may be a regular girl, but her sass and wit never stopped making me laugh. Especially when it comes to her banter with Adrian. And speaking of Adrian......

Just give a second here. *deep, calming breath* *hurriedly tries to wipe heart-eyes off of my face to speak properly*

That boy...is amazing. Seriously. Amber and I have been getting into fights about who lays claim to him nonstop since we both picked up the book. (And I'm the one who gets him, of course.) I wish he was real so I could have him. (On a side note: My real-life boyfriend, however, isn't so enthusiastic about the idea.)

Anyway, Adrian is the most perfect guy in existence. And the fact that he's a super hot, chiseled vampire with a great fashion sense and a sexy demeanor doesn't make him any less likeable. As the summary explains, he and Caitlin are only supposed to be pretend boyfriend and girlfriend so he can protect her. But Adrian and the vampire Council doesn't seem to take into consideration the fact that Caitlin is human and therefore has very human-like responses to things. In other words, her brain may know the relationship between the two of them is fake, but her heart is anxiously straining to blur that line and make their love for real.

My favorite line of the book, by far, has to be: "I love you, you stupid boy."

I dropped my book and laughed about that for awhile. It's just something so human to say. Even though Adrian may be a vampire, he's still a teenage boy, and just as clueless when it comes to love as the rest of them. It may be such a small line in the story, but it definitely stood out to me.

A million and one more scenes in Velvet stood out to me, too, but I don't want to spoil anything for you guys. ;)

Pretty much, I loved this book ten thousand percent. It's easily one of my favorite 2015 reads by far, and I can't remember the last time I openly gasped and laughed and cried while reading a book. I definitely don't remember the last time I had to put a book down and take deep breaths because I was smiling so much.

All in all, Temple West's debut novel Velvet was a freaking awesome book that I would recommend to anybody looking for a little love and romance and tons of swooning over the most perfect male specimen in existence. (This is NOT an exaggeration.) The way the book ended hinted that there will definitely be a sequel on the horizon, and as soon as I find out the release date, I'll be counting down the days! West is a great writer and an even sweeter person that I've spoken to on Twitter many times, and I wish her the best of luck with her career lying ahead of her. Hooray for debut authors!

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