god do i love it when a book meets me right where i’m at. it always feels so serendipitous. like fate is a thing (which i generally disregard because just try and tell me my health is the garbage heap it is “for a reason” and see if you have still have teeth). like all of my decisions have led me to this moment with this book, and my life will be forever changed for it.

oddly enough, i feel that way about the vampire/human rom com i just finished reading like an hour ago. and i say “oddly enough” not because i don’t think romances can be life-changing or deeply moving; as a connoisseur of the genre i obviously do. but it’s more that it surprised me.

when i saw someone mention Fangs With Benefits by Kath Richards on threads and immediately added it to my kindle unlimited library, it was because i’d just read a family drama and needed some lighter fare. not to mention a paranormal romance felt seasonal. and it ended up being both of those things! but also it hit me right in the “what am i even doing with my one wild and precious life” Mary Oliver existential sentiment feels.

and that’s because Fangs With Benefits is the kind of vampire romance that questions whether immortality is all it’s cracked up to be. while we’re getting witty banter (mostly from the mouth of molly because she’s really fucking clever), world-building for Richards’ paranormal universe, and a friends-with-benefits setup readers know is immediately doomed to end in feelings, we’re also seeing why being a vampire maybe kinda sucks (pun intended). this book really makes you think about how knowing we’ll die someday adds the stakes necessary for us to not just exist but actually live.

elijah—what with all his 400-something years—gets it. molly, who’s been in a bit of a rut since she and her cheating boyfriend parted three years ago, figures it out as the narrative moves along. when she tells elijah: “but i’ve been sitting in place… it’s like you in that mansion for a century, but worse because i only have this one life to live. it scares me to think that another three years could go by, and i’ll be right where you found me” i felt it in my bones.

ongoing existential crises aside, i also really appreciated how this book handled its happily ever after (hea). for the record, when immortals are involved, i truly only consider there to be an hea if the author resolves the whole “one of them’s gonna live forever and the other won’t” thing, and maybe kinda spoilers but this one does just that.

in all, Fangs With Benefits was a great time. the characters felt real and molly was funny as hell. there were a few times in her pov that i felt like she used a turn of phrase or two that sounded right out of elijah’s mouth, but it wasn’t enough to be disruptive. instead, i’d say it’s a perfect lighthearted and swoony read to ring in the fall season. 🍂