Did you know that there’s a Regency series about a young woman who is chosen to stand-alone against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness, but who just wants to have a normal life and marry well? And this woman’s name is not Buffy? I did not know this either until Smart Bitch Amanda told me, and now I have to read this whole series because Regency Slayer is a brilliant idea, even if the execution of the idea had problems.

The story opens with a young woman, Victoria Gardella, dealing with the recent revelation that she is a Venator. A Venator is a person, usually one from the Gardella family linage, who is destined to hunt vampires. She has a mentor (Aunt Eustacia), and a co-worker who disapproves of her desire to lead a normal life (Max). She has to keep her activities secret which is quite difficult since she is about to debut. With the assistance of her very helpful maid who is full of clever ideas regarding stake concealment, Victoria sallies forth into the marriage market where she must find a husband and slay vampires, often simultaneously. Her efforts are complicated by constant interference from Sebastian, a seductive vampire, Phillip, a Marquess who is puzzled by her constantly claiming to have suddenly developed a headache, and Max, who thinks a Venator should stick to slaying and should stay single.

Alas, a lot of my enthusiasm had more to do with concept than with execution. I would have liked more humor in the book, especially between Max and Victoria, who have the kind of “we hate each other so much that we obviously are falling madly in love even though we won’t admit it for several more books” dynamic that demands witty banter. I found the book surprisingly easy to put down, partly because the love triangle (or rather, in this case, love quadrangle) has been so over-used in the last few years that it’s lost its hold on me. If you still enjoy a good love quadrangle, you will adore this one – broody sexy bad boy Sebastian, cranky, protective Max, and respectable nice guy Phillip make a great group of types for Victoria to play off of. They all have good chemistry with Victoria in different ways. Sebastian is pure sex, Max is the “I hate you/I love you” guy, and Phillip represents normality and calm. Victoria is this chaotic figure who careens around the three of them wreaking havoc on human and vampire alike.

Victoria as a character is a little bit bland, wildly unethical, and a lot reckless. I admired her desire to have it all but I hated the things she did to keep up her pretense. Some of the things she did to Phillip were ugly and disturbing. Some of the things she does as a Venator are just stupid. But she’s also very young, which explains many of her actions. She’s also very clever when it comes to finding a way out of a standoff. There are several standoff scenes that are extraordinarily tense and some surprises in terms of plot that I didn’t see coming.

This book is the first in a series and boy howdy does it NOT have a happy ending, although in an afterword the author promises a happy ending at the end of the fifth book. One of the nice touches is that Victoria’s aunt has a happy love life despite being a Woman of a Certain Age and the maid and the coachman are the most levelheaded members of this party. This book is more Regency as a fantasy about pretty clothes and parties than a historical – Victoria gets away with an astonishing amount of stuff.

I found the book to be entertaining but a bit bland – perhaps, since its such an open tribute to Buffy, I expected more of the wit I got from Buffy. This book was actually quite dark and angsty once it got past the first few chapters. Although it did not prove to be my personal catnip, it was quite obvious to me why it has a devoted following – lots of angst, lots of pretty clothes, lots of hot guys. And the “stake as part of the hairdo” was stellar.