After Midnight

Veteran Medeiros (Yours Until Dawn ) deftly melds romance and vampire lore in this thoroughly readable Regency. Orphaned gentlewoman Caroline Cabot struggles to care for her two younger siblings and make the ends of their scanty inheritance meet. When she discovers that her sister Vivienne is being courted by a reputed vampire, she heads for London to intervene. Her arrival only complicates matters: sexual sparks fly between Caroline and her sister's suitor, aristocratic mystery man Adrian Kane, while baby sister Portia becomes smitten with Kane's Byronic younger brother, Julian. When the three sisters follow Adrian and Julian to their ancestral manor, Caroline's sleuthing reveals more than one surprise. Though the book's fundamentally down-to-earth mein may disappoint readers looking for macabre thrills, Medeiros's sunny playfulness cuts the gloom of vampire convention. The attraction between Caroline and Adrian rings true throughout and the unresolved romance between Portia and Julian promises readers more time with these appealing characters in the future. Agent, Andrea Cirillo. (Sept.)