Bloodwork
A Dark Rom-Com
by Melissa Demirel
A LONELY SERIAL KILLER.
A BORED VAMPIRE NURSE.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A DEVIL
MAKES A DEAL WITH ANOTHER DEVIL?
Timothy is a serial killer. He’s also very lonely. He’s a walking contradiction, and his psychological predicament doesn’t escape him.
Lynnette is a vampire. She’s also a nurse. She, too, is a walking contradiction.
When she unexpectedly answers his desperate call for company, they realize they could be perfect partners in crime, engaging in a few kinds of bloodwork at once, bringing out the worst and the best in each other.
With Timothy, Lynnette starts to feel more like the dangerous bloodsucking demon she was always meant to be, without having to worry about saving lives. With Lynnette, Timothy’s loneliness starts to feel like nothing more than a shadow from a distant and depressing dream, and he can savor the presence of someone so inhuman that they’re not bound to disappoint him like other people have.
The little deal the two outcasts make with each other should keep them both quite happy and satisfied with life-that is, assuming that Lynnette doesn’t decide to make Timothy her dinner and Timothy doesn’t decide to murder Lynnette for sport…
And when they are both capable of being predator and prey to each other, that’s a hell of an assumption to make.
REVIEW
3.5 out of 5
This was an intriguing premise, and an interesting story. I think with a little more polishing, it would be a great story. I found it hard to really like our serial killer MC, but it felt like he wanted the reader to like him. Unfortunately, there was nothing really charming or interesting about him, he just sort of fell flat for me. The FMC was slightly better, but still didn’t feel fleshed out enough. That said, the story itself moved along at a smooth pace, and the technical side of the writing was fine overall. I’d love to see this refined a little more, I’d absolutely read an updated re-release.
LEARN MORE
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Melissa Demirel’s debut novel, a satirical horror rom-com called BLOODWORK, was published in February 2024. She is an author-screenwriter with a love for deliciously dark stories. She received her Bachelor’s Degree, magna cum laude, and Master’s Degree, summa cum laude, in English with an emphasis on Creative Writing from CSUN, where she works as the Writing Consultant and Instructional Assistant for the Graduate Master of Professional Accountancy Program at the David Nazarian College of Business and Economics.