3.5 ⭐️
I’m such a sucker for any vampire romance and this was such an interesting take on the fake dating trope! At times it was a little cheesy but it didn’t stop me from completely DEVOURING this book! And a big thank you Netgalley and Avon publishing for gifting me with this copy of My Big Fat Vampire Wedding!

This is the perfect supernatural pick me up. A feel good read from start to finish, I loved Victor and Pandora, the slow burn romance was really well done.
The humour involved throughout was the perfect amount and I particularly enjoyed the banter between Elias and Lucy.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon Books UK for the ARC

Paranormal rom-com's are always so much fun and this one did not disappoint. I fell in love with both characters and had such fun following them. I struggled to put this one down.

Rating: ★★★.5

Cute read with intriguing characters (SO many characters) great plot line and witty banter.

Pandora and Victor were sweet to read about and seeing the dynamic between Lucy and Elias has made me excited to read their book (I’m hoping). The family members were interesting and I liked some more than others. Also!! A pet raven that can full on talk and write poetry? I want one.

I do wish we got a bit more of Pandora and Victor’s relationship, but the ending was cute and I’m glad they ended up talking to each other.

[thank you to the publisher for gifting me an e-arc ~ all opinions are my own]

Quick Summary: A spooky-licious, vampire rom-com with heart

My Review: My Big Fat Vampire Wedding by Jessica Gadziala is a 2025 paranormal romance. It was released TODAY (8/14/25).

About the Book: "Fake wedding + vampires = happily ever after?"

In My Own Words: What do you get when you put a female vampire of a considerable age with a human male scholar and a number of quirky well meaning supernatural relatives? You get a rip roaring good time.

My Final Say: This novel was everything I love about para-romances! Not only did it give off twisty family hijinks vibes, but it also had a crazy great fake it-make it heat between the leads. The story, the characters, the feelings, and all the flavor that went along with this one worked.

Can I just say that I cannot wait until this story comes out as an audiobook? I want it!!!

Now, I'm wondering if more will come from this. Let's go!

Other: Readers who enjoy crazy, sexy, cool reads will love this novel.

Listed Tropes:

Let's pretend to get married! 💍
Coffee shop setting ☕
Huge paranormal family shenanigans 🧛
Spice ✨

Rating: 5/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: NA/A
Re-read: Yes
Keeper: Yes
Favorites Shelf: Yes
Status/Level: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Summer Heat Hit: Yes

Sincere appreciation is extended to the author, to the publisher (Avon Books UK | Avon), and to NetGalley. Thank you so very much for granting access to a digital ARC of this title. It was a pleasure to get to know this writer and to be introduced to such a spooky-licious read. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for providing the ARC.

I picked this book up on a whim because it seemed like a an interesting premise. Unfortunately, the book fell rather flat in execution.

The biggest issues are Pandora and Victor, the main characters of this story. There was very little on page chemistry between them, so their relationship came across as stilted and choppy. Most of the time Pandora believed that Victor wasn't into her, and I feel the same way. There was no gradual slow burn that built up the characters prior to their relationship. A lot of it kind of came out of nowhere and the story suffered from it.

Interesting book, just not for me.

A paranormal cozy fake dating romcom!!!

Oh this was everything , absolutely devoured my big fat vampire wedding!
Will suggest if you love
Paranormal romances
Fake dating trope
Cozy romcoms
And spicy spice!

This one is for you!

This one is an absolute winner all around.
It plays delightfully with the trope of fake dating and the whole paranormal aspect of the story. The characters are all very well done and lovely, I LOVED both Pandora and Victor, and I was every step of the way rooting for them to find their feelings. Lucy is a great friend and side character.

So I must say this is a MUST read for every paranormal lover and every romcom lover, because the vibes are impecable.

Thanks you so much Netgalley and Avon Books UK for the lovely ARC.

Thank you so very much to Jessica Gadziala Avon Books UK, and NetGalley for offering me this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Find vampires, coffee, and supernatural shenanigans all in one in this silly spooky rom-com that is perfect for the coming Fall season. My Big Fat Vampire Wedding follows Pandora, a young adult (?) vampire that is set to inherit her family fortune upon her next birthday. The only problem? She must be married in order to be able to receive what she was entitled to. Working a dead-end-job at her beloved coffee shop with her bestie, Pandora cannot fathom living the rest of her afterlife living with her parents and barely making financial ends meet. She needs this inheritance now. With aspirations to open up a shop of her own--a safe haven for all supernaturals--the only possible way she can think of to make this work is arranging an entirely fake marriage with the person of her choosing. Enter Caramel Macchiato Cutie (aka Victor), a regular at the cafe, and a human PhD student with an a heck of a lot of student debt to pay off. Put these two brokies together, and what do you have? A Fake Marriage that gets them a whole lot of money to split and make their dreams come true.

This was definitely a fun read. My Big Fat Vampire Wedding was the most unique vampire story that I have read, as I usually go for more moodier and darker takes on the genre. This rom-com was fun and lighthearted, with plenty of of references to vampire lore of the past. I enjoyed getting to know both the main characters as well as the equirky side characters. Pandora appears to have an endless supply of family members, and they each have an exciting personality of their own. However, while some of the side characters acted as 1 dimensional characters meant for comic relief, some of the more prominent side characters still seemed to be a bit 2 dimensional. They were antagonists or frenemies solely meant to push the plot forward. I wish more time was spent on developing these characters, and perhaps less on introducing the many many named family members that appeared at many of the family's events.

While there was an excellent focus on building the characters of this world, I do wish that there was a bit more world building to set the scene and let us know what kind of world surrounds our human and supernatural characters. We are told that there are x amount of supernatural species that live amongst humans in this modern world, but not HOW they exist amongst others. How are they governed? How have they not been discovered by humans? What is their history, and how they came to be? I just wish more vampire lore delved into at least a little bit, as if the vampires were taken out of the equation, this could exist just like any other rom-com. What makes it a uniquely vampire story?

3.5/5

“As much as I hate to agree with anything that Nosferadouche has to say, he probably has a point with that.”

4.5⭐️ rating

Overall I really enjoyed this, I enjoyed Victor and Pandora as characters and really liked that they both loved books. I would love to have seen more of Elias and Lucy together too, as they’re both really fun characters. I would have also liked to see a bit more of Sebastian as a fleshed out character rather than just Victor’s only friend that we don’t see very much. Other than Sebastian though, a lot of side characters are more fleshed out. I thought Pandora’s family were brilliant (and the pets!!)
The pacing at the beginning was very slow (first 10-15%), this made the book a little bit difficult to get into but once I was past that point I had a good time. The pacing after the wedding was a bit quick, and I think I would’ve maybe liked to see Victor’s perspective/thoughts in that time period. But yeah, overall I had a nice time and I think if you like this genre you’ll probably have a fun time reading this book✨

🧛🏻‍♀️I read an e-arc and am leaving an honest review voluntarily🧛🏻‍♀️

Intro/synopsis:
“My Big Fat Vampire Wedding” was a fun homage to the romance genre by trying to include as many romance genre tropes as possible into one book. Pandora is a vampire who needs to find a husband so she can stop working at the coffee shop and open the bookstore of her dreams with her inheritance. Victor, a regular client of the coffee shop and Pandoras crush, needs money to finish his PHD. It seems like the perfect arrangement until more and more of Pandoras family starts arriving for the event causing more and more chaos while both MC’s start to catch feelings for each other as they fake date. There’s a little one bed action and some forced proximity with some
Miscommunication and a third act break up for good measure.

My thoughts:
I really liked Victor and Pandoras chemistry as well as the fake dating part of the plot line. Pandoras family added a fun and quickly element to the story that I also enjoyed. I found the writing to be a bit awkward at times in terms of its flow and I found the tropes to be an underdeveloped at times. I think a focus on the quality of tropes included as opposed the quantity would have better served the book. It was a cute and quirky story that I overall enjoyed but it didn’t hook me the way I had hoped it would.

My Big Fat Vampire Wedding by Jessica Gadziala is a fun cozy paranormal romance.
This book was an a amazing paranormal rom-com. Gadziala delivered on every aspect of this book, with its lighthearted and humorous characters.
This was such a fun, fast-paced paranormal romance.P
Jessica Gadziala’s writing is addictive. Equal parts witty, gritty, and just the right amount of humor.
The world-building is light but immersive, and the characters are easy to root for.

I can’t wait to read whatever she creates next!

Thank You NetGalley and Avon for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

📖 Title: My Big Fat Vampire Wedding

✍🏾 Author: Jessica Gadziala-new to me author

📅Publication date: 8/14/25 | Read 8/13/25

📃 Format: e-Book 384 pgs.

Genre:
*Paranormal Romance
*Rom-Com

Tropes:
*fake fiancé/MOC
*family drama
*slow burn
*vampire/human pairing
*inheritance
*book lovers

👆🏾POV: 3rd person single

⚠️TW: prejudice, toxic parents

🌎 Setting: London

Summary: Pandora is single and working at a coffee shop Luna Bean. She's left inheritance money by her parents, but she must be married before her birthday in 3 months to cash in. She has a crush on a human named Victor who frequents the shop. She offers to help him pay for and finish his PhD in exchange for marrying her. He agrees but he doesn't know she's a vampire with a big, meddlesome, and supernatural family.


👩🏾 Heroine: Pandora Von Ambrose-124 yrs old vampire, wants to own a bookstore.

👨🏾 Hero: Victor-29, getting PhD in Victorian English Literature-vampire studies.

🎭 Other Characters:

* Lucy-Pandora's manager, a werewolf/BFF
*Elias-a werewolf protector/Pandora's friend
*Dante-Pandora's younger brother
*Ophelia + Lucian- Pandora's parents
*Mary + Robert-Victor's parents
*Sebastian-Victor's BFF
*Ravenna + Reginald-Pandora's eccentric great-aunt and uncle
*Vlad-an undead raven who talks
*Ambrosia Von Ashmore-Pandora's great-great- grandmother
*Bellatrix-Pandora's cousin, jealous of her

🤔 My Thoughts: This was a cute and spicy romance with a fake marriage. I rooted for Pandora and Victor who both were shy, a little lonely, but loved romance books. Ravenna was the scene stealer with her hilarious takes and Reginald with his stories of the past. I loved the epilogue with how Victor and Pandora made their dreams come true.

Rating: 5/5 ✨
Spice level 5/5 🌶️

🙏🏾Thanks to NetGalley, Avon Books UK| Avon, and Jessica Gadziala for this ARC! I voluntarily give my honest review, and all opinions are my own.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Avon Books and Jessica Gadziala for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was such great fun to read! The relationships between the characters and the setting were absolutely spot-on. The gloominess of a London coffee shop and an invitation to a human that regularly visits to drink caramel macchiato’s led to the most interesting set up.

This book definitely gave Addams family vibes - except Pandora as the Wednesday character was a lot more full of life and sunshine! Her family is huge and they all have their own eccentricities. I particularly love her aunts and immortal raven!

The plot was really well paced and was intriguing throughout. There was plenty of spice and swoon worthy romantic moments from Victor. I have to say that a standout character for me was Lucy - she was absolutely hilarious.

I really enjoyed the way that the ending panned out too. It made a lot of sense to go in this direction.

The only thing I will say is given that this book is absolutely fantastic, I don’t feel that the title of it reflects the story accurately. I understand that this was (probably) a play on the words of film, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, but there weren’t enough connections for me to feel that this was a title that shows how great the contents of book was and the plot itself.

It’s been so much fun reading about these two!

A vampire and a human oh my, my, my, how adorable this book was!

Pandora is working a dead end job as a barista at the coffee shop but has dreams of opening her own book store when her inheritance hits BUT Pandora soon gets the news that she won’t get her inheritance without first being married

Victor is currently is PHD student that loves to occupy the coffee shop for his regular drink. Finding out how much debt he’s in and realising he won’t be able to cover another semester he heads to the coffee shop in hopes to speak to the woman who caught his eye for one final time.

When a conversation is struck up between the two they both soon realise they can help each other out and so they strike up a deal, a fake dating soon to be engaged and married deal.

A vampire hiding her secret, a human surrounded by non humans, what could possibly go wrong?

These two have been such a joy to read about. Her family (minus a couple) had me laughing away at their antics and her best friend was a hoot, I loved how much she loved and cared about Pandora even though it goes against the norm for their kinds.

This read was quite refreshing from my usual genre but it’s just left me wanting to read some more paranormal rom coms. I think it might become one of my favorites.

This was my first read from this author and I can guarantee it won’t be my last. The writing was easily read and the storyline was fun to follow. I sure do hope there will be more from this series at some point

My Big Fat Vampire Wedding 🥀🦇💍
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I may have just found one of my new favourite paranormal rom-coms!

This book had everything I needed for a cosy, addictive read - fake dating/marriage, vampires, wacky humor and the perfect sprinkle of spice, which I actually wasn’t expecting. It was so easy to devour across just a few days and with so many of my standout tropes, I couldn’t put it down

It gave me the same feeling as when I first read ‘Bride’ and if you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know how obsessed I was with that release. With ‘Mate’ coming out in a little over a month, it’s safe to say my anticipation for that release may have now doubled

When it came to the wedding prep, I loved the dynamic between Pandoras Vampire Family and Victors Human Relative, who were giving off serious Adams Family vibes in the best way - the secrets and ‘hidden closest’ scene added multiple layers of tension!

We definitely need a sequel following Lucy and her obvious love interest, so I’ll definitely be keeping a look out for any possible updates

#MyBigFatVampireWedding #Netgalley

I really wanted to enjoy this one more than I did. The premise was so fun—a mixture of one of my favorite movies and vampires? Sold. However, it was hard to keep my attention. I felt like it rushed itself and didn’t really believe the connection between the two main characters. I think more world building would’ve done this book justice


—
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Cosy paranormal romance with that bit of spice thrown in. I absolutely loved it. I love the humour and the “will they won’t they” vibes throughout. Pandora and Victor are adorable and I couldn’t get enough. Perfect book for the romance lovers who want some Addams family vibes!

My Big Fat Vampire Wedding is a supernatural romance based on the pretend marriage trope. It follows Pandora, a 'modern' vampire who doesn't drink from humans and works at an all night coffee shop. Her parents won't release her 125th birthday money unless she gets married. Cue Victor, the PhD student Pandora has a huge crush on, and an elaborate fake marriage scheme where naturally, the two fall head over heels.

My favourite part of this novel is the vampire family and Gadziala has had a lot of fun with them! They are eccentric and varied, more over the top than most writers could get away with and yet despite the caricature, it's weirdly believable (in as much as a vampire novel can be). We all have that uncle who dresses oddly and an aunt with too many pets, right? I love that even the dogs and the birds have their own personalities which shine through and really make the book stand out.

The will they/won't they between Pandora and Victor does get frustrating at times. Despite being 124, Pandora acts exactly like a teenage girl in her first relationship. I appreciate that the author wants her to remain relatable to teenagers but she could use some backstory. Why has she been single so long? With Hotel Transylvania, for example, they make a clear reason for Mabel's dad to baby her. My Big Fat Vampire Wedding doesn't offer any kind of explanation.

Outside of that, the pacing is spot on. The descriptions are fabulous and the relationships feel genuine. I would have appreciated more depth to the antagonist of the piece, Pandora's cousin. She currently does everything to split up the happy couple seemingly because she's a natural villain with no redeeming qualities. It's written as a long standing feud but I would have appreciated some personality outside of 'awful singer'. Considering the absurd nature of many elements already, a light-hearted comedic reason would have worked fine - think Debbie in the Addams Family Values, "all I ever wanted was a Ballerina Barbie".

Things end well and the humour throughout makes it a fun, light-hearted romance which is perfect for a summer holiday release. Overall, I really enjoyed this and can't wait for more from Jessica Gadziala!

This is a light, quick paranormal romcom about a human hero and a vampire heroine. They enter into a marriage of convenience, and the bride’s vampire relatives cause plenty of chaos—especially since the groom has no idea she’s not human.
I liked that the vampire role went to the female lead—there just aren’t enough stories with women as the vampires. The story is told only from her perspective, and while I found her likable, I didn’t really get a strong sense of the male lead by the end. Still, I think most people picking up this book will be here for the vampire fun more than the hero. Their relationship was cute, and while the breakup toward the end was pretty easy to see coming, it worked fine for the story.
The writing was okay, though I did notice “OK” popping up in the dialogue a lot, which got a little distracting. Scene changes sometimes felt abrupt, making me wonder if I had missed a page. There are also quite a few nods to the bookish community, which shows the author is clearly a reader too.
It’s not reinventing the vampire romance genre, but it’s a light, enjoyable read. It looks like the next book might follow the heroine’s best friend—a werewolf—and another vampire, and I’d be happy to check that one out too.
Thanks to Avon Books for the ARC!