March 2026 book club summary/ 'Drink Up Darling' book review

That's a wrap on another month, another book and another great discussion. This month we celebrated our 4th birthday!  

We did our annual quiz and Bri stole the top spot as our new champion! (Daniel forgot to return the trophy so Bri made her own)

 This month we read "Drink up Darling" by Harvey Oliver Baxter (@lastvanillasmile) who came along to discuss their novella and other works with us. 'Drink up darling' follows Dariel Hale a fashion designer and relatively new vampire at just 64 years old as he receives a mysterious invitation to a mansion where a human obsessed with vampires awaits.

We enjoyed the way the trans character was written and the poly themes of the novella. Some of our readers felt Athens was the most compelling character and others Dariel. With most of our readers agreeing that poor Goodwin was the least interesting character. But as a human among vampires that isn't too surprising. A few members were very interested in the idea of a young vampire, when so much vampire fiction has the centuries old vampire or the newly turned vampire. Dariel being a vampire for some 30 years was interesting and we enjoyed exploring that.

 I would like to once again thank Harvey Oliver Baxter for agreeing to meet with us and for sharing their experiences as an indie author. We really enjoyed your company. Next month's options will be shared soon so don't forget to read the descriptions and cast a vote when we post those in the next few days. The theme for next month is community.

As always thank you to everyone who attended and we hope to see you all next month - Pippa, Awen and Sam