LATE NIGHT RADIO YOU CAN SINK YOUR TEETH INTO Recovering con artist Ciara Griffin is trying to live the straight life, even if it means finding a (shudder!) real job. She takes an internship at a local radio station, whose late-night time-warp format features 1940s blues, '60s psychedelia, '80s goth, and more, all with an uncannily authentic flair. Ciara soon discovers just how the DJs maintain their cred: they're vampires, stuck forever in the eras in which they were turned. Ciara's first instinct, as always, is to cut and run. But communications giant Skywave wants to buy WVMP and turn it into just another hit-playing clone. Without the station -- and the link it provides to their original Life Times -- the vampires would "fade," becoming little more than mindless ghosts of the past. Suddenly a routine corporate takeover is a matter of life and undeath. To boost ratings and save the lives of her strange new friends, Ciara rebrands the station as "WVMP, the Lifeblood of Rock 'n' Roll." In the ultimate con, she hides the DJs' vampire nature in plain sight, disguising the bloody truth as a marketing gimmick. WVMP becomes the hottest thing around -- next to Ciara's complicated affair with grunge vamp Shane McAllister. But the "gimmick" enrages a posse of ancient and powerful vampires who aren't so eager to be brought into the light. Soon the stakes are higher -- and the perils graver -- than any con game Ciara's ever played.... As far as romance is concerned, it’s still the same old story, a fight for love and glory, a case of do or die. The last maybe literally when onetime con artist Ciara meets sexy Shane. His eyes meet hers, she gets him into bed, he does as expected, then sinks fangs into her thigh, necessitating multiple stitches. Ooops! NOT an auspicious first date! So goes this sometimes scary, sometimes fang-in-cheek romp that establishes Smith-Ready as a standout vampire-romancer, adept at creating an entire team of vampire DJs, each a specialist in the music of their former lifetimes and whose undead lives are jeopardized by a threatened mainstream buyout of their radio station. Marketing intern Ciara launches an all-out, vamp-in-your-face campaign that outs the team and multiplies listenership by a factor of 10. A delightful read, part vamp romance, part ironic look at advertising’s powers of manipulation, part wry commentary on the takeover-ridden financial scene, and all entertainment. --Whitney Scott "Sharp and smart and definitely not flavor of the month, Wicked Game is wicked good." -- Laura Anne Gilman, bestselling author of Free Fall "Jeri Smith-Ready blends fantasy and romance in an organic, unpredictable way, deftly weaving stories to enhance the power of her take-no-prisoners style." -- C. E. Murphy, bestselling author of Urban Shaman "An addictive page-turner revving with red-hot sex, truly cool vampires, and rock 'n' roll soul. " -- Kresley Cole, New York Times bestselling author of Dark Needs at Night's Edge "Smith-Ready's musical references are spot-on, as is her take on corporate radio's creeping hegemony. Add in the irrepressible Ciara, who grew up in a family of grifters, and the results rock." -- Publishers Weekly Jeri Smith-Ready  has been writing fiction since the night she had her first double espresso. A steady stream of caffeine has resulted in twelve published novels for teens and adults, including RT Reviewers Choice-winning fantasy EYES OF CROW; as well as the PRISM award-winning WICKED GAME and SHADE. Her most recent release is the YA contemporary novel THIS SIDE OF SALVATION, which  Booklist  called a "smart, unpredictable, and well-rounded tale" in its starred review.   Jeri lives in the rolling hills of Maryland with her husband and two cats, who often play tag-team "sit in the author's lap and keep her from writing." (The cats, that is, not the husband. Though actually...) When not writing, she's either out running or on Twitter.