I loved the first volume of this series so much that I purchased the next three without hesitation. I was expecting more fluffy fun. Unfortunately, this volume went in a direction that made me very unhappy. I really hope this series rights itself over the course of the next couple volumes, or I'm not sure I'll be able to continue with it.

The first half of the volume wasn't so bad. I enjoyed the brief appearance of Kyohei's mother, who shed a little more light on how vampirism works in this series and revealed some of the reasons behind Kyohei's cold behavior towards his family and most humans. Kaya's realization that she was in love with Kyohei didn't come as a surprise, and I already knew that realization would lead to hurt feelings and inner turmoil on her part.

It was painful to watch Kaya become so absorbed with and upset by her feelings for Kyohei, but I could understand it. I think my problems with this volume didn't really begin until after Kyohei found out that his brother had offered Kaya the option of being reassigned. He acted like a complete and utter jerk, seeking Kaya out at her home and verbally striking out at her when she refused to let herself be swayed by him.

The thing is, this volume could have been saved. There were indications that being separated from Kaya upset Kyohei, even if he wasn't willing to admit it, and Kaya was still enough herself to be able to be someone else's efficient, perfect secretary. She didn't necessarily need Kyohei in order to continue on, and the stage was set for Kyohei to realize he was being an ass and try to redeem himself.

For this to have all worked out, Kyohei needed to do some groveling before Kaya could go back to him. There would still have been issues they needed to deal with – they were still boss and employee, and at least one other person in the company knew their relationship had become closer than was appropriate – but at least Kyohei would have acknowledged that Kaya was someone worthy of his respect and consideration.

Unfortunately, that's not how things happened.

Where did the professional, career-minded Kaya that I loved in the first volume go? The woman who was so ethical she investigated her own boss for drug use/pushing and would have turned him in if that had been what he'd been doing?

This volume's ending angered me. Kyohei was a jerk who should have groveled but didn't, Kaya was a disappointment, and the sex happened at least a volume or two too early.

Extras:

Occasional author's notes relating to the series, plus an afterword from the author.

(Original review, with read-alikes and watch-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

Yes, in real life, boss/employee romances are a bad thing, but I love them in fiction. I've wanted to try Midnight Secretary ever since I learned that it was a boss/employee romance with supernatural elements. I picked up the first volume and read it after a particularly horrible day at work. The verdict? It was lots of fun, and now I want to read more.

I loved Kaya. She hated how baby-faced she looked and yearned to be taken seriously, so she purposefully dressed to make herself look like her personal vision of an efficient secretary. That meant severe outfits, a severe hairstyle, and glasses, even though her eyesight was fine. When her boss insulted her looks and gave her a huge amount of work in order to try to scare her off, she gave him a super-professional smile, privately cursed his playboy behavior, and then did her best to prove that she was the best secretary ever.

It took me a bit longer to warm up to Kaya's boss. His instant dismissal of Kaya because she wasn't hot-looking didn't earn him any points, and I hated that he threatened Kaya's mother's job if she didn't keep his secrets. I think it helped that Kaya easily (too easily?) adjusted to being a vampire's secretary and combated Kyohei's arrogance with a pleasant, professional mask and quietly perfect work.

Kyohei was one of those arrogant playboy types who's secretly adorable. I enjoyed his private amusement over Kaya's efforts to learn his vampiric secrets, and I thought his reaction to Kaya trying to protect him at a Christmas party was great. When he learned that her glasses were fake and that she wore them as a kind of secretarial uniform, instead of forcing her to stop wearing them so she'd better fit his definition of hot, he supported her.

There is a bit of low-level jealousy in this volume – Kyohei seemed to dislike, but be resigned to, Kaya's attraction to his brother, and he forced Kaya to cancel what he thought was a date with another man by deciding that the two of them needed go to a party that he had previously decided to skip. This was all done in a way that worked for me, although the bit where Kaya was forced to cancel her date pushed my comfort zone a little.

I can't wait to see where this series goes. I've read manga adaptations of Harlequin romance novels, and those are usually crap. Although Midnight Secretary isn't one of those, it has the feel of a Harlequin romance novel adaptation done well, if that makes any sense. There's the prim, professional secretary who's maybe a little too devoted to her boss. There's the playboy boss with the tendency to brood when his secretary causes him to feel actual emotions. There's the perfect, golden-boy brother who provides the opportunity for a slight love triangle, plus a bit of mystery – I really want to find out more about Kyohei's relationship with his family and why he's the only one who's a vampire.

Oh, I almost forgot. One bit of warning: the series is a little racy. There are a few instances of bared breasts, and Kyohei's bite practically counts as sex.

Extras:

Very little. A few sidebars and a one-page comic-style afterword from the author.

(Original review, with read-alikes and watch-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)