Vampires are real. Not magical. They evolved from humans. 99% of them are women.
A Vampire's scent will seduce you. Freeze your higher brain functions. Drop you into a pure animal rut. Lost to them, they can take from you what they need: Blood and willing sex.
You will give yourself up, body and soul. Married. Single. Taking a relationship break. Shy?
You will strip.
Think sex is something you schedule? Maybe for Thursdays? Now it will be NOW.
Regardless of your personal status, you will offer yourself. You will do so willingly and without a thought, because thought has been benched. A Vampire's scent reaches past your forebrain. Tickles your most ancient inner animal. Sex is all in the brain and they will prove it to you.
Vampires are apex predators. Evolved from humans and designed by nature to prey upon humans.
Men are their primary target. Men are, in the words of the old TV commercial about beef, 'What's for Dinner.' Well: That and steak. Vampires do not drink blood exclusively. To be as big and powerful as a Vampire is, blood cannot be the sole source of nourishment. Humans are more of an entertaining supplement.
Welcome to the world of evolved Vampires! No magic shall be harmed (or, for that matter, involved) during our program.
I am not one to dissuade someone from reading my stuff. However, I don't like false advertising either. There is a lot of sex (because Vampires) but what there is not is underage women falling in love for the first time. Unwilling sex. Rape (One very major exception down the road). There is a billionaire. She is a Vampire. Her money does not even come into the story until several books down the line. It's not important to the story. It's more about being long-lived and being good with money.
In this world, love is love. LGBTQ+ and Poly themes are here but they are not central. Think more like the way Seven of Nine and Raffi are in the Picard TV show. In fact, that might be a good measure if you will like things in this world. This is not Fantasy (Lord of the Rings / Game of Thrones) nor is it Star Wars-like. It is not space opera or space military like the Honor-Verse.
The themes are about inclusions and acceptance, but also where you draw the line. Child endangerment? Nope. Vampires will straight up kill you for that. Etc.
Still here?
Naked Came the Vampire (NCtV) is the first book of — currently — 16 in the Evolved Vampireverse. That does not count the two Morgan Olsen books or the superhero story Unwanted Power.
That 16 number includes the late 1800s-to-present prequel/biography, Maria.
This is a big world (at least 1 full-length George RR Martin book worth) with a cast of humans and hypers that expands with each book. Hypers are humans that evolved in some manner to be more than human.
Naked Came the Vampire (NCtV) revolves around three evolved Vampires and their conflict with some human drug runners.
By The Shape of Things to Come, you will have met a pile of Vampires. Vampires enjoy being in naked piles. They are very cuddly that way.
Wait! Cuddly? No throats getting ripped out? What kind of Vampire world is this? Well: I never said no throats get ripped out. Being cuddly does not mean you can't get pissed off. It is best to not piss off Helen. Just sayin'
See further on down for my thoughts about when to read Maria relative to books 1-15. Spoiler alert: you'll meet a female Vampire on page one of NCtV. She does not call herself Maria, but she is.
Was.
Vampires. It's complicated.
What is this Series? Sci-Fi? Romance? SciFi-romance? Sci-Fi with Sex? 'Time Enough For Love' writ large?
The books have humans who are helplessly seduced by Vampires, tons of love and romance, lots of sex. So: All of the above? (OK: There are no Vampires in Time Enough For Love)
They are staffed with all sorts of polysexual/polyamorous and mostly female Vampires. That did not make them entirely fit the genre of romance.
They have evolved. Not magical Vampires. Definitely sci-fi.
Sex is omnipresent but this is not erotica. The scene '... All Night Long' in NCtV is the first sex scene. That should calibrate for you if this is going to not be enough sex, mature enough, or too much Vampire nookie for your tastes.
Really: What even IS too much Vampire nookie? Don't ask me. I'm Crew. (That joke will make far more sense to you after you read a couple of the books. It's hilarious)
These books do not have is 'horror' or 'fantasy' tags, because they are not that.
Why Vampires are primarily women will be explained. Eventually.
Vampire society is hidden and it is a matriarchy.
Vampire men (the very few that exist) are the physically weaker and not at all trusted gender in the hidden Vampire world.
Since there is no magic, there are no Weres or other shape changers.
The closest thing to an 'Alpha' is the head of the Vampire ruling Council. In the NorthAm Geo, that is a 1200 year old woman named Victoria. Victoria may be head of NorthAm right now, but she hails from Scandinavia originally.
Most Vampires are like that by the time they reach that age. Not living where they were born.
You don't meet Victoria until Conclave (The third book). Before that, we are too busy adapting to how the world changes when a semi-sort of-kinda-monogamous human starts seeing the wider Polyamorous Vampire world open up.
A human has to ask themselves questions about relationships and sex. Does group sex at a good party count? What about serial monogamy? What about if you meet one of your five? Daniel Craig or Gal Godot? They say 'yeah: Lets do it. I'll get us a room.' (Not saying they would: They are both happily married.)
The only submitting going on is human men to Vampire women, not the other way around. Men are the hunted. They are what's for dessert. Dinner and a movie are more like dinner and some back alley nookie. If it has been too long? Dinner may be skipped. A point seriously driven home in Maria.
Vampires evolved to make sure their prey survives the experience. They probably will not remember it though.
Time Frame of the Series
Maria starts just after the Civil War.
The two Morgan books take place just after the turn of the 21st century.
The main HN series runs near current time and spans about a decade.
Vampires in Space will start roughly 200 years from now, with a few stories layered in between now and then. So far, it runs to about 700 years from now. Give or take. Still writing that part.
On With The Show
Welcome: I hope you enjoy the books. I have had a lot of fun writing and researching them.
CJ