Review: Hot for Slayer by Ali Hazelwood
🩸 Part of the Scared Sexy Collection (Amazon Original Stories)
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5 stars)
Genre: Paranormal Romance / Urban Fantasy
Length: Novella (~100 pages)
Ali Hazelwood takes a swing at paranormal romance in Hot for Slayer, a gender-flipped Buffy-style story that pairs a centuries-old vampire and her sworn vampire slayer in a chaotic, enemies-to-lovers setup.
Ethel, an immortal vampire, and Lazlo, the vampire hunter who’s been trying to kill her for a thousand years, have been locked in a deadly flirtation spanning continents and centuries. When Lazlo suddenly loses his memory, their eternal feud turns into something far more domestic — sudoku puzzles, shared couches, and a very confusing amount of sexual tension.
The premise is fantastic: a vampire caring for her amnesiac nemesis while pretending to be an entomologist (“pest control,” anyone?) is delightfully campy and ripe with potential. Unfortunately, the execution leans too heavy on meandering internal monologue and not enough on plot or payoff. The best parts — the banter, the bloodlust, the flashes of history between them — are really good, but they’re fleeting. By the time it starts to get interesting, the story ends.
This one reads like a text message from a writer you know can do better:
Subject: Slayer is hot 🔥
Body: Girl agrees. The end 💃
If you’re here for the vibes (and a laugh or two), it scratches the surface of what could’ve been a stellar paranormal novella. But if you’re hoping for emotional depth or a full romantic arc? Keep hunting, vampire lovers — the perfect bite is still out there.
💋 Tropes & Themes
- 🩸 Enemies to Lovers (centuries-long rivals → reluctant allies → maybe lovers)
- 🧠 Amnesia / Memory Loss
- 🛋️ Only One Couch (yes, really)
- 💍 Fake Proposal (on stage!)
- 🧛 Vampire x Slayer (immortal vs. mortal dynamic)
- 🔥 Forced Proximity / Caretaking (he’s injured, she’s helping)
- 💀 Forbidden Love
- 🤭 “Drink from me, my love” scene
- 🧬 Found Family & Loneliness Themes (subtle)
- 😏 Light Spice / Tease Level Heat
⚠️ Content Warnings
Violence, blood, childhood abandonment (past), captivity, amnesia, spider mention, loss of friend, self-harm (blood-related).
🧛♀️ Final Thoughts
Hot for Slayer had all the makings of a great paranormal romp — it’s clever, flirty, and self-aware — but it never quite sinks its teeth in deep enough. It’s fine for a quick Halloween read, but it feels more like a deleted scene from a full-length Hazelwood novel than a complete story on its own.