I think that the only thing that Twilight and Vampire Diaries has is the love between a human and a vampire. The rest, are completely different. I read the first 2 books of Vampire Diaries and they show a different side of vampires that Stephanie doesn't. For LJ Smith, they don't need to hide what they are, and Elena is afraid of Stefan! That made me laugh because for Bella (and it´s my opinion), she is not very conscious of what is a vampire! So, in that aspect, I think that LJ got it better than Stephanie.