Love at First Bite: WITH "Until Death Do Us Part" AND "Ride the Night Wind" AND "Gift" AND "Forgotten" [Mass Market Paperback]

"Love at First Bite" is a collection of paranormal romances from four well known writers of fantasy romance.

Until Death We Do Part by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Part of the "Dark-Hunter" series, this novella centres on Esperetta, the daughter of the infamous Vlad Tepes (aka Dracula). Unlike other Dark-Hunters, Esperetta did not seek an act of vengeance herself; it was instead her beloved husband Velkan. Never realising it was her own father who killed her and later tortured Velkan, soul bonded by powerful magic to her husband, when Velkan was resurrected as a Dark-Hunter, she too rose from her grave. Not realising she had died; Esperetta witnessed her newly immortal husband decapitate her father before she fled her homeland. Now 500 years later she finds herself travelling back to Transylvania to confront the man she still loves.

Although without the almost frenetic pace of her latest full length DH books, SK produced another Dark-Hunter cracker.

5 stars

Ride the Night Wind by L A Banks

Jose Ciponte has 2 dreams; to become an artist and to meet the faceless beautiful woman he dreams about. When he witnesses demons attack a young woman, it is not until they escape danger that he realises she is the woman from his dreams; Juanita in turn has dreamt of a handsome hero rescuing her on his silver motorbike. Realising something strange is afoot, the pair travel to his Navajo Grandparents in the hopes they can help.

This was an enjoyable read; however the ending left me completely confused. Somehow the couple part ways and don't meet up for another 10 years and although I ended up re-reading the final chapter again, I was still left bewildered. I've since discovered that "Ride the Night" is part of the fairly lengthy "Vampire Huntress Legends" series so would probably have benefited from reading the full length prequels first.

3 stars

The Gift by Susan Squires

Just days before Major Davis Ware (Davie) plans to ask for the hand of the wonderful Emma Fairchild in marriage, he finds himself needed in Casablanca to assist in the fight against a vampire army. Unfortunately when wounded, he is infected by a "Companion", the parasite responsible for vampirism. Now thinking himself a monster requiring human blood to survive, Davie is amazed when Emma arrives in a blood soaked Casablanca determined to still marry him and will stop at nothing to convince him she's right.

This was an entertaining vampire romance and SS certainly breathes fresh life into the legends of vampires. I have now discovered this author has several "Regency Vampire Novels" in print, and will certainly check them out.

4 stars

The Forgotten One by Rhonda Thompson

Lady Anne Baldwin dreams of breaking free from the constraints placed upon her by Regency England. Longing to relinquish her side saddle and gallop across the moors like a man, she finds a co-conspirator in the form of her new stables master. Merrick is a man surrounded by mystery and possessing strange skills. Although unaware himself of his own parentage, Anne can easily see the strong resemblance between Merrick and Jackson Wulf, a member of the Wild Wulfs of London; a group of werewolf brothers causing mayhem in polite society. Learning that her Aunt and Uncle are not the caring Guardians of both herself and her fortune as she was led to believe, Lady Anne flees to Gretna Green with Merrick; a man beginning to develop some very wolf like characteristics.

Although I have not read any previous books in the "Wild Wulfs of London" series, this story stood well on its own merits and certainly tempted me to explore more of this author's works.

4 stars

I am a huge fan of Kenyon's Dark-Hunter series and found her story to be short but sweet. Unfortunately having never read anything else by the other authors found in this anthology, I was left feeling somewhat in the dark by some of the stories as they too are all part of well established series. That said, if supernatural romance is your thing, then go grab a copy of "Love at First Bite" as soon as you can.

Until Death Do We Part" by Sherrilyn Kenyon - 5 Stars
I love that Velkan was the only Dark-Hunter to be married before he became a DH. I hate that Retta didn't listen to him the night he became a DH and ended up hating him. I love that he sent the Weres to watch over her and when he came to save her despite the sun coming up. In the end, it's awesome that Retta lets the Weres have at the bad guys. Velkan was so adorable; I waaaaant him.

"Ride the Night Wind" by L. A. Banks - 3.5 Stars
I liked this story but I felt that it was hard to follow at times, and it might have been easier to follow if I read other books in the series before this one. Holy hell, that crazy sex marathon...I love that the grandparents left the house and stayed away so that Jose and Juanita could go at it as much as they wanted. I hated when Jose and Juanita were separated and that they had other lovers before they were able to be together again.

"The Gift" by Susan Squires - 2 Stars
I thought this was story was odd but I did appreciate the interesting take on vampires. I did like, though, how bold Emma was in licking Davie's wound so she could take in his vampire blood and turn. Throughout the whole story, though, I couldn't stand that they called the guy "Davie"; it constantly reminded me of my creepy cousin that we called "Davy" until he turned thirteen.

"The Forgotten One" by Rhonda Thompson - 3.5 Stars
This story had an interesting take on werewolves: he didn't know he was a werewolf and it didn't happen until after they'd had sex. It was painfully obvious that her aunt and uncle were trying to steal her fortune, and I wanted to slap the aunt when she propositioned Merrick. I loved, though, that the first time they meet is in the dead of night and she pretends that she's a maid and he kisses her.

really enjoyed the first story by sherrilyn kenyon, i really wanted it to be longer, the other 3 stories dont come close but are worth the read and all have an interesting take on the vampire world