Review: Friday Night Bites by Chloe Neill

Vamps in Chicago!

You’d think headlines like that would have provoked the fine citizens of the Windy City to take up arms against us bloodsucking fiends. Instead, ten months later, we’re enjoying a celebrity status reserved for the Hollywood elite—fending off paparazzi only slightly less dangerous than cross and stake-wielding slayers. Don’t get me wrong, Joe Public isn’t exactly thrilled to be living side-by-side with the undead, but at least they haven’t stormed the castle yet.

But all that will change once they learn about the Raves—mass feeding parties where vampires round up humans like cattle and drink themselves silly. Most civilized vampires frown on this behavior, putting mere mortals at ease with their policy of asking a person’s consent before taking a big gulp of the red stuff. However, that doesn’t make good copy for a first time reporter looking to impress his high society family.

So now my “master,” the centuries old, yet gorgeously well-preserved Ethan Sullivan, wants me to reconnect with my own upper class family and act as liaison between humans and vampires—and keep the more unsavory aspects of our existence out of the media. But someone doesn’t want people and vamps to play nicey-nice—someone with an ancient grudge.

ebook.

Full-length novel.

First Person - Merit.

No.

I guess not for events in book one are recapped but I wouldn't want to read it without having read the first one.

Nope.

N/A
But it ends on a good note!

Not really applicable.

No.

A little.

Friday Night Bites picks up a month or so after the events of the first book in the series, Some Girls Bite. Merit is settling into the role of Sentinel for House Cadogan but is struggling with her inner vamp, her attraction to her master vampire, Ethan, and her budding relationship with rival master, Morgan, which leads to conflict with those closest to her namely her BFF Mallory.

This made for some good drama, but it also made for some really unnecessary drama.

On more than one occasion I wanted to slap Merit and tell her to get a grip.
She is a likable character but she is a little clueless and - dare I say it - becoming a little self-obsessed.
I didn’t like how a lot of characters were treating her in this book - Mallory, Catcher, Ethan to name but a few! - but at the same time, I didn’t like how she was reacting to things.
It was beyond frustrating!
However, I did like the evolving plot with the ‘bad vampires’, the new characters that were introduced, and how the plot is thickening with the steadily increasing presence of the shapeshifters. I especially liked the harmless, sweet and funny, crush Jeff - a young shapeshifter - has on Merit and how it’s played out… It made me laugh a lot.

I also enjoyed finding out more of the backgrounds of characters - and the continued world building -  and by the end, I was glad that the inner vamp drama had ended and, unless it re-emerges in the next book, the potential romance drama seems to be settled too.

Despite my grumbles about elements of the book, I really enjoyed it and am eager to jump into the next one!

Once again, I'm not a huge fan of the cover but it does its job, I suppose...

“Home is where the heart is... not necessariliy where you sleep.”

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“You can tell a lot by the size of a man's library."

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“There is nothing we want quite as much as the thing we know we can’t have.”