Review: Twice Bitten by Chloe Neill

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My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Synopsis:

Shapeshifters from across the country are convening in the Windy City, and as a gesture of peace, Master Vampire Ethan Sullivan has offered their leader a very special bodyguard: Merit, Chicago's newest vampire. Merit is supposed to protect the Alpha, Gabriel Keene-and to spy for the vamps while she's at it. Oh, and luckily Ethan's offering some steamy, one-on-one combat training sessions to help her prepare for the mission.

Unfortunately, someone is gunning for Gabriel, and Merit soon finds herself in the line of fire. She'll need all the help she can get to track down the would-be assassin, but everywhere she turns, there are rising tensions between supernaturals-not least between her and a certain green-eyed, centuries-old master vampire.

Review:

Twice Bitten is the third book in the Chicagoland Vampires series.  I have to say, this series is either growing on me or this book was better than the two previous ones.  Or perhaps it is both.  This story opens up new possibilities for the future stories.  It becomes clear in this book that the world creation in the other books is beginning to add more depth to the story.  The characters are maturing and the audience is really allowed to see their individual personalities.

                                 

I am really beginning to like Merit.  With some of her earlier behavior, I thought she was a little immature and flat.  However, after this book, I no longer believe that.  Her character has come a long way since the beginning and continues to intrigue the reader with her progress.  In this story, we get to see a little deeper inside her heart.

Ethan was not a love interest that I cared for previously but this book has changed my opinion.  I think part of what I did not like before was that we did not really get a feel for his character other than that he acts more sophisticated than Merit in his sense of humor.  If you are an Ethan fan or even you are not, you will want to make sure to read this one.  We get to learn more about his past, see his emotions and become intrigued by the personality that he seems to hide from public view.

The story was interesting and moved at a good pace.  There were elements of all good urban fantasy novels in this book including action, suspense, romance and humor.  I thought the author’s take on shifters was interesting and I look forward to seeing more of them in the next book. Overall,  a good book and I cannot wait to see what happens next.

Recommend to fans of Urban Fantasy

Favorite Quotes:

“Maybe the shifters have it right,” I said.  “I mean, heading off into the woods, keeping to themselves.”  “Your theory being that if you don’t have contact with anyone, you can’t be hurt by them?”  That was a very astute conclusion for a four-hundred-year-old vampire who usually seemed clueless about human emotion.  “That would be the idea, yes.”  This time, when he looked at me, there was sadness in his eyes.  “I don’t want to see you become cold, Merit.”  “Not wanting to be hurt isn’t the same as becoming cold.”  “Not at first,” he said.

            

“No- I wanted to fight because I was a predator, two months past the first time I’d felt the tug of fight-or-flight.  I’d tempered my steel with my own blood… and I was ready to feed that steel with someone else’s.”