Biting Cold by Chloe Neill

Title: Biting Cold
Author: Chloe Neill

Publisher: Gollancz
ISBN: 978-0-575-11342-8
Pages: 337
Series: Chicagoland Vampires #6
Type: Adult Urban Fantasy
Source: Purchased
Goodreads


Turned into a vampire against her will, Merit has found her way into the inner circle of Chicago's supernaturals and the secrets she has learnt are not meant for sharing. Now Merit is on the hunt racing across the midwest to stop a rogue supernatural from getting their hands on an artifact that could release a catastrophic evil on the world. But Merit herself is being hunted by an old foe who will stop at nothing to claim the artifact for himself. Will Merit survive the chase?

This is the sixth book in the Chicagoland Vampires series (after Some Girls Bite, Friday Night Bites, Twice Bitten, Hard Bitten and Drink Deep) and at this point I'd really recommend new readers go back and begin at the start. There are likely to be spoilers in this review for all previous books.

I was disappointed in the previous installment as I felt it was very predictable in some respects. This storyline, however, is anything but with lots of twists and turns packed in. There are also some massive revelations, including finding out what Tate really is. The book jumps straight into the action and manages to keep a fast pace throughout as it works to bring together different storylines. I loved the introduction of gnomes and the return of some of the humour and snark from previous installments.

Merit is dealing with a lot. She's been betrayed and broken and has found, lost and found love again so it isn't surprising she has matured a lot since the beginning of the series. There's a lot of healing needed in her life, but Merit doesn't have time for introspection. I was expecting more impact from Ethan's return but he takes a long time to deal with how his existence has altered. This means that his romance with Merit is firmly on the backburner, although the introspection does lead to some added depth for his character.

The ending is interesting as it concludes the story while leading on to a new era for Cadogan House. I'm really interested to see where Chloe Neill takes things from here and I can't wait for the next book.

All in all this was a great read and I'm looking forward to House Rules.

Plot: 9/10
Characters: 10/10
Ending: 10/10
Enjoyment: 9/10
Cover: 8/10

Overall: 46/50

Drink Deep by Chloe Neill

Title: Drink Deep
Author: Chloe Neill

Publisher: Gollancz
ISBN: 978-0-575-11340-4
Pages: 321
Series: Chicagoland Vampires #5
Type: Adult Urban Fantasy
Source: Purchased
Goodreads


A storm is brewing over Chicago and with the city in turmoil and threatening to pass a paranormal registration act, Cadogan House is in a precarious position. All Merit wants to do is lay low for a while and lick her wounds but it seems fate has other plans for her when the waters of Lake Michigan suddenly turn pitch black. It's clear the darkest magic is at work and Merit must act as Sentinel and turn to friends, and enemies, new and old to find out who is behind this and stop them before it is too late...

This is the fifth book in the Chicagoland Vampires series (after Some Girls Bite, Friday Night Bites, Twice Bitten and Hard Bitten) and I jumped straight into this after the OMG ending to Hard Bitten. I am so glad I had this on hand and I'd recommend anyone new to the series start at the beginning, but make sure you have this on hand when you start Hard Bitten because the ending is a killer.

There is a ton of world building in this installment as the weird events in Chicago force Merit to contact all sorts of supernatural races, both those we've met before and those we haven't. Every race gets more development from the nymphs to the fey and river trolls to sirens. It all works well and develops naturally within the storyline without any info dumping.

The book also features a heavy political aspect as the Greenwich Presidium have sent a representative to Cadogan House and he quickly pulls a Dolores Umbridge and starts taking over and insisting on bizarre unnecessary rules. The Cadogan vampires are somewhat struggling under the new management and this leads to a fair amount of friction. The Red Guard are also still courting Merit in hopes that she will join their numbers against the GP.

The book did feature a huge dent to my enjoyment in that I figured out what the cause of the bizarre events was within the first few chapters. This meant I spent most of the book knowing Merit was looking in all the wrong places and by the time she figured it out I was becoming frustrated with how she could keep missing all the clues. Other than that the storyline is well written on the whole and I enjoyed exploring more of Merit's world with her.

Merit is dealing with a lot in this installment after her loss at the end of the previous book. Mallory has tried to help her through but she is caught up with her magic training. Merit's way of dealing is to throw herself into her role as Sentinel and to support her friends Lindsey and Luc who have finally gotten together. Given Merit's state of mind a lot of the humour and snark of the earlier books is missing and I'm really hoping they return in the next installment.

All in all this was a fun read and I'm looking forward to Biting Cold.

Plot: 8/10
Characters: 10/10
Ending: 9/10
Enjoyment: 8/10
Cover: 7/10

Overall: 42/50

Hard Bitten by Chloe Neill

Title: Hard Bitten
Author: Chloe Neill

Publisher: Gollancz
ISBN: 978-0-575-10018-3
Pages: 350
Series: Chicagoland Vampires #4
Type: Adult Urban Fantasy
Source: Purchased
Goodreads


Chicago's vampires are having a hard time. Previously seen as celebrities after their revelation the tide is now turning. Merit and Ethan are called to a clandestine meeting with Mayor Tate after a violent vampire rave left three women missing and potentially dead. With Tate threatening to jail Ethan for the crime, Merit investigates only to discover that things aren't quite what they seem and that a deadly new drug is being used by the vampire community.

This is the fourth book in the Chicagoland Vampires series (after Some Girls Bite, Friday Night Bites and Twice Bitten) which is one of my favourite urban fantasy series. At this point a new reader could jump in, but they'd be missing a lot of backstory. The storyline is great with tight pacing that builds the tension right up to the shocking heartbreaking end. There are a lot of twists and turns and the mystery is packed with red herrings.

Merit teams up with Red Guard member and Grey house Guard Captain Jonah to investigate how and why the vampire raves (essentially parties where vampires openly drink from willing humans) are becoming deadly. Their investigation soon leads to a drug called V and gives insight into a drug underworld. The storyline also has a political aspect as Mayor Tate flexes his power as well as the presence of a GP member reviewing Cadogan House.

Merit is growing more confident in her new life, although she is still struggling with the possibility of joining the Red Guard. The romance aspect of the story between Ethan and Merit has hit a crisis as Ethan has managed to shatter Merit's trust in him. Although he spends the majority of the book trying to make it up to her, the wounds he caused her mean she is holding back.

The usual supporting characters all return, with Mallory busy with her Sorcery apprenticeship while Merit's grandfather, Jeff and Catcher all assisting Merit from the law enforcement side.

All in all this was a great read and I'm looking forward to Drink Deep.

Plot: 10/10
Characters: 10/10
Ending: 10/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Cover: 8/10

Overall: 48/50

Twice Bitten by Chloe Neill

Title: Twice Bitten

Author: Chloe Neill
Publisher: Gollancz
ISBN: 978-0-575-09937-1
Pages: 355
Series: Chicagoland Vampires #3
Type: Adult Urban Fantasy
Source: Purchased
Goodreads


Merit has now completed the transition to vampire twice as the first change wasn't complete. Merit is embracing her vampiric nature and now Ethan has a surprising task for her. Shapeshifters from all over America will be congregating in Chicago to decide whether to follow vampires into the public eye. Ethan has loaned Merit to act as security for the Alpha Gabriel Keene who leads all the shifters. But when someone starts gunning for Gabriel, Merit finds herself in the line of fire.

I was really looking forward to reading this as the previous book (Friday Night Bites) ends with Merit going to a meeting with the mysterious sender of several invitations. It turns out that Merit is being invited to join the Red Guard who function like internal affairs for the vampire houses. This is a new development for this book, and I think it's great how the author is still adding depth to Merit's world. However, it may make the books harder to read for newcomers to the series so I'd recommend starting at the beginning with Some Girls Bite.

Merit has now dealt with her transition and is moving on with her (un)life. The previous books showed Merit's struggle adjusting, whereas this one shows how Merit is learning to embrace her new life. Merit also broke up with Morgan in the last book so now it's just a will they/won't they with Ethan not a love triangle. The only complication left in Merit's life is the tension between her and her friend Mallory, and this means more focus is given to the shifter storyline.

Ethan's character also gets some more development, and revelations about his past and his own change to a vampire explain a lot of his character quirks from the previous books. A lot of why Ethan makes certain choices is explained, and it definitely made him a more likeable character in my eyes.

I loved how well the shifter storyline flowed, and there were several twists that I didn't see coming. The addition of shifters to Merit's world is brilliant. Jeff was introduced in the first book and the Breckenridges were introduced in the second, but this book adds literally a country of shifters with several well developed characters. There are also seeds sown for possible future storylines with Merit and the shifters, and I can't wait to see where these go.

All in all this was an awesome read and I'm looking forward to reading Hard Bitten.

Plot: 10/10
Characters: 10/10
Ending: 10/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Cover: 8/10

Overall: 48/50

Friday Night Bites by Chloe Neill

Title: Friday Night Bites

Author: Chloe Neill
Publisher: Gollancz
ISBN: 978-0-575-09405-5
Pages: 357
Series: Chicagoland Vampires #2
Type: Adult Urban Fantasy
Source: Purchased
Goodreads


Merit is beginning to adjust to life as a vampire and is moving into Cadogan House with it's ever present paparazzi. Merit has barely unpacked when her Master Ethan reveals that an old family friend of hers is sniffing around vampire society and threatening to publish a story about the Raves - mass feeding parties where vampires drink themselves silly. Ethan is convinced that Merit's family is their best starting point so Merit is forced back into the society she once ran from, and finds that balancing human/vampire relations is almost as hard as balancing her love life.

I really enjoyed Some Girls Bite so I was looking forward to reading this and I wasn't disappointed. This book is less about Merit's personal journey and takes place more in the world at large. What begins as a simple nosey reporter soon develops into a threat against Cadogan House and Merit really steps up into her role as Sentinel. More is revealed about vampire society, and we also get to learn more about shifters and sorcerors. Again the author avoids info-dumping, and Merit's world is widened and deepened in this book.

As Merit has moved into Cadogan House in this book, there is more of a focus on her vampire friends and so Mallory features far less. Mallory spends a chunk of the book away perfecting her sorcery skills, and I did miss the Merit/Mallory interaction. However Merit and Mallory did have some page time together and I think the way their changing friendship was handled was brilliant.

The lingering threat against Cadogan House is well developed and cleverly handled. There are a few twists that I didn't see coming, and the author managed to create more questions as Merit solved the mystery. Merit also discovered she has several unique qualities not seen in other vampires, and I can't wait to see where the author takes this.

All in all this was a great read, and I'm looking forward to reading Twice Bitten.

Plot: 10/10
Characters: 10/10
Ending: 10/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Cover: 7/10

Overall: 47/50

 

Some Girls Bite by Chloe Neill

Title: Some Girls Bite
Author: Chloe Neill
Publisher: Gollancz
ISBN: 978-0-575-09404-8
Pages: 341
Series: Chicagoland Vampires #1
Type: Adult Urban Fantasy
Source: Purchased
Goodreads


Merit has always looked at Chicago's newly revealed vampires with distaste, that is until she is attacked and left for dead in the middle of her gradute school quad. Her life is saved when Ethan Sullivan, head of one of Chicago's vampire Houses, saves her life and turns her into a vampire. Now Merit has lost her chance at a normal life, and must come to terms with being one of the very creatures she hates. But Merit is no ordinary girl, and she isn't going to be an ordinary vampire.

This is one of those series that has a ton of positive reviews, but you never really pick up. The cover doesn't really stand out, and the blurb on the back although interesting is longer than most. I picked up a copy of the second book in the series (Friday Night Bites) thinking it was the first, and then had to find this one so I could begin at the beginning. I must say I'm impressed. I'm a big fan of urban fantasy, but haven't read any in a while. This book epitomises what I love about the genre - it's got action, humour, mystery and a touch of romance.

The plot is well thought out and developed. Vampires have recently 'come out' in Chicago, and Chloe Neill does an incredible job of setting up the vampires and the four Vampire houses, as well as rogue (independant) vampires. Then the author swiftly moves on to flesh out her world by introducing shifters, sorcerors, fairies, nymphs and a few other supernatural races, and then ties each species to it's own internal politics and to human-supernatural politics. I was amazed at how deftly this was done, and there was no info-dumping to be seen.

Merit's journey is believable and I really liked her as a main character. She's snarky and sarcastic, and manages to keep hold of who she is as a person even when thrown neck deep in vampire politics. Merit also deals with her unwanted transformation realistically and without excessive whining, which is rare in this kind of book.

The other characters are also incredible. I liked how Ethan was stuck up and set in his ways because it makes Merit the perfect foil for him. It does appear that a potential love triangle is being set up between Merit, Ethan and another vampire called Morgan, but the romance takes a back seat to the storyline in this book which I'm grateful for. As much as I like a good romance, I don't want it taking over the story in an urban fantasy book. I love Merit's roomate Mallory, who is actually an undiscovered sorceror, and the story between her and Catcher, another sorceror who is training both Merit and Mallory, has real sparks alongside a sweet romance.

All in all this is an awesome read and I'm really looking forward to Friday Night Bites

Plot: 10/10
Characters: 10/10
Ending: 10/10
Enjoyment: 9/10
Cover: 7/10

Overall: 46/50

Teaser Tuesdays (40)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers.

My teaser:

"You need to be rescued. And if you can't be rescued by Prince Tall, Sexy, and Alive" - she looked over at the trio of deliberating vampires and scanned Ethan's half-naked body - "he's certainly the next best thing."

~ Page 65, Some Girls Bite by Chloe Neill