A Book Obsession..: Early Review: Biting Bad by Chloe Neill

Early Review: Biting Bad by Chloe Neill

, by Kt Clapsadl

Biting Bad by Chloe Neill

Chicagoland Vampires #8

Merit has been a vampire for only a short while, but she’s already seen a lifetime’s worth of trouble. She and her Master, centuries-old Ethan Sullivan, have risked their lives time and again to save the city they love. But not all of Chicago is loving them back.

Anti-vampire riots are erupting all over town, striking vampires where it hurts the most. A splinter group armed with Molotov cocktails and deep-seated hate is intent on clearing the fanged from the Windy City come hell or high water.

Merit and her allies rush to figure out who’s behind the attacks, who will be targeted next, and whether there’s any way to stop the wanton destruction. The battle for Chicago is just beginning, and Merit is running out of time.

Even though Merit's tenure as one of the undead has been for a relatively small amount of time, she's been through an incredible amount in that short time. Despite their best efforts to live in harmony with the living citizens of their beloved Chicago, not everyone is happy to have them in their city. So, it's not much of a surprise when vampire hating riots start popping up and destroying vamp friendly areas one location at a time. So, Merit and the rest of the Cadogan house are stuck in a scramble to find out who is organizing these strikes before all of Chicago burns, humans and vamps alike.

Something I've really grown to love about this story is that each book has it's own plot and current "mess" for the vampires going on. However, there also is the larger overall plot with the GP going on as well, which I think really ties the series together strongly. Most of the book is taken up by that main plot, in this case, the vampire riots, but interwoven into things is the political problems with the GP. And boy let me tell you, this time they ended on a doozey, that will surely make things rather interesting in the next installment, I'm sure. But getting back to BITING BAD's main plot of the riots, I was impressed with the pacing of this issue. In some of the previous installments it did feel like the plot/investigations dragged at times, but this time around, the wild goose chase seemed to be greatly lessened, which made for a much smoother and evenly paced read.

If you've read my reviews of the previous books in this series, then you know that I am 100% Team Merit and Ethan. In fact, Hard Bitten was one of the hardest books I've ever read due to the devastation. So, even though Ethan came back four installments ago, I'm honestly still waiting for Chloe Neill to pull the rug out from under us again. Granted, it doesn't do good things for my nerves, but I will admit that it keeps me more on my toes, and makes the danger feel more real. However, that being said, I don't think I could handle another devastation like that, so I'm just going to hope my worry is unfounded and enjoy the time between the two of them. And let me tell you, the time between them is absolutely amazing in BITING BAD. They've passed that new couple stage, and now are becoming more comfortable around each other and starting to think about the long haul. I'll admit that the beginning of love is exhilarating, but my favorite fictional romances are the ones we get to see mature over time, and that is exactly the case here. Of course, it does help that Ethan is completely swoon worthy and now has no problem showing his affection for Merit. In fact I cannot count the number of times Merit and myself let out a sigh of swooning over this vampire. There's very few paranormal characters that I would brave their worlds for and Ethan is one of them.

Considering this is the 8th book in the series, I find it rather impressive that things have not gotten stale at all. In fact, almost the opposite is true as each new installment, once finished leaves me incredibly desperate to get my hands on the next book. BITING BAD is no exception. It was a fast paced read that kept me thoroughly engrossed from the very start. Between the high stakes, the intense romance, and the fabulous cast of characters, I cannot recommend this book any higher! Run, do not walk, to snatch this puppy up. Trust me, you won't regret it.

(Received a copy from the publisher)

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