Friday Night Bites

4.5 stars (pretty damn close to 5)

The second addition to Chloe Neill’s Chicagoland Vampire Series picks up where the first left off (and it’s recommended you read the first before diving into this one.) Merit is still learning to adjust to her new status as a vampire but as Sentinel to Cadogan House. News that vampires are conducting raves where humans are practically slaughtered causes Merit to have to become reacquainted with her family members in order to act as a buffer between vampires and humans. Merit’s ‘separation’ between her and her vampire starts becoming more and more problematic.

The Relationship(s)
So slowly but surely we’re heading in the love triangle direction and I am not all for this… however it’s not the most painful one I’ve encountered. Merit and Ethan obviously have the hots for each other but neither seems willing to act on it… but the tension is still definitely present. Merit and Morgan were practically forced into a courtship at the end of the last book but the emotions aren’t exactly forced, I’m not talking arranged marriages here; however, Morgan certainly has far more feelings for Merit than she does for him.

So I was all for Ethan in this book (as most of you are)… especially after the scene where he gives her the library after he finds out she loved books so much. I mean way to touch the squishy parts of my heart. But there’s just something I really like about Morgan… maybe it’s the tall, dark and handsome thing he’s got going for him.

I went to Chloe Neill’s website and she has a picture posted of her interpretation of Morgan and … oooh. I like him even more. Hahaha Up until then I’d be imagining Morgan along the lines of this:


*Swoon*

I actually enjoyed this one even more than number one… it was funnier, far more interesting, and way more exciting. Believe it or not I’m actually moving straight on to book 3! :)

Interested in more of my reviews? Visit my blog!
( )

oh, the drama, the mystery, the supsense... the sexy vampires! ( )

The good news: Chloe Neill's Chicagoland Vampires series is staying on my auto-buy list. FRIDAY NIGHT BITES kept me turning pages late into the night, and there were laugh out loud moments galore. When Merit opens the door for sexy vampire master Ethan Sullivan with a cocky, "Age before beauty," I was looking for someone to high-five. Oh, and I was really glad to see Merit the former doctoral candidate finally get jiggy with the library.

The bad news: There are a lot of spinning wheels in FRIDAY NIGHT BITES. It gets off to a slow start. The plot finally thickens when Cadogan house is given an anonymous tip that a reporter is planning a damaging article about vampires, and Merit must draw on her high-society family ties to squelch the story. I enjoyed the twists and turns, and I enjoyed all the sexual tension between Merit and Ethan as they attend fancy parties together. On the other hand, even though a lot happens between those two, no real progress is made in their relationship - dreamy as he is, by the end of the book I was tired of Ethan and his mixed signals. Unfortunately, the same goes for several other major plot points - if anything, it was one step forward and two steps back.

Plus, there are a lot of people who get irrationally angry at Merit in this book. Now, real people do get irrationally angry and make irrational accusations, but when major plot points are pushed forward several times in a novel after normally thoughtful people blow a fuse, make an accusation, and then exit stage right I start to get irritated. There's tension in the friendship as Merit assimilates to vampire life and Mallory grows as a sorceress; that's to be expected. But, really, if they were friends when Merit was an idealistic grad student and Mallory was a corporate shill, they're used to working through some pretty major differences. I expect more from their relationship, which is one of the best parts about the series, than I saw here.

On the whole, FRIDAY NIGHT BITES seemed like a wobbly second installment to a series that is still going great places. I was really excited by the hints we get about the third book, which seems like it will revolve around shifters. And all nitpicking aside, it was a really FUN read, hard to put down and thoroughly enjoyable. ( )

Friday Night Bites
4 Stars

Once again, Cynthia Holloway's narration leaves much to be desired as her inflection is awful and the different voices become interchangeable. This is unfortunate as the world building and characters have definite potential.

The characters still have the occasional bout of childish immaturity. Cadogen house is more like a co-ed sorority and the juvenile dialogue is enough to make the eyes roll back in your head. Nevertheless, it is slightly less irritating than before, or it could merely be that I'm getting used to it.

Merit is an amalgamation of strong will and sweet vulnerability. As a fellow academic, I can really identify with her love of libraries and bookworm mentality, and the internal struggle with her vampire identity only serves to highlight her humanity.

The men in Merit's life are a mixed bag. Ethan is simply scrumptious but then I have a penchant for the sexy, broody and aloof hero who lusts after the heroine against his better judgement. Their sexual tension is a highlight of the book and the library scene is seriously drool worthy. Unfortunately, the other two love interests (past and present) are obnoxious. Morgan is jealous and possessive, which makes him less that endearing, and Nick is a prejudiced jerk who needs a good kick in the ass.

The plot is vastly improved over book #1 although the story still lacks detail regarding the history of the supernatural community in general, and individual characters, such as Ethan and Catcher, in particular. That said, the ongoing conspiracy surrounding Celina's war-mongering and vendetta against Cadogen house continues to build nicely as does Merit's integration into vampire life and her role as Sentinel.

In terms of the other secondary characters, Mallory and Catcher annoy me no end. Mallory has a bad habit of taking her frustration with her magical abilities out on Merit and runs to Catcher when she doesn't get her own way in an argument (hello, how old are you?). Catcher comes across as a bullying jerk and it is not at all surprising that Merit doesn't trust him enough to tell him about her "little vampire problem". Luc and Lindsey, in contrast, are great and their snarky bickering more than makes up for Mallory and Catcher's passive/aggressive nonsense. To be honest, as neither Mallory nor Catcher made a positive impression on me in book #1, the new direction Merit's relationship takes with them does not bother me in the slightest.

All in all, this series is growing on me and I hope that it continues to improve. ( )

I'm totally addicted to this series. Cheesy? Maybe, but I don't give a s*$t. Too many people with "bright, blue eyes"? Definitely. Sexy vampires? Check. And a sense of fun? I'm sold. I'm so ecstatic that I got the three books in the series from the hold list at the library around the same time--I'm just a little worried how long I'll have to wait once I finish the third one tomorrow! :-(

To those of my friends that are wondering what the heck this series is about, here you go: A grad student from an extremely wealthy Chicago family is attacked in book one and made a vampire. In this world, vampire society is run like college Greek life and (almost) everyone is assigned a house and a master. Merit (the rich now-vampire) is (unsurprisingly) a badass and every dude she comes in contact with is obsessed with her. (sadly cliche but not as annoying as it could be) Oh, except for the ONE hot dude who gets with her best friend/roommate. Merit trains to be even more badass, more people fall for her, and she helps resolve problems for the vamps in Chicago. Fin.

( )