Lynsay Sands

Love Bites by Lynsay Sands
Book #2: Argeneau Series
Source: Purchase (Print and Audible)
My Rating: 4½/5 stars

After more than 300 years of living, Etienne Argeneau finally has some new entertainment. He has a Pudge. More specifically, Pudge is a completely disturbed human who has decided, in sad, his muddled mind that he must kill Etienne. After 300 years, Etienne is willing to play along until he or his family can come up with a way to safely dispose of the disturbed man.

And then Etienne show more lands himself in the morgue . . . . twice!

Rachel Garrett considers herself to be a rational woman of science, but when the corpse of the seriously hot man appears in her morgue, twice, it’s time to start questioning some things. Since a person can’t die twice, there must be an explanation. Thankfully, that explanation comes in two forms: 1) the first time he “died” was just a hallucination brought on by the flu; 2) the second time he “died” was because something called Pudge blew him up. But, what the hell is a Pudge and why was he going on and on about the dead man being a vampire and why are all the crispy burned bits flaking off?

When Rachel eventually comes to, she has a metric ton of questions. One would think, after 300+ years of life, Etienne would be far better at answering questions. He is not, and it takes about 30 seconds for him to convince Rachel she is in the midst of a dream. A very long, very heavily populated, weirdly erotic dream, that involves Etienne’s mother . . . . wait, what? Since no one’s mother should ever appear in a wet dream, Etienne’s mother and sister take over and have a serious conversation with Rachel about her new life situation.

Though Rachel is justifiably freaked out by her situation, she’s learning to cope with it with Etienne’s help. Though Rachel frustrates Etienne, she also challenges him and brings to life thoughts and feelings he has firmly tucked away for many a long and lonely decade. She’s sexy and smart, funny and capable, and willing to put in the hard work needed to adjust to her new life. She also loves his video game 😊 As if the new life training wheels weren’t enough, Rachel and Etienne also have to deal with the continued presence of Pudge. Dealing with Pudge is a necessity and as Rachel and Etienne soon find out, it is a necessity that will have to be dealt with sooner rather than later. Pudge has plans . . . .

The Bottom Line: I liked this installment of the Argeneau series even better than the first! Rachel is hilarious in her determination to believe she is caught up in a dream, and Etienne’s “stupidity” after 300+ years of life is stunning. His poor mother 😊 There are so many funny, sexy, silly moments in this book that I couldn’t take my headphones off. Yeah, I listened to this one cover to cover, so to speak, in a single sitting and loved every minute. I particularly enjoyed watching Rachel unravel Etienne’s world and reminding him that he may be old, but there is a lot more living yet to be done. As for me, I have many more Argeneau’s to rediscover so it’s onward and upward . . . . . show less

This was an excellent addition to the Highland Brides series. Graeme Gunn spent the last ten years as a mercenary, fighting his way around Scotland and beyond. As the second son, he does not expect to become laird, especially after his oldest brother, William, married. But William ran off with a village woman on his wedding night and hasn't been seen since. Six years later, they find William's body, and Graeme must take him home and take over as laird.

Annella Mackay Gunn had the care and show more keeping of the Gunn lands dropped in her lap the day after her wedding. Annella is the daughter of Annabel and Ross in the series' first book, An English Bride in Scotland. She hoped for a love match like her parents had. Instead, she had to deal with being abandoned by her husband, putting up with a witch of a mother-in-law who cut her down at every opportunity, coping with an annoying young brother-in-law, and rescuing a clan struggling to survive. She has been laird, chatelaine, and healer for the last six years. It took time, but she has grown from a quiet and naïve young girl to a woman with a steel spine and fantastic management skills.

I loved the opening scenes of the book. Graeme has listened to Annella's brother Payton extoll her virtues of a quiet and biddable woman. It is an eye-opening (and hilarious) scene when they arrive at Gunn and find her bellowing at the clansman she is attempting to sew up. Rather than being put off by her actions, Graeme is intrigued. Meanwhile, upon learning of her husband's death, Annella makes no secret of her pleasure at the news and her desire to return to her parents' home.

I enjoyed watching Graeme and Annella's relationship develop. In addition to the sparks of attraction that flare between them, Graeme is smitten with Annella from his first encounter with her. He wants nothing more than to make her his wife, especially after they've given in to those sparks. Having been burned once, Annella finds it difficult to trust him.

I laughed out loud at Graeme's attempts to convince or compel Annella to marry him. Her determined resistance frustrated him, but eventually, he succeeded. However, while their physical relationship is explosive, they still have much to learn about each other - especially Graeme. He makes some boneheaded decisions by not using Annella's hard-earned management skills. I loved watching her come to his rescue and point out the error of his ways. It takes some time for him to learn to trust her and to earn her trust in return. Admitting their feelings is even more difficult.

Complications arise when it becomes evident that someone is unhappy about their marriage. As frequently happens in this series, Graeme and Annella face poisoning, flying arrows, and other attacks aimed at ending their lives. Some unexpected twists kept me guessing who was behind it, and the resolution held some surprises. show less

Terrific book with a great balance of romance and suspense. This book picks up where the previous book (Highland Wolf) ends. Allissaid MacFarlane is the sister of the heroine in that book, and when the villain in that book is foiled, he immediately kidnaps Allissaid to continue his efforts to steal her family's lands. Allissaid is no meek-hearted miss and risks her life to escape, even though she's badly injured. When she attempts to steal, umm.. borrow a plaid left on the shore of the loch, show more its owner catches her, and in the struggle, she loses consciousness.

Calan is taking a quick dip in the loch when he sees a lad running off with his plaid. However, once he tackles the lad, he discovers the lad is a lass and a lady. Because she's unconscious and to protect her reputation, he sneaks her into his room at the castle. He'll straighten things out once she's awake and he knows who she is. When she awakens, Allissaid has no idea if she's in the home of a friend or foe, so she pretends she doesn't remember anything, including who she is. Calan's instincts to protect are aroused, and he's determined to keep her safe.

I enjoyed watching the relationship develop between Allissaid and Calan. Since his father's death eight years earlier, Calan has been busy learning to be a laird and taking care of his lands and people, with neither time nor inclination to look for a wife. But Allissaid drew his interest from the start, and I loved seeing this tough Highland warrior show his softer side as she wormed her way into his heart. It doesn't take long for Allissaid to realize that Calan is an honorable man and that she can trust him.

Most of the book's action occurs in Calan's bedroom, where Allissaid is hidden to keep her presence secret until MacNaughton can be dealt with. Calan won my heart with his sensitivity, from the late-night snack scene to his understanding of her fears for her family. He falls for her more every day and is soon determined to have her for his own. Allissaid falls equally hard for him and starts hoping he feels the same. There are some blatant matchmaking vibes from Calan's mother and sister, so it's no surprise their growing attraction puts them into a compromising situation with predictable consequences. There is a hilarious scene with Calan and his mother regarding the wedding night, and Calan's reactions had me laughing out loud. The ending was fantastic, and I look forward to seeing more of them in future books.

The story's suspense was good, keeping Allissaid's danger present without overwhelming the romance. The more we hear about MacNaughton's actions and intentions, the more Allissaid's peril is evident. Calan and his family have had issues with MacNaughton and are determined to keep her safe. I liked seeing the steps taken to mitigate the threat and how clan relationships and alliances make that possible. There is suspicion that MacNaughton has spies planted in the various households, intensifying the need for secrecy. The final confrontation was a nail-biter as an unexpected (by them) player entered the game and put Allissaid in danger. The ending was well done, with Calan to the rescue.

The secondary characters were terrific, too. I liked Calan's sister Inghinn. Like Allissaid, she is intelligent and strong. I liked her quick understanding of the danger Allissaid was in and her efforts to keep her safe. I laughed at her mother's blatant matchmaking attempts with Alick and am interested in seeing if anything comes of it. Calan's mother was great. I liked her obvious caring for Allissaid and wasn't surprised at her attempts to bring her and Calan together. It was fun to see Calan's confusion when she didn't react as he expected her to. Calan's cousin and best friend, Gille, had an intriguing backstory, and I'd love to see him get his own story. I loved seeing more Buchanans and hearing about other clans and characters from earlier books.

#netgalley show less

Wow-what a read! I know that many reviewers and long-time readers are going to be telling 'newbies' that they really should read some of the other books first. In my opinion, you do not have to do so. As it is, the first part of this series is written quite differently; lighter, funnier, a tad less descriptive sexually. That might make you feel the author needs to grow, but she already has. The series has changed as time went on.

The second reason is that this book has enough necessary show more back-story that makes reading some of the later works in this series unnecessary. I myself was in a quandary when I didn't remember some essential past issues that were being discussed in this book. However, to my delight, just as I was beyond frustrated, everything was explained. So now I don't have to do a considerable re-read of the whole series. Not that I won't LOL!

What we have here is one of the best Argeneau books that I have read in a long time. The characters are fresh, sexy, and quite interesting. They have a lot more going on than just pining for each other.

Stephanie is a non-fang vampire, and Thorne is the result of a DNA experiment by his nutsy cuckoo father. Thorne has come to this remote area to see if he can have an operation that would make him "normal. Stephanie is in the same area because she hears thinner and outer voices of everyone in her vicinity. She needs to be alone. But fate is going to lead them on a wonderful trip filled with excitement, fighting, and a ton load of know-it-all vampires!

*ARC supplied by Avon and Harper Voyager, NetGalley, and the author. show less