The Bite That Binds

This review is for the first three books. They totally hit all my comfort read buttons.

I'm not sure I would have loved it as much if it was just the first book though tbh - the next two really flesh out the relationship and the world. Which makes sense, considering it was the author's first (self) published work.

Both MCs are equally possessive and protective of each other. Both are blunt and demanding. Neither wants to change the other. There's no whining, no feeling sorry for themselves, no angsty bullshit here. Pure heat and resistance overcome by realization and change.

Lots of friendship and loyalty, although - secondary characters are not all that well fleshed out, but fun nonetheless. The token drama queen queer best friend trope show more did bother me - this is a very heteronormative world.

The plot is low-stakes, predictable enough to be comforting and inventive enough to keep me from getting bored. The humour is snarky and the comeuppance increasingly satisfying. There are bad baddies and redeemable ones.

I'll be honest that I skimmed the clunkier exposition - not paying close attention to names or gifts did not affect my enjoyment of the squad dynamics in practice or in the field. When the setup in the third book starts to happen for the next couples' stories, I just searched them up. There's no major character development for them yet anyway.

There's violence, some of it is graphic, no real gore to speak of.

As for the erotica, there is plenty of on-page graphic oral, manual, and p/v sex with plenty of dirty talk scattered throughout. He is dominant, she is not submissive in the slightest. Very light bondage once or twice. show less

It's really a testament to her writing skills and intrigue that even though she has seriously twisted the vampire legend into something VERY unbelievable, it's believable!! Her imagination is very good! I liked how one person wasn't the end all be all, that other characters had input and talents and USE. I'm so sick of authors that have some main character being the ONLY ONE who can think and act, and the whole world rely on them!

Wright wrote solid characters, believable imaginings, and interesting subplots. I really liked her story! I'm a puritan when it comes to the vampire myth, you don't tweak it!! They don't glitter! But, for some reason, even though she totally tweaked it, I liked it! It was really fresh and interesting. And I show more think what helped make it buy-able is that she didn't explain how humans and vamps live together (which so often leaves me rolling my eyes), she didn't really merge the two worlds (which usually takes forever, and never seems to really work). And by doing that, she made it more seamless, more likely that it could happen.

AND!!! She didn't spare on revenge and justice!!! NICE!! No letting the slime get away with things, or smacking of hands. Nope, badguys got f**cked up! SWEET!

Anyway, I liked this series a lot. It was basically just an erotic romance, but there really was some interesting depth and an entertaining story line. show less

3.5 Stars. I absolutely love the characters in this book and Wright did an excellent job continuing to build them and their relationships.

I did find that while a lot was happening, each challenge they had to face seemed to resolve a little too quick after the build up. That being said I still really enjoyed this book and the binding ceremony was adorable!

Not as good as the first in this series, but I really love Suzanne Wright's books. Mouth-watering alpha males and bad-ass heroines!

3.25 Stars
Definitely better than book #1 in the series.
Still falls short of the type of writing I'm used to getting from Ms. Wright.
There is some good snarky humor from various characters.
There is some very steamy

ehhhhhhhhhhh. 2.5