August 6, 2013

Release Day Euphoria/Book Review: Biting Bad by Chloe Neill

at 8/06/2013 12:05:00 AM
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.

Yay!!!!! it's official! Biting Bad is out in print and ebook. If you haven't already pre-ordered your copy yet, click the links below to do so. I also want to congratulate the winners of my Biting Bad givaway, Deanna S. and Jacqueline E. Congrats ladies! So, since the events of House Rules (book 7), things have been quiet. At a time like that, you're just waiting for the other shoe to drop and you know that our girl Merit will be there to defend her House. 

~*~*~*~WARNING! SPOILERS ABOUND! DO NOT HIGHLIGHT UNLESS YOU WANT TO KNOW DETAILS. spoilers are in white~*~*~*~~*

Biting Bad starts off with a spar session between Merit and her oh-so-yummy Master/lover, Ethan Sullivan. Of course the members of Cadogan House had to watch the sparring session to see who beats who. In the crowd are Catcher Bell, Merit's friend and mentor, and Jonah of House Grey, who also happens to be Merit's Red Guard partner. Since being rescued by Cadogan House, the head of the GP has remained quiet and everyone is on red alert to see what they might possibly dish out as punishment for breaking away from the GP.

Merit goes off and meets up with Mallory, who has been working with Gabriel Keene, pack master of the North American Central Pack to control her magic. I am happy that Mallory and Merit have started taking steps to rebuild the relationship that they had before Mallory went all psycho-power crazy with dark magic. Things are going well when the trouble starts. Rioters are throwing Molotov cocktails at a BLOOD4YOU factory, set it ablaze, while chanting 'Clean Chicago'. The rioters began expanding and picking on people who they perceived as vampire lovers; with the suspicious intent to beat the crap out of you despite your answer. That's the scary thing with rioters. During a riot, rioters feel that they could get away with anything. To add even GREATER insult to injury, the rioters beat on Merit's car, smashing windows and making dents on the frame. Oh! Poor baby!

Gathering her wits and getting the hell out the range of danger, Merit and Mallory head back to Little Red, where Gabriel gave Merit a loaner car to drive home, since her Volvo was so beat up. There's a particular reason why he let her borrow the specific Mercedes-Benz car and it has to do with Ethan and a dead gangster, but I won't elaborate any further. ;) One shoe has dropped, but not to worry! There are other plotlines that are explored. Namely the GP and their political fight for dominance against Cadogan House. I honestly thought there would be some leniency toward Cadogan House since they did form a rescue mission to get Darius West and Lakshmi Rao back from the assassin, hired by none other than McKetrick, the hatemonger with a serious vendetta against vampires

Later on in the book, we finally learn where McKetrick's deep-seated hatred for vamps comes from and as tragic as it was, I have no pity for this man. Moving on, we also get the meet the Merit family, with their assorted spouses. Merit and Ethan go to dinner at the Merit house and by house I mean fancy digs. The dinner scene brings a different perspective of the Merit family. From previous books, the Merits came off as elitist and were not accepting of anything that disrupted their way of life and reputation in society. They still came off as elitist, but not so much. Mr. Merit Sr. still has the need to distance himself from his poor upbringing by putting on a show of a fancy dinner; even though it's just a family dinner.

Merit, along with her friends investigate the perpetrator of the firebombings at the factory as well as the other vampire friendly places that were attacked. There's more to the story than meets the eye and Merit is just the girl to piece it together. Friendships are rebuilt, lives are lost and the fight for their livelihood is at hand! I give this book a rating of...... 5 stars!

There's action, romance, humor, and plenty of emotions to go around. Biting Bad is a wonderful addition to the series and Chloe Neill does it again! I absolutely can't wait to read the next book, Wild Things. Visit Chloe's website and sign up to her newsletter to get news about what she's been up to and to learn more about this awesome author!



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~*~*~About the Author~*~*~


photo by Dana Damewood

Chloe Neill is the New York Times bestselling author of the Chicagoland Vampires series and was born and raised in Jacksonville, Arkansas. Neill now makes her home in the Midwest with her husband, Jeremy Dixon, a photographer and IT guru, and their two dogs, Baxter and Scout.

Neill studied art in college and she had big plans to move to New York to become an artist until she took her first political science class--she was hooked! Chloe Neill went on to earn two more degrees, both a BA and an MA, in Political Science and has a full-time office job with long hours but somehow manages to find the time to write wonderful novels.

Chloe Neill began writing novels in 2004 after reading every Paranormal, Urban Fantasy and Romance series she could find. After sending a query letter directly to Penguin, Editor Jessica Wade read it, breathlessly requested a full manuscript, and a dew short weeks later was able to make Chloe a deal. This book was to become Some Girls Bite, the first book in Chloe Neill's New York Times bestselling Chicagoland Vampires series.

While writing the Chicagoland Vampires series, Chloe Neill also wrote a series for Young adult readers about a boarding school for teens with paranormal abilities in Chicago called the Dark Elite series. When not working or writing, Chloe Neill enjoys graphic design, web design, baking, travel, visiting Chicago, playing with her dogs and learning how to use her Nikon camera. 

To learn more about Chloe and the stories she weaves, visit her website.

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