It Happened One Bite by L. Dare

I think I’ve mentioned before that I’m a sucker for vampire novels, so I was very excited to test out It Happened One Bite by Lydia Dare.

He’s lost, trapped, doomed for all eternity…
Rich, titled, and undead, gentleman vampyre James Maitland, Lord Kettering, fears himself doomed to a cold and lonely existence-trapped for decades in an abandoned castle. Then, beautiful Scottish witch Blaire Lindsay arrives, and things begin to heat up considerably…

Unless he can persuade her to set him free…
Feisty Blaire Lindsay laughs off the local gossip surrounding her mother’s ancestral home-stories of haunting cannot scare off this battle-born witch. But when she discovers the handsome prisoner in the bowels of the castle, Blaire has no idea that she has unleashed anything more than a man who sets her heart on fire…

Blair Lindsey is strong, courageous, and tough, while the majority of the women of her time aren’t.   She and her coven stand out as strange because they are different.  They’re called battle born and are trained for battle NOT for everyday life like cooking and sewing.  It’s also something that is passed down only through the women, and it’s the women who do all the training.    They are a tough group you don’t want to mess with, even without their powers.  Blaire doesn’t come across as overly tough as some strong characters do, thankfully.  There’s a spunkiness to her, yet underneath it all she’s still innocent and naive.

Which brings me to the hunky vampire James Maitland, who starts out questionable but in the end you grow to love the guy.  He’s the guy as in sweet, endearing, yet ornery and flirtatious, what most consider the perfect combo.  He’s not all that scary as a vampire, and although I like ‘em scary, he’s still pretty spiffy.   The vampires, or vampyres as it is spelled in It Happened One Bite, are your typical vamps, the only new concept is that of a ring that allows them to go out into the day.  Which isn’t all that new, it’s in a few other books including a TV show, but still it’s a new twist.  Only three rings are known, and these three rings bind the three wearers together making it easier to find each other.

To be honest, all the characters are well rounded and very believable and likeable…well minus the villains anyway but that’s why they are the bad guys.

It Happened One Bite isn’t the first novel in the series, so there were things I’m missing, but it didn’t ruin the book for me at all.  In fact, I purchased all the previous novels before I was finished with it.  The plot wasn’t so out there and weird, which can sometimes happen when vampires and/or witches are in the picture.  It was a cat and mouse, old enemies wanting to make you pay, trying to figure out the truth of your history and that of your family type story.  It’s fairly normal, yet it has enough intrigue and mystery to keep the plot from being boring and something we’ve read before.

What I didn’t like…One thing in particular I cannot tell you because it would spoil the entire story.  All I can say, is it’s a total flip from what the ‘reality’ is, that it made me think ‘what the crap’ over and over again.  It makes the ending all sweet and fairly picture perfect; it’s really strange and not explained.  Making you curious huh???  Two, and this isn’t all that much of a complaint, I like scary vampires with lots of vamp action and It Happened One Bite didn’t have all that much.  It’s the same with the witches; the magical scenes are few and far between.  But neither of these kill the story, it actually works for it.  It’s not a blood and gore type vampire novel, it’s romantic and mysterious so there’s no need to have scary vamps and constant magic…I just happened to be one of those that really like the scary action.

If you are a fan of romance novels and tame vampires, you MUST check out this book.  It really is the best of both worlds.

Read Order:
It Happened One Bite
In the Heat of the Bite (July 1, 2011)