Friday Night Bites by C. Neill

Friday Night BitesI just finished Friday Night Bites, the second Chicagoland Vampires novel by Chloe Neill and I was instantly sucked into it.

Ten months after vampires revealed their existence to the mortals of Chicago, they’re enjoying a celebrity status usually reserved for the Hollywood elite. But should people learn about the Raves-mass feeding parties where vampires round up humans like cattle-the citizens will start sharpening their stakes.

So now it’s up to the new vampire Merit to reconnect with her upper class family and act as liaison between humans and bloodsuckers, and keep the more unsavory aspects of the vampire lifestyle out of the media. But someone doesn’t want peace between them-someone with an ancient grudge…

I have to say, I’m left with a lot of speculation. Before I get into that, because that will definitely contain spoilers, let me say that I thoroughly enjoyed Friday Night Bites.  While the novel isn’t action packed or full of exciting twists and turns, there is a lot going on that keeps you glued to the pages.

We’re given more delicious interaction between Ethan and Merit that takes their relationship even farther.  However it does leave us with more questions, but really, just more reasons to bang our head against the wall.  I still haven’t figured out what Ethan is playing at when it comes to Merit.  I mean, it’s obvious that there is something between the two, but Ethan has pretty much done everything he can to ensure that they don’t end up together and it definitely comes back to bite him in the ass.

We also really don’t see all that much of Morgan this time around.  I’m kind of sad about that since I like him and Merit together, but he does bring a lot of their problems on himself.  Even if you’ve read Some Girls Bite, you know that he pretty much manipulated Merit into a date with him – on more than one occasion.  So I guess I’m just a little disappointed in the fact that he’s expecting so much when he really hasn’t earned it.   In Friday Night Bites, its glaringly obvious that Morgan is in over his head, and doesn’t realize it, as he comes off as one of the weakest characters.  Not physically, I mean he did rise to Second on his own, but it seems obvious that he wasn’t meant to be a Master yet.  If you want more explanation, check below, but I can’t help but think some of what I might say will be spoilerish.

However, while I’m sure everyone cares about the drama between Merit, Ethan and Morgan, it’s not the only thing going on in Friday Night Bites. Celina is back and she’s causing all sorts of trouble. This time, Cadogen House doesn’t even know about the trouble until they are so far in that they have no other recourse but to swim without a paddle.  Without giving away too much, a lot of the trouble is mainly politics – figure this out or we’ll go to the media-type of trouble, so there isn’t a lot of gun toting action going on or all that much yelling, but the story definitely keeps Merit running.  I almost think this style made it so I could become more into the story than when there is a lot of action.  There were a lot of dialogues and it felt more like I was there experiencing everything with Merit.

Overall, I really enjoyed Friday Night Bites.  This was a great sequel to Some Girls Bite and I can’t wait for Twice Bitten to come out next year.  It is going to be so amusing to what Ethan and Morgan do after the events in Friday Night Bites.  Plus, Neill leaves us, with not a cliffhanger, but with some really good nibbles on what to expect with the third novel.  If you haven’t added this series to your collection yet, then you really should.

Read Order:
Some Girls Bite
Friday Night Bites
Twice Bitten
Hard Bitten
Drink Deep (Nov. 2011)

Also Reviewed By:
The Eclectic Booklover
Darque Reviews
Naughty Editions

SPOILER ALERT —- SPOILER ALERT —- SPOILER ALERT

Is anyone else getting the sense that Merit may have a little shapeshifter in her heritage? That last chapter is just triggering all sorts of alarms in my head that there’s a lot more to Merit than even she, and Ethan, knows. The whole conversation with Gabriel Keene is what did it for me. I mean, this guy is the Apex Alpha of the North American Central – aka shapeshifter bad ass king – and he’s all jolly when Merit first meets him. Plus he hints at familial ties. Merit is having issues with her inner vampire wanting to be a bit too dominate, a bit too predatory – could this be the reason. She has a bit of shapeshifter in her and they are animals after all. Vampires may be the ultimate predatory, but Merit is right when she says:

We flew; they ran
We analyzed; they acted
We drank; they devoured
Not enemies, but not the same

The two races are technically the same, but one over-thinks everything where the other just acts.  One looks at the options and one goes on instinct.  Maybe that’s why Merit’s vampire comes out when she’s anxious, scared or hurt – it’s instinctual that she fight back.  Now I can’t wait for the third book to come out and see what is going on with the shapeshifters.  Although, the more I think about this, can shapeshifters be turned in Neill’s world?

Another thing bugging me is Morgan.  The guy can be a total ass.  He pretty much manipulates Merit into dating him and he’s upset that she doesn’t return his feelings.  Straight from the beginning she gives off signals she’s not interested (once he did that thing in Some Girls Bite at the club), so why does he expect her to be instantly in lust with her?  From what I could gather, they’ve been on 2, maybe 3, dates?  That’s not instant love.  Plus, he’s now a Master.  Just because he’s dating Merit doesn’t mean she is suppose to spill all Cadogen secrets to him.  He’s not Cadogen and even then, its not her place to be telling him.  It’s Ethan.  I can’t believe it gets all huffy when Merit won’t tell him anything. Yes, he’s dating a Sentinel, but not his.  Merit is going to have access to security issues that she can’t share and to expect her to is stupid.  To me, it just seems like Morgan assumes a lot and he hasn’t earned it.  Yes he’s a sweetheart, but he hasn’t reconciled his Master status with Merit yet and until he does, the two are going to butt heads.  I don’t think he would win if he made Merit chose between him and Ethan (not the house, but the man).  However, there’s a lot of growth potential for Morgan and once he does grow into his new position, I think he could be a strong contender for Merit.  This is the scenario that I can’t wait for.  When Morgan has a viable chance to really be a thorn in Ethan’s side when it comes to a relationship with Merit.  I can totally see that battle coming, but not until Morgan mans up and realizes that its just not him that he has to worry about.

About Jackie 3282 Articles
I am a 30-something SAHM with two adorable boys and a supportive husband who is very tolerant of my reading addiction. I love to read and easily go through about a dozen books a month – well I did before I had kids. Now, not so much. After my first son was born, I began to take my hobby of reviewing a little more serious and started Literary Escapism to help with my sanity. I love to discuss the fabulous novels I’ve read and meeting all the wonderful people in the book blogging community has been amazing.

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