Twice Bitten (Chicagoland Vampires, Book 3) [Paperback]

Chloe Neill (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 6, 2010

Shapeshifters from across the country are convening in the Windy City, and as a gesture of peace, Master Vampire Ethan Sullivan has offered their leader a very special bodyguard: Merit, Chicago's newest vampire. Merit is supposed to protect the Alpha, Gabriel Keene-and to spy for the vamps while she's at it. Oh, and luckily Ethan's offering some steamy, one-on-one combat training sessions to help her prepare for the mission.

Unfortunately, someone is gunning for Gabriel, and Merit soon finds herself in the line of fire. She'll need all the help she can get to track down the would-be assassin, but everywhere she turns, there are rising tensions between supernaturals-not least between her and a certain green-eyed, centuries-old master vampire.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Neill's briskly paced third Chicagoland Vampires paranormal romance (after 2009's Friday Night Bites) makes new readers comfortable with a thorough recap before diving into swiftly developing events that will satisfy returning fans. In the two months since graduate student Merit was involuntarily turned into the Cadogan House Sentinel by master vampire Ethan Sullivan, she's become part of the vampires' recent emergence into the public eye, battled another master vampire, suffered several emotional upheavals, and honed her fighting skills. Now she's assigned to guard the leader of North America's shape-shifters as the packs gather in Chicago to discuss the future of their often strained relationship with vampires. Merit's frequently snarky voice and amusing observations about the occasional absurdities of her situation combine with the magic of Neill's world in a refreshing take on urban fantasy.
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From Booklist

The third novel in the Chicagoland Vampires series finds Merit, a relatively new vampire and the Sentinel of Cadogan House, detailed to assist a convention of shape-shifters planning to meet in the Windy City. Someone shoots up the tavern where Merit and Gabriel, a shape-shifting Alpha, are having preliminary talks, and the fight is on. Merit has to figure out which of several suspects is gunning for Gabriel, whether tensions between the various supernaturals are being deliberately fanned, if she wants to join a vampire internal policing organization, and how she ought to respond to the attraction she feels for Ethan, the 400-year-old head of Cadogan House. It's enough to keep a girl quite busy, and the pages turn fast enough to satisfy vampire and romance fans alike. --Frieda Murray

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: NAL Trade (July 6, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451230647
• ISBN-13: 978-0451230645
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (143 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #116,193 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Chloe Neill was born and raised in the South, but now makes her home in the Midwest--just close enough to Cadogan House and St. Sophia's to keep an eye on things. When not transcribing Merit's and Lily's adventures, she bakes, works, and scours the Internet for good recipes and great graphic design. Chloe also maintains her sanity by spending time with her boys--her favorite landscape photographer/husband and their dogs, Baxter and Scout. (Both she and the photographer understand the dogs are in charge.) You can learn more about Chloe by visiting http://chloeneill.com

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#80 in Books > Romance > Fantasy & Futuristic

#80 in Books > Romance > Fantasy & Futuristic

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 57 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific urban fantasy on the lighter side July 6, 2010

By S. Cook

Format:Paperback

Twice Bitten picks up shortly where Friday Night Bites left off. We find out who was sending Merit those mysterious unsigned invitations (no, I won't hint because it'd be a major spoiler, but I will say it's a cool plotline!) The shifters are coming to town and Ethan tells Merit he needs her help in providing security for them during their convocation. His hope is to convince the shifters to stay and become allies. They believe war may be coming and need the shifters' support. Working as Sentinel for the Cadogan House, Merit continues her training--she's mastered her swordwork but struggling with sparring. The romantic tension between Merit and Ethan really heats up--but an old love of Ethan's shows up on the scene making us wonder what that will mean. Merit and Mallory are not talking following their disagreement, which of course is upsetting to both of them.

I love the heroine Merit--fiesty, smart, fun, honorable, loyal, hardworking. I enjoyed seeing her grow as a character over the course of the series. She starts as a grad student with a closely defined, much smaller world outlook. After she is converted, her world becomes much bigger and she grows to fit into it. I enjoyed seeing her strength in this book--she had many kick b*tt moments, as well as times she effectively showed her smarts. I hope this series continues for a long time to come. I want to see Merit eventually take the test to rise to Master Vampire, and see where life takes her after that. She is a very interesting character--one of the better new characters introduced in the genre recently (and I've read over 400 UF and PNR books!)

I also continue to enjoy the ancilliary characters, including many new ones. Jeff, one of my favorite side characters, has a potential love interest.... I enjoyed how the author continues to build out the characters, like learning about how/when Ethan became a vampire, seeing more of his interactions with Merit, etc. I began to understand him better as a character, however I didn't agree with all of the decisions he made--some *really* annoyed me.

The world building continues to be one of the strengths of this series. The informative glimpses we got of vampire life in the first two books are continued in this one. And we also see more of how sorcery magic works, as well as an in-depth introduction to shapeshifters--how they are organized, their magic, their politics, etc. Also, I like how Chicago is so prominent as the setting. The touches of real-life Chicago add color and depth to the story.

If you are a fan of urban fantasy, I highly recommend the Chicagoland Vampires series. It reminds me of a cross between Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series and Shelly Laurenston's Pride Stories (which is saying a lot since I love both series). Briggs in the way it's an urban fantasy with strong world building; an appealing leading gal as the main character; and good mix of action, mystery, suspense with a little romance. Laurenston in the snarky humor and terrific dialogue. A truly great mix of styles resulting in an original, entertaining series.

It's a lighter urban fantasy than some on the market, which I enjoy as a change of pace--mixing up the lighter reads in between the darker ones. It's nice to laugh out loud from time to time! If you haven't read the series, be sure to read the books in order:
1 - Some Girls Bite
2 - Friday Night Bites
3 - Twice Bitten

If you are on the hunt for more books like this, check out my list of paranormal romance and urban fantasy favorites...
http://www.amazon.com/Paranormal-action-romance-must-reads/lm/R214ESW3HL12HM/ref=tag_lag_rb_munk_lmfull
(copy and paste into your browser address bar) Read more ›

25 of 30 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Well written and infuriating at the same time July 8, 2010

By V. Chuba

Format:Paperback

This review contains SPOILERS.

I've been a fan of this series from the beginning, as it is extremely well written, with excellent world building and a cast of compelling characters. This third book in the series continues this trend. Let's start with the good:
The writing quality, excellent dialogue, world building, decent plot, the author's version of shapeshifters - all of these things are top notch and alone are worth buying the book. The world is getting quite complex and I can't see how the author can tie all the knots together in just one more book (on her website, she says she was originally commissioned to write only 4 books). My suspicion is, given her success so far, she will write many more in this series, especially considering certain things that are being set up in this book for the future.

However, here's the not so good, in my humble opinion: Merit's relationship with Ethan. It's not that it's badly written. On the contrary. It's complex and maddening and heart breaking. So from the point of view of the reader, it's definitely engrossing. As some reviewers described below, Merit and Ethan finally have a breakthrough in their relationship, spend the night together and it seems that Ethan has finally committed to her (he talks a big game for sure, telling her he needs her and she is worth anything). However, events transpire that put Merit in danger, and Ethan's emotional and protective reaction terrifies him and makes him realize that if he follows a relationship with her, he may not be able to put the needs of the House before her needs if the situation calls for it. This causes him to break it off with Merit, although she warns him that there is no going back from this. He tells her that it's a risk he's willing to take.... What follows is the expected heartbreak on Merit's part, her humiliation in front of everyone in the House, and a surprise return of Ethan's ex girlfriend, who further humiliates Merit. I have to give the author the props for giving Merit a backbone throughout the whole thing. She makes up with her best friend and resolves to only be professional with Ethan, who has the gall, after everything, to ask her ever so solicitously if anything is bothering her. He can't be with her but is unable, and unwilling, to let her go completely, and insists that they should maintain emotional ties beyond a strictly professional relationship. This is immature and selfish, and one would expect more emotional maturity from a man who has lived for 400 hundred years and who is in charge of over three hundred other vampires. The problem here, fundamentally, is that Ethan will always see Merit through the prism of her usefulness to his House and as a means to an end, not as an equal partner who deserves to be loved unconditionally (in a weird way, while he insists he's not like Merit's father, he acts exactly like him). What makes Ethan a good Master makes him a horrible lover. While I understand Ethan's devotion to his House and respect his motivations, I don't think Merit should be the victim of this, and spend years being strung along by him, hoping that one day this will change. Their relationship, as it stands right now, is extremely unhealthy and unbalanced. I really like Merit and I respect her and most of her behavior in this book. She deserves better. In the words of her best friend Mallory, "Do you really want to be with a man who needs to be convinced to be with you?". In addition, Merit is too powerful to keep from becoming a Master vampire one day herself, or at least from outgrowing Ethan. If she wants to be with him, she needs to give up a hell of a lot, and at this point, the author hasn't convinced us that he's worth it.

I really look forward to the next book. At this point, the world and the plot have progressed enough to become complex. The relationship between the two main leads has become even more so. I'm not sure how the author will overcome the obstacles in their relationship, but I'm definitely curious to find out. I highly recommend this series. Read more ›

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Worthwhile Read July 6, 2010

By Mellie Mercury

Format:Paperback

This series is some of the best new UF out there, and definitely deserves 5 stars. The writing style is fabulous, infused with biting and sarcastic humor, and the characters are fleshed out without neglecting the plot.

Basically, the shapeshifters have come to town (cue dramatic music), and Ethan, always on the watch for new allies, has sent Merit out to protect the leader in the hopes of currying his favor. The book begins right where Friday Night Bites ends, and over the course of the book, we get a few mysteries wrapped up (including the "blank invitations" thing) and a few new mysteries added to keep things interesting. There's action, romantic scenes, and character growth.

Merit is getting stronger, both mentally and physically, and there are some wonderful scenes illustrating how far she's come. Chloe Neill manages to balance Merit's increasingly impressive power with the fact that she's still just a fallible human being. Some of the side characters get a little more scene time here (particularly Jeff, Lindsey, and Mal, along with a bar of Noviates), and we get some more info/backstory on Ethan. My only problem (and this might just be me) is that, while I'm liking Merit more and more each book, I'm liking Ethan less and less. I don't want to spoil anything, but my mouth actually fell open at some of his choices, and not in a good way. I probably shouldn't want to stick pins in a little Ethan voodoo doll, but I really, really do. Anyway, the book is still fabulous, written with surprising elegance, and I'll keep my fingers crossed for some sort of redemption on the romantic front. Preferably redemption involving groveling, epic jealousy, or a mallet to the head.... :)

Even though many of the problems of each book are self-contained, you get a sense of a building story outside of the "villian of the week" format. Merit is getting stronger, war may be coming, alliances are being made or broken, and it just feels like chess pieces are being set up.

All I can say is that it's definitely worth the time and money to check it out. Read more ›