3 Stars: A Good Read
Author: Parker Blue
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books
Title: Bite Me
Pages: 229
Buy it: Amazon, B&N, Book Depository
An edgy book for teens that spans the gap between YA and adult fiction. Life after high school is tough enough without having to go 15 rounds with your inner demon. Val Shapiro is just your ordinary, part-demon, teenaged vampire hunter with a Texas drawl. And a pet hellhound named Fang. Soon enough she finds herself deep in the underbelly of the city, discovering the secrets of the Demon Underground and fighting to save those she loves. Whether they love her back or not.
Title: Try Me
Publication: February 19th 2010 (Paperback)
Pages: 218
Buy it: Amazon, B&N, Book Depository
This part-demon teen vampire fighter and her faithful terrier hellhound are once again patrolling the dark city streets of San Antonio, Texas. Val’s hunky human partner, Detective Dan Sullivan, is giving her the cold shoulder since she beheaded his vampire ex-fiancée. Vamp leader Alejandro is struggling to keep the peace between vamps, demons and humans. The mucho powerful Encyclopedia Magicka has been stolen, someone in the Demon Underground is poisoning vamps, and Val’s inner lust demon, Lola, is getting very restless since Val’s now partnered with sexy Shade, the shadow demon with the blond good looks of an angel.
The second book in Parker Blue’s Demon Underground urban fantasy series plunges readers deeper into a heady world of passion, friendship, intrigue and mystery.
Title: Fang Me
Publication: June 1, 2011 (Paperback)
Pages: 330
Buy it: Amazon, B&N, Book Depository
The vampires want it. The demons want it too. And someone is willing to kill Val for it.
Val and Fang have to find the powerful Encyclopedia Magicka before either of San Antonio’s warring underworld factions locate it, or the consequences will be deadly for the entire city.
As usual, Val’s vampire enemies (they still call her The Slayer,) want her dead, and even some of her fellow demons may be less than trustworthy, since they’d like to grab the legendary book of spells before she does. Val has a personal claim to the Encyclopedia–her demon father left it to her when he died–but someone stole it recently. Where did the thief hide it?
Battling vamps and dodging demons, Val struggles to unravel the mystery. At the same time, she’s fighting her attraction to sweet, sexy Shade, her favorite incubus. Rumor has it that Val will lose her half-demon, vampire-fighting powers if she gives herself to him.
With a crowd of vamps and demons out to trick her or kill her, it’s not a good time for her to risk her job as the city’s best vampire hunter by falling in love. The stakes are high–and aimed right at her heart. But Lola, Val’s hungry little lust demon, doesn’t like being denied. Will Lola finally get her way?
Val Shapiro is as kickass as her name. She doesn’t let Lola, as she nicknames the succubus within her, direct her life, and she isn’t afraid to take action, especially to protect her family even after all they’ve done to mess up her life. Despite the tough kid attitude, she loves her family, and she’s emotional at heart. There is romantic tension between Val and a couple of hot guys, though she leans towards a one man kind of girl. Val is a caring person despite her tough-girl attitude. She isn’t the kind of person to use her powers to create a harem.
The characters are well-rounded as a whole. There are characters that you love to hate and characters that you want to love. The tension between demons and vampires is well played and adds to the plot when Val finds herself working with the vampire Alejandro and his group who claim to want to live in peace with humans. Like Val, I wanted to believe in Alejandro’s cause; yet, I was never quite sure whether or not to trust him.
The series does a great job of filling in the reader on events from and which take place since the last book without being overly redundant. From the first page, I empathized with Val, and the only times I found myself disagreeing with her were times when she’s mistreated by people she cares about and she doesn’t hate them back. I would definitely recommend this series for the older teen and above audience looking for an urban fantasy with plenty of action and mystery.
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Bite Me Review (review by Kris)
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from the publisher. No payment was received in return for a review. The receipt of the book had no influence on the opinions expressed in my review.
Author: Crystal
A story girl at heart, Crystal is a bibliophile who can easily spend the day immersed in a good read. She writes under the name Kristy Wang. You can follow her writing adventures on X and Instagram @_kristywang.
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