Adult Book Review: Bite Me, I'm Yours by Stacy McKitrick
Title: Bite Me I'm Yours
Series: Bitten by Love, #2
Author: Stacy McKitrick
Website | Facebook | Goodreads
Age Group: ADULT
Genre Type: Contemporary / Paranormal Romance
Publication Date: September 1st 2014
Source: Publisher - NetGalley
Publisher: Kensington Books
SUMMARY:
Sarah's known monsters...and John isn't one. Sarah's life isn't going well. She's divorced from an abusive jerk, been drugged, stuffed in her trunk and nearly kidnapped. Between that and a harsh winter, it's almost more than a girl can take. She's rightly distrusting of any man's affection, so an ice-skating date with John - who doesn't seem to feel the cold - isn't exactly on her bucket list. Yet something about him captures her attention.
John is determined to live as an ordinary mortal. He's moved into the city, bought a sports bar and works there as the bartender. As a new vampire, he's never considered dating, until he meets Sarah. Prudence dictates he stay away from her, but everything about her calls to him...right down to her cute animal socks.
Sure, finding out John is a vampire is scary, but Sarah's learned not all monsters have fangs. Besides, someone else isn't too happy about their budding relationship. Sarah will have to survive before getting her chance at love.
Bite Me, I'm Yours by Stacy McKitrick feels much like a contemporary romance would, with the exception that it has a light touch of paranormal feel to it thanks to a hunky, bartender who also just happens to be a vampire as well. The cover immediately drew me with its kissing couple and its fun title for sure. The author Stacy McKitrick is new to me, and I was hoping for a paranormal romance with strong and exciting characters all wrapped-up in a fun and contemporary setting. Overall, it was entertaining read, although different that I had originally anticipated.
I will say the best part of the story, for me, was reading about how these two completely different individuals (a Beta-styled Vampire and Distrusting, Damsel-in-Distress) ended up together. The romance was sweet between John and Sarah, and I enjoyed watching all the romantic build-up between them.
Sarah has suffered a lot of abuse, both mentally and physically, at the hands of her ex-husband. She has a really hard time at first trusting John and, despite being attracted and intrigued by him she remains skittish and leery of his attention to her. This, and the fact that John is a vampire, a fact she does not know at first, and who has some really odd quirks about him like not eating in front of her and only able to see/date her at night, makes for some light and fun moments in the story.
John feels like your typical beta-male, except he's a vampire. He's sweet, intelligent, owns his own bar, yet he's also awkward when it comes to dating and relationships. As a fairly newly 'made' vampire - the idea of dating fills him with more dread than a wooden stake. But, of course there's something about Sarah that captures his attention and makes him want to protect and 'romance' her in a good, old-fashioned, Undead kind of way. Sweet, awkward, honest and sexy at times, I had fun in the end seeing these two get together.
I do want to mention that there were a few darker scenes/issues in the story that involves abuse, rape and even a kidnapping that lent a darker side to this story as well. So, please be warned.
There were a few issues within the story though that kept me from really enjoying Bite Me, I'm Yours as much as I had hoped for, and some of it is really my personal preference when it comes to a romance, and one that involves paranormal and vampires. The minor issues I had was the fact that John was not the typical alpha-male that I prefer, especially when it comes to being a vampire, and so I was disappointed in that aspect. And, as for Sarah, although I sympathized with her greatly, she seemed very weak and passive for a majority of the story before she gained some inner strength. My biggest issue, one that frustrated me and kept me from really enjoying the story, was the numerous rescues of Sarah throughout the story, turning her into a damsel-in-distress one too-many times for my personal taste.
So, while Bite Me, I'm Yours ended up being an overall entertaining read for me, the lack of strong characters that I prefer and too many rescues made it difficult for me to really feel really excited over the story and romance.
My Rating: 3.0 Stars. Entertaining, with a few issues.
PLEASE NOTE: A courtesy review copy of this book was provided by Kensington Books in exchange for my fair and honest review. Thank you Kensington Books for the review opportunity!
