Sandy M’s review of One Bite Stand (MacKenzie Vampires, Book 4) by Nina Bangs
Contemporary Paranormal Romance published 1 Jan 08 by Leisure

I always seem to jump the gun when reading an author I haven’t read before and when it’s the latest book in a series that I haven’t read before. This time I jumped to the conclusion way too soon I wasn’t going to like this book after getting through the first chapter. It was almost a little too quirky for me. The character names, the idea of the storyline, and the humor wasn’t what I expected. Okay, maybe the Woo Woo Inn should have given me a clue. It didn’t take long, however, for Ms. Bangs to shoot my attitude down. I ended up having a whole lot of fun with this gang at the inn, quirkiness and all.

Since I love paranormals, I really enjoyed all the different characters in this book, from vamps to gargoyles and so much more in between. My favorite character was Declan. Just because. He’s a vampire; he’s a loner who needs love; he’s sexy; he’s not afraid of his feelings. He also was able to see past Daria’s “ugliness” because she’s a harpy and that’s what they live for, even though she wasn’t as ugly as other harpies, much to her dismay.

Daria was also a terrific character, a strong, stubborn woman who definitely can hold her own in a fight and lets Declan know in no uncertain terms she won’t walk away like a good little girl while he takes care of the boogeyman. The secondary characters were just as interesting, especially Ganymede and Sparkle, an unusual pair if I ever saw one, but they kept me laughing. The baddies of the story are right up there on the evil scale. Fenrir is the baddest of them all, and it takes everything all these characters have to save the universe from his evilness.

So once I jumped on the laughter train and didn’t look at the goings-on as silly as I originally had, I was very satisifed with this read. It was fun instead of silly. It pulled everything together at the end quite nicely. I never felt confused since this is Book 4 in the series, although it has made me curious about the prior books where I’m sure some of these other characters were introduced and maybe have books of their own. I look forward to reading them all.

 Grade: B+

From the back cover:

He’s a big, bad vampire looking for a one bite stand.  She’s a big, bad harpy looking for her ticket to the underworld.

Harpies don’t get callbacks. That’s why Daria’s job as night manager of the Woo Woo Inn is the opportunity of several lifetimes. Where better to prove that in the snatch-and-dispatch business she has CEO potential? So what if she doesn’t really fit the corporate image. So what if she has to nurture her inner bitch to compete. And triple so what if she’d rather take Declan Mackenzie to bed than on a one-way, all-expense-paid trip to Tartarus. His sexy blue eyes and hard male body lure her into deep and dangerous erotic waters. With a monster eating guests for its midnight snack, cosmic troublemakers cooking up chaos, and Declan making serious moves on her, this looks like a lot more than a…

One Bite Stand

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series: