Sandy M’s review of In the Heat of the Bite by Lydia Dare
Historical Paranormal Romance published by Sourcebooks Casablanca 1 Jul 11
I’ve been looking forward to this offshoot of Lydia Dare’s Westfield Brothers series. I didn’t really know what to expect, just that vampyres are being introduced into the mix. Unfortunately, I missed reading the first book in this new series, so I’m not sure if that has somehow dampened my enjoyment of this book , if it’s something else entirely, or perhaps a combination of both.
While the majority of my disappointment in this story is more than like a combo, the main sticking point for me is it’s the hero who let me down this time. I’ve enjoyed most of the heroes in these books, a couple more than others, so I’m slightly surprised Matthew doesn’t work as well for me. He does everything right. He’s a gentleman and a vampyre. He takes his responsibilities seriously. And he’s taken immediately with Rhiannon, even despite her witchly powers. But in comparison to those other heroes, Matthew is…a tad boring.
Rhiannon is in London for her sister’s coming out, but their aunt won’t her anywhere near the girl. The woman looks down on those witchly powers. It’s due to this aunt that Rhi pitches a fit of a storm – she controls the weather – in the middle of the night in the middle of a park, and Matthew just happens by. He’s fascinated. Rhiannon, not so much return fascination. She hasn’t had much luck with vampyres, having been attacked by one, so she’s a wee bit lukewarm toward Matthew.
From this point on, things kind of get tiresome. Matthew isn’t the typical alpha hero for being a vampyre. All those traits he has are fine, but he’s a supernatural being. Gimme alpha along with it. So he’s just ho-hum, as is the story for a good portion of the book. While there’s a spark between Matthew and Rhiannon, nothing else all that exciting goes on. There’s not much conflict. In fact, there’s more conflict between Matthew and Alec, who is now a vampyre himself – something that happened in the first book, which I’d really like to know about. I think it would definitely help my understanding of this story more. The only thing that perks me up is Rhiannon’s weather control problems. While she can, of course, control it when she desires, she has none whatsoever when it comes to extreme emotion, and there are some fun scenes when rain and other elements show up at all the wrong times. Matthew has control problems with Alec, but he controls his desire for Rhiannon, despite her best efforts to make him lose every ounce. So there’s a whole lot of control problems, but none of the really wake the story up.
The one element of the story that really irritates me, though, is the fact that Matthew, once he falls in love with and acknowledges his love for Rhiannon, becomes human again. Sigh. That negates one of the main reasons why I read these paranormal books. Okay, I realize perhaps Ms. Dare is trying to give readers something different, but this is just too much. Happily ever after in a paranormal is just that, happy forever. Don’t take that away when that’s the ultimate romance, being with the one you love for all eternity. In hindsight, I see the clues in Matthew missing his long-gone human traits, always feeling the outsider, and the like, but this concept just caught me off guard, and I didn’t like it. And the fact that Rhiannon knew this could happen, something else from the previous book, and she never mentions it to a soul? Really? Doesn’t make sense when she talks about everything else under the sun with her coven sisters.
What I do like is Alec’s story, and I’m looking forward to his book. I’m hoping to read It Happened One Bite before I get to his, however, because I do want to know what happened to him as it happens and not from his or anyone else’s recollections or conversation about it, and I believe that will fill in the holes I’ve fallen into already. All of you read-my-series-in-order readers know how that goes. But I’m anxious to find out who his lady love will be after his infatuation and constant protection of Caitlin throughout all of these books.
We also get to reacquaint ourselves with past characters, and I’m still especially fond of Dashiel. He has his hands full with Cait and his brothers, whom at times seem a little too childish but do then show great character at others. I’m not sure I really like Callista’s character. She’s Matthew’s maker, and when she realizes she’s losing him, in more ways than one, she goes a little ballistic. I’d rather she’d been happy for the man after his being alone and basically unhappy for more than six centuries.
So, all in all, there’s just a mish-mash of goings-on all the way through this book, and that’s just not up to what I expect from Lydia Dare after four very successful books. Quite bewildering.
Grade: C-
Summary:
Chivalry is far from undead…
Matthew Halkett, Earl of Blodswell, is one of the few men in the ton who can claim to be a knight in shining armor- because that’s precisely what he was before being turned into a vampyre. When he spies a damsel in distress in the midst of a storm in Hyde Park, his natural instinct is to rush to her aid…
But not every woman needs to be rescued…
Weather-controlling witch Rhiannon Sinclair isn’t caught in a storm-she’s the cause of it. She’s mortified to have been caught making trouble by the imposing earl, but she doesn’t need any man-never has, and is sure she never will…
But when Rhiannon encounters Matthew again, her powers go awry and his supernatural abilities run amok. Between the two of them, the ton is thrown into an uproar. There’s never been a more tempestuous scandal…
No excerpt available.
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