Some Girls Bite: A Chicagoland Vampires Novel

Merit (wir erfahren im ganzen Buch ihren Vorname nicht) ist Studentin der Universität von Chicago. Als sie eines Abends spät noch auf dem Universitätsgelände ist, wird sie von einem Vampir überfallen und infiziert. Der oberste Vampir des Cadogan Vampirhauses rettet sie vor dem Tod indem er sie wandelt.Eigentlich hat Merit niemals ein Vampir werden wollen. Sie wollte ihr Studium beenden, promovieren und selbst mal Professorin an einer Universität werden und englische Literatur lehren. Doch in einer Nacht wird dieser Traum zerstört, denn Vampire leben zwar öffentlich unter den Menschen - aber an Universitäten sind sie nicht geduldet. Merit stammt aus einer der angesehensten Familien in Chicago, doch sie hat zu ihrem snobistischen Vater und ihrer oberflächlichen Mutter ein schlechtes Verhältnis. Einzig ihr Großvater hat sie schon immer geliebt ohne diese Liebe an Bedingungen zu knüpfen.Daher hat Merit mit Autorität und Unterordnung schon immer auf Kriegsfuß gestanden. Und nun hat sie 10 Tage Zeit sich an den neuen Umstand zu gewöhnen, einem Master(vampir) und dessen Haus (das jetzt auch ihr Haus ist) die Treue und bedingungslose Unterwerfung zu schwören. Die Vampire sind in Häuser aufgeteilt und rangieren nach Gründungsdatum des jeweiligen Hauses. Merit's "Macher", Ethan Sullivan, gehört das an vierter Stelle rangierende Haus Cadogan, zu dem nun auch Merit angehört - wenn sie denn ihren Treueeid auf Ethan ablegt und ihm Gehorsam schwört. Und genau damit fangen die Probleme an, denn vom ersten Aufeinandertreffen an fliegen zwischen dem unglaublich attraktiven Ethan und der taffen Merit die Fetzen (und Funken). Dazu kommt, dass der Anschlag auf Merit nicht der einzige bleibt..Na aber Holla die Waldfee!! Das ist ja mal ein Auftakt gewesen.. Das Buch sprüht nur so vor Wortwitz und ich habe teilweise laut lachen müssen über die scharfzüngige und schlagfertige Merit, deren vorlautes Mundwerk sie ein ums andere Mal in Schwierigkeiten gebracht hat. Das ist definitiv mal wieder eine Reihe ganz nach meinem Geschmack!Die Figuren, allen voran Merit, sind liebevoll ausgearbeitet und Chloe Neill hat darauf geachtet, diese Sorgfalt allen wichtigen Charakteren dieses Buches zuteil werden zu lassen. Die Handlung ist spannend und flüssig; die Regeln dieser Vampire werden gut erklärt und sind im Buch durch eine Art Bibel der Vampire geregelt, die jeder Vampir kennen muss. Die Vampire stehen im Vordergrund aber auch andere Wesen wie Gestaltwandler, Zauberer, Nixen u.ä. kommen hier vor.Besonders gut haben mir die unglaublich spritzigen und extrem guten Dialoge gefallen. Das Buch lebt von seinem Wortwitz und ein ums andere Mal hab ich laut auflachen müssen, wenn Merits Mundwerk mal wieder mit ihr durchgegangen ist. Merit ist eine sehr sympathische Hauptfigur, da sie zwar oft die Taffe spielt, man aber auch andere Seiten von ihr sieht; die Verletzlichkeit wenn es ihre Familie geht und die fehlende Anerkennung durch ihren nach gesellschaftlichen und finanziellen Ruhm strebenden Vater. Liebenswerter Gegenpol hier ihr Großvater, der sie immer wieder überraschen kann. Außerdem hat sie noch ihre beste Freundin Mallory zur Seite, mit der sie in einer WG zusammenwohnt. Die beiden sind wie Schwestern und halten zusammen wie Pech und Schwefel.Es hat extrem viel Spaß gemacht dieses Buch zu lesen und alle die neugierig geworden sind kann ich nur ausdrücklich dazu ermuntern diese Reihe anzufangen, auch wenn in diesem Genre bereits so viele auf dem Markt sind.Erfreulich für die deutschen Leser: LYX hat diese Reihe ins Programm genommen und Band 1 "Chicagoland Vampires - Frisch gebissen" bereits im Februar herausgebracht; Band 2 "Verbotene Bisse" ist für Juli angekündigt. Im Original sind bereits die ersten drei Bände erschienen und Band 4 wird im Mai veröffentlicht.

Merit has always looked at Chicago's newly revealed vampires with distaste, that is until she is attacked and left for dead in the middle of her gradute school quad. Her life is saved when Ethan Sullivan, head of one of Chicago's vampire Houses, saves her life and turns her into a vampire. Now Merit has lost her chance at a normal life, and must come to terms with being one of the very creatures she hates. But Merit is no ordinary girl, and she isn't going to be an ordinary vampire.This is one of those series that has a ton of positive reviews, but you never really pick up. The cover doesn't really stand out, and the blurb on the back although interesting is longer than most. I picked up a copy of the second book in the series ( Friday Night Bites ) thinking it was the first, and then had to find this one so I could begin at the beginning. I must say I'm impressed. I'm a big fan of urban fantasy, but haven't read any in a while. This book epitomises what I love about the genre - it's got action, humour, mystery and a touch of romance.The plot is well thought out and developed. Vampires have recently 'come out' in Chicago, and Chloe Neill does an incredible job of setting up the vampires and the four Vampire houses, as well as rogue (independant) vampires. Then the author swiftly moves on to flesh out her world by introducing shifters, sorcerors, fairies, nymphs and a few other supernatural races, and then ties each species to it's own internal politics and to human-supernatural politics. I was amazed at how deftly this was done, and there was no info-dumping to be seen.Merit's journey is believable and I really liked her as a main character. She's snarky and sarcastic, and manages to keep hold of who she is as a person even when thrown neck deep in vampire politics. Merit also deals with her unwanted transformation realistically and without excessive whining, which is rare in this kind of book.The other characters are also incredible. I liked how Ethan was stuck up and set in his ways because it makes Merit the perfect foil for him. It does appear that a potential love triangle is being set up between Merit, Ethan and another vampire called Morgan, but the romance takes a back seat to the storyline in this book which I'm grateful for. As much as I like a good romance, I don't want it taking over the story in an urban fantasy book. I love Merit's roomate Mallory, who is actually an undiscovered sorceror, and the story between her and Catcher, another sorceror who is training both Merit and Mallory, has real sparks alongside a sweet romance.All in all this is an awesome read and I'll definitely be reading the next two ( Friday Night Bites  and  Twice Bitten ) and keeping my eyes peeled for  Hard Bitten  out in May 2011.Plot: 10/10Characters: 10/10Ending: 10/10Enjoyment: 9/10Cover: 7/10Overall: 46/50 Friday Night BitesFriday Night BitesTwice BittenHard Bitten

Synopsis [by Goodreads.com]I was a grad student until Chicago vampires announced their existence to the world, and a rogue vampire attacked me, scared by the master of Cadogan House. To save me, Ethan Sullivan converted me.The Lord of the Hyde Park manor is tall, green-eyed, full of four centuries worth of charm. Suddenly I am handy with serious weaponry, and pursued by an unknown enemy.ReviewIt took me a rather long time to start reading this series and I missed out on a lot. But then, now I can read the nine books this series comprises so far, at one go. Lucky me!Merit, the 1st person POV main character, is not in a good place at the beginning of the book: she gets assaulted by a Vampire who was on the verge of killing her by ripping out her throat and in the next instant gets saved by Ethan Sullivan, the Lord of the Vampire House Cadogan. Well, "saved" meaning, he makes her a Vampire and part of his House. In Merit's Chicago, the Vampires just came out of the closet a few months ago and although they have some Vamp-groupies, Merit wasn't one of them. So her gratitude is rather... non-existent.It doesn't help that she and Ethan have some weird "Pride and Predjudice"-thing going from the beginning as well. Meaning that she really does not get the point that he indeed did save her life and tries to do right by her within his given limits [well he is a 400 year old Vampire Lord whom none ever contradicts and that's what he is used to]. Accordingly, she behaves at times rather brazen and unappreciative and constantly reminds him that she did not at all consent to become a Vampire, least of all his subject and will be his eternal sworn enemy.But then, he is Mr. Darcy reincarnated as a Vampire: he admits having the hots for Merit, but -like the original Mr. Darcy- first tells her how abhorred he is by that and then starts listing her manyfold flaws. Well, thank you very much. I appreciated Merit not taking s*** from him, Master or not.So Merit is not in the best place to start her job as a member of the Cadogan House and accepting Ethan's authority as her overlord in the Vampire's rather feudal society. Since she did not become a Vampire willingly and, as she points out to Ethan, is a child of another time, hence the authority issues. And having silently rebelled her whole life against her cold [rich...] and manipulative father with a weak and therefore kind of non-existent mother, all Merit feels, says and does is just totally relatable. Yes, I liked her from the beginning and I was cheering for her with each step she does on her way of becoming an immensely powerful Vampire. She constantly evolves and I loved watching that.The story as such is not really the main focus in this first installment, instead it's more getting to know the people [term used loosely here], the backgrounds, the world. Laying the ground for the future seems more important here than the investigation of the murder series that nearly had Merit gotten killed as well, even if the case is solved in the end. At the end of the book, Merit has accepted her new life and works on getting into her role, but I am so thrilled to read on and watch her show them all that she will surely be someone who's more than all of them can handle.

Merit is a 27 year old student in her third year of her medieval literature doctorate [and three months into her chosen dissertation], as well as working as a teaching assistant at Chicago university. Or at least she was until she walks alone across campus one night only to have her throat ripped out by a vampire.This in itself isn't a huge shock as vampires had revealed themselves to the world ten months earlier and three out of the twelve American vampire houses [like a sorority] are in Chicago, making Merit's hometown vamp central. What is a bit of a shock is that instead of being left to bleed to death on campus, Merit is found by the master vampire of Cagogan house - Ethan Sullivan - and he turns her into a vampire to save her life. It turns out that the unknown attacker was a rogue [the public aren't aware of the presence of rogues] and he/she is responsible for previous murders and is trying to frame the Cagogan house vampires.So not only is Merit trying to adjust to her new, sun-free, blood drinking life, but she is also right in the middle of a budding war between the vampires and nervous humans. But even that is not her immediate problem; She only has ten days until the Commendation (the initiation ceremony), where she will join Cadogan house and have to swear loyalty and servitude to Ethan, who isn't exactly on her Christmas card list. Of course she can refuse to take part in proceedings, but then she will be classed as a rogue and will have to spend eternity alone. So it's time for learning how to stomach A-, decide between Cadogan and a life in isolation, and to study her new reference guide for initiate vampires - the Canon [with chapters including 'Servicing Your Lord'], Not to mention the question of who killed her and why?I found SOME GIRLS BITE to be a pleasant - if cliche ridden - ride. Not only does Merit make a witty, intelligent yet vulnerable narrator, but Chloe Neill has also set solid foundations into the world building of her alternative version of Chicago and filled it with solid secondary characters, who will also have interesting tales of their own to add to the series.The cliches aren't terrible and add to the fun instead of taking it away. It's the same as the first book in any other series; There's a lot of detail for the author to put in, so it's similar to many other books in that respect.I really appreciate that as this book is a now-standard first-person narrative Merit isn't some sort of instantaneously super-vamp. Yes, her vampire powers are recognized by other characters as being strong with latent psychic abilities and that one day she will become a master vampire, but she isn't the best of the best at her job right away; She makes bad judgements, doesn't win her first fights and she doesn't have mystical powers developing here, there and everywhere. If she was written as being The Best straight off the bat I think that the character wouldn't hold my interest beyond one or two books.I don't want to go into any detail here about the secondary characters as that will spoil some minor plot twists [I'll save that for my reviews of books two and three], but we get to see other supernatural creatures and the other characters all have complicated personal and professional lives of their own - they're not just there as props to fill up the pages. The negative with the book being first-person is that I'd like to know what other characters are thinking, particularly with Ethan.There's only one thing that may prove irksome down the line in this series; The romantic subplot. Now I don't mind a bit of romance in my books, but Chloe Neill goes with another genre cliche - multiple love interests, for a added touch of will-she-won't-she suspense. Well, at least I think that's what she was aiming for, but there is one clear winner already and he's so obvious from even the characters first scene that Cupid might as well be knocking Merit upside the head with a brick [I'd play the role of Cupid if she were real]. It only serves to make me take an instant dislike to the other love interest as the ending is clear and he is just delaying the inevitable, so my fingers are crossed that Neill resolves this subplot soon or she may end up dragging down a promising new series.Sigh. I've got many incomplete series on my bookcase, because I've quickly gotten bored with the same old "who should I choose?" plot devices [are you listening Charlaine Harris? Sookie better make up her damned mind in the next book and her choice's name better begin with E or the books are joining Laurell K Hamilton, Carrie Vaughn, Yasmine Galenorn and Karen Chance on my dusty top shelves].I'm also sceptical about Merit's relationship with her family. She apparently doesn't get on with her money-obsessed, wealthy father and Merit is actually her surname as she refuses to go by her first name [no-one uses it until book three] and so far it all seems like a case of Poor Little Rich Girl to me. Her father does seem hard and cold, but then again that's how she is with him too, so I can see why he isn't exactly showering her with love. It's hinted at that there is a lot more to this particular subplot, so I'm not getting worked up over it. Yet.** Book two in the Chicagoland Vampires series is Friday Nights Bites and book three is Twice Bitten. Book four will be Hard Bitten [released in May] and book five is titled Drink Deep [released in November] **

In diesem Buch geht es um die 27 Jahre alte Merit, die auf dem Campus von einem Vampir angefallen wird, jedoch stirbt sie nicht, nein sie wird gerettet und in einen Vampir verwandelt.Das erfährt man, als Merit erwacht udn alles anders ist. Sie hat keine Erinnerung an die Verwandlung und ist völlig verwirrt und auch so absolut gar nicht begeistert davon ein Vampir zu sein. Zumal sie deswegen auch exmatrikuliert wird.Die Vampire hatten vor ein paar Monaten ihr Coming out udn sind in Häusern organisiert. Merit erfährt, dass sie zu haus Cadogan gehört - was den schlechtesten Ruf unter den Häusern hat, weil es den Vampire dort erlaubt ist, Blut von Menschen zu trinken.Merit jedenfalls will sich bei Ethan (dem Ober-Vampir des Hauses) wegen ihrer Verwandlung beschweren und kämpft am Schluss gegen ihn, wobei herauskommt, dass sie ein "besonderer" Vampir ist.Zudem erfährt sie dann auch noch, dass ihr Großvater der Vermittler zwischen Menschen und Paranormalen ist und dass es viel mehr als nur Vampire gibt. Gestaltwandler, Nymphen, Hexen, Magiere, etc.Es passiert sehr viel in diesem ersten Teil und auch wenn es eher leise Töne sind, war mir das Buch nie langweilig.Die Spannung zwischen Ethan und Merit, die Suche nach dem Serienkiller und vor allem Merit's Kampf mit sich selbst udn dem was sie war, ist und werden will, hat mir sehr viel Spaß gemacht.Merit ist ein interessanter Charakter, der sich im Laufe des Buches weiter entwickelt, ihr dabei "zuzusehen" war wirklich toll für mich.Meine Meinung zu Ethan ist gespalten, richtig symphatisch wurde er mir nicht, aber auch Morgan udn einige andere gaben mir Rätsel auf.Ich hoffe, dass es hier in den weiteren Teilen noch Entwicklungen in die eine oder andere Richtung geben wird, da ich mir hier zum ersten Mal in einer Reihe nicht sicher bin, welchen Mann ich mir für die Hauptperson wünsche.Ist auch mal was anderes, meist zeichnet es sich ja doch schon ab, welcher Mann am Ende die Frau erobern kann, aber hier?Ich bin mir wirklich nicht sicher....Nächsten Monat kommt Teil 2 und ich bin schon sehr gespannt darauf.