The Short Version: Northern Bites by Nikki Jefford is addictive. Sexy. Dark. Funny. Suspenseful. For the few days it took me to read it, Northern Bites consumed me. I thought about it when I wasn’t reading it and kept putting off life/responsibilities until “just the next chapter.” There’s so much to love about this series.
Title: Northern Bites
Author: Nikki Jefford
Series: Aurora Sky, Vampire Hunter series #2
Publisher: Caffeinated Books Publishing
Genre: Paranormal Romance/ Horror
Age Rating: 16+
Book Source: ARC from the author
Release Date: June 27th 2013
Book Description:
Love bites.
Probation sucks.
Thanks to Dante’s recklessness, Aurora is now partners with Valerie: the redheaded, backstabbing vixen.
Dante is in full flirt mode. Fane’s tactics are more ruthless. Something carnal has awakened in Aurora and neither boy is helping tame her cravings.
When a member of the unit’s team is found dead, Aurora and Valerie are sent after a vampire in Sitka, but Aurora suspects the killer’s much closer to home.
The Review
To get you jump-started on this awesome series, read my review of the first book, Transfusion, before going much further.
Northern Bites starts two weeks after the end of Transfusion, so it gets right back into the thick of the story. There’s a lot of momentum from the very beginning, complete with vampire slaying and Aurora just trying to find her place in this crazy new life she’s been forced to endure.
The pacing was spot on, and you can really tell that Jefford found her perfect balance of action and plot development. You learn that Fane is a confusing man, and I came up with several colorful words for him. Dante is sexy trouble. Aurora is starting to no longer care about “real life” and is having trouble getting by. We learn more about Valerie (b*tch) and Noel (sigh). And most importantly, we learn that the bureaucrats behind Aurora’s new job know a lot more about her than they ever let on.
The book’s primary conflict revolves around the murder of two people who shouldn’t even know each other, much less show up dead in the dump next to each other. I like that the pieces of the puzzle never quite fit together until the end, and it’s completely believable that the answer is dragged along to that point. You’re given just enough of the puzzle to compose theories, only to get clues later that disprove whatever theory you had. It was really exciting, and I was kept guessing for ages.
Northern Bites also takes a dark turn, much more so than I expected. It totally works, but I wasn’t expecting it; that’s part of why I fell in love with the novel. It really kept me guessing.
Beware cursing and one hell of a sex scene. Come on. This is a bloody vampire slayer book. So… yeah. There’s cursing and sex.
From the characters to the plot to the world Nikki creates, I’m totally hooked. I will admit that I wanted a different sort of resolution at the end, with a bit more explained in certain areas, and that is the only reason this is 4.5 stars instead of a solid 5. I had more questions than there were answers, which I suspect is due to the fact that this is a continuing series. I mean, you can’t wrap everything up at the end— I get that. I just had a few key questions to which I needed to know the answer.
Bottom line— I’m addicted. Sorry, TBR pile, but Nikki Jefford’s books get priority from now on.
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