After a surprising first entry and a rousing second, author Declan Finn's Love At First Bite series performed the task I had been certain wasn't ever going to happen: He wrote a vampire series I actually enjoy.
How did he perform this feat? Well, he did a remarkable thing. It's as crazy as it is impossible. What he did was write a story where vampires were actually vampires, the characters aren't mopey millennials or pious boomers, and the plot progresses from point A to B. Basically he wrote a story that happens to have vampires in it.
I still can't believe it.
The first book established the world and characters, the second blew it out (and up) by spiraling everything out of control, and now here we are at book three. So how does Mr. Finn improve on what came before?
The first thing to point out is that Live & Let Bite is not the conclusion of the series, and is not a trilogy, as is common today. So you will not get a thunderous conclusion that wraps up all the characters and plot of the first two volumes here. But is all well and good since book allows a few of the characters grow and the relationships deepen. It feels like a necessary piece of the puzzle. This helps set the stage for book 4 to finally wrap everything up in a supremely satisfying way.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Live & Let Bite starts out a bit after the events of book 2. The main characters, Marco and Amanda, are still of doing their own things and Marco, especially, is not happy about it. In fact, it looks like he's about to reach his tipping point. He's still being hunted on top of it. Just who is it that wants him dead? Will he finally reconcile with Amanda? Will we finally learn just what is the deal with the Kraft Bros. after two books of hinting? Well, you'll have to read to find out. A review is not for spoiling.
But I did dig one thing in particular. The final confrontation did not go quite how I was expecting, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Considering how the first two books ended, it was a pleasant surprise, and shows there are still plenty more surprises for the Love At First Bite series to deliver. Book 4 can't come soon enough!
Unfortunately that leads us to the one negative to point out, and that's the fact that there's still one more book to go. I eagerly await what Mr. Finn puts out to finish this series, and have the hope that it will certainly surpass other vampire series on the market. There are few things more satisfying than watching a vampire burn.
Highly recommended!
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