Release Day Review: Drink Deep – Chloe Neill

November 1, 2011 in Reviews

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • List Price: $15.00
  • Publisher: New American Library (November 1, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0451234863
  • ISBN-13: 978-0451234865
Buy Drink Deep at:

Clouds are brewing over Cadogan House, and Merit the vampire can’t tell if this is the darkness before the dawn, or the calm before the storm. With the city itself in turmoil over paranormals and the state threatening to pass a paranormal registration act, times have never been more precarious for the vampires. If only they could lay low for a bit…

Then magic rears its ugly head when Lake Michigan turns black. The mayor insists it’s nothing to worry about, but Merit knows a panic is coming. She’ll have to turn to friends old and new to find out who’s behind this, and stop them before it’s too late for both the vampires and humans.

*Contains Spoilers From Previous Book*

There is so much I want to say about this book, most of which would include spoilers. So I will avoid all spoilers, feel free to read the review knowing I won’t spoil anything. I do feel the need to explain my feelings on the book, most of which were WTF. This is going to be a bit disjointed, due to the fact I’m trying not to spoil and this is the ramblings of my brain right after reading it.

I stayed up until 2am reading it on the day I got the book. At 2am, I emailed Tori and ranted. At 9am, I had coffee & a major rant session with Tori & Mandi from Smexybooks. It’s one of those books that you need your friends to rehash with. So thanks ladies, I needed to get all that out of me. See Mandi’s review of Drink Deep posted yesterday here.

I had a huge amount of issues with Drink Deep, starts with people/backgrounds rehashed. There was a scene that had Morgan in it, made no sense to me. I don’t see why he was there, maybe just to show he’s still alive? We know he’s an asshole, nice to know it again? That’s exactly what I mean by WTF, why? I don’t get it!

We also get more Jonah time, but really all he is (IMO) is someone for Merit to pass the time with while she “mourns” Ethan. He really serves as her partner and someone to pass the time with. Funny enough, I ended up liking Jonah more then Ethan and hell Merit showed more emotion with Jonah then she has with Ethan in the past.

My big issue was it takes place 2 months after the last book, thus we get almost zero mourning out of Merit. When a major character is killed, I want mourning. I don’t want it skipped past, where you still cry a little bit. I want ugly cries and the character getting comfort. It’s sad when I feel that I cried more about the passing of a character then Merit did. It felt like it was done for shock value, not to move the series along or in a different direction.

Another issue was the lack of movement. 3/4 of this book moved at a snails pace, I was bored & really had no investment in what happened. The sky is turning red, the lakes black & it’s all to do with ancient magic. I honestly didn’t care about the plot, more then likely because I figured out who the bad person was right off the bat.

I was not impressed with that usage either. But I can’t go into more detail about that without spoilers. Needless to say, I want my mystery. If I can guess who the bad person is because of big hints dropped, I get a bit aggravated with the story. There’s also someone trying to take over the House for mismanagement, it gets “resolved” so quickly I had to re-read to see wth I missed. I missed nothing, it just skipped by so fast.

Towards the end is when I got really confused & wtf’y. I still don’t understand wth happened, but I do know it was totally unrealistic. I’m aware this is fiction, but I want some realism in my fiction. When you kill off a major character, THEN start changing characters, I am not impressed.

You may get what I mean after you read Drink Deep, but needless to say I thought it was a bit cheesy. It seems like everything at the end came fast and furious, which to me usually results in WTF and WHY? It all felt way too rushed, explanations were dropped in favour of hurrying up.

I might re-review this & ask a few of you to join me, a few weeks after release so I can talk about the book more in depth without worrying about spoilers.

I will be saying goodbye to the Chicagoland Vampires, Drink Deep was it for me. I’m sad to have to shelve this series for good. Drink Deep felt rushed, lacked clear direction and I missed out on the emotions.

 

Where Pixie Has Review Troubles: Hard Bitten by Chloe Neil

May 5, 2011 in Reviews

  • Paperback: 368 pages
  • List Price: $15.00
  • Publisher: New American Library; (May 3, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0451233328
  • ISBN-13: 978-0451233325
  • Chloe Neill’s Website 

Buy Hard Bitten at:

Times are hard for newly minted vampire Merit. Ever since shapeshifters announced their presence to the world, humans have been rallying against supernaturals-and they’re camping outside of Cadogan House with protest signs that could turn to pitchforks at any moment. Inside its doors, things between Merit and her Master, green-eyed heartbreaker Ethan Sullivan are…tense. But then the mayor of Chicago calls Merit and Ethan to a clandestine meeting and tells them about a violent vamp attack that has left three women missing. His message is simple: get your House in order. Or else.

Merit needs to get to the bottom of this crime, but it doesn’t help that she can’t tell who’s on her side. So she secretly calls in a favor from someone who’s tall, dark, and part of underground vamp group that may have some deep intel on the attack. Merit soon finds herself in the heady, dark heart of Chicago’s supernatural society-a world full of vampires who seem ready to fulfill the protesting human’s worst fears, and a place where she’ll learn that you can’t be a vampire without getting a little blood on your hands…

I adore Chloe Neill, I really do…but I have already warned her. I have my pitchfork ready & I’m ready to fight.

As a girl with good sense, how was I supposed to react to a boy who’d done the unthinkable and actually grown up?

I was wondering why so many of my blogger friends who had ARC of Hard Bitten were screaming at me to hurry up & read. Those nasty ladies didn’t even warn me. See there are a few things you must warn a female with pms about, especially when it’s going to make her ugly cry. I ugly cried people, flat out ugly sobbing cries.

Favorite Quote:

“You can run. You can keep running to the ends of the earth. But I won’t be far behind you.”

Why? I’m not going to share that. Go read the book, come back & cry with me. I seriously emailed Ms. Neill when I finished reading & I may have called her evil. Yes, I was one of those readers. *Hangs head in shame* I blame pms, it makes me do fantasic things.

“We aren’t done.” pg. 348

I still don’t know how I feel about the book, I loved it up until “the very bad thing” happened. Anything before “the very bad thing” took a backseat for my meltdown. Suffice to say, I loved the book. I am not a fan of the holy shit ending but this was the best holy shit ending out there.

Did I mention, Ms. Neill will be here the last week in May? I asked her to stop by after everyone has had a chance to read the book so we can pitchfork as a group!

Twice Bitten – Chloe Neill

July 6, 2010 in Reviews

  • Paperback: 368 pages
  • Chloe Neill’s Website
  • List Price: $15.00 US/$18.50 CDN
  • Publisher: NAL Trade (July 6, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0451230647
  • ISBN-13: 978-0451230645

Buy Twice Bitten at:

Shapeshifters from across the country are convening in the Windy City, and as a gesture of peace, Master Vampire Ethan Sullivan has offered their leader a very special bodyguard: Merit, Chicago’s newest vampire. Merit is supposed to protect the Alpha, Gabriel Keene-and to spy for the vamps while she’s at it. Oh, and luckily Ethan’s offering some steamy, one-on-one combat training sessions to help her prepare for the mission.

Unfortunately, someone is gunning for Gabriel, and Merit soon finds herself in the line of fire. She’ll need all the help she can get to track down the would-be assassin, but everywhere she turns, there are rising tensions between supernaturals-not least between her and a certain green-eyed, centuries-old master vampire.

Twice Bitten is the third novel in the Chicagoland Vampire Series & this time readers are in for a wild, fur filled ride.

Merit is still coming into her own as a three month old vampire, turned without her permission when she was near death by her Master, Ethan. Merit has risen in the ranks fast, she now stands as the Cadogan Houses Sentinel & now Merit is set to protect Alpha, Gabriel. The Pack’s know a war is coming & they are deciding to stay & fight, or return to Alaska. As always with Merit & Ethan, there is out of control sexual tension & this time it’s a doozy. On top of that, Merit also finds out who has been sending her those mysterious letters, which could put a bigger strain on the rocky relationship she has with Ethan.

Chloe Neill has outdone herself with Twice Bitten, just when you think she can’t make the series any better, she throws out the best novel in the series! Twice Bitten is an action packed Urban Fantasy, heavy on the action & heavy on the sexual tension.

Between the action filled pace & the sexual tension I could feel all the way into my living-room, Twice Bitten is my favorite of the Chicagoland Vampire Series. I couldn’t put it down & as usual with a Chloe Neill novel, I was up until the wee hours of the morning. Did I mention we FINALLY find out what Merit’s first name is?! I didn’t even catch it right away, then I had a moment of “Whoa!”.

Merit is still one of my favorite heroines, she kicks ass to put it bluntly. She’s standing up for herself more & also becoming more outgoing with her fellow Vampires. Ethan. What can I say about Ethan other then I want to hit him & then kiss it better. I love me some Ethan. Then we have the Shifter’s, and boy is there some kinda drama happening there. Fights, deaths, shootings…the Shifter’s aren’t all furry & family oriented.There is also appearances by Catcher & Mallory, even if it’s a little tense between Mal & Merit. But really, what good friendship hasn’t had it’s tense moments?!

Chloe Neill’s world building continues to get better & better, you can almost feel the magic in the air. A wonderful contiunation to the series, I can’t wait for more.

Guest Blogger – Chloe Neill

June 21, 2010 in Author Interviews

Contest Closed! Congrats to the Winner TMBuzzard.

 

The Editing Process

So, as many of my readers know, editing is my LEAST favorite part of the publication process. That’s not to say I don’t love my editor–quite the contrary. She’s fabulous, and always helps transforms my manuscripts into polished stories.

But the actual editing is exacting work on a short deadline, and there’s just a LOT of it. (That’s one reason why it takes so much time from writing to publication. I swear–we’re going as fast as we can!) So, I thought I’d give you an overview of the four stages of the editing process; these are the stages that take place after the manuscript is written and has been submitted to the editor.

1. The Editorial Letter

The first stage of the editing process is big picture: My editor sends me an e-mail with thoughts about the overall arcs of the manuscript (relationship, mystery, series, etc.). The letter might include concerns about pacing (“Things are moving a little too slowly here”) or the heroine being too passive (“Let’s have *her* solve the mystery”). There’s also a rundown of items on specific pages (“Wasn’t this couch blue in the last book?”) and thoughts about moving scenes to other parts of the book (“More Mallory, please!”).

Once I receive the editorial letter, it usually takes 2-4 weeks to make the changes (as the editing work is in addition to writing whatever I’m working on at the time and my day job). When I’m done, I send the manuscript back, and she gets to reading again.

2. The Line Edit

Once my editor has read the manuscript again, she’ll suggest any final plot-related changes, and she’ll actually edit thesentences in the book for grammar. This is usually one of the shorter parts of my editing process, and I may have a week or so to complete the (usually minor) line edits.

3. The Copyedit

The. Worst. Part. Of the Process. Ugh!

Copyeditors have a thankless job; they have to read a manuscript word-by-word and conform the sentences to Chicago Manual of Style requirements. They also make notes about continuity and suggest grammatical and typographical changes. The copyedit is VERY thorough, which means it takes a lot of time to review and, if necessary, make any changes or comment on the copyeditor’s changes. By this time, I’m usually sick of reading the novel. :)

4. Page Proofs

We’re nearly done! At the page proofs stage, I get a set of paper pages of the copyset book–in other words, it’s been designed and organized into book form. This is a final chance to fix any minor typographical or spacing errors.

Well, that’s an overview of the editing process. I hope it’s informative. Thanks for reading!

xoxo,
Chloe

Chloe has offered one lucky reader a Twice Bitten Swag Pack (TB bookmark, Firespell bookmark, “I’ve been Twice Bitten” silicone band and CV pen)

Just answer this question: What is the longest you’ve waited for a book to be released?

Contest Ends June 25th at 12am EST.

Fang News

October 25, 2009 in Book News

p70574With the not so recent craze of Vampire’s everywhere, the Philadelphia Inquirer has a great article on vampires in the media.

A not so great article, stating that Twilight is the first to portray vampires in a new light. All us readers know that statement for what it is, wrong.

 

“Twilight is arguably the first to portray vampires in a new light. For decades, vampires have been depicted as soulless, blood-sucking demons, with Dracula and Nosferatu springing immediately to mind. The Twilight series shows that vampires are not necessarily evil and that they can be good; it is just about choosing to be a good person and not a killer.” – Malta Independent

An article about Chloe Neill and the Chicagoland Vampire Series.

And a very special CONGRATULATIONS goes to Toronto based Thrill The World founder Ines, along with all the dancers World-Wide who last night beat the World Record for the most people dancing to one song! I’m so happy for you all and I swear I will make it out next year, since I have said that every year!