[Book Review] First Bite by Dani Harper & Raven’s Brew Coffee Wicked Wolf

Title: First Bite
Series: The Dark Wolf Series Book One
Author: Dani Harper
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Publication date: October 15th 2013
Page Count: 281 pages
Age Rating: Adult (explicit sexual scenes, violence)
How I got my hot little hands on it: Received a free ARC to review

Geneva “Neva” Ross doesn’t want to die. But now that she’s been turned into a werewolf against her will, she’ll do anything to protect her family and friends…even if that means taking her own life.

After witnessing Neva’s leap from a high ledge, Travis Williamson—a Changeling with a dark past—uses his powers to save her life. He feels a connection to the strong-willed woman whose eyes flash that familiar Changeling green. While Neva is hospitalized, Travis risks everything to kidnap her, knowing the approaching full moon will put everyone in jeopardy.

Bickering constantly to hide their growing attraction, Travis and Neva run from the authorities…and from Neva’s sinister sire, Meredith de la Ronde. Meredith delights in creating new shape-shifters and compelling them to do her dark bidding; now Neva must join Meredith’s murderous wolf pack…or die.

Intensely suspenseful with deliciously sexy twists, this paranormal romance—the first in The Dark Wolf Series—intertwines sensual passion with an epic, thrilling battle between good and evil.

My Review

First Bite is an urban fantasy/paranormal romance told through four distinct points of view. The first two POVs belong to the main characters: Neva, a stubborn woman willing to do whatever it takes to get away from her evil sire, Meredith, even going so far as to destroy herself, and Travis, a lone wolf who happens to stumble upon Neva at just the right time and becomes determined to help her for reasons he doesn’t want to look too closely at. The other two POVs belong to the big bad herself, Meredith, and Baker, another of her innocent victims.

In the First Bite universe, werewolves (called Changelings here) can come into existence two ways: Born into a pack (like Travis) or made through a bite (Meredith, Neva, and Baker). Changeling must never kill a human and never turn someone unwilling – Meredith does both because she’s (according to the snappy Baker) the bitch queen.

Meredith is absolutely a love-to-hate type of villain. She’s so over-the-top evil it’s almost funny, but she carries it off with style. From the tips of her stilettos to the ends of her manicured nails (she ends up killing her manicurist, by the way) she is Grade A, unrepentant, no redeeming qualities EVIL. She kills without prejudice or reason, she uses the blood and ashes of her victims to perform dark magic spells, and she’s an absolute control freak (literally – she uses mind control on all the werewolves she sires to make them do exactly what she wants).

I really enjoyed this book. The author put her own unique spin on werewolves, made some really interesting characters (*cough*Meredith*cough*), and sprinkled in just enough spicy love scenes. I found the multiple points of view helped to create a more complete picture of what was happening. The story ends on a cliffhanger and I will absolutely be on the lookout for the next book in the series to see what happens to Meredith.

And Neva, Travis, and the other characters too of course.

Raven’s Brew Coffee Wicked Wolf – in honor of the vivacious villain of First Bite. It’s a dark, bold, and powerful blend that compliments and pairs really well with sweet desserts – much like the evilness of Meredith is the perfect complement to showcase the goodness of First Bite’s heroine, Neva.