Review: In the Heat of the Bite by Lydia Dare

In the Heat of the Bite
~Lydia Dare

Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publish Date: July 1, 2011
ISBN-10: 1402245106
ISBN-13: 978-1402245107
ASIN: B00514OX4E


From Goodreads:
Chivalry is far from undead...
Matthew Halkett, Earl of Blodswell, is one of the few men in the ton who can claim to be a knight in shining armor- because that's precisely what he was before being turned into a vampyre. When he spies a damsel in distress in the midst of a storm in Hyde Park, his natural instinct is to rush to her aid...

But not every woman needs to be rescued...
Weather-controlling witch Rhiannon Sinclair isn't caught in a storm-she's the cause of it. She's mortified to have been caught making trouble by the imposing earl, but she doesn't need any man-never has, and is sure she never will...

But when Rhiannon encounters Matthew again, her powers go awry and his supernatural abilities run amok. Between the two of them, the ton is thrown into an uproar. There's never been a more tempestuous scandal...

Rhiannon Sinclair has traveled from Scotland to England in search of her younger sister, Ginessa.  Rhiannon's Aunt Greer has taken her to England for the Season, and Rhiannon is worried Aunt Greer has a hidden agenda.   While she's in England, Rhiannon is staying with her newly married friend, Cait, who is one of her coven sisters - Rhiannon is also a witch who can control the weather.

Matthew Hilkett, Earl of Blodswell, is over 650 years old.  He's back in England at his ancestral home with the newly turned vampire, Alec MacQuarrie.  Blodswell was forced to turn him after a vicious attack, and now he must mentor MacQuarrie as a vampire.

While Rhiannon is walking home from her aunt's home, she is so distraught over her sister's situation that she creates a terrible storm.  Blodswell, thinking she is a damsel in distress, attempts to rescue her, but she runs from him.  They keep getting thrown together (oftentimes at Cait's insistence), and Rhiannon soon realizes Blodswell is not as terrible as she supposed, and perhaps he had reason to turn MacQuarrie.  Blodswell, in turn, is captivated by Rhiannon, he cannot get her out of his head - he can't drink except from Rhiannon, which he will not do in respect for her honor.

She wants him, he wants her, but there doesn't seem to be a solution to their dilemma....

My thoughts:
I really enjoy the writings of the duo that is Lydia Dare; their historical paranormal stories are captivating.   When the coven was first introduced (in Tall, Dark, and Wolfish), I didn't think I'd like the witches, but I do.  I'm not as enamored by the vampires as I am by the wolves, but they are entertaining.  Blodswell is a man of utmost breeding and manners, and for that reason he had a difficult time recriprocating Rhiannon's feelings for him and acting on his feelings for her.  Rhiannon is more hot-headed and impulsive; she doesn't think twice about sending a bolt of lightning to make her point. 

While I liked both Rhiannon and Blodswell, I found that for me, the best parts of the story involved the secondary characters in this book - Cait's lycan brothers-in-law (Dash's brothers from The Taming of the Wolf) were wickedly charming and I especially liked the oldest brother, Archer Radbourne, who seems to be a fun-loving scoundrel.  I also found myself searching for passages involving MacQuarrie - his heartbreak over Cait's marriage to Dash and his despair that he'll ever find love himself have me looking forward to his story in the next book in this series - Never Been Bit, out in September.

My Rating:

This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.