Adjusting to her role as a Sentinel in Cadogan House and
trying to ignore her attraction to the Master, Ethan
Sullivan, Merit has to learn the value of "plausible
deniability" in regard to hunting down the perpetrators of
vampire raves: someone is using Cadogan House's bar to
solicit humans to come to vampire raves, raves where magic
and aggression are high, an unknown drug is circulating,
and humans are dying. Meanwhile, humans are picketing the
Chicago Cadogan House, and the leader of multiple Houses is
thinking of taking control from Ethan. Is an old rival
setting them up, or is the damage coming from closer than
they think? In addition, Merit learns something new about
the night she was attacked by a vampire and saved by Ethan,
who illegally turned her into a vampire without her
consent.
The most recent installment of the Chicagoland
Vampire novels, HARD BITTEN is a fast and exciting read.
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...