Sunshine "Sunni" Marquette is a shoe-happy businesswoman,
the sole owner of a self-named San Fransisco art gallery.
Her family consists of an adoptive father, Dennis Laforge,
who helped provide the funding for Sunni's art gallery, and
his daughter Isabel who has MS. Sunni has been followed all
her life by a mysterious and handsome stranger who at times
has swooped in and rescued her from various dangers,
including a mugger. The mysterious stranger, Jacob
Eddington, has circled close enough to meet her in recent
days but he is far from a protector, he
works for the Council of Vampires and is sent to make
certain she never discovers her own secret powers. If she
does, he is duty-bound to kill her. She is one of the
forbidden dhampir, the result of breeding between a human
and vampire.
Jacob isn't the only mysterious stranger after her, there is
also a rogue vampire who wishes to bind her to him and use
her super-dhampir powers for his own cause. This evil being
will use whatever it takes to get what he wants, even her
adopted family and the naiveté of her sister Isabelle.
When examining the plot, BITING THE BRIDE was very much
paranormal light with only enough logic to precariously
connect the different parts of the story. For example,
although Sunni knows of herself only as a human, there have
been enough clues (super speed, super healing etc.) that she
really should not have been surprised to be told she was
part human and part something else. Willis' portrayal of
Isabel as a naïve woman unable to think her way out of a
paper bag is a very old fashioned and insulting view of
someone with disabilities. Even though I classify this as a
light romance, with light paranormal elements, there are
some very gory scenes which seem to stand out even more
bloodily against the shoe-loving and fairly superficial life
lead by the main character. If you are a reader who enjoys
romantic
suspense with plenty of violence and also enjoy Prada and
Manolo Blahnik you may enjoy this book. If you are looking
for urban fantasy or paranormal romance, you likely won't
find it a satisfying read. With more humor, I might have
liked this book a bit better. The contrasts between the
characters might have worked well with some leavening and it
may have smoothed the jagged edges between the light romance
and violent scenes to add some comedy.
I believe Clare Willis has the skills to write well, it's
just this book I found hard to swallow.
Sunni Marquette has always been a little different.
There's the whole mind-reading thing, for a start, which
comes in useful for a criminal defense attorney. Except
that lately, Sunni keeps encountering people who are
immune to her gift. Like Jacob Eddington, the star witness
in her latest case. And her best friend Isabel's new
fiance, Richard Lazarus, who's as sinister as Jacob is
attractive. Not that Sunni intends to interfere - until
she learns that Richard is a vampire who's made a
centuries-long career of marrying wealthy women, then
killing them for their inheritance.
Sunni is convinced Jacob is a vampire, too, and that he's
her only chance of saving Isabel. With his help, she'll
discover powers she never knew she possessed, an enemy
who's closer than she could have ever guessed, and the
kind of love that's worth staking everything on - if she
can just stay alive long enough to enjoy it...
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