The Saucy Wenches Book Club

"First Hunger," he announced. But the words meant nothing.
I looked down at his long fingers on my arm, and felt the warm rush of fire again. I curled my toes against it, reveled in the heat of it. This meant something. The feeling, the need, the thirst. I looked up at Ethan, dragging my gaze past the triangle of skin that showed through the top, unfastened button of his shirt, then the column of his neck, the strong line of his jaw, and the sensuous curves of his lips. I wanted blood, and I wanted it from him. "Ethan," I whispered in a voice so husky I barely recognized it. Ethan's lips parted, and I saw the flash of silver in his eyes. But it was gone in an instant, replaced by smoky green. I edged closer to his body, wet my lips, and then, without a single thought as to the consequences or what the act admitted, pressed them to his throat. He smelled so good - clean, soapy, everything male and masculine. He tasted so good - of power and man. The ends of his ha…

"All right, Sentinel. You have your second chance at Valentine's Day. But I'll warn you in advance. I'm starving...and not just for food."
That comment made me light-headed enough that it was a miracle I didn't fall over in the foyer.

Biting Bad by Chloe Neill

“There are few things in the world that he loves more than this House, Merit. Possibly only one.” At the knowing gaze in his eyes, my cheeks flushed. “And in all the world, he entrusted one girl, one scholar, with the right to defend it.” 

― Chloe Neill, Biting Cold

It doesn't really need to be said that we are in the last year before the final Chicagoland Vampires book releases, but that looming event, combined with the spectacular penultimate book, Midnight Marked, have some of the Wenches taking our time revisiting the journey of our favorite vampires. I recently told you about my reread of my favorite CLV book, Twice Bitten, here, and Anne and Zee are going to be reviewing Some Girls Bite and Friday Night Bites soon, and Anne has had questions in posts here, here, and here.

But I just finished Hard Bitten and Drink Deep, and I have lots of thought about these two books. First of all, it is imperative that one reads both books together. You simply cannot stop, or even pause between the two because Hard Bitten is devastating. So if you haven't gotten this far in the series (and really, what are you waiting for?) then read HB and DD and then join us back here for some super spoilery discussion. If you are well past these two, as most all …

"You can run. You can keep running to the ends of the earth. But I won't be far behind you."

"Ethan--"

"No. I will never be far behind you." He tipped up my chin so that I could do nothing else but look back into his eyes. "Do the things you need to do. Learn to be a vampire, be a warrior, to be the soldier you are capable of being. But consider the possibility that I made a mistake I regret--and that I'll continue to regret that mistake and try to convince you to give me another chance until the earth stops turning."

He leaned forward and pressed his lips to my forehead, my heart melting even as my more rational side harbored suspicions.

"No one said love was easy, Sentinel."

Hard Bitten
~~Chloe Neill 

It's no secret that many of us adore Chloe Neill's Chicagoland Vampires series since we've talked about it early and often as long as we've been a blog. But even those of us who are superfans don't often agree on our favorite characters, let alone our favorite book of the series. And that's okay, because we can appreciate one another's tastes. For the record, my favorite character is Merit (which I told you about when I shared my favorite UF heroines) with Ethan coming in a very close second.

Twelve books in, though, my favorite installment in the series remains the third chapter in Merit's tale, Twice Bitten. While this book is almost six years old now, and nine books and three novellas have come out since then, this one contains my very favorite quotes from the series, my favorite scenes, and the moments that laid the foundation for the Methan we would all come to adore. I talked about the journey Methan took to get to one another, here, and Twice Bitt…