I picked this up at the behest of a friend. I'm glad I did.
Nixie is a punk musician that is anti-convention. So much so that she thinks buying insurance is the last step before death. When she's volunteered to run the towns first fund raising event (to prevent annexation by Chicago - and worse), Nixie's out of her element. And when she finds out it's to pay for a big-time lawyer, who just happens to look like sex-on-a-stick, she's beyond annoyed.
Julian Emerson is the big-time lawyer. He's come to defend the town against the shady group of suits that want to annex it, and an even shadier group of vampires. Julian learned centuries ago to remain in control, and stay on the straight and narrow. But Nixie threatens that control, while tempting him to new heights.
Two opposites are what Nixie and Julian are. Nixie doesn't understand why Julian doesn't get her, and Julian wishes Nixie would speak a known language. Even if they can foil the shady vampire's plan, can they manage to forge a future together?
This is Ms. Hughes first novel, but it doesn't show. The writing is tight, and the story is entertaining. Watching Nixie take responsibility, fighting it all the way, and Julian slowing coming undone was a pure joy. The characters are deep and complex, with relationships that go beyond just each other. The connections they have to other people and vampires made it seem like I could run into Nixie or Julian at the local bar, or city hall.
The one thing that somewhat pulled me out of the story is Nixie's language. I admit I'm not up on all the current slang, and sometimes I had a hard time figuring what she was saying. I felt a bit like Julian in the beginning. Luckily it did start to make sense towards the end, and context helped a lot.
This is not my normal book by any means. Not something I'd normally pick up. For all the drama, it's more light-hearted than most, retaining it's fun. But I'm glad I did. As this is A Biting Love Novel, I'm assuming we can expect more from Ms. Hughes with these vampires, and I look forward to reading more about some of the secondary characters that we meet - especially Logan.
Grade: B+
Biting Nixie is available from Samhain Publishing and you can purchase it here.
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