Laura R Samotin & Ben Alderson
Angry Robot
29 September 2026
320
eBook - PDF
MM PNR
ARC via NetGalley
Centuries ago, Tobias Osian had his mortality stolen from him when he was unwillingly turned into a vampire. Ever since, he’s been consumed by the need for revenge against the monster who took his humanity - Vladimir Damianos, the head of Britain’s most powerful vampire clan.
Now, Tobias is finally ready to enact his plan for vengeance, using Vladimir’s son Alexander to infiltrate the family and bring down the entire clan. But what he doesn’t expect is that Alexander has rebelled against his bloodthirsty father by protecting mortals instead of hunting them. When the two meet, Alexander is instantly enamoured with Tobias. And as a string of attacks rocks the city of Oxford, Alexander proves himself committed to protecting Tobias, not knowing that Tobias is just as much of a monster as he is.
With his attraction to Alexander growing, Tobias must decide what means more to him: vengeance, or a love growing from the most tragic of places.
It's been a while since I read some more traditional vampire fiction, so I was looking forward to The Darkness Bites Back, and overall it did not disappoint. The revenge tale was nothing new, but it worked well here and gave a good setup for the action. Tobias and Alexander were both great characters, and we saw both of them develop over the course of the story, perhaps Tobias most of all. I was rooting for their relationship from the start; however, the only slight misgiving I had was how quickly they fell for each other. This was a fairly short read, and I perhaps might have liked to have seen the story extended a little longer to give them more time to come to care, as it was verging a bit on insta-love. It would have also allowed a little more time to develop side characters like Maria and Kate, to increase their impact. I also would have liked to have seen a couple of plot points tied up that were left hanging when the book ended, and perhaps a better explanation of why what happened in the finale worked in the way it did, as that came a bit out of nowhere. Nonetheless, it was still an entertaining read with an action-packed finale, so it is sure to appeal to fans of MM romance and vampires. I am giving it 4 stars. I enjoyed it, there were just those few small things, especially at the conclusion, which stopped me moving from liking to loving.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
No comments:
Post a Comment