“One Bite With A Stranger” (The Others, Book 6) by Christine Warren

It started off well enough. Honestly. I mean, Dmitri is one hot as hell vampire with piercing dark eyes, is richer than Midas, and sexy to boot. And I love the fact that unlike the other Alpha Heroes who run in the opposite direction when confronted with their mate, Dmitri embraces the fact (almost instantly) that Regina is his and only his; and she is the one that’s all “WHATCHU TALKIN’ ABOUT??!” And he is like “you are mine! MINE! You belong to me!” “NO! I belong to no one. Just because I call you Master in bed and make me perform all kinds of submissive acts with you does not make me yours! No!” she responds, passionately. “Ahh…little one. I love your passion and your fire. I would never take that away from you my sweet vodka bon bon” Dmitri responds, stroking her hair tenderly. “So we agree then?” Regina asks. “Yes” Dmitri replies, “we agree that you belong to me only.” Lather, rinse, repeat.

So the story goes like this. Regina (or Reggie as her friends affectionately call her (I’m not sure what kind of friends are these since they a) call her “Reggie”; b) ignore her concerns, wishes and voice constantly; c) practically force her to agree to do things she’s clearly uncomfortable with)) is at a vampire goth club due largely to the meddling of her friends, and is dressed in a satin corset and leather pants. For the avoidance of doubt, we will assume that her chin rests comfortably atop her breasts. Regina (I refuse to refer to her as Reggie since that immediately evokes images of Kim Kardashian’s NFL boyfriend) is unhappy that she is being set up with one of her friends’ male friends, who is supposed to be her vampire fantasy fix for One Night Only. Looking desperately for a way outta there the minute her pit bull friends let their guard down. Glancing around the room her eyes meet Dmitri, who’s staring heatedly at her from the bar and who is, unbeknownst to her, tunneling through her mind with his super psychic ability to find out more about her. He picks up her thoughts instantly, and is charmed by her inner witty sarcastic self. All I can think about, is that she’s lucky she didn’t think “Wow. I have a giant booger up my nose right now. How can I dislodge it without anybody noticing? Hmm..Also, god I hope that itch I’m feeling in my lady bits is cos of the leather and not some sort of heat rash.” You know, keep it real man! Anyway, Regina and Dmitri do the “I see you I turn away. I see you I turn away” dance until she notices that her friends have forgotten about her and makes a mad dash for the exit. Only to be stopped by Dmitri who corners her and tells her to stay. The next thing she knows, she’s back at the bar because he’s done some mind mojo on her.

Two blinks and a shake of a cat’s tail later, they are back at her apartment (with Regina having no memory of leaving the club, the cab ride, or the walk to her apartment). All she knows is that Dmitri is introducing her to the hard surface of her door, and his hard stake. Now he’s demanding she takes off her leather pants and boots, and chastising her for not obeying his instructions. Now I love a good dominant male like the next woman and some parts of the book were incredibly steamy but there were some parts that made me decidedly uncomfortable. Like when Regina realises that she can’t take off her boots because her laced up corset is so tight, she is unable to do more than breathe much less bend over. Naturally she tells Dmitri this and his response is really like “and then?” until she begs him to help her. It’s pretty much like that throughout the book. She says no, he pushes, and she ends up begging, pleading, clawing, and whimpering. Some of it is hot, some of it makes you want her to turn the tables on him. Badly. Give him a taste of his own medicine. And no, voluntarily giving him a blow job of his life at the opera is NOT it.

There are great moments in the book though, like when Regina stupidly agrees to meet her cheating ex fiancee and Dmitri finds out about it by tapping into her mind (it’s all very Christine Feehan no?). Dmitri charmingly muses “I will kill him. I will kill him while she watches”. And some whole bit about how he’ll lock her in a tower for the rest of her life and then take her every night so that all memory of any other man would be pounded out of her. Aww Dmitri. That paragraph almost made me fall in love with him. Maybe this is a sign that I’m firmly with the werewolves now until and unless Edward comes for me. Because though “One Bite WIth A Stranger” was good, it wasn’t as good as the others in the series. I felt..let down. I didn’t feel Dmitri’s clawing need to mark Regina as his, and I all but rolled my eyes when Regina casually declared that she too wanted to be a vampire and was ready to suck Dmitri’s blood to start the process. *Pout* Come on vampires! Show me whatcha got! Cos right now, you’re getting your ass kicked by werewolves, and demons.