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A Careful Bite
Alma Flores’ life has completely fallen apart. She’d given up her minimum wage job to care for her dying mother, but now that her mother has passed, she’s left with nothing to fall back on except mountains of hospital bills and an old, beat-up car.
Desperate for a way out, she accepts a suspiciously well-timed job offer working in the wealthy and mysterious De’Angelo family household. However, she never expected her duties to include being a personal blood donor to the taciturn Aster De’Angelo—through bites to the neck, thighs, and anywhere else Aster desires.
The trouble is that the lines between her job and her personal desires are quickly blurring, leaving Alma confused and wondering how to navigate this frightening world of vampire politics without endangering her heart. As the boundaries between Alma and Aster begin to crumble, they’ll both need to learn how to be honest about what they want or let it all slip out of reach.
Desperate for a way out, she accepts a suspiciously well-timed job offer working in the wealthy and mysterious De’Angelo family household. However, she never expected her duties to include being a personal blood donor to the taciturn Aster De’Angelo—through bites to the neck, thighs, and anywhere else Aster desires.
The trouble is that the lines between her job and her personal desires are quickly blurring, leaving Alma confused and wondering how to navigate this frightening world of vampire politics without endangering her heart. As the boundaries between Alma and Aster begin to crumble, they’ll both need to learn how to be honest about what they want or let it all slip out of reach.
344 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 1, 2025
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 23, 2025
I really enjoyed this story.
It was a labor-free read, even though there are quite a few characters the reader is introduced to throughout the story; and because there's a lot of ground to cover in terms of the vampiric realm, not all of them are described in detail. It was still easy to imagine each of them, which I think is always a good sign.
I've never read a sapphic romance before, & I'm not usually one to search out vampire novels (because most of them fall into/lean too heavily on tropes). So I didn't quite know what to expect. But this was--at least for me--a really nice balance between familiar mainstream tropes and the author's imagination of how this particular vampiric queendom operates.
(Also, since I'm not used to reading vampire novels, I may not be noticing less mainstream ideas/concepts that may be present in other stories; whichever the case, I think there's enough original detail to keep the readers interested & curious.)
Alongside the casually yet finely done world building, I especially enjoyed moments of light comedic relief--the main character, Alma, while at first glance plain enough and 'normal' enough to serve as an 'everywoman' sort of human character to lead us into this world, is refreshingly honest and direct about her feelings--both in terms of the things that happen around/to her, and also toward the vampire queen she finds herself in service of.
As such, some of the things that Alma will blurt out or think to herself were very funny to me, especially in the context of the rather serious vampire realm (or, as another vampire character, Kai, puts it, in this particular court that takes itself very seriously).
Reading this story helped remind me how much I enjoy reading unapologetic prose; especially where femme characters are concerned (and this book centers heavily around women characters, as well as queer characters), direct and as-it-is statements of events, places, thoughts and feelings are very welcome. And that's exactly how this book is written--uncomplicated, direct, and unapologetic of all reflections and actions.
I especially appreciated both the small interactions between the staff members and also the lust-filled interactions between Alma and the queen; if you're looking for Smut with definite Plot, you'll be sure to find it here.
With the power dynamics at play here (which the characters are very conscious of), parts of the setup reminded me of some K-drama storylines involving chaebols. Rags to riches, etc. Having been forced to watch all three of Twilight in my youth, I'm pretty sure this is another trope that goes with vampire romance (and lots of het-cis romance storylines as well). And while I recognize that, even this element, I found, sat very comfortably among all the other elements in the story, and never played up to be more than what it is.
All in all, it's got the light-hearted, speedy pacing of a well-written fanfiction story expertly mixed with detailed world-building to get you interested and invested in the characters--especially when you consider that there are other stories following this one.
I'd wholeheartedly recc this book--especially to those of you interested in spicy Sapphic romance featuring well-rounded characters and scenes that are a wonderful mixture of subtle and bold.
It was a labor-free read, even though there are quite a few characters the reader is introduced to throughout the story; and because there's a lot of ground to cover in terms of the vampiric realm, not all of them are described in detail. It was still easy to imagine each of them, which I think is always a good sign.
I've never read a sapphic romance before, & I'm not usually one to search out vampire novels (because most of them fall into/lean too heavily on tropes). So I didn't quite know what to expect. But this was--at least for me--a really nice balance between familiar mainstream tropes and the author's imagination of how this particular vampiric queendom operates.
(Also, since I'm not used to reading vampire novels, I may not be noticing less mainstream ideas/concepts that may be present in other stories; whichever the case, I think there's enough original detail to keep the readers interested & curious.)
Alongside the casually yet finely done world building, I especially enjoyed moments of light comedic relief--the main character, Alma, while at first glance plain enough and 'normal' enough to serve as an 'everywoman' sort of human character to lead us into this world, is refreshingly honest and direct about her feelings--both in terms of the things that happen around/to her, and also toward the vampire queen she finds herself in service of.
As such, some of the things that Alma will blurt out or think to herself were very funny to me, especially in the context of the rather serious vampire realm (or, as another vampire character, Kai, puts it, in this particular court that takes itself very seriously).
Reading this story helped remind me how much I enjoy reading unapologetic prose; especially where femme characters are concerned (and this book centers heavily around women characters, as well as queer characters), direct and as-it-is statements of events, places, thoughts and feelings are very welcome. And that's exactly how this book is written--uncomplicated, direct, and unapologetic of all reflections and actions.
I especially appreciated both the small interactions between the staff members and also the lust-filled interactions between Alma and the queen; if you're looking for Smut with definite Plot, you'll be sure to find it here.
With the power dynamics at play here (which the characters are very conscious of), parts of the setup reminded me of some K-drama storylines involving chaebols. Rags to riches, etc. Having been forced to watch all three of Twilight in my youth, I'm pretty sure this is another trope that goes with vampire romance (and lots of het-cis romance storylines as well). And while I recognize that, even this element, I found, sat very comfortably among all the other elements in the story, and never played up to be more than what it is.
All in all, it's got the light-hearted, speedy pacing of a well-written fanfiction story expertly mixed with detailed world-building to get you interested and invested in the characters--especially when you consider that there are other stories following this one.
I'd wholeheartedly recc this book--especially to those of you interested in spicy Sapphic romance featuring well-rounded characters and scenes that are a wonderful mixture of subtle and bold.
Displaying 1 of 1 review