Bites on Bourbon

by Ellen B. O'Brien

A spring romance with teeth.

When Nathan gives in to his brother’s pleas to spend his last ever Spring Break in the Big Easy, he thinks he’s agreeing to a week of jazz and jambalaya, maybe a drink or two while he keeps Peter out of trouble. Just like he always has. But then he meets Jennifer, a Bourbon Street shopgirl with sparkling hazel eyes, a great ass…and a pair of sharp white fangs. He should run for his life, but for some reason he can’t stay away.

Jennifer’s done with love. Who can blame her, when her last boyfriend turned her into a vampire? But no matter how much she tries, she can’t resist pushing—and ripping open—all of Nathan’s buttons. Even when it puts her unbeating heart at risk.

Can their Cajun-spiced fling under the neon lights (not to mention plastic mannequin feet) of Bourbon Street become something more?

78 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 2, 2025

About the author

Ellen B. O’Brien writes spicy romance novels with heat, heart, humor, and run-on sentences galore. She prefers to write stories set in the modern world, often in the paranormal, monster, and fantasy romance subgenres, and enjoys exploring themes of trauma and recovery, creativity, neurodivergence, family, and flying. Currently available are Monsoon, a long contemporary fantasy romance novel that answers the age-old question of whether it counts as being "caught in the rain" if a water fae caught you there on purpose, and Bites on Bourbon, a vampire romance novelette about a buttoned-up engineering grad student and a cheeky vampire shopgirl set in 1994 New Orleans. Upcoming works are Whiskey Pooka Foxtrot, a spicy monster romance available October 1, 2025, and A Fae's Guide to Tactical Botany, a contemporary fantasy romance set in the same magical modern world as Monsoon, which will be released on November 15, 2025. She has other works in progress featuring such creatures as orcs, artists, mothwomen, giants, more fae, maybe an alligator, non-denominational angels, librarians, and lawyers. More information about Ellen B's plans for world domination through unhinged smut can be found on her website https://EllenBAuthor.com

She also provides editing, illustration, and design services under her mundane name Bridget Engman Wilde. In her personal life, she makes jewelry, reads manga, embroiders, crochets, welds, cosplays, coddles her succulents, and enjoys Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She is also proud to have single-mommed three children to kind, clever, sarcastic adulthood.

Join Ellen B's newsletter for ARC opportunities, free stories, news, art, and more! https://ellenb.eo.page/pf1z7

Reviews

[Becky (romantic_pursuing_feels) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Note: Some of my goodreads shelves can be spoilers

Overall: 4.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥
Humor: Yes
Perspective: third person from both hero and heroine
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? medium to fast
When mains are first on page together: very soon in, 6% or chapter 1
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: No
Format: read an e-book version through the author’s newsletter sign up (freebie!)
Why I chose this book: It was chosen as our Book of the Month in A Love Less Ordinary and I was curious
Mains: This is a M/F romance between a vampire heroine and human hero
(Descriptions found at end of my review)

Should I read in order?
This is a standalone novella

Basic plot:
While vacationing for spring break in New Orleans, Nathan meets the shop girl of his dreams.

Give this a try if you want:
- paranormal romance
- contemporary-ish setting – This one takes place in 1994
- vampire heroine / human hero pairing
- New Orleans setting
- opposites attract – he’s steadfast and ‘boring’ she throws herself into life
- spring break fling
- shorter novel
- medium steam – 2 full scenes in a shorter page count

Ages:
- the hero is older than his 21 year old brother...

First line:
Nathan took one look at the naked woman’s ass, inexplicably draped at the top of a shiny silver slide, and fled right back out the door of Big Daddy’s onto the crowded brick sidewalk of Bourbon Street.

My thoughts:
I found this novella delightful! A few things a bit out of the ordinary for me – the heroine being the non-human partner was a fun change for me. And I loved 1994 being the setting!

These two were really cute together. I loved O’Brien’s writing and there were a lot of lines I was savoring. Definitely eager to see what else this author comes out with.

Few random reading stats for this author
# of books read: This is my first
Average rating from me: 5 stars
Favorite book: This one

Quotes/thoughts: (Any mistakes are my own)


He should consider her a cautionary tale, given that the end result had been becoming technically a monster, but instead he was envious.
Even dead, she had more life than he did.
---
“Oh.” His face felt hot.
She smiled and slid an arm around his waist. “Stop it.”
“Stop what?”
“Calling yourself stupid. Because I don’t fuck stupid guys. Or boring guys.” She slipped around in front of him, pressing close.
He gazed down at her, even in the dimness catching the wicked gleam in her eyes. “Is that what we’re doing?”
“It’s what we’re going to do,” she said huskily, “as soon as you get your hands back on my ass.”
---
He laughed then, dark and wicked and as un-buttoned-up as she could imagine. “If I’m going to be arrested for public indecency,” he said, “I’d better make it worth the price of admission.” And he slide down her body, dragging her jeans and panties down past her knees.
---
“Come for me again, baby,” he whispered, heartbreakingly tender



Content warnings: (This should be taken as a minimum because I could have missed some!)

- nothing really of note, minor remembrances of bad relationships, being lied to and turned in a vampire, biting humans and taking their blood, side characters drinking to excess
Author given content warnings: This story is intended for adult readers. It contains explicit MF sexual content, profanity, vampirism, alcohol consumption, and alcohol abuse


Locations of kisses/intimate scenes, safe sex, consent, pregnancy/child in the story:

Safe sex: She mentions undead don’t make babies or diseases
How’s the consent? It’s good!
Pregnancy/children in story? No children because the heroine is a vampire
Chapter 4 (46%) – 🔥 blow job for him outdoors, fingering for her, oral for her, missionary, her on top
Chapter 5 (58%) - mention of sex
Chapter 5 (65%) - 🔥 mention of sex, followed by missionary
Total chapters: 6







Extra stuff like what my review breakdowns mean, where to find me, and book clubs


Full break down on what my ratings above mean here:
Overall: How I felt about it everything considered!
Readability: How ‘readable’ was the book? Did I fly through it? Did I have to tell myself to pick it back up repeatedly? Were any passages confusing? (I will probably score like (1) is literally unreadable due to formatting/typing errors, etc (2) There were lots of errors that made it difficult to read OR It was extremely confusing and I had to reread passages to make sense of it OR I disliked it so much I had to bribe myself to keep reading (3) I didn’t really want to keep reading and would have preferred to abandon the read and start something else OR some minor continuity issues/confusion (4) I liked it fine, maybe a minor error or 2. I was happy to pick it up when I had time. (5) I never wanted to put this down. I thought about it when I wasn’t reading it. I hid in the bathroom from my kids to read. I threw inappropriate food at my children for dinner so I could read instead.)
Feels: Totally subjective to each person but did the book give me any tingles? Any butterflies? Did it rip my heart out (in a good way?)
Emotional depth: How well do I feel I know the characters at the end? How much did I feel their emotions throughout the story?
Sexual tension: Again, subjective, but how strong was the wanting and longing to me between the characters? A book might have strong sexual tension without a single touch.
Romance: Was there romance? Did romantic things happen? This can be actions/words/thoughts of the characters and again is subjective.
Sensuality: This is how the intimate scenes are written. Kisses and sexual scenes – how sensual were they? Were they on the mechanical side? Was there emotional pull tied in? Were the details explicit or flowery? These are subjective but generally (1) too short to get a good judgement (2) not all what I'm looking for - very vague or flowery prose (3) either not explicit enough or not enough emotional pull (too mechanical/physically descriptive without the emotions) (4) what I love in a scene (5) absolute perfection - perfect balance of emotional longing and explicit descriptions
Sex Scene Length: How long the bedroom scenes are (generally (1) is 1-3 sentences (2) is a few paragraphs to a page-ish (3) is about average, a few pages (4) more well developed scenes, quite a few pages with descriptions (5) the majority of the book takes place in the bedroom. This is always hard to tell for me on audio!
Steam Scale: Generally, each flame is a scene. If scenes are super close together I sometimes combine them. If a scene is super short or so vague I don’t know what’s happening, I don’t count it. There’s some levels of grey but generally the number of flames is how many sex scenes there are (I max out at 5 so I’ll put a + after if there’s more than that)



Find me
Instagram || The Storygraph || Bookbub

Book Clubs
The Ton and the Tartans (Historical Romance)
Upturned Petticoats and Undone Cravats (Historical Romance with Steam Requirements)
A Love Less Ordinary (Science Fiction, Paranormal, Monster, Fantasy Romance)
Modern Manuscripts (Contemporary Romance)
Words for the Wicked (Contemporary Romance with Steam Requirements)
Vintage Romance (Old School Romance – published 2000 and prior)

[Ellie Rose McKee · Rating 5 out of 5]

As part of the editing team on this, I admit to being biased, but... I love both the author and this story. Highly recommend!

[Alisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.25 ⭐
6 chapters was the perfect bite sized story to pick up for a random read. Nathan takes a trip to New Orleans for Spring Break with his brother Peter. Peter thinks Nathan is boring and often pokes at him for it. Nathan is the older brother and is constantly looking out for Peter, who doesn't take anything seriously, especially now that he's 21. While on Bourbon St. Nathan sends his brother into a strip club and uses the excuse of gift buying to slide into a store across the way. Jennifer works at the shop Nathan wanders into and after some harmless flirting she sends him on his way. Nathan notices when she leaves the shop later that night that she's being followed and worried for her safety he trails behind. The darkness of the alleyway isn't enough to hide Jennifer's secrets and Nathan finds himself in quite the position when her fangs shine in the light.

The week these two spend together was super fun, super hot, and had the best conclusion I could have hoped for. I was sitting here the whole time sad that he had to go because I knew as well as Jennifer did that she really wasn't going to chase him. A whole lump in my throat just anticipating the split. So thankful he made the choice for them. Definitely recommend if you're looking for a super quick vampire story with minimal blood, moderate heat, and a happy ending. 🖤

[Robert Bollinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Proof that even the Undead can get a happily ever after or at least a happy for now. The chemistry between the femme fatale of Bourbon street gift shops and the world wise but still innocent engineering grad student on spring break in his last year of college is out of even their ability to control. The wild ride of Jennifer and Peter's romance leads both of them in an unexpected directions while they try to cope with their new found feelings . An excellent short read this story delivers a thoroughly enjoyable romantic romp that begs for a follow up on their future adventures. Here's hoping someone is listening !

[Racy_Reviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A spring romance with teeth, indeed. This sizzling bite-sized tale delivers vibes with jazz, jambalaya, and just the right amount of bloodlust. When grumpy Nathan meets fangy, flirty Jennifer on Bourbon Street, sparks fly—along with a few buttons. With sharp banter, steamy chemistry, and just enough heart to make you swoon, this vampy vacation fling just turned into forever.

[Alejandra Guerrero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn, I loved it, Ellen's writing is my new drug.