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11 days and 17:18:06
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Corporate Bloodsuckers #1
Swipe Bite
Not yet published
Expected 10 Nov 26Win a free print copy of this book!
11 days and 17:18:06
10 copies available
U.S. only
An icy vampire corporate heiress and a human software engineer must team up to thwart the saboteur who’s turned their sexy human-vampire dating app into a bloodbath, in this mystery romance romp by USA Today bestselling author Alexandra Vasti.
As heir to HemoCorp Industries, vampire Sophronia Vega has devoted herself to the company her family founded. Most recently, she’s led the creation of Stokr: the wildly successful dating app that pairs lusty vampires with humans they can’t accidentally, er, eat. But when Stokr’s matching technology goes haywire—and vampires start draining their dates—Sophronia’s disciplined life goes up in flames.
Enter Casey Amato, the human software engineer whose team programmed Stokr. Casey knows the Stokr failure wasn’t a glitch—the app’s been sabotaged. To fix it, he’ll have to convince the gorgeous, guarded vampire exec that someone in her inner circle has betrayed her.
Sophronia has never met a human who makes her feel quite so . . . thirsty. But to fix her app and save its users, she must team up with the brilliant programmer. As they hunt the traitor, their attraction burns hotter, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Because without Stokr, giving in to temptation could be deadly.
As heir to HemoCorp Industries, vampire Sophronia Vega has devoted herself to the company her family founded. Most recently, she’s led the creation of Stokr: the wildly successful dating app that pairs lusty vampires with humans they can’t accidentally, er, eat. But when Stokr’s matching technology goes haywire—and vampires start draining their dates—Sophronia’s disciplined life goes up in flames.
Enter Casey Amato, the human software engineer whose team programmed Stokr. Casey knows the Stokr failure wasn’t a glitch—the app’s been sabotaged. To fix it, he’ll have to convince the gorgeous, guarded vampire exec that someone in her inner circle has betrayed her.
Sophronia has never met a human who makes her feel quite so . . . thirsty. But to fix her app and save its users, she must team up with the brilliant programmer. As they hunt the traitor, their attraction burns hotter, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Because without Stokr, giving in to temptation could be deadly.
Kindle Edition
Expected publication November 10, 2026
About the author
Alexandra Vasti
12 books1,634 followersAlexandra Vasti is a British literature professor by day and USA Today bestselling romance writer by night. After finishing her PhD at Columbia University, she moved to New Orleans with her family. Her books have received starred reviews from Publisher's Weekly, Booklist, Library Journal, BookPage, and Kirkus, and have been featured in The New York Times, NPR, Entertainment Weekly, People, and elsewhere.
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Currently Reading
July 19, 2026· ˚ 📱🩸 ⊹ ⌇ pre-read.
VAMPIRE DATING APP?? WHERE CAN I SIGN UP????
VAMPIRE DATING APP?? WHERE CAN I SIGN UP????
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This was so fun! I already knew I liked this author’s writing style from the previous book I read, so I had high hopes. But mixing that with a vampire book? Even better.
I didn’t realize it was going to focus so much on the mystery, but I didn't mind it at all. The corporate espionage and all the action kept me hooked. That being said, sometimes it felt like too many random clues were being thrown around which felt a bit unnecessary.
The highlight for me was obvs how Soph and Casey were so sweet together. The yearning between them was one of my favorite parts.
I wasn't sure how this would set up a second book, but that reveal at the end was such a fun twist. Definitely curious enough to see what she's cooking up for the sequel
─ ✦ ────
✎ᝰ.┊ pre-read: i’m 20% in and absolutely loving it!!!
buddy read with angelinabvby ۶۟ৎ 🫶
⬫ ⬪ ⬫
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the arc!
I didn’t realize it was going to focus so much on the mystery, but I didn't mind it at all. The corporate espionage and all the action kept me hooked. That being said, sometimes it felt like too many random clues were being thrown around which felt a bit unnecessary.
The highlight for me was obvs how Soph and Casey were so sweet together. The yearning between them was one of my favorite parts.
I wasn't sure how this would set up a second book, but that reveal at the end was such a fun twist. Definitely curious enough to see what she's cooking up for the sequel
─ ✦ ────
✎ᝰ.┊ pre-read: i’m 20% in and absolutely loving it!!!
buddy read with angelinabvby ۶۟ৎ 🫶
⬫ ⬪ ⬫
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the arc!
Did Not Finish
May 21, 2026ꫂ᭪݁ 𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓭 🫦
buddy read with the lovely Sophie ❦
buddy read with the lovely Sophie ❦
Want to Read
May 25, 2026I SAW VAMPIRES AND I RAN.
thank u so much berkley for the e-ARC via netgalley
thank u so much berkley for the e-ARC via netgalley
May 10, 2026
UM HELLOOOO where did this book come from
I absolutely loved this. I’ve read and loved this authors regency romances so when her paranormal romance was announced - I requested it on NetGalley immediately. THIS WAS SO GOOD
The writing & male yearning gave me the Ali Hazelwood brand of warm and fuzzies. (The highest of compliments)
So unique & fresh & fun & cute & other adjectives that escape me
things to know:
- she’s a vampire heiress
- he’s a human software engineer on her team
- working on a human x vampire matchmaking app
- he’s down bad
- unprecedented amounts of male yearning
I read this in less than 24 hours
All the stars
I absolutely loved this. I’ve read and loved this authors regency romances so when her paranormal romance was announced - I requested it on NetGalley immediately. THIS WAS SO GOOD
The writing & male yearning gave me the Ali Hazelwood brand of warm and fuzzies. (The highest of compliments)
So unique & fresh & fun & cute & other adjectives that escape me
things to know:
- she’s a vampire heiress
- he’s a human software engineer on her team
- working on a human x vampire matchmaking app
- he’s down bad
- unprecedented amounts of male yearning
I read this in less than 24 hours
All the stars
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
DNF at 40%.
Alexandra Vasti usually writes historical romances, and this is her first paranormal mystery romance, so I was curious to explore her work. Since I don’t read historical romance, I chose Swipe Bite. Unfortunately, this will be my first and last book by the author.
I read 40% and didn’t feel any chemistry between the characters, no attachment to the heroes, and no interest in the story itself. The entire plot revolves around a sexy human–vampire dating app, and reading about a fictional app turned out to be boring and uninteresting for me.
The story is also told in third person, which didn’t help my emotional engagement. Also, the name of the app, Stokr, is mentioned very often.
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group (Berkley) for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Alexandra Vasti usually writes historical romances, and this is her first paranormal mystery romance, so I was curious to explore her work. Since I don’t read historical romance, I chose Swipe Bite. Unfortunately, this will be my first and last book by the author.
I read 40% and didn’t feel any chemistry between the characters, no attachment to the heroes, and no interest in the story itself. The entire plot revolves around a sexy human–vampire dating app, and reading about a fictional app turned out to be boring and uninteresting for me.
The story is also told in third person, which didn’t help my emotional engagement. Also, the name of the app, Stokr, is mentioned very often.
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group (Berkley) for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Given my adoration of Alex Vasti’s previous books, I expected Swipe Bite to be a fantastic romance (which it was). What I did not expect, however, was that it would also be a gripping mystery. When some books try to be both a romance and have a very involved plot, I think one or the other often gets bogged down. This was not the case with Swipe Bite - the romance and the exciting plot swirled around each other perfectly and heightened the enjoyment of the whole book. Soph is our fiercely protective, guarded, shy vampire FMC and Casey is the perfect match as a loyal, dedicated, loving human MMC. Their romance feels realistic (or as realistic as a romance can feel when one is a vampire) and sweet, and they work together as a pair quite well. The mystery was full of red herrings and enough twists and turns that the reveals were always at least somewhat surprising, even when considering the hints throughout the book. It was well thought out and lends itself well to the promise of a sequel. This book was a delight and I’m excited to follow this story further.
Want to Read
July 4, 2026🩸📱 Swipe Bite 📱🩸
📖 Bookish Thoughts
My full review will be shared closer to the publication date.
❤️ What to Expect
• Paranormal Romance
• Vampire x Human
• Forced Proximity
• Workplace Romance
• Murder Mystery
• Opposites Attract
_ _ _ _
📅 Pub Date: November 10, 2026
Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group, Berkley, and NetGalley for the advanced copy.
📖 Bookish Thoughts
My full review will be shared closer to the publication date.
❤️ What to Expect
• Paranormal Romance
• Vampire x Human
• Forced Proximity
• Workplace Romance
• Murder Mystery
• Opposites Attract
_ _ _ _
📅 Pub Date: November 10, 2026
Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group, Berkley, and NetGalley for the advanced copy.
May 11, 2026
Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the ARC of Swipe Bite! If I could describe this in one word? HOT.
I opened this and intended to read maybe 20% before going to bed, however I ended up glued to the pages and read the whole thing in one sitting - and I won’t even have any regrets tomorrow, other than being sad this is over. I love Alexandra Vasti’s historical romances, and I love vampires, so a vampire romance by Alexandra Vasti was like an ultimate dream! Alexandra really ate with this one.
I LOVED Soph, she’s such an entertaining character because of how reserved and professional she tries to be. Seeing her open up and display more of her personality was lovely, and very much reminiscent of Casey taming his stray cats. She is fiercely protective of Del, Casey and all of the Pillbugs, extremely smart and committed. Casey was also a wonderful character, similarly committed to both his team and to Soph and he is definitely an acts of service guy. I loved how Del described them as balancing each other, it really was an accurate description of their relationship.
I loved the action in this! Car chases, spying, heists, and guns - so fun and really made the story even more exciting. Excellent pacing overall, I never felt bored.
Unfortunately I must now patiently wait for book 2… Alexandra, I know you’re cooking something real good up in that brain of yours!!
I opened this and intended to read maybe 20% before going to bed, however I ended up glued to the pages and read the whole thing in one sitting - and I won’t even have any regrets tomorrow, other than being sad this is over. I love Alexandra Vasti’s historical romances, and I love vampires, so a vampire romance by Alexandra Vasti was like an ultimate dream! Alexandra really ate with this one.
I LOVED Soph, she’s such an entertaining character because of how reserved and professional she tries to be. Seeing her open up and display more of her personality was lovely, and very much reminiscent of Casey taming his stray cats. She is fiercely protective of Del, Casey and all of the Pillbugs, extremely smart and committed. Casey was also a wonderful character, similarly committed to both his team and to Soph and he is definitely an acts of service guy. I loved how Del described them as balancing each other, it really was an accurate description of their relationship.
I loved the action in this! Car chases, spying, heists, and guns - so fun and really made the story even more exciting. Excellent pacing overall, I never felt bored.
Unfortunately I must now patiently wait for book 2… Alexandra, I know you’re cooking something real good up in that brain of yours!!
May 30, 2026
Thank you Berkley for the free book.
4.5⭐
I'm so happy that this wasn't a straight romance book. I loved the mystery aspect of it. I loved the dynamics of the pillbugs.
I also can't wait for book 2. The way this one set up the next one!!
4.5⭐
I'm so happy that this wasn't a straight romance book. I loved the mystery aspect of it. I loved the dynamics of the pillbugs.
I also can't wait for book 2. The way this one set up the next one!!
July 18, 2026
Shoutout to Berkley Publishing, Netgalley, and Alexandra Vasti for the eARC!
Five whole stars, 11/10 recommend!
This is a world I never knew that I needed to read about before but it’s forever changed my DNA. Vampires and humans coexisting and even able to be together because of an app? LOVED this concept. So creative and it pulled me in from the very first line!
We’ve got vampire Sophronia Vega, nicknamed Queen of the Damned by her colleagues at HemoCorp Industries because of her icy demeanor and no-nonsense work ethic. She’s the heir to the vampiric Vega family dynasty and, as such, carries massive responsibility on her shoulders. Soph is also the creator of Stokr, the first dating app of its kind for vampires and humans. But when someone on the inside tries to sabotage the app and humans start to die, Soph and her team led by (hunkaliscious and glasses-wearing human) Casey Amato try to figure out who is behind it all. Unfortunately Soph has another problem to deal with; the magnetic thirst and attraction she has for Casey.
Y’all, this has so much tension and yearning from both Soph and Casey, I couldn’t stop giggling. He’s down bad for her and she can’t get enough of how easily he gets past her walls. But I also appreciated how Vasti introduced both Soph and Casey’s past experiences and how they each grow from the trauma that influences all of their decisions.
This is a paranormal romance/murder mystery that checked all of the boxes for me! And the ending left me super excited for the next book!! Highly recommend!
Five whole stars, 11/10 recommend!
This is a world I never knew that I needed to read about before but it’s forever changed my DNA. Vampires and humans coexisting and even able to be together because of an app? LOVED this concept. So creative and it pulled me in from the very first line!
We’ve got vampire Sophronia Vega, nicknamed Queen of the Damned by her colleagues at HemoCorp Industries because of her icy demeanor and no-nonsense work ethic. She’s the heir to the vampiric Vega family dynasty and, as such, carries massive responsibility on her shoulders. Soph is also the creator of Stokr, the first dating app of its kind for vampires and humans. But when someone on the inside tries to sabotage the app and humans start to die, Soph and her team led by (hunkaliscious and glasses-wearing human) Casey Amato try to figure out who is behind it all. Unfortunately Soph has another problem to deal with; the magnetic thirst and attraction she has for Casey.
Y’all, this has so much tension and yearning from both Soph and Casey, I couldn’t stop giggling. He’s down bad for her and she can’t get enough of how easily he gets past her walls. But I also appreciated how Vasti introduced both Soph and Casey’s past experiences and how they each grow from the trauma that influences all of their decisions.
This is a paranormal romance/murder mystery that checked all of the boxes for me! And the ending left me super excited for the next book!! Highly recommend!
May 28, 2026
This was my first book by Alexandria Vasti, and I was honestly so surprised by how addicting the writing style was. From the very beginning, I kept finding myself saying “just one more chapter” until suddenly I was completely hooked. I really loved the slow burn romance and how naturally the relationship developed over time. The chemistry between the characters felt genuine, and the tension was done so well that every little moment felt rewarding. One of my favorite parts, though, was the whole family company whodunit aspect of the story. It gave the story a really entertaining mix of mystery, family drama, and romance that kept me invested the entire time!
Thank you for the advanced readers copy! #NetGalley #SwipeBite
Thank you for the advanced readers copy! #NetGalley #SwipeBite
May 10, 2026
I already loved Vasti from her historical romances and so when I got an ARC from Netgalley for a paranormal romance by her, I dropped everything to read it. The world building??? The character relationships??!? A MMC who likes that she’s a lil bit mean?!!!! Will be patiently waiting for more because art takes time and Vasti is creating it.
June 4, 2026
Thank you netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
“We’re all looking to find another person to talk to, to hold on to. Someone who sees us. Someone who makes the world feel brighter and sharper and more profound, just because they exist in it.”
So this was a super fun romance + murder mystery. We have our girl, Sophronia, teaming up with the swoony Casey to figure out what happened with the vamp-human matching app causing it to go all sorts of wrong.
We get a group of misadventures while also seeing the FMC and MMC fall for each other. It was overall a fun story with a touch of spice.
“We’re all looking to find another person to talk to, to hold on to. Someone who sees us. Someone who makes the world feel brighter and sharper and more profound, just because they exist in it.”
So this was a super fun romance + murder mystery. We have our girl, Sophronia, teaming up with the swoony Casey to figure out what happened with the vamp-human matching app causing it to go all sorts of wrong.
We get a group of misadventures while also seeing the FMC and MMC fall for each other. It was overall a fun story with a touch of spice.
May 25, 2026
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 4.5 Stars
Is there anything more fun than sexy Vampire stories? When I heard that my favorite historical romance author was writing a contemporary human-vampire romance I RAN to NetGalley and was lucky to get the ARC. I absolutely loved it. It’s clever and poignant and funny and sexy and there’s a heist and a mystery and a friend group and a wise grandma and dual POV, and I couldn’t put it down.
Alex loves a pun and the premise is very clever. Sophronia Vega is the EVP and heir of HemoCorp, her father’s company, and the mastermind behind a dating app called Stokr – named after Abraham Stoker, the author of Dracula. Stokr analyzes and matches humans to vampires using their blood enzymes (a hemoenzymatic match) so Vamps can feed off humans and have sexy times without killing them. Clever! Someone sabotages the app which requires the tech engineers, led by the tall, handsome Casey, to team up with Sophronia, a beautiful and guarded vampire, to try and solve the case and bring Stokr back online. Casey and Soph make a great team and have great chemistry as they try to deal with childhood trauma that affects their adult lives and ability to love. I enjoyed how Alex handles their growth.
The world-building and naming conventions are super fun. In this world Vampires live as long as humans and can go out in the sun! Instead of cursing with “God” or “Jesus” it’s always “Abraham’s fangs” or “Oh, for Abraham’s sake”, which made me laugh. All of the corporate tech company and app engineer stuff feels really accurate and adds to the overall contemporary vibes.
I loved the ending, but found my smut-filled brain wanting ONE more spicey scene between Soph & Casey when they make up because they had such amazing chemistry together! The very very end is designed to be the set up for the next book, since this is going to be a duology called “Corporate Bloodsuckers” (funny!) I can’t wait!
🖤 Thank you to NetGalley & Berkley Publishing for the ARC
Is there anything more fun than sexy Vampire stories? When I heard that my favorite historical romance author was writing a contemporary human-vampire romance I RAN to NetGalley and was lucky to get the ARC. I absolutely loved it. It’s clever and poignant and funny and sexy and there’s a heist and a mystery and a friend group and a wise grandma and dual POV, and I couldn’t put it down.
Alex loves a pun and the premise is very clever. Sophronia Vega is the EVP and heir of HemoCorp, her father’s company, and the mastermind behind a dating app called Stokr – named after Abraham Stoker, the author of Dracula. Stokr analyzes and matches humans to vampires using their blood enzymes (a hemoenzymatic match) so Vamps can feed off humans and have sexy times without killing them. Clever! Someone sabotages the app which requires the tech engineers, led by the tall, handsome Casey, to team up with Sophronia, a beautiful and guarded vampire, to try and solve the case and bring Stokr back online. Casey and Soph make a great team and have great chemistry as they try to deal with childhood trauma that affects their adult lives and ability to love. I enjoyed how Alex handles their growth.
The world-building and naming conventions are super fun. In this world Vampires live as long as humans and can go out in the sun! Instead of cursing with “God” or “Jesus” it’s always “Abraham’s fangs” or “Oh, for Abraham’s sake”, which made me laugh. All of the corporate tech company and app engineer stuff feels really accurate and adds to the overall contemporary vibes.
I loved the ending, but found my smut-filled brain wanting ONE more spicey scene between Soph & Casey when they make up because they had such amazing chemistry together! The very very end is designed to be the set up for the next book, since this is going to be a duology called “Corporate Bloodsuckers” (funny!) I can’t wait!
🖤 Thank you to NetGalley & Berkley Publishing for the ARC
May 14, 2026
4.5⭐️ Y’all I just love Alexandra Vasti’s stories so much! I am so accustomed to reading her historical romps so this vampire/human love story was such a delightful surprise.
As someone that loved The Vampire Diaries and Twilight (books & shows), I loved this new take a on world with vampires and the tech that help them to live in harmony with humans. The whole story is a layered mystery with plot twists and a angsty slow burn romance sprinkled in! THE YEARNING WAS SO MUTUAL FRIENDS!
“Except he looked at her like he was staggered by her. Like she made him happy.”
Our MMC Casey was a total hot nerdy type that came equipped with sexy black framed glasses! 🥵❤️🔥 Even though he is a human, he steps up to protect Sophronia, over and over again.
“Nothing that’s really worth it is easy, honey.”
Sophronia had so many layers to what made her tick. Tragedy and her neglectful mother shaped how she carries herself, always calm, cold and collected. Always in control. Until that control was taken from her and she had to once again face her fears of humans being hurt.
Casey & her together were everything! I also LOVED their band of misfit computer analysts and Casey’s granny! That woman was an absolute icon!
I didn’t see the ending coming and I am so excited for this new turn and future books set in this modern day vampire/human world! (With a little surprise addition at the end!) 🤭
Tropes:
🩸Modern Day Paranormal Romance
👀 Mystery + Suspense
❤️🔥 Vampire Boss x Hot Nerdy Human
💬 Vampire/Human Dating App
🫶🏼 Close Proximity
🤭 Mutual Yearning
🫦 Touch Him & ☠️
As someone that loved The Vampire Diaries and Twilight (books & shows), I loved this new take a on world with vampires and the tech that help them to live in harmony with humans. The whole story is a layered mystery with plot twists and a angsty slow burn romance sprinkled in! THE YEARNING WAS SO MUTUAL FRIENDS!
“Except he looked at her like he was staggered by her. Like she made him happy.”
Our MMC Casey was a total hot nerdy type that came equipped with sexy black framed glasses! 🥵❤️🔥 Even though he is a human, he steps up to protect Sophronia, over and over again.
“Nothing that’s really worth it is easy, honey.”
Sophronia had so many layers to what made her tick. Tragedy and her neglectful mother shaped how she carries herself, always calm, cold and collected. Always in control. Until that control was taken from her and she had to once again face her fears of humans being hurt.
Casey & her together were everything! I also LOVED their band of misfit computer analysts and Casey’s granny! That woman was an absolute icon!
I didn’t see the ending coming and I am so excited for this new turn and future books set in this modern day vampire/human world! (With a little surprise addition at the end!) 🤭
Tropes:
🩸Modern Day Paranormal Romance
👀 Mystery + Suspense
❤️🔥 Vampire Boss x Hot Nerdy Human
💬 Vampire/Human Dating App
🫶🏼 Close Proximity
🤭 Mutual Yearning
🫦 Touch Him & ☠️
May 21, 2026
You had me at Alexandra Vasti and vampires. This was absolute perfection.
Sophronia Vega is the vampire heiress to HemoCorp Industries, a company her family founded that allows humans and vampires to coexist through their development of artificial blood. Eager to continue the work of her family, Soph has created the dating app Stokr that matches humans and vampires hemoenzymatically, allowing for safe dating and/or feeding. Despite initial success, all hell breaks loose when the vampires’ dates start to bleed out.
Most perplexed of all is Casey Amato, one of the human engineers who programmed Stokr. And he knows this is no accident—someone on the inside is trying to sabotage his app. Can Sophronia and Casey work together to uncover the truth before a human dies?
I just loved their dynamic. Soph is cold and calculated while also being fiercely protective of those she cares about. Casey is loyal, incredibly intelligent, and always willing to help the people he loves. The more the two of them spend time together, the stronger their yearning becomes and the sparks start to fly.
On top of the romance this story was so full of action it was impossible to put down and the mystery kept me guessing until the end. And the thing I’m most excited about is knowing this is a duology—it’s not even out yet and I already want more!
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Sophronia Vega is the vampire heiress to HemoCorp Industries, a company her family founded that allows humans and vampires to coexist through their development of artificial blood. Eager to continue the work of her family, Soph has created the dating app Stokr that matches humans and vampires hemoenzymatically, allowing for safe dating and/or feeding. Despite initial success, all hell breaks loose when the vampires’ dates start to bleed out.
Most perplexed of all is Casey Amato, one of the human engineers who programmed Stokr. And he knows this is no accident—someone on the inside is trying to sabotage his app. Can Sophronia and Casey work together to uncover the truth before a human dies?
I just loved their dynamic. Soph is cold and calculated while also being fiercely protective of those she cares about. Casey is loyal, incredibly intelligent, and always willing to help the people he loves. The more the two of them spend time together, the stronger their yearning becomes and the sparks start to fly.
On top of the romance this story was so full of action it was impossible to put down and the mystery kept me guessing until the end. And the thing I’m most excited about is knowing this is a duology—it’s not even out yet and I already want more!
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you netgalley for the ARC!!
This book was a romp and I absolutely adored it!
A vampire ceo who falls in love with her head software engineer all while solving the mystery of who is sabotaging her vampire dating app?! Sign me up.
I really loved this book the mystery of who was messing with stokr (the dating app) was already a great story and the romance only added to my enjoyment. I feel usually with romance novels the plot comes second to the romance so I was very happy to see that not happening here.
Casey and Sophronias slow build relationships had me kicking my feet, they genuinely cared for each other and had amazing chemistry in this book and while I hate third act break ups this one felt realistic and ended with them growing individually and as a couple.
I honestly couldn’t recommend this book enough I’m already excited for the rest of the series.
This book was a romp and I absolutely adored it!
A vampire ceo who falls in love with her head software engineer all while solving the mystery of who is sabotaging her vampire dating app?! Sign me up.
I really loved this book the mystery of who was messing with stokr (the dating app) was already a great story and the romance only added to my enjoyment. I feel usually with romance novels the plot comes second to the romance so I was very happy to see that not happening here.
Casey and Sophronias slow build relationships had me kicking my feet, they genuinely cared for each other and had amazing chemistry in this book and while I hate third act break ups this one felt realistic and ended with them growing individually and as a couple.
I honestly couldn’t recommend this book enough I’m already excited for the rest of the series.
May 22, 2026
Very grateful to have received an advanced reader copy from NetGalley of this book.
Just when I thought there was no new spin to be made on vampires, Alexandra Vasti proved me wrong! Captivating, mysterious, and - of course - romantic as all get out, Swipe Bite weaves a story of intrigue and deception, love and lust, in a creative and original world that hooked me from the start. Also, “suckboy” is my new favourite word.
Just when I thought there was no new spin to be made on vampires, Alexandra Vasti proved me wrong! Captivating, mysterious, and - of course - romantic as all get out, Swipe Bite weaves a story of intrigue and deception, love and lust, in a creative and original world that hooked me from the start. Also, “suckboy” is my new favourite word.
June 2, 2026
Swipe right on this one because it’s got it all: Corporate sabotage, murder, romance, and of course vampires. And I like that Vasti sets us up for more to come from this world because I wasn’t ready to leave it. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!
Read
July 6, 20264 stars; review to come November 2026
Read
May 27, 2026[opinion withheld]
May 27, 2026
This is such a perfect example of how much fun you can have while reading Alexandra Vasti! It was fast paced, I loved the characters and their complexity. I also really appreciated that there were moments when misunderstandings could get in the way of their communicating and they chose to not let it happen. This had excellent world building without bogging the reader down with too much detail. I was surprised by the ending and am looking forward to what’s next!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thanks to NetGalley for making this ARC briefly available to everyone! At this point I simply wouldn't know what to do with myself if I had to actually wait until the release date to read an Alexandra Vasti book! :")
I largely really enjoyed this contemporary debut; sometimes authors shifting genres can be tricky, but I had total faith in Alexandra Vasti, and it was very earned! I was totally riveted by the arc of this story -- she crafted a really compelling world and mystery within it, and I was always both intrigued by what was coming up next and having a great time in the process of getting there. I enjoyed all of the characters and their relationships, and I loved the writing style, the humor and the heart of it, and of course vampires are inherently sexy, and I looooved this particular take on that particular aspect of them. It just worked, as a whole; no particular part of it stood out as exceptionally well done, but all of it cohered into a well-balanced, thoroughly enjoyable book.
... Having said that! I've got a couple issues that stopped me from being all in on this, even as -- again -- it was a really fun reading experience and I'd absolutely both recommend it and enjoy revisiting it in the future. First is the worldbuilding, which -- I love a new and creative take on vampires, and I definitely don't want all of the mythology about them to be identical. I loved the details of them being at the forefront of tech development that made their lives easier and made them less likely to harm humans, and I loved the mixed vampire and human families we got to see throughout. But scaling back the concept of them as straight up supernatural creatures to the extent that this does for sure ... defang them (pun totally intended!) and make the differences between vampires and humans feel much less dramatic, which in turn makes the degree to which vampires are viewed as Other or the way Vampire Society(TM) functions feel overblown and unearned. A lot of Sophronia's habits and inner dialogue feel way better suited to someone who's a scion of an eternal legacy (or someone from a prior historical era, or both!) rather than someone who's the daughter of a corporate family of people who are slightly stronger than average and need to drink blood to live. It's just not as dramatic of a difference between humans and vampires to earn the degree of Otherness she seems to inhabit, and it makes her a little more frustrating and less believable as a character. (Also, the constant swearing by Abraham was exceedingly overblown and started to annoy me immensely less than halfway through!)
And second ... man, no one is more disappointed than me that Alexandra Vasti's last two romances have just not hit for me in the romance department! This one is perfectly nice, and both Casey and Sophronia are great and fit together well and the vampire kink aspects are very hot and enjoyable. But ... while Sophronia is a complicated, layered character with a lot going on in her life, who goes through a complicated character arc full of nuanced growth, Casey's arc is just kind of... there?? Like, his primary character flaw is that he's too nice and he doesn't actually really get over that, it's just acknowledged and then it's brought up as a reason that he needs Sophronia?? This is sometimes a problem for me in m/f romance, where because it's most often written for women with heterosexual female fantasies in mind, the FMC gets to be complex and fully developed and grow, and the MMC is a man who is perfect for her and that's about it. Often he's still a perfectly fine character! Casey is a lot of fun and I enjoyed reading his narration and how into Sophronia he was! But even though I'm a dual POV lover, I can't actually see that his perspective added much here (other than horniness, which admittedly was great); the allure of the dual POV, for me, is getting to see both characters grow and change and go on their own individual journeys, so if I'm not going to get that, you may as well not taunt me with the possibility, ha. I do think it would have been a stronger book from Sophronia's perspective alone, and made the imbalance in character arcs less glaring! More immortality and single POV -- I think that would have made this a way stronger four stars for me.
I largely really enjoyed this contemporary debut; sometimes authors shifting genres can be tricky, but I had total faith in Alexandra Vasti, and it was very earned! I was totally riveted by the arc of this story -- she crafted a really compelling world and mystery within it, and I was always both intrigued by what was coming up next and having a great time in the process of getting there. I enjoyed all of the characters and their relationships, and I loved the writing style, the humor and the heart of it, and of course vampires are inherently sexy, and I looooved this particular take on that particular aspect of them. It just worked, as a whole; no particular part of it stood out as exceptionally well done, but all of it cohered into a well-balanced, thoroughly enjoyable book.
... Having said that! I've got a couple issues that stopped me from being all in on this, even as -- again -- it was a really fun reading experience and I'd absolutely both recommend it and enjoy revisiting it in the future. First is the worldbuilding, which -- I love a new and creative take on vampires, and I definitely don't want all of the mythology about them to be identical. I loved the details of them being at the forefront of tech development that made their lives easier and made them less likely to harm humans, and I loved the mixed vampire and human families we got to see throughout. But scaling back the concept of them as straight up supernatural creatures to the extent that this does for sure ... defang them (pun totally intended!) and make the differences between vampires and humans feel much less dramatic, which in turn makes the degree to which vampires are viewed as Other or the way Vampire Society(TM) functions feel overblown and unearned. A lot of Sophronia's habits and inner dialogue feel way better suited to someone who's a scion of an eternal legacy (or someone from a prior historical era, or both!) rather than someone who's the daughter of a corporate family of people who are slightly stronger than average and need to drink blood to live. It's just not as dramatic of a difference between humans and vampires to earn the degree of Otherness she seems to inhabit, and it makes her a little more frustrating and less believable as a character. (Also, the constant swearing by Abraham was exceedingly overblown and started to annoy me immensely less than halfway through!)
And second ... man, no one is more disappointed than me that Alexandra Vasti's last two romances have just not hit for me in the romance department! This one is perfectly nice, and both Casey and Sophronia are great and fit together well and the vampire kink aspects are very hot and enjoyable. But ... while Sophronia is a complicated, layered character with a lot going on in her life, who goes through a complicated character arc full of nuanced growth, Casey's arc is just kind of... there?? Like, his primary character flaw is that he's too nice and he doesn't actually really get over that, it's just acknowledged and then it's brought up as a reason that he needs Sophronia?? This is sometimes a problem for me in m/f romance, where because it's most often written for women with heterosexual female fantasies in mind, the FMC gets to be complex and fully developed and grow, and the MMC is a man who is perfect for her and that's about it. Often he's still a perfectly fine character! Casey is a lot of fun and I enjoyed reading his narration and how into Sophronia he was! But even though I'm a dual POV lover, I can't actually see that his perspective added much here (other than horniness, which admittedly was great); the allure of the dual POV, for me, is getting to see both characters grow and change and go on their own individual journeys, so if I'm not going to get that, you may as well not taunt me with the possibility, ha. I do think it would have been a stronger book from Sophronia's perspective alone, and made the imbalance in character arcs less glaring! More immortality and single POV -- I think that would have made this a way stronger four stars for me.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
If there is one universal truth it's that if Alexandra Vasti writes something I'll be reading it. Like a moth to a flame I just can't resist. Swipe Bite is a big change of form for Vasti as she deviates from the Historical Romance genre to try her hand at Contemporary Paranormal Romance.
Swipe Bite is perfect for readers who like:
✨️ STEM romances (a la Ali Hazelwood)
✨️ Paranormal romances (a la Ali Hazelwood)
✨️ Black cat x golden retiever pairings
✨️ Corporate mysteries
✨️ Vampire x human romances
Sophronia Vega is the vampire heir to HemoCorp Industries, a health and technology megacorp founded by her family. For Soph, her work is her whole life. And her latest passion project is Stokr, a dating app with a focus on matching vampires with humans who they can safely feed on without the risk of exsanguination. It's been a wild success, drastically improving the safety of vamp-human hookups. But, when the matching technology glitches and humans start bleeding out there's a risk of Sophronia's hard work being taken down permanently.
Enter human Casey Amato, the golden retriever of software engineers, who runs the team in charge of the app. He knows that the failure wasn't his teams fault - it was corporate sabotage. Together, along with the help of Casey's team and Soph's best friend Delphine, they will work to discover the who and why behind the Stokr tampering. Hopefully before any more humans are harmed.
I really enjoyed this read! Urban fantasies aren't always my thing, but I liked how vampires were integrated into the world. Vasti had thought things out well and she had obviously done a lot of research, especially into the software engineering aspect of the story (though I can in no way vouch for how accurate it ends up being). While I think the book was maybe a bit heavy on the mystery aspect of the story and light on the romance (especially compared to Vasti's previous work) I still finished the book feeling satisfied with both.
One thing that stood out to me was a move from Vasti's more playful, comedic prose into the more serious, rom-dram space. There were far fewer comedic moments throughout this book than in her HRs and that definitely took a bit of getting used to for me.
What this book does have is Vasti's signature ability to write a really heartfelt romance. She always manages to dig deep into her characters, exposing their hurt and their mess, and then fits their jagged edges together like puzzle pieces in ways that just make sense. Soph and Casey aren't perfect, they're complex, and it ends up being really satisfying and sweet watching them grow to understand and fall in love with each other. And while there are a lot of side characters in this book they manage to all find their place within the story and none feel redundant.
The underlying mystery kept me guessing throughout. It also kept the pace of the novel pretty fast, jumping from scene to scene and scheme to scheme with our group of characters. While I appreciated all of the research Vasti did I found the book got a bit bogged down at times due to all the tech jargon. Some of the group's strategies for catching their saboteur also seemed a bit convenient and I did wonder how realistic they were. I also don't think much of the evidence they collected would have held up in a court of law.
That all being said, Swipe Bite is a fun and satisfying corporate mystery with a really sweet romance at the heart of it. I'm excited to see what more Vasti does in the contemporary space and will definitely be reading the sequel teased in the last chapter of the book.
Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
If there is one universal truth it's that if Alexandra Vasti writes something I'll be reading it. Like a moth to a flame I just can't resist. Swipe Bite is a big change of form for Vasti as she deviates from the Historical Romance genre to try her hand at Contemporary Paranormal Romance.
Swipe Bite is perfect for readers who like:
✨️ STEM romances (a la Ali Hazelwood)
✨️ Paranormal romances (a la Ali Hazelwood)
✨️ Black cat x golden retiever pairings
✨️ Corporate mysteries
✨️ Vampire x human romances
Sophronia Vega is the vampire heir to HemoCorp Industries, a health and technology megacorp founded by her family. For Soph, her work is her whole life. And her latest passion project is Stokr, a dating app with a focus on matching vampires with humans who they can safely feed on without the risk of exsanguination. It's been a wild success, drastically improving the safety of vamp-human hookups. But, when the matching technology glitches and humans start bleeding out there's a risk of Sophronia's hard work being taken down permanently.
Enter human Casey Amato, the golden retriever of software engineers, who runs the team in charge of the app. He knows that the failure wasn't his teams fault - it was corporate sabotage. Together, along with the help of Casey's team and Soph's best friend Delphine, they will work to discover the who and why behind the Stokr tampering. Hopefully before any more humans are harmed.
I really enjoyed this read! Urban fantasies aren't always my thing, but I liked how vampires were integrated into the world. Vasti had thought things out well and she had obviously done a lot of research, especially into the software engineering aspect of the story (though I can in no way vouch for how accurate it ends up being). While I think the book was maybe a bit heavy on the mystery aspect of the story and light on the romance (especially compared to Vasti's previous work) I still finished the book feeling satisfied with both.
One thing that stood out to me was a move from Vasti's more playful, comedic prose into the more serious, rom-dram space. There were far fewer comedic moments throughout this book than in her HRs and that definitely took a bit of getting used to for me.
What this book does have is Vasti's signature ability to write a really heartfelt romance. She always manages to dig deep into her characters, exposing their hurt and their mess, and then fits their jagged edges together like puzzle pieces in ways that just make sense. Soph and Casey aren't perfect, they're complex, and it ends up being really satisfying and sweet watching them grow to understand and fall in love with each other. And while there are a lot of side characters in this book they manage to all find their place within the story and none feel redundant.
The underlying mystery kept me guessing throughout. It also kept the pace of the novel pretty fast, jumping from scene to scene and scheme to scheme with our group of characters. While I appreciated all of the research Vasti did I found the book got a bit bogged down at times due to all the tech jargon. Some of the group's strategies for catching their saboteur also seemed a bit convenient and I did wonder how realistic they were. I also don't think much of the evidence they collected would have held up in a court of law.
That all being said, Swipe Bite is a fun and satisfying corporate mystery with a really sweet romance at the heart of it. I'm excited to see what more Vasti does in the contemporary space and will definitely be reading the sequel teased in the last chapter of the book.
May 12, 2026
This review was written after reading a Net Galley ARC.
First, let me just say this: OMG I did not expect that ending!!!! Wow, now I definitely need the next book… like yesterday!
Now that I got that out of my chest, let me tell you a bit about me and my reading habits. I love romance books, but paranormal romance is definitely one of my weaknesses, along with historical romance… I first read Vasti’s historical romances back in 2024, and I’ve been reading everything she’s published since then (I think I only have to read Ladies in Hating now), I love her writing and when I saw that she was going to publish a book about vampires I couldn’t be more excited. One of my favourite writers writing a new book from one of my favourite genres? Dream come true. There’s always some worry about such a big change, but I can say with absolute certainty that everything that made me love her historical romance books can be found in Swipe Bite (love the title, btw).
The story starts with our heroine, Sophronia facing a big problem: her app, that matches vampires with humans they can bite safely, is having some big problems… then we have our hero, Casey Amato (sigh), a software engineer in charge of said app.
I thought the story would be only about their romance (I don’t usually read anything about the book except maybe some tropes or things like that), and I guessed it would be a cool paranormal romance, full of eve thing that makes me love Vasti’s books, with a vampire twist, but then, we have a mystery side to the story that had me constantly wondering who would be our culprit! If the romance wasn’t enough to keep me reading (it absolutely was) the mystery kept on giving until the very end (really, the end was amazing).
It was a very well done mix, the romance developed along with the mystery, we have our leads working together and longing for each other (honestly, Vasti writes longing like nobody else), their relationship evolves in a very realistic way and leaves you wanting to read more and more until those two get together (finally!).
I loved both main characters, both were flawed in very realistic ways that made them interesting and not too perfect to be real, they evolved through the story and got over their problems in a way that felt really natural, nothing was rushed with these two. Their romance was addictive!
I think this is a book you have to read if you’ve enjoyed Alexandra Vasti before and, if you love Bride, Alpha… the world feels similar, a world where vampires are real (the lore was pretty cool I thought) and live (and love) between humans. I didn’t expect Vasti to write such a great paranormal romance (it’s kind of a big step from historical romance) but she has never disappointed me. I can’t wait to read the next book (with that ending, it has to exist) and to discover more about Casey, Sophronia and the rest of characters (Del I’m looking at you!).
Definitely give it a try if you like your paranormal romance to feel very contemporary, if you love longing and slow burns… and if you love vampires!!
First, let me just say this: OMG I did not expect that ending!!!! Wow, now I definitely need the next book… like yesterday!
Now that I got that out of my chest, let me tell you a bit about me and my reading habits. I love romance books, but paranormal romance is definitely one of my weaknesses, along with historical romance… I first read Vasti’s historical romances back in 2024, and I’ve been reading everything she’s published since then (I think I only have to read Ladies in Hating now), I love her writing and when I saw that she was going to publish a book about vampires I couldn’t be more excited. One of my favourite writers writing a new book from one of my favourite genres? Dream come true. There’s always some worry about such a big change, but I can say with absolute certainty that everything that made me love her historical romance books can be found in Swipe Bite (love the title, btw).
The story starts with our heroine, Sophronia facing a big problem: her app, that matches vampires with humans they can bite safely, is having some big problems… then we have our hero, Casey Amato (sigh), a software engineer in charge of said app.
I thought the story would be only about their romance (I don’t usually read anything about the book except maybe some tropes or things like that), and I guessed it would be a cool paranormal romance, full of eve thing that makes me love Vasti’s books, with a vampire twist, but then, we have a mystery side to the story that had me constantly wondering who would be our culprit! If the romance wasn’t enough to keep me reading (it absolutely was) the mystery kept on giving until the very end (really, the end was amazing).
It was a very well done mix, the romance developed along with the mystery, we have our leads working together and longing for each other (honestly, Vasti writes longing like nobody else), their relationship evolves in a very realistic way and leaves you wanting to read more and more until those two get together (finally!).
I loved both main characters, both were flawed in very realistic ways that made them interesting and not too perfect to be real, they evolved through the story and got over their problems in a way that felt really natural, nothing was rushed with these two. Their romance was addictive!
I think this is a book you have to read if you’ve enjoyed Alexandra Vasti before and, if you love Bride, Alpha… the world feels similar, a world where vampires are real (the lore was pretty cool I thought) and live (and love) between humans. I didn’t expect Vasti to write such a great paranormal romance (it’s kind of a big step from historical romance) but she has never disappointed me. I can’t wait to read the next book (with that ending, it has to exist) and to discover more about Casey, Sophronia and the rest of characters (Del I’m looking at you!).
Definitely give it a try if you like your paranormal romance to feel very contemporary, if you love longing and slow burns… and if you love vampires!!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
*Thank you to the publisher via Netgalley for an e-arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own!*
I'm honestly a little torn on this one. It's quite different in tone than the author's previous works (which I've all loved) and I did struggle a little bit with it, if I'm honest. This is a bit of a genre-bashing novel mixing mystery and paranormal romance with some slight(?) horror-y elements. It's not so far out of left-field in general, but it does seem a big leap from the author. But I guess I'll get into what I liked, first.
The way this author does romance really sticks out to me. I loved the characters and that it was dual-POV, although I do with the POVs were a bit more evenly spread between the two characters. Sophronia is a character burdened by legacy and the prestige of being the heir to one of the biggest vampire clans. She's a character that feels like she has to be cold, even though she feels so, so much and desperately wants connection, even if she feels like she doesn't deserve it. Casey felt maybe the tiniest bit less developed because it felt like he ended up getting shorted some POV chapters (at least, in my opinion), but he was a good foil for Sophronia, even as he struggled with his own burdens. I could quite relate to some of his struggles, even if the reasons behind them are different, and I appreciated seeing how much he loved and respected Sophronia for all that she was, never expecting her to be something different.
I also loved the side characters and the way they interacted with the two main characters a lot. Particularly Casey's grandmother(? I honestly don't fully remember if she's that or a great-grandmother if I'm honest), who was such a vivacious and funny character. Truly, she shined every page she was on.
How the author wrote the vampires was something I also quite liked, even though I think it might be a bit divisive to some paranormal romance aficionados. I feel like the author made it her own and kept things a bit interesting with the world-building and how that tied into the larger plot.
I think where I struggled a bit was that the larger mystery is highly tied into the corporate espionage plotline, which honestly kind of dragged. I think it's because, at times, the author ended up getting a little too into the weeds with app development and some slight hacking stuff and that didn't really interest me as much, if I'm honest. I think I would have enjoyed it a little more if some of that were trimmed down, maybe? Or, if the mystery hadn't been on the tech-y side of things. But that's truly just a personal preference.
Overall, I'm not fully sure if the larger mystery is the thing that's making me rethink my rating or if I just need to re-read, now that I know what I'm getting into. Still, I appreciate the author for doing something out of the box and I think this might be something I'm willing to continue. Because I do like the characters and their relationships, even if I'm more unsure of the larger plot.
I'm honestly a little torn on this one. It's quite different in tone than the author's previous works (which I've all loved) and I did struggle a little bit with it, if I'm honest. This is a bit of a genre-bashing novel mixing mystery and paranormal romance with some slight(?) horror-y elements. It's not so far out of left-field in general, but it does seem a big leap from the author. But I guess I'll get into what I liked, first.
The way this author does romance really sticks out to me. I loved the characters and that it was dual-POV, although I do with the POVs were a bit more evenly spread between the two characters. Sophronia is a character burdened by legacy and the prestige of being the heir to one of the biggest vampire clans. She's a character that feels like she has to be cold, even though she feels so, so much and desperately wants connection, even if she feels like she doesn't deserve it. Casey felt maybe the tiniest bit less developed because it felt like he ended up getting shorted some POV chapters (at least, in my opinion), but he was a good foil for Sophronia, even as he struggled with his own burdens. I could quite relate to some of his struggles, even if the reasons behind them are different, and I appreciated seeing how much he loved and respected Sophronia for all that she was, never expecting her to be something different.
I also loved the side characters and the way they interacted with the two main characters a lot. Particularly Casey's grandmother(? I honestly don't fully remember if she's that or a great-grandmother if I'm honest), who was such a vivacious and funny character. Truly, she shined every page she was on.
How the author wrote the vampires was something I also quite liked, even though I think it might be a bit divisive to some paranormal romance aficionados. I feel like the author made it her own and kept things a bit interesting with the world-building and how that tied into the larger plot.
I think where I struggled a bit was that the larger mystery is highly tied into the corporate espionage plotline, which honestly kind of dragged. I think it's because, at times, the author ended up getting a little too into the weeds with app development and some slight hacking stuff and that didn't really interest me as much, if I'm honest. I think I would have enjoyed it a little more if some of that were trimmed down, maybe? Or, if the mystery hadn't been on the tech-y side of things. But that's truly just a personal preference.
Overall, I'm not fully sure if the larger mystery is the thing that's making me rethink my rating or if I just need to re-read, now that I know what I'm getting into. Still, I appreciate the author for doing something out of the box and I think this might be something I'm willing to continue. Because I do like the characters and their relationships, even if I'm more unsure of the larger plot.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group for providing an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.
This is a difficult review for me to write as a diehard fan of Alexandra Vasti’s historical romances. I adore her romantic prose and the thorough research that goes into all her books. This had a lot of individual moments that I enjoyed, but the way it all came together left me feeling distant from the relationship and unengaged in the mystery.
This was fun in concept, but the reality of the investigation was chaotic and repetitive. We move from plot point to plot point with little transition while characters jump to conclusions, facing dead ends and false finishes. The crew will decide their next step, and the next chapter is a time jump to that step. Because so much of the investigation is done through spyware, it’s a lot of playing it cool and waiting around. The strongest scenes were when we’d get some explosive action, making the stakes feel more immediate and strengthening their trust in each other. I can’t speak to the accuracy of the technology here, but at many times it felt like a magic button being handed to the crew. The tech-jargon was a bit hard to follow and made the writing feel less romantic and lyrical than her previous books.
Casey and Sophronia’s relationship was very attraction-forward, with their initial spark coming from physical appearance and the temptation of blood. Seeing them open up to each other over the course of the book was a sweet and slow build, but I wish I had more reason to buy into their connection. The mystery and the romance were competing for attention the entire time, and the romance felt pushed to the side. I don’t know if this was substantially edited down, but it felt like a lot of moments were skipped over. Like Sophronia saying she’d been deliberating something for weeks, and we hear about it after she locks in her decision. I would’ve loved to see more quiet moments between Casey and Sophronia instead of being flung into the next plot point immediately. When the characters finally get some downtime, we skip over that week or two of bonding to get back to the mystery. I wanted to fall in love with their love, but it just wasn’t given enough time on page.
I don’t want to sound like I didn’t enjoy any of it, because there were definitely fun moments. I like that there’s a little role reversal on the “touch her and you die” trope where Sophronia is violently protective of Casey. Every time Sophronia snaps at Casey, you can trust that man is exactly where he wants to be. I like that we get a meddlesome Nonna who knows her grandson (and his type) very well. And I like that Vasti put so much thought into blending medical technology and vampire lore.
I think this will work for a lot of readers, but it fell flat for me when directly compared to her previous books. I’m not sure I’ll pick up the sequel, because I didn’t care for the direction the ending took. — 3 ★’s
This is a difficult review for me to write as a diehard fan of Alexandra Vasti’s historical romances. I adore her romantic prose and the thorough research that goes into all her books. This had a lot of individual moments that I enjoyed, but the way it all came together left me feeling distant from the relationship and unengaged in the mystery.
This was fun in concept, but the reality of the investigation was chaotic and repetitive. We move from plot point to plot point with little transition while characters jump to conclusions, facing dead ends and false finishes. The crew will decide their next step, and the next chapter is a time jump to that step. Because so much of the investigation is done through spyware, it’s a lot of playing it cool and waiting around. The strongest scenes were when we’d get some explosive action, making the stakes feel more immediate and strengthening their trust in each other. I can’t speak to the accuracy of the technology here, but at many times it felt like a magic button being handed to the crew. The tech-jargon was a bit hard to follow and made the writing feel less romantic and lyrical than her previous books.
Casey and Sophronia’s relationship was very attraction-forward, with their initial spark coming from physical appearance and the temptation of blood. Seeing them open up to each other over the course of the book was a sweet and slow build, but I wish I had more reason to buy into their connection. The mystery and the romance were competing for attention the entire time, and the romance felt pushed to the side. I don’t know if this was substantially edited down, but it felt like a lot of moments were skipped over. Like Sophronia saying she’d been deliberating something for weeks, and we hear about it after she locks in her decision. I would’ve loved to see more quiet moments between Casey and Sophronia instead of being flung into the next plot point immediately. When the characters finally get some downtime, we skip over that week or two of bonding to get back to the mystery. I wanted to fall in love with their love, but it just wasn’t given enough time on page.
I don’t want to sound like I didn’t enjoy any of it, because there were definitely fun moments. I like that there’s a little role reversal on the “touch her and you die” trope where Sophronia is violently protective of Casey. Every time Sophronia snaps at Casey, you can trust that man is exactly where he wants to be. I like that we get a meddlesome Nonna who knows her grandson (and his type) very well. And I like that Vasti put so much thought into blending medical technology and vampire lore.
I think this will work for a lot of readers, but it fell flat for me when directly compared to her previous books. I’m not sure I’ll pick up the sequel, because I didn’t care for the direction the ending took. — 3 ★’s
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Book Review: Swipe Bite by Alexandra Vasti
As someone who already enjoys Alexandra Vasti’s historical romances, I was really interested to see how she would handle a more modern paranormal setting, and Swipe Bite ended up being a fun if somewhat uneven transition into contemporary romance. The story follows Sophronia Vega, a vampire heiress helping run HemoCorp, and Casey Amato, the software engineer behind Stokr, a dating app meant to safely connect humans and vampires. When the app is compromised and users begin ending up dead after their matches, the launch spirals into a corporate and public relations nightmare that forces the two to work together to figure out who sabotaged the system.
The strongest part of the book for me was still Vasti’s character work and dialogue. Even in a completely different genre space, she writes chemistry very naturally, and the banter between Sophronia and Casey keeps the story moving even during some of the more chaotic plot developments. Their relationship develops through stress, mistrust, and shared responsibility for the app’s failures, and that emotional progression feels much stronger than the actual mystery elements. The corporate vampire setting is also entertaining and gives the book a slightly satirical tone that works well with the dating app premise.
Where the book lost me a little was in the tech and cybersecurity side of the plot. I do not know much about software engineering or app development myself, but even I found myself questioning how some of the sabotage and system manipulation was supposed to function without anyone catching it sooner. The book seems much more interested in using technology symbolically, as a reflection of modern dating culture and corporate carelessness, than in making the infrastructure feel believable. The mystery itself also becomes fairly transparent early on, so the tension comes more from watching the characters respond to the situation than from trying to genuinely solve it alongside them.
The final werewolf reveal especially felt like a sudden pivot into a larger paranormal universe rather than something fully built into the story that came before it. I was not against the idea, but it did feel slightly disconnected from the vampire-tech satire the rest of the book had established. Still, I appreciated seeing Vasti experiment outside historical romance, and I think many of the things that make her previous books enjoyable still come through clearly here. Even when the plotting becomes messy, the character interactions and overall energy kept me engaged enough to be interested in where she goes next with this world. 3.5 stars.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.
As someone who already enjoys Alexandra Vasti’s historical romances, I was really interested to see how she would handle a more modern paranormal setting, and Swipe Bite ended up being a fun if somewhat uneven transition into contemporary romance. The story follows Sophronia Vega, a vampire heiress helping run HemoCorp, and Casey Amato, the software engineer behind Stokr, a dating app meant to safely connect humans and vampires. When the app is compromised and users begin ending up dead after their matches, the launch spirals into a corporate and public relations nightmare that forces the two to work together to figure out who sabotaged the system.
The strongest part of the book for me was still Vasti’s character work and dialogue. Even in a completely different genre space, she writes chemistry very naturally, and the banter between Sophronia and Casey keeps the story moving even during some of the more chaotic plot developments. Their relationship develops through stress, mistrust, and shared responsibility for the app’s failures, and that emotional progression feels much stronger than the actual mystery elements. The corporate vampire setting is also entertaining and gives the book a slightly satirical tone that works well with the dating app premise.
Where the book lost me a little was in the tech and cybersecurity side of the plot. I do not know much about software engineering or app development myself, but even I found myself questioning how some of the sabotage and system manipulation was supposed to function without anyone catching it sooner. The book seems much more interested in using technology symbolically, as a reflection of modern dating culture and corporate carelessness, than in making the infrastructure feel believable. The mystery itself also becomes fairly transparent early on, so the tension comes more from watching the characters respond to the situation than from trying to genuinely solve it alongside them.
The final werewolf reveal especially felt like a sudden pivot into a larger paranormal universe rather than something fully built into the story that came before it. I was not against the idea, but it did feel slightly disconnected from the vampire-tech satire the rest of the book had established. Still, I appreciated seeing Vasti experiment outside historical romance, and I think many of the things that make her previous books enjoyable still come through clearly here. Even when the plotting becomes messy, the character interactions and overall energy kept me engaged enough to be interested in where she goes next with this world. 3.5 stars.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
3.5 Stars
Thank you to NetGalley and to Berkley for the ARC of Swipe Bite by Alexandra Vasti.
I am a huge fan of Vasti's historical romances, and was excited to read her first foray into a paranormal mystery (with strong romance subplot).
Vasti is a talented writer -- I am usually thrilled by her writing because of how much care she takes in researching and crafting her characters and their time period to build their relationships thoughtfully and with a strong atmosphere of place and time.
Swipe Bite is fun, it has engaging characters and a fast paced plot. Casey's grandmother (based on Vasti's real life grandmother) is the scene stealer of the book and provides a lot of humor and heart that tie the story together.
I think I struggled a bit adjusting from her usual writing style -- at times I felt just a bit overwhelmed by the strong technical/hacking aspect of the mystery - for a cozy book I felt like that sometimes was a bit more complicated than it needed to be, but also that we just run from plot point to plot point with a lot of conjecture but not really anyone solving anything. I also had a bit of trouble understanding the exact extreme motivations of the characters - yes, both have strong feelings about STOKR keeping people safe (this and a few other general plot points/story points are repeated fairly which sometimes took me out of the story), but also it feels like a lot of really big feelings over a dating app. Apps get shut down or reformatted all the time, that's just business - but Soph and Casey are both holding on SO tightly that it seems like the mystery has to be over the top because they are over the top. I think I would have felt more connected to the character's motivations if we spent more time with regular human and vampire users who are not part of the top echelons of society - so much of the overall focus of the book is on this small microcosm of internal sabotage, and so all we see is the 1%. I think that also made it harder to relate to the characters because we don't really dive in to what life is like living in a time where vampires and humans are side-by-side in the daylight, we just hear about how vampires think they are better than humans. I think there needed to be just a bit more worldbuilding, especially with the cliffhanger ending and how that opens up for the next story.
Overall though this is a fun read, and I think paranormal romance / paranormal mystery readers will enjoy it. I would still tune in for the second book because I'm interested in how the world will expand and I trust Vasti's style, but I do think this first one just had a few genre changes to adjust to.
Thank you to NetGalley and to Berkley for the ARC of Swipe Bite by Alexandra Vasti.
I am a huge fan of Vasti's historical romances, and was excited to read her first foray into a paranormal mystery (with strong romance subplot).
Vasti is a talented writer -- I am usually thrilled by her writing because of how much care she takes in researching and crafting her characters and their time period to build their relationships thoughtfully and with a strong atmosphere of place and time.
Swipe Bite is fun, it has engaging characters and a fast paced plot. Casey's grandmother (based on Vasti's real life grandmother) is the scene stealer of the book and provides a lot of humor and heart that tie the story together.
I think I struggled a bit adjusting from her usual writing style -- at times I felt just a bit overwhelmed by the strong technical/hacking aspect of the mystery - for a cozy book I felt like that sometimes was a bit more complicated than it needed to be, but also that we just run from plot point to plot point with a lot of conjecture but not really anyone solving anything. I also had a bit of trouble understanding the exact extreme motivations of the characters - yes, both have strong feelings about STOKR keeping people safe (this and a few other general plot points/story points are repeated fairly which sometimes took me out of the story), but also it feels like a lot of really big feelings over a dating app. Apps get shut down or reformatted all the time, that's just business - but Soph and Casey are both holding on SO tightly that it seems like the mystery has to be over the top because they are over the top. I think I would have felt more connected to the character's motivations if we spent more time with regular human and vampire users who are not part of the top echelons of society - so much of the overall focus of the book is on this small microcosm of internal sabotage, and so all we see is the 1%. I think that also made it harder to relate to the characters because we don't really dive in to what life is like living in a time where vampires and humans are side-by-side in the daylight, we just hear about how vampires think they are better than humans. I think there needed to be just a bit more worldbuilding, especially with the cliffhanger ending and how that opens up for the next story.
Overall though this is a fun read, and I think paranormal romance / paranormal mystery readers will enjoy it. I would still tune in for the second book because I'm interested in how the world will expand and I trust Vasti's style, but I do think this first one just had a few genre changes to adjust to.
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