His First Bite

Guides for Dating Vampires #1.5

by D.N. Bryn

Maybe a little blood is a fair trade for being wanted...

Vincent hoped the anonymity of college would finally set him free of the outcast, melancholic cloud he'd been living under—but his first party leaves him tucked in a corner, pining for men he can't find the courage to come out to. When the one guy who seeks him out has sharp fangs and an agenda, Vincent finds that vampires scare him far less than loneliness.

This mildly steamy, one-scene short story shows Vincent's first meeting with the alluring but uncomfortably predatory vampire Davis. It takes place four years before the novel How to Bite Your Neighbor and Win a Wager and can be enjoyed on its own or after reading the novel.

Genres: Vampires, Fantasy, Romance, Queer, LGBT, Fiction, Gay

13 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 6, 2022

About the author

D.N. Bryn is a queer, disabled author of speculative fiction and fantasy romance.

Reviews

[Aida]

پایان: ۱۴۰۲/۲/۲۲
وینست رو خیلی دوست دارم ولی اصلا کتابش چیز خاصی نداشت🚶🏻‍♀️🚶🏻‍♀️
تازه فکر میکردم بیشتر باشه صفحاتش

[Elena Rodríguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

“What kind of mysterious morally-gray monster do you take me for ? ”

Mini relato que cuenta un poco como la vida de Vincent antes de ser vampiro, concretamente su etapa universitaria. No ha estado mal. No me esperaba un gran historia, pero me ha gustado y me ha dado un poco de pena porque ya sabemos cómo va acabar en un futuro no muy lejano.

[diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

2nd reading - january 2023
in the light of everything i read in the first book, this book turned from "omg toxic vampire bf 💘" into "my poor poor baby vicent". i would like to wrap him in a hug & never let go.


1st reading - november 2022
man, that cover is simply marvelous.
also, apparently toxic relationships with supernatural partners is a type of content i consume now?? why didn't management notify me about this???

[Nora · Rating 4 out of 5]

oooo backstory

[Victoria ✮⋆˙ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I seriously can't get enough of this writing, this world, these characters! I'll read ANYTHING this author puts out!

[Brittanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grabbed this for free off Amazon during one of the Kindle promotions based solely on the blurb so I wasn't sure if it was going to be worth a read or not. So glad I did! Even though it's just a short prequel story, it did its job getting me invested enough to read the entire series - which I'm now doing because of how much I enjoyed this.

I'm a sucker (ha!) for vampires and I'm interested in different takes on classic lore. While this short story doesn't really explore that too much, you do get a taste that maybe these vampires are somewhat unique without being totally off the rails.

Note: Even though it's marked as #1.5 in the series, I'd say read this before #1.

[Dead Earthling]

Found this in my Kindle library. Very short prequel story to a book series I'll maybe read one day

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the idea of seeing how Vincent turned into a vampire but this could’ve been a bit longer instead of one moment than fading to black.

[TeeReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars

Short and sweet. Here, we get more background into Vincent and how he met the vampire, Davis, who used and turned him. There isn't too much going on here, but it's a fun and simple read, and we get more background to Vincent's character, which I liked. Overall, I enjoyed this for the 15 page short story that it is.

[Ty Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish the ending would have explained what happened. What the accident was and how he turned into a vampire. Otherwise it was a good little back story on Vincent. However, I do hope we get that information somewhere in the series.

[michaela *ੈ✩‧₊˚ · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Vincent all the more aware that he lacked whatever made this world feel like home to them.”

now this scene/chapter should have ended up in the final book, it alters the way i perceive vincent completely and is key history to his character.

[Dirty Dayna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not an expert here but the original story probably didn't need this little novella in between
It didn't really bring much to the story.

[Izzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a random freebie, it was actually pretty good.

[Savleye · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice short story that gave more insight into Vincent's backstory and how he feels he was somewhat manipulated into becoming a vampire, as the vampire that turned him didn't respect his boundaries. Although I am now wondering why the increased risk of becoming a vampire when the victim is but by more than one vampire at once wasn't brought up in the book? Also considering how short this was I feel it could've easily just been tacked onto the end of the book, rather than being an online exclusive.

[˗ˏˋ mckenna ˎˊ˗ · Rating 3 out of 5]

very short, nothing special. it was nice to get a tiny bit more background into vincents life but honestly it could have been longer, i was ready to read more but then it was over as soon as it started

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

For such a short piece this was an incredible work. I know that I have the benefit of already knowing this character but I really felt a connection. This was quite emotionally significant in this series.

[Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a review of all the Guides for dating vampires novellas so far

His first bite:
I love hearing about Vincent's backstory and how he came to be a vampire it also cleared up how vampires actually get turned; I thought it would be a vampire diaries situation were the human needs to drink the vampires blood so its odd how Vincent and Wesley never worried about Wesley turning maybe there needs to be more than one vampire? It was an interesting insight in his human life before he turned

Interrogation Tactics:
very cute and fun I love Kendall and her girlfriend and its so fun seeing Vincent getting to meet her!!!

First time predator:
OMFG SPICYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY YES I love all the "vampire related kinks" this series comes up with ITS SO F*CKING GOOD!!!!! like WOW and there such a cute couple i love them so much

Another kind of game:
OMFGGGGG SO SPICY AND SO ADORABLE when they briefly mentioned in book 1 about drinking blood from Wesley's D I thought that id never get to read about it but OMG wow thats hot I LOVE THE RELATIONSHIP SO MUCH its so spicy and so well written it feels like an incredibly well done Ao3 smut fanfic of how to bite your neighbour SO GOOD and the aftercare!! i love how Vincent wants to be genital with Wesley and all Wesley wants is to be h0rn3y lol its such a good dynamic and I'm obsessed with them!!!!!!!!!!

[Alexx (obscure.pages) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is probably be my last book of 2024! This was short and engaging enough, just what I need to wrap up the year I think 😆 I'm looking forward to reading How to Date Your Neighbor and Win a Wager soon/next year, so I think this was a great introduction to the world and the main character Vincent. Have to say, I already find him relatable 😅

Anyway. Happy holidays everyone! This is my last review of 2024! (Literally writing this on Christmas Eve, an hour before midnight 😂

Find me elsewhere: Instagram | Twitter | Blog

Marking this book as part of my reading challenge: #ReadQueerly2024.

[sage · Rating 4 out of 5]

This cover is beautiful. As a D.N. Bryn fan, I really wanted a physical copy. Unfortunately it's not really a book; based on what I can tell this short story was only released digitally and has 13 pages.

I expected more of a prequel. This is set four years before the main story, but it didn't add much to the character or overall plot of the first book (how could it with such a short runtime). I already knew Vince was turned at a party by some reckless vampires he didn't know that well. The extra details here really could have been added to any chapter of How to Bite your Neighbor and Win a Wager. So why bother with a short story?

That being said I really enjoyed htbyn, so I was excited to read even a small extension of it. It's pretty good too. not mad at it. just wish it was physical and longer

[Kimber · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Very Good Appetizer...

I adore D.N. Bryn's writing, so I had to give even this little storylette a try. As a setup for the background of the main character in the full novel after this one, I think it's great. It gives us a taste of the main character and what he's about, but makes us want more - or at least it does for me, anyway.
I have already purchased the other two novels in this series, because I knew I was going to enjoy it - as I said, I am a huge fan of D.N. Bryn's work. I can definitely say this is a good appetizer for what is to come after it. Can definitely recommend as such.

[fanboyriot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read For:
✓ Gay MC
✓ Vampire
✓ Biting Kink
✓ Short Story

The sad background to how Vincent became a vampire. Heartbreaking, reckless, and lonely. It’s so nice to know things do get better for him eventually in the novel “How to Bite Your Neighbor and Win a Wager” at least because the poor dude deserves a happy ending.

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ (3/5)
Angst Level: 💧💧💧 (3/5)
POV: Third Person
Release Date: 06, November 2022

⚠️ Content Warnings:
Moderate: Blood and Self harm
Minor: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, and Sexual content

[Karina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this as a standalone / my first intro to the author, and was impressed enough in the very short span to download the longer book and give it a go! Hopefully it stays good.

(Totally understandable as a standalone, btw, but I don't necessarily think I'd recommend it because it's not meant to have a happy ending, you know?)

[Kayleigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fine but I almost wish that there was more. I wish that this went more into Vincent being turned into a vampire as opposed to the well one thing lead to another and this happened that is actually given in this book. I think this would have made a great full novella instead of just one scene. I also think that this series is far better in audiobook format but I understand why this doesn't have an audiobook.

[Tina]

D.N. Bryn always writes piercing (get it? 'Cause we're talking about vampires) stories, and this was no exception. A short, little bite-sized treat, this left me hungry for more stories featuring Vincent. My only gripe with this was the formatting--the spacing could've been better, as I struggled to follow along at times with the story. But other than that, it was fantastic!

[m · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very short story of how Vincent ended up becoming a vampire.

It was interesting to see a bit of Vincent’s backstory but I do wish it had included the actual event instead of sort of fading to black at the end.

[Moth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very good novella. There was good chemistry between the main characters, with lots of romantic (and sexual) tension. The character building was great and it made me excited to read the following novel.

[kasiasffrealm · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as an introduction to the series! It seems like between each of the books, the author released a short story related to the main characters, but have no spoilers for the other book(s). This story in particular a really fun boy-meets-vampire!

[Hillary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in the back of Bite Your Neighbor under the title "One Glorious Bite." I'm not sure how well it would work as a standalone story, but as further background to Vincent after reading the main story, it works well. You do have a certain sense of "oh no" though.

[B.]

I got this little story for free to get a taste of the author's writing. They write well but I was really relieved to learn that this is followed by a book with a different love interest. The dynamic in this was very uncomfortable and I feared for Vincent.

[Kai (CuriousCompass) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a typical vampire short tbh. Showing how the MC and his toxic ex had their first encounter with some kinky biting stuff. I may check out the main books this is teasing.