Once Bitten was marketed as a paranormal romance, but I definitely think it should have been labeled with the paranormal/romance/mystery. Do they even have such a category? The romance seemed almost secondary with the mystery of who killed Lucy taking center stage. I found myself questioning the behavior of every character very early on in the book, which made it a real whodunit for me. I enjoyed keeping that mental list of suspects and formulating plausible motives.
Angie spends a great deal of time mentally questioning Eric and the 'vamps' at The House of Usher while searching for the killer. She never really believed he was capable of doing something so terrible, but the thought was always niggling at the back of her mind. All the while she knew she was falling for him and she wasn't sure how to react to that. It wasn't until the end of the book, when Eric was in danger, that Angie realized that he may be a vampire but he wasn't a killer.
What caught your attention most? Did the mystery detract or enhance the romance? Did you figure out the identity of the killer before the big reveal?
8 comments:
I think the mystery caught my attention the most. I just kept trying to figure out who did it. I never came up with it until it was told to me at the end of the book. I almost wished Angie's relationship with Eric was a little more developed so that it could be considered a romance.
I wrote Once Bitten as a murder mystery. When it was published as a romance the editor asked for very little to be changed, with one big exception—the ending. Angie and Eric didn't end up together in my earlier draft!
The one complaint readers have had with the book is that it isn't more "romantic". So look for more romance in my next book and novella!
The mysterious Eric caught my attention, while I figured out the killers idenity very early on, I couldn't figure out Eric's role.
Cyd- Eric was a mysterious character and that never really changed for me. I liked how old fashioned he seemed but he never struck me as a romantic lead. I suspected who the killer was but all the others were just so shady that I wasn't 100% sure.
Clare- Have you considered posting the original ending on your website? I would be interested in seeing how you intended the novel to end.
I like the mystery aspect best - not surprising since it was originally intended that way. The vampire hunter caught me off guard - I was so expecting a Van Helsing type. And this after I mentally fussed at Angie for jumping to conclusions about Eric.
That's an interesting idea, Anna,about posting the original ending. I'm not sure readers would want to see Eric riding off into the sunset, even though I did intend for him to come back the next time Angie was in danger...
The mystery aspect caught my attention the most. The mystery enhanced the romance between Eric and Angie.
I didn't know who the killer was until they were revealed. There were so many shady characters that I was kept guessing. Remind me never to work at an Ad Agency. ;-)
Yeah, I didn't realize the Ad world was so snarky and brutal. I guess that can be said for many careers, but I'm glad that I'm not in that environment! Frou- frou power lunches are not my thing:)
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