Bite and Release (Bite and Release #1) by Cory Cyr

Blurb: Ryan Chase left Fairbanks, Alaska, when she was 21 years old to pursue her dream of becoming an actress. Somewhere along the way her dreams of stardom crashed and burned, along with her life. Thirteen years later she is forced to return to Fairbanks because her unforgiving and emotionally-distant father has suddenly died. Ryan seizes the opportunity to not only escape her abusive husband but to be able to attend her best friend’s wedding. What could go wrong? It’s only Fairbanks, Alaska… While wishing she was anywhere but her father’s funeral and wake, Ryan is struck senseless by a stunning, drop-dead gorgeous man. Her thoughts turn carnal and she desperately wants to know him in every way-and position-possible. There’s only one problem… He’s the devil’s spawn. He’s the one who marked her for life. He’s the kid she used to baby-sit. And he’s hotter than hell! Shea Michaels has loved Ryan Chase for most of his life. After surviving an unspeakable childhood, he became a man of whom she could be proud of…if she ever came back. Now that she’s returned, Shea pursues her with a vengeance, undaunted by the thirteen year age difference that Ryan uses as the shield between them. Confusion, guilt and lust bombard Ryan as she battles the memories of the little boy she used to know while still being drawn to the heart-stopping man he has become.

3 Stars

First off, let me say that there is a lot of sex in this book. And honestly it got to the point where it was overdone.  Coming from someone who enjoys erotica, sometimes less is more.

At first I was totally on Ryan’s side in the beginning.  He was way too young for Ryan to date.  And baby sitting him?  I don’t think I could get past that.  But as I read on I realized age really is nothing but a number and them dating really wasn’t that big a deal.

And another thing, the abuse that she was supposedly subjected to? I had a hard time identifying with that part of her personality because it seemed as if it was thrown in as an afterthought.  There were only a few references to it in the beginning and the level of abuse was really toned down and just didn’t seem to fit with the climax.  (I hope I’m not giving too much away with that statement.)  Up until that point there was nothing for me to really know how bad it was. It was vague and ambiguous statements and I needed more in order to get a true fear and understanding of this mysterious opposing character.

The detail was there for Shea, and I felt empathy towards his character because it was described just enough. I don’t understand why Ryan’s abuse didn’t get the same attention in this story.  Shea was a sweetheart. He wasn’t really like an alpha male. He was like an alpha beta I guess you could say. He respected her wishes to be left alone. When she finally admitted her attraction to him and allowed him in; he expressed his happiness is such an endearing way. He wasn’t over the top, he was genuine and emotional. It was adorable.

I liked the setting, I’m not familiar with Alaska; so when the author threw in those really cool attributes that only Alaska has, it gave it a nice layer to the world building and background.

The book was good, there were just some things that impacted my enjoyment of it.

Would I recommend it, yeah I’d recommend it if you want a nice, easy read with some explicit sex scenes.