Comments on: REVIEW: One Bite with a Stranger by Christine Warren

By: SonomaLass

SonomaLass — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 22:51:00 +0000

Twilight is exactly what Jane’s description reminded me of — at least, the hero spying on the heroine, and somehow that’s sexy and romantic, not creepy and controlling.

Anne, I’ve had the same experience discussing Charlaine Harris. She’s a recent find for me, and I’m traipsing happily through her backlist; I’m afraid I get a little prickly when anyone assumes that Sookie was inspired by Twilight.

By: The Wandering Reader

The Wandering Reader — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 22:26:05 +0000

Wow! Thanks for the great responses Anne and Cecilia! I agree with both of you; and while I’m not positive Anne, I do believe that there were a lot of Vampire books in the YA genre when I was growing up. That’s why I was so suprised about Twilight being so popular. I have been wondering, what about it makes it so different from other Vampire books? (I haven’t read it as of yet…)

By: Anne Douglas

Anne Douglas — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 20:19:53 +0000

You don’t want to know how many people on a sewing board I’m on were raving about Twilight, who then went on to ask ‘How about that show True Blood’. When I explained to them the origins of True Blood, Charlaine Harris etc etc, the first thing said was “sounds like a copy of Twilight”.

Insert Anne’s Horrified Face here…>

Vamps were around long before Twilight. Although maybe vamps in the teen section, maybe not? I don’t read YA to know about that.

By: cecilia

cecilia — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 19:48:58 +0000

Have you noticed a trend in romance books dealing with vampires having a recent spike in the publishing industry?

I guess it depends on how you define “recent” – to me the popularity of Twilight seems like a last gasp of a nearly beaten to death subgenre, not the beginning of anything. Maybe that’s wishful thinking, though.

But “recent spike” in vampire books? – good one.

By: The Wandering Reader

The Wandering Reader — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 19:29:20 +0000

Wow; great review with lots of helpful information. :) Good to know that it is an expanded book… as Anonymous posted, it doesn’t seem like the publishers have advertised it that way.

Have you noticed a trend in romance books dealing with vampires having a recent spike in the publishing industry? Do you think that this has to do with the popularity of the ‘Twilight’ series? Or have many books like ‘One Bite with a Stranger’ or ‘How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire’ (along with the myriad of others) always been out there, but just didn’t see the kind of popularity that they are today? I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.

Thanks again for the great post.

- The Wandering Reader

By: vanessa jaye

vanessa jaye — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 11:42:14 +0000

I read the original Fur Factor and Fantasy Fix when they first released with EC and really enjoyed them. More to the point, I didn’t feel like the stories needed *more* when I read them–unlike many shorter stories. They are what they are: erotic, fun, short stories, and darn good ones at that; so I’ll take a pass on the ‘expanded novel(s)’. If it ain’t broke… etc, ect,.

I will agree with Jane, that is one of the more eyecatching covers I’ve seen in awhile.

By: Mireya

Mireya — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:30:54 +0000

Actually, “Fur Factor” (that was the title of the book at EC with Graham’s story) was FAR better than “Fantasy Fix” (now titled “One Bite with a Stranger), it does have a lot of sex in it, but it’s EC’s erotic romance, so that was to be expected. To this day, I still think it is the best of the series. I hope it translates well to print. I was not impressed at all with “One Bite with a Stranger” either, plus I don’t like the series as it is being done by the new publisher as much as I liked it when it was still at EC. Oh well…

By: Ana

Ana — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 09:02:47 +0000

This was a DNF for me – I agree with you. I just couldn’t bear Dimitri, he creeped me out when he was reading her mind and the heroine was a doormat.

By: Jane

Jane — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 02:37:59 +0000

Thanks, Anonymous. I wish publishers would note this.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 02:34:24 +0000

Per Christine Warren’s website: “This book is an expanded version of the title originally released by Ellora's Cave as Fantasy Fix. It contains new content and can be considered the First Novel of the Others.”

By: Dee Tenorio

Dee Tenorio — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 02:08:55 +0000

I’ve long wanted to read Graham’s story, having come across Warren’s books with the much better “Wolf At The Door”. Problem is, the first two books are no longer available at EC.

I was really looking forward to this one, too, and while I’m not big on expressing disappointment in books, I had a very similar reaction. The plot wasn’t so much the rogue vamp–which would have been cool, really—so much as how sextastic Dmitri is. Sigh. Oh, and to set up Ava’s book, which I might read, but I’m going to do a lot of reading before buying after this one.

By: Jane

Jane — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:42:42 +0000

Ah, so maybe I am reading the EC books!

By: anon

anon — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:15:28 +0000

Seems to me this was originally an EC story although it wasn’t called One Bite with a Stranger. Fantasy Fix?? maybe. Graham’s story was book 2 and also an EC release. Fur Factor, I believe.