Biting Cold (Chicagoland Vampires #6)

  It seems apropos to read a title called Biting Cold after getting over five inches of snow yesterday. I picked up the book in while waiting to get my hands on a copy of the latest book in the Chicagoland Vampires series, House Rules. Unfortunately, my streak of bad reading experiences continues. Instead of being a great read, Biting Cold was a biting dud. 

Description (from Goodreads): Turned into a vampire against her will, twenty-eight-year-old Merit found her way into the dark circle of Chicago’s vampire underground, where she learned there was more to supernaturals than met the eye—and more supernaturals than the public ever imagined.And not all the secrets she learned were for sharing—among humans or inhumans. Now Merit is on the hunt, charging across the stark American Midwest, tailing a rogue supernatural intent on stealing an ancient artifact that could unleash catastrophic evil on the world. But Merit is also the prey. An enemy of Chicagoland is hunting her, and he’ll stop at nothing to get the book for himself. No mercy allowed. No rules apply. No lives spared. The race is on.

Review: After having mixed feelings about Drink Deep, I was really looking forward to reading Biting Cold, the sixth book in the Chicagoland Vampire series. Unfortunately, Biting Cold didn't meet my expectations and for me, it lacked excitement and humor unlike the first four books in this series. Instead of filling in the plot holes and making sense of the illogical plot developments of Drink Deep, Biting Cold pretty much ignores them and focuses its attention to a new mystery revolving around the shady, mysterious, and powerful former mayor of Chicago, Seth Tate. Normally, I would have welcomed a new mystery with this story but I was left with so many questions after Drink Deep that I wanted answers and explanations. The explanations that we received just seem to patted down and well, anti-climatic after a huge ordeal in book four which left the fans of this series stunned.
  Though we are introduced to a new paranormal/supernatural creatures in this book, I felt myself losing interest with this book quickly and honestly, Seth Tate isn't really a fascinating character. Everything about Biting Cold felt repetitive. The sexual tension between Ethan and Merit which drives this series became dull and annoying. I couldn't help but roll my eyes and say, "Really?! We're going back to this after all that you both have gone through?" Ethan is as infuriating as ever and I wanted to hit him upside the head several times.
  As much as I like hanging around Ethan and Merit, I wanted to get back to the crew of awesome secondary characters. While they do make an appearance, their absence is well noted. Biting Cold does leave us with some questions as to what will happen with the political structure for the vampire houses. Even though I'm still curious to see what happens next in the series, I can wait a bit longer to read the next book. It just a shame to see a series that I really like take a nose dive. I really hope House Rules makes up for the last two books. Perhaps I should lower my expectations, but I'm sad to say that I'm just not as excited about this series as I use to be. 

Rating: 2 stars

Words of Caution: There some language and a small sex scene. Recommended to mature teens and adults only.

If you like this book try: House Rules (Chicagoland Vampires #7) by Chloe Neill, Jane Yellowrock series by Faith Hunter, Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs, Greywalker by Kat Richardson