This book is fascinating to me, and it might be because it had so much potential. Don't get me wrong, I liked this book, but certain parts of it haven't aged well. My first issue is the unnecessary prologue and epilogue. They are part of the story, there is no reason to label them that way, they just should be the first chapter and the last chapter. There is also the issue with the framing of the first chapter because it frames Dwayne as predatory and rape-y in order to justify Lissiana feeding on him so we don't feel any sympathy for him and more sympathy for her, but in this situation she is clearly the predator here because she is a fricking vampire. Dwayne shouldn't be trying to lure Lissiana outside to have sex. That doesn't make sense, it should be the other way around. He has a cucumber stuffed down his pants because the implication is that if he has a medical condition he has difficulty getting an erection. The author, from Lissiana's perspective then proceeds to moralize about body modification and how people are always trying to be something they are not in an extremely unironic fashion because it is a sentiment echoed by the love interest Greg. Here's the thing, Lissiana is a vampire who has always been perfect, can't gain weight and is incredibly beautiful. It makes sense that a vampire would think these things, but it doesn't make sense for a person with a doctorate in psychology to echo this sentiment. If anything he should be challenging this opinion, and this is kind of a problem with the hero because in order to emphasize how perfect he is in Lissiana, they are always in agreement. I like this book a lot conceptually. I like the idea that vampirism isn't mystical, but scientific. I like the idea of a hemophobic vampire. These ideas have a lot of potential, but the author doesn't seem to be interested in actively exploring them. Like, I would have liked Greg to have tried to help Lissiana with this phobia during the course of the book. That would have been extremely interesting, but the author literally doesn't care to investigate this. ( )

DNF at 15%
bad writing. Bad bad bad.

This was a cheesy, cute and funny story but with a lot of info dumping (perhaps a bit understandably as the first book in a series, but too much for me). ( )

3.5 stars. Review will be posted soon! ( )

"Listened to audio narrated by Victoria McGee. Greg is a psychologist who specializes in curing phobias. Lissianna's mother kidnaps him in order for him to cure her of her phobia. This leads a lot of campy twists and turns and misunderstandings. Things get more complicated when he isn't easily manipulated and they find out that Lissiana can't read him at all. Then there's the 'mysterious' attacks on Lissiana to solve, except it's pretty obvious as the reader who was responsible.

This is a light hearted, campy, vamp book. If you like those sorts of reads, I think you'll enjoy this book. Although you may still wonder how someone as old as Lissiana can be so clueless."

More of my reviews can be found at https://wyldheartreads.wordpress.com/
( )

This is the first book in the Argeneau Vampire series. Right now there are 28 books in the Argeneau Vampire series. This was a pretty typical vampire paranormal romance. It was okay but the plot was really thin.

I listened to this on audiobook and didn’t like the narrator much. The narrator sounded like a breathy public service announcer and was distracting and hard to listen to.

There were some things I enjoyed about this book that set it apart from other paranormal romances. I loved the explanation about the nanos that make these “vampire” immortals; there was some fascinating history here and it was an interesting concept. I also enjoyed the tight and caring relationships between Lissianna and her family. I liked how Lissi is a kind and caring, yet capable, heroine.

There were a number of things I thought were lacking as well. I just never really felt the chemistry between Lissi and Greg; the relationship felt a bit dry to me. I also struggled with the lack of any plot (aside from Greg finding out about vampires). Sands does try to throw in a bit of a life or death scenario towards the end of the book but this was kind of just thrown in there and felt contrived.

Overall this was an okay PNR book but I wasn’t all the impressed. There are some unique elements to this series but they weren’t enough to offset the lack of any plot and the vanilla feel of the novel. ( )

A Quick Bite by Lynsay Sands
Book #1: Argeneau Series
Source: Purchase (Print and Audible)
My Rating: 4/5 stars

Since I’ve discovered the world of audio books, I find I do have the time to go back and re-read the books and series I read and enjoyed many, many years ago! As such, I have begun a re-read of the Argeneau vampire series, and am finding I really, really like this series as I much as I thought I did. 😊

Lissianna Argeneau is utterly convinced she will never live a normal life as a vampire. Oh, she has all the good bits including perfect health, excellent looks, and being generally impervious to death, but she also has a significant drawback. Lissianna faints at the sight of blood. Throughout her two centuries of life, her family has tried to find ways to help Lissianna overcome her phobia, but nothing has worked. Unless something drastic happens, Lissianna is doomed to a life of intravenous blood intake as she sleeps.

Thankfully, Lissianna’s mother is an enterprising woman with nothing but her children’s best interest at heart.

It’s not every day Dr. Gregory Hewitt wakes up to find himself chained to a bed. What’s more, as far as he can remember, he willingly got into the pretty lady’s trunk and willingly sprawled out on the bed to be chained up. That just doesn’t make a damn bit of sense now does it? As Gregory comes to and begins asking questions, his purpose in the posh home becomes clear. The pretty lady mind whammied him to help cure her gorgeous daughter of her phobia. While Greg is trying to wrap his brain around his new “job,” Lissianna is trying to figure out what her mother was thinking.

And then there is all the rule breaking and miscommunication . . . . .

As it dawns on Lissianna what Greg is to her, she has a whole new host of problems on her hands. Greg is human and thanks to some serious rule-breaking knows far too much about the vampire species. When Lissianna’s uncle - a stern, cold member of the vampire council – is called in to assess the situation, Lissianna knows she is going to have go to extremes if she is to protect the man she loves. As if happens, much of Lissianna and Greg’s concern, worry, and fear could have easily been avoided if they had just talked to her mother 😊

Oh, and then there’s the guy who wants to kill Lissianna . . . . .

The Bottom Line: I completely enjoyed this book as both a physical read and an audio book! There is so much humor infused into this story, so many old beings who just don’t take themselves and the myths about them all that seriously. Some of the finer and funnier moments of this read are those when someone is trying to explain the realities of vampirism to Greg. I particularly enjoyed meeting all the Argeneau’s and learning about their family and past along with Greg. To be sure, this is an HEA and the beginning of a very long, very satisfying series. ( )

Credo di avervi già detto, in altre recensioni, della mia avversione per le storie paranormal romance in cui, nella coppia, ad essere vampiro è la donna.

Non so perchè ma, alla fine, non riesco proprio a vedere in una "Lei" la parte immortale, forte e affascinante della coppia. Al massimo posso sopportare quando sono entrambi vampiro.

Con questo non voglio assolutamente dire che il romanzo non mi sia piaciuto, tutt'altro!

Lissi è carina, sensibile e dolce. Molto poco "vampiro" semmai, sembra più una teenager con qualche problema di "mammismo".
Greg è affascinante, sveglio e intuitivo, il classico psicologo dal quale mi fare fare volentieri un controllino alla psiche... e non solo a quella XD

Ad ogni modo, tutt'ora mi chiedo come abbia fatto a prendere così alla leggera il fatto di essere stato rapito, per due volte, da una famiglia di vampiri. I poteri degli ormoni sono infiniti!

Ottima lettura, anche se inferiore in confronto a "Bianco, celibe e Vampiro".

Incredibilmente promettente, come futuro protagonista, è Thomas... A quando la sua storia d'amore? ( )

This is an AMAZING vampire Series that sink it's fangs into within the first couple of chapters!!! This book is the first in the Argeneau Vampires Series! This novel tells the story of Lissianna Argeneau, a beautiful vampire who has Hemophobia (fear of blood). I would recommend this series to any die hard vampire/paranormal romance fans. If you like books by Jeaniene Frost you will LOVE this series!!! ( )

I'm a big fan of [b:A Quick Bite|38568|A Quick Bite (Argeneau #1)|Lynsay Sands|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1410129015s/38568.jpg|2621331] and am well on my way to having read all of her historicals. I have the majority done but am saving those last few to pull me out of reading slumps. If you haven't read her historicals yet, I suggest giving them a shot in audio. She has great narrators that really bring the characters for life. Back to the book at hand, I don't know why I haven't tried the Argeneau series before now. It may be because I tend to search out urban fantasy series because I like to follow the same couple throughout... but I have run through those and now am going back to the paranormal multi-couple series such as Argeneau, Immortals After Dark, etc.

This book was a little different from other vampy books that I have read and listened to in that our hero was not the fangy one. Dr. Gregory Hewitt is a psychologist that specializes in the treatment of phobias. He seems to be a bit of a workaholic and his sister is constantly setting him up on blind dates. He manages to get out of the latest fix up because he is all set to go on vacation to Cancun, his first vacation in many years. Unfortunately before he can do any relaxing, Greg is spirited away by a female vamp who plans to give him to her daughter as a birthday present!

Our heroine is also unique, Lissianna Argeneau is a 200 y/o vamp who suffers from hemophobia. She faints at the sight of blood. This has made Lissianna largely dependent on her family for feeding. So when she sees great bound to her bed with a bow, she mistakes him for dinner! They couple has an instant connection it seems, and Greg is the first mortal whose mind is closed to Lissianna.

As Greg proves to have a strong will, the vamps are at odds regarding his fate and future. He needs to treat Lissianna's phobia... but danger seems to find them at every turn. This was a light-hearted paranormal. It wasn't a dark fantasy with broody vamps and overly serious characters, but it was entertaining despite being somewhat shallow. I don't mean that in a negative way.

So I liked the story, but I didn't love it. I honestly think it was the beta male thing. I like my vamps to be dark, broody and dominant. Greg is pretty much the opposite of those characteristics. Maybe some of the other Argeneau brothers will tickle my fang fancy... but I will keep reading regardless because I know I am going to be entertained with any book by Lynsay.

Since this was an audio, I feel like I should say something about the narrator. It was a solid performance. Nothing stuck out as good or bad. My mind did wander off a few times that required me to rewind... but that was more about me being busy than the book not holding my interest.

3 stars / 3 flames. ( )

This was a cutesy paranormal romance - with emphasis on the romance. The main characters is a (born) vampire who passes out at the sight of blood, thus complicating her diet. In this paranormal universe, vamps exist and are just like you and me, with a different diet, but don't advertise their presence to the normals. This was a somewhat funny story, but the world didn't interest me that much and the plot was almost nonexistent. The romance was cute though. I will probably give this series one more shot and then call it good depending on how that one goes down. ( )

3 1/2 stars review to come. Good start. ( )

Good read for romantic comdey ( )

Shortly after I started reading I realised this wasn't going to be the best book in the world though there were a couple of good jokes, one of them involves a cucumber...in a snack's trousers being used to cover his inability to get it up -the dude was anaemic and was faking everything: fake tan, fake job, fake shoulders (i.e. shoulder pads); the other involves Lissiana, a vampire with haemaphobia (a fear of blood) who faints at the very sight of blood. When I thought about this I couldn't help but wonder how she dealt with her periods, an obvious problem that Sands never addresses.

I don't know when this book was first published but it reads like it was written in the early 90s. It was highly predictable and VERY slow. Nothing surprised me. I admit I was looking for a light read with a happy ending, and I guess I got what I wanted I just didn't expect it to be this flimsy. The story was mostly about the Argeneau family, only in the last quarter of the book did you feel that Greg and Lissiana were in any danger, though it was glaringly obvious who had put them there.

There were plenty of embarressing moments for the main characters especially Greg who was humiliated a number of times though I think these instances were meant to be funny, they just came off as degrading to me.

On the plus side the history and explanation of how vampires came to be and the biological side of them was interesting as was Lissiana's mother's life story. Also the way Greg came into Lissiana's life was different to most of the paranormal romances I've read.

Overall A Quick Bite was synonymous with A Bit Dull. ( )

Liked it, but I thought it took too damn long to get to the part where things actually start to happen. But then it got good and I started to really get into this world and its characters. Kudos points to the author on the fresh view about how the vampires came to be. Very interesting world building and plot. ( )

It was okay but nothing special. I didn’t like the formula of instant-love. The genesis of vampire kind was quite unique. I am interested in Thomas story so maybe I will read other books some day. ( )

A vampire that faints at the site of blood? Weak... ( )

Good story, not amazing but good. Nanos....... ( )

A typical yet different vampire story; I thought the evolution of vampires was a unique twist. But overall there really wasn't a plot, the heroine didn't show any backbone until more than 2/3 through the book, the hero (a somewhat known psychologist), just readily accepted the premise of vampires and even embraced the idea, although only knowing the family for just a few days? And the ending, that's how they dealt with the villain?

Could have been a really good story, with some character development and a better plot. ( )

I read this series from the library a few years ago, but couldn't remember WHICH series it was, or who the author was...until I got part way in to this, and remembered that I had, in fact, read it. I kept going because I couldn't remember how it ended, but I'm not going to bother rereading any of the others. Too much other stuff on my to-read list! ( )

A Quick Bite is the first book in the Argeneau series. I accidentally read Love Bites, the first book in the series first. A Quick Bite is yet another paranormal romance, and so this means the usual boy meets girl and zmog they're in love forever and ever routine. As I have stated many times, I am not a fan of paranormal romance, but I was willing to give this book a try after enjoying Love Bites for its humor.

The plot really is quite basic. Lissianna, a 202 year old vampire meets Greg after her mother kidnaps him for her birthday. Greg assumes that he is to be a human sex toy, when in fact he was kidnapped to cure Lissianna of her phobia. Yes, she's a vampire who passes out at the sight of blood. At first she assumes that he is a special dinner, as vampires consider it a treat to come across an undiagnosed diabetic for the sugar in their blood. Greg is resistant to being tied up and served for dinner, but when he sees Lissianna, surprise surprise, it's instant boner time cause she's just that special.

Vampires are normally able to read minds, wipe memories and plant suggestions in the mind of humans, but Lissianna is unable to do so with Greg. Apparently, this is an indicator that she has met her true life mate. Everyone say awwww. Worry ensues because if Greg's memory cannot be erased, he certainly cannot "allowed to wander the earth with knowledge of who and what they are. Instead of being scared witless, he goes grocery shopping with them and out for breakfast -- 'cause that makes the most sense. Eventually Lissianna decides that Greg is really at risk when Uncle Lucien one of the oldest vampires in existence shows up and the two of them make a getaway on a bicycle. They end up roaming around downtown Toronto together.

Read more ( )

Read for Fun (Kindle)
Overall Rating: 3.50
Story Rating: 3.25
Character Rating: 3.75

First Thought when Finished: A Quick Bite was a strong beginning to a "new to me" series!

Story Thoughts: A Quick Bite is one of those of books that might have read better for me if I wasn't constantly looking up when I was going to get stories for other characters in the story. I just never was completely invested in the love story of Lissi and Greg.* I was more invested in every one around them which means the story and I never clicked. That is on me as the reader, not on the author! Though I did like the lengths her mom would go to in order to help her little girl (no matter how old you are, you are always momma's little girl)!

Character Thoughts: I really enjoyed the characters introduced in A Quick Bite. In fact, I am pretty sure I fell head over heals for a few of them. Lissi was a cute character and I think really coming into her own.** I felt she still had some "spreading her wings" growing to do but with Greg in her corner that is going to happen. I love Greg! Poor guy handled everything like a champ even after thinking that he was the birthday present in a whole other way! He was a fun character and just down right adorable.

Final Thoughts: I enjoyed my trip into the Argeneeau's world and will most certainly be following up with the next book!***

*I like Lissi and Greg more now as a couple after reading a few more stories in the series.
**Lissi really has come into her own after a few books in the series. I guess this is the plus of me being ahead of my review writing.
***Already did and I am on book 4. Overall this is just a fun series! ( )

The first time I read this book, I gave it 3 out of 5. The story was mildly engaging but I had a difficult time feeling an emotional connection to the characters. I reread the book and came up with the same score.

When I read, I want feel as if I know the characters and experience their journey with them. Unfortunately, this book felt like I was reading about a stranger’s story not experiencing a journey. I was unable to clearly picture some of the characters and settings in my mind and that may have been what caused my lack of emotional investment.

However, the concept and plot were interesting enough that I decided to give the series a shot and read another one.

My rating breakdown is below. The romance and sensuality scores don’t factor into the total rating of the book but I like to keep track of them anyway. Please remember that this is just my opinion and you are entitled to yours.

Plot: 3 – fair, held together well and was mildly interesting

Characters: 3 – like-able with some emotional attachment

Creativity: 4 – original, well-developed, decent execution but left no lasting impression

Romance: 3 – Relationship shows some romance but there was no emotional involvement

Sensuality: 2 – Subtle, little sexual activity, alluded to with minimal to moderate description
( )

This was a fun, light and a little bit different vampire book. The vampire who's afraid of blood was definitely a novel idea when that was written!

I figured out in the very beginning who was 'after' Lissi, though, and thought that the fore-shadowing was a little too bright.

Lissi and Greg are both wonderful people, and Lissi's family is a tight-knot group. I look forward to reading more in this series. ( )

When I read a paranormal romance book I expect to have some non-existing creatures involved, romance between main characters and at least a couple of steamy sex scenes and if I am lucky some funny dialog.
So what do we have here?
1) Paranormal creatures - Check. In this book it is a family of vampires. Surname is Argeneau (the same as the series name) so I am guessing we will be seeing them in the next book too. I am a bit disappointed that there were no other creatures or unnatural events. But they did hint of existing lycanthropy, so I am hoping we will see at least some werewolves later.
2) Romance & steamy sex - Check (kinda). Yeah main characters fall in love etc. But somehow at least to me their whole romance is weird. Greg is tied to the bed and he is not angry or pissed of, no he falls in love in his kidnapper doughter. Why? Well because they are true mates. Duh... In my opinion [a:Lynsay Sands|17059|Lynsay Sands|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1194362953p2/17059.jpg] could have tried a little harder to develop their story.
3) Funny scenes & dialog - None (at least for me).
Maybe this is not a bad book, but it did not work for me. The only interesting part of the whole story if the explanation of the origin of the vampires. Very unexpected and original. That's why I will read the next book in series and hope it get's better... ( )