Rating: 4 Stars

Publisher: Grae Bryan

Genre: Gay Paranormal Romance

Tags: Comtemporary, Age Gap, Fated Mates, Romance, Series, Supernatural, Vampires, Virgin

Length: 318 Pages

Reviewer: Cindi

Purchase At: Amazon

Blurb –

Riley has been alone in the woods for a long time. Turned as a child, he’s hungrier and more fractured than the average vampire, and staying clear of humans is his safest bet. His moms think a mate could help him stabilize, but it’s unclear whether Riley has one, anomaly that he is. Until a new baker arrives in town, smelling so sweet and so perfect that Riley can barely stop himself from eating him up on the spot. Now it’s no longer a question of whether Riley has a mate, but whether Riley can pretend to be less of a monster long enough to woo him.

Romance has never been Seth’s priority. He’s always been more focused on family and friendships and his passion for feeding delicious baked goods to whoever will take them. So it’s odd that this too young, too quiet, too beautiful man keeps showing up at Seth’s door, looking at Seth like he’s something special instead of painfully ordinary. And it’s even more odd that Seth can’t keep his own boundaries straight or his hands to himself. And it’s maybe oddest of all that Seth is coming to feel like Riley’s unnerving, unwavering attention is something he might not be able to live without.

Don’t Feed the Vampire is a heated MM paranormal romance with a HEA and no cliffhanger. It contains a broken, sweetheart vampire with zero social skills; a ray of sunshine human baker; fated mates and the vampire mothers determined to protect them; and a mysterious research institute raising everyone’s suspicions. Each book in this series will focus on a different couple.

Review –

When I downloaded this, I had no clue that it was a spin-off from another series, Vampire’s Mate. Had I read that series, Don’t Feed The Vampire would have made a heck of a lot more sense. My rating likely would have been higher had I been familiar with some of the characters mentioned – Wolfe, Eric, Benny, etc. Maybe I’ll go back and read those books. Not sure at this point.

Seth, 26, has just moved across the country to Washington State because he needed something different. He just opened a new bakery, hoping it becomes as successful as the one he left behind. After his first day of business, he’s just arrived at his new rental house only to be slammed to the ground by a young man. The guy who slams into him tells him he wants to eat him, then he takes off into the woods.

Okay then!

“I want to eat you,” he said, so low and soft the words were almost lost to the rain. His voice was oddly pleasant. “I want to eat you so bad.”

The next morning, the same young man, who is 19-year-old Riley, appears outside the bakery before opening. Even creeped out over what happened the day before, Seth invites him inside the bakery and feeds him tea and a pastry, which becomes an every day thing. Riley sits at a table and watches Seth’s every move. Sometimes he brings a book, sometimes he doesn’t. It’s weird, but he’s not bothering anybody, and they do get to know each other as time passes.

Riley is a rare vampire who was turned as a child and has somehow managed to survive into young adulthood. He was turned against his will and adopted by his two vampire mothers, Sybil and Daphne. To say the moms are protective of Riley is an understatement. Only in the past few months has he been able to go into town without fear of harming someone because of his hunger for blood.

I don’t know how Riley was turned or who turned him because I’ve not read the book where it happened. A couple of important things are mentioned about his childhood, but they aren’t explained.

Seth is completely oblivious, even when Riley makes it clear that he’s interested. What Seth doesn’t know is that he is Riley’s fated mate, someone Riley never dreamed he’d find. Riley doesn’t have a lot of social skills, but it was really sweet watching him try with Seth.

There is a 7 year age gap between Seth and Riley. Riley may be a vampire, but he’s not an old one in a 19-year-old’s body. He’s really 19. His young age showed a lot. I’m all about age gaps in books, but I kind of went back and forth on this one. I know he was sheltered by his moms, and I understand why because vampires turned as early as he was are basically loose cannons. Even so, he was still a very young 19.

Everything is going well for Seth and Riley as they slowly become friends, though it’s very obvious that Riley wants more. Business at the bakery is picking up and all is fine… until one day it’s not. There’s a ‘friendly’ kidnapping, a not-so-friendly kidnapping, a strange research facility that has popped up in the area, along with creepy men who work at said research facility. Seth learns that supernatural beings exist, and not just in his new town. Apparently he’s been surrounded by them most or all of his life.

Then there’s the mate thing. Seth is definitely Riley’s fated mate, though Seth doesn’t feel worthy of it. He’s had relationships before and he’s never been the ‘stay with’ kind of guy, so why would Riley want to stick with him for life? Riley does what he can to convince him, but it takes something major happening before it finally clicks. In between, the two men start hooking up, with Seth being Riley’s first everything. Seth may not understand the mate thing, but he does understand attraction, and he’s definitely attracted to Riley.

There are two parts of Riley. There’s Riley, the human, and then there’s who he calls the voice. The voice is his vampire. They’re the same person but very different. It’s literally two different personalities. Riley is a sweetheart. The voice is gruff and dangerous.

Seth should probably stop and take a breath – he’d just been bitten by a vampire, for fuck’s sake, one who seemed to have a split personality – but he couldn’t do it. He wanted to give Riley something. Something good.

~

Not for the first time, Riley was looking at Seth like he was something precious. Something… beautiful.

His vampire self had looked at Seth differently. He’d gazed at Seth with an almost haughty sort of possessiveness.

Then there are the others I mentioned above – Riley’s moms, Wolfe, Eric, and Benny, who is Seth’s cousin. The moms, I got. The others, not even close, which is bad because they play a big part in something that happens with the research facility. I definitely would’ve loved to know where those guys came from. It worked out in the end. but I was still lost.

I can’t not mention Violet, the resident goth teenager who is totally bad-ass. I loved her. There were also a few of Seth’s customers that I liked well enough who will probably have their own books at some point.

The teenager gave him her haughtiest look yet. “I’m writing erotic fanfiction about Hannibal Lecter.” Seth could only nod. That sounded exactly right.

Overall, I enjoyed this for the most part. As I said, Riley’s age showed a lot, and I kind of had a hard time seeing him with anybody, much less somebody 7 years older. I would’ve enjoyed it a whole lot more had I read the other books first. Next time I go to read a new-to-me author, I’ll do a little more research. Had I done that with this one, I would’ve known to hold off on reading it.

I did love the epilogue. I wasn’t expecting what happened, but it was very sweet. I also love that the book was set in Washington State, one of my favorite places in the world. We spent almost 5 months outside of Seattle last year. Beautiful place.

4 stars.