fatal diseases and blood types

Northern Bites: Vampire Hunter by Nikki Jefford is the second novel in the series called Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter. This book continues the story of Aurora, a young adult girl, who has been drafted by a secret government agency after her near death to fight vampires. In her final year of high school, Aurora must balance being sent off on dangerous missions to figure out who murdered one of their own teammates, her confusing romantic relationship with Fane and budding relationship with Dance as well as working with a new drama queen partner.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel. As in the first novel, this series has a unique take on vampires and vampire hunters, which relies on fatal diseases and blood types. The relationship between Aurora and government agents has become more defined as Aurora has grown into a somewhat knowledgeable agent involved in multiple missions. I thought that this lent well to a more defined story as the government missions started to move story forward more. Aurora’s relationships with all of the people in her life change a lot throughout the novel and independent of the vampire story, the themes of love and betrayal stand strong throughout the novel. The vampire hunting was not as fast paced in this novel as in the first. The focus seemed to be on developing the relationships between characters more than the excitement of the action. It also was focused on developing Aurora’s feelings toward being a vampire hunter and how it might impact those around her. In general, the vampire hunting portions of the novel seemed more to be for driving the story forward. I did find the information that was revealed through the mission to find the killers of the team member to be intriguing. At the end of the novel, the focus on the relationships between the characters paid off in an emotional event that lead to Aurora’s inadvertently being forced to shift into her role of vampire hunter to protect herself. I did not see the end of the novel coming and was surprised by the outcome, which is always nice. The end of the novel was abrupt, but left the promise of more to come in mending broken relationships between lovers and friends as well as the dangers of the job.

The narration by Em Eldridge was good. I find Aurora’s voice to be a little whiny, but in general the voicing for the characters was great. The production quality was good. I would recommend this novel to anyone who likes young adult fiction and vampire stories.

Audiobook provided for review by the author.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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AURORA IS AWESOME!!!!

If you could sum up Northern Bites in three words, what would they be?

Entertaining Vampy Fun!!!!

Who was your favorite character and why?

again Aurora, but I do like Dante and Fane too!

What about Em Eldridge’s performance did you like?

She is a perfect Aurora!

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I liked how Aurora wanted to save the teen vampires....even if misinformed, she showed she has a good heart and conscience!

Any additional comments?

** I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review **

I really like Aurora, she is a tad snarky, but smart and brave. In this installment Aurora and Dante are on probation and having to work with other partners, Valerie and Noel....well Aurora does NOT like Valerie, but they come to a mutual respect I believe even if Valerie abandons her....but Aurora learns her friendships and loyalties are not what she thinks they are and she may be even losing more of her humanity than she was aware of....Quite enjoyable and an excellently written series so far! Great narration and I recommend!!!

Thank You Audiobookblast(dot)com

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Even better than the first!

Any additional comments?

While I really enjoyed book 1, this was so much better!! It had more details, more action and best of all, more of my all time favourite character Dante, though not nearly enough!!! He just cracks me up.

Aurora is as kick ass as always. She is paired with Valerie for a mission at the start and I loved seeing them together. They are completely different but so fun to listen to. The mission doesn't exactly go as planned and Aurora finds herself trying to figure out who she can trust. Even worse, when she gets home, she goes to one of Marcus' parties and ends up in a bit of bother!! Then she is dealing with her parents marital troubles, her grandmother coming to town and her growing feeling for Dante!! So ya, poor Auroras' life is hectic in this edition!!

What can I say about Dante!!! I loved him in book 1 but it's been cemented in this one. He is so witty and funny but also trustworthy, loyal and hot ;) The chemistry between him and Aurora is smoking so I'm kind of hoping they get together!! They work so well together and get on so well that it would be awesome.

This series, and indeed it's characters, are quickly becoming one of my favourites. With it's unique and quirky take on the vampire hunter and it's witty and entertaining dialogue, this is a must read. The characters are all well written and developed, the plot is fast paced and engaging and it has a lot of laugh out loud moments that it's hard not to love the book! I can not wait to dive into book 3 of this and see what happens the gang next!!!

Em Eldridge, once again, did an amazing job with the story. She distinguished each character and it was easy to follow who was who. She made for the perfect Aurora too because she brought her sass and kick-assness to life :)

*I received a copy of this for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

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Worth a credit

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes if they like paranormal urban fantasy. I wish there was a little more romance but the lack of it did not make the story less exciting.

If you’ve listened to books by Nikki Jefford before, how does this one compare?

I listened to the first in this series and it was really good. So good, I immediatly bought this book as soon as I finished the first one.

What does Em Eldridge bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I really like her as a narrator. She captures the essence of the main character really well and she is also good with other voices, male and female.

Any additional comments?

I am really enjoying this series. I just needed more Aurora and Fane in this one.

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my kind of book!

I loved this book! I'm so connected to auroras character! I can't get enough! I finished this book in about 2 days! then jumped right in to the third! it's is very well written and the story is great!
the narration was wonderful! very professional and engaging!
I can't wait for more!

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Loving this series

I'm loving this series so far!

Northern Bites, the second book in the series, is definitely action packed!

After one of their team members is found dead, Aurora is paired with her arch nemesis, Valerie, for an out of town mission with a new team leader, Jared. Dante is sent back to Fairbanks with Noel in tow for a top secret mission of their own.

Once back in town Aurora finds herself at one of Marcus' parties in hopes of running into Fane, but she finds herself in some trouble!

Add to that her parents marital troubles and Grandmother coming back to town and having to lie to keep her secret life in the dark, she's overcome with her situation and just read to get out of Alaska!

I can't wait to read the next book in the series!

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Amazing!

Author Nikki Jefford has outdone himself with this one. I enjoyed the first story but Northern Bites has much more detail to it, a perfect storyline, it's a fun listen, keeps me smiling throughout the story, and holds plenty of action. This story is one you don't want to miss. I can't wait to get my hands on the third audiobook.

Narrator, Em Eldridge does a great job with the narration of this story. I love her take on distinguishing each characters accents. She breaths life into this story. Em had me glued to my seat. from start to finish. I received this audio in exchange for an unbiased review.

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NORTHERN BITES ~ Excellent Second in Series

NORTHERN BITES is the terrific second volume of AURORA SKY, VAMPIRE HUNTER. Several things happen in this second book but everything is so well put together it makes it especially good. Aurora, as we know from book one had been saved from dying by a government agency but has to work for them as a vampire hunter. She learns that there are others she knows who are also in the program but they’re not especially friends. She has a thing for a guy named Fane who’s a vampire but he’s the exception. He really screws up though. Dante is the guy whose her handler or partner so to speak and he’s the one her mother really likes. He’s definitely a huge flirt and there’s some mature but tasteful content. And speaking of mom, Aurora’s parents are thinking of divorcing which is bothersome for her. She’s worried about her mom which humanizes her even more as the lead character.

Aurora tries to maintain a normal life at home and school but some things can’t be avoided. She had learned that a few other girls at school, Noel and Valerie who weren’t her friends, were also saved by the Agency and are vampire hunters as well. She meets a guy she likes named Mike who also likes her. He followed her to a party she was invited to and had an encounter with a vampire. The next day the girls get called out of class on an assignment and she learns that he’d been killed. She also learns she has to go to northern Alaska with Jarod and Valerie, who has an attitude and whom she’s fought with.

With Aurora and Valerie thrown together on a job and having to share a hotel room, Valerie opens up and they become closer as friends. Aurora also learns that Jarod is infected and is a vampire but his case is classified. Jarod has a long interesting history which makes him a great character. Aurora is going to become a mentor in the program and is being sent to a new location before she goes to college which is what she really wants. This is a great series and I really enjoyed volume two. It opens the characters up more and leaves room for more in the series. It has everything going for it including a suspenseful ending with Marcus and Jarod. I look forward to more in the series. Great work by NIKKI JEFFORD.

EM ELDRIDGE is absolutely perfect as Aurora Sky. I love her character and Em really embodies who she is. She has a great voice with the right voice inflections plus a little sass. I always knew which character was speaking and she kept the story moving at a good pace with good tone. I’m really looking forward to volume three. Fantastic job by both author and narrator.


Audiobook gifted in exchange for honest review.

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Not as bad as the first book, but pretty bad none the less!!

First, DO NOT WASTE $$$$ BUYING THIS!!! Its storyline and plot are so weak it is la

Lots of teen angst with a few bits of excellence.

Note: This is Book 2 in the series and probably wouldn’t work so well as a stand alone.

Aurora Sky returns to keep on kicking vampire butt! Well, she tries. Aurora is still in high school and still in training with the secret government group of vampire hunters. Her mentor Dante isn’t being much help, not with his flirting. Also, she gets to spend lots of time working with fellow vampire hunter Valerie, who she detests. Her ex-boyfriend Fane isn’t making things any easier either. Life is tough.

This book is mostly flirty silliness, dating woes, and fighting over boyfriends. There was a good dollop of this in Book 1 (Aurora Sky), but I feel this book got seconds dished out. I went into this book looking forward to seeing how Aurora fared in her continued training, what would happen between her and Fane, and basically looking forward to her evolving into a badass vampire slayer. Largely, those things didn’t happen because most of the book was caught up in these high school dating dramas. I suspect I was suppose to care about Aurora’s beef with fellow agent Valerie, but I didn’t particularly. Aurora still has feelings for Fane but Fane is moving on and not making it easy for Aurora. Then there is Aurora’s friend (and fellow agent) Noelle who later on muddies the waters and is obviously keeping secrets. Really, I just wanted to sit them all down and knock their heads together so we could move on with the real plot.

There’s a few action scenes here and there. There’s a few mysteries – a high school kid (Michael) goes missing, an agent (Krist) turns up dead, Aurora is having very odd cravings – but so little time is spent on these that I was left wanting more out of the book. There is some family drama that unfolds. I found those scenes interesting too as they added depth to Aurora’s character. She can’t simply check out and not be a part of her family; she’s forced to at least acknowledge the situation. So all these little good parts were stretched out painfully thin into something resembling a plot and then we have all this empty, repeating, predictable teen angst dating stuff as filler. I wanted more meat and less whip cream.

Then there is Dante’s character. In Book 1, he was something of a mentor. Here, he starts off as that but then this terribly flirtatious side of him comes out. It doesn’t really fit what we know about him and the change isn’t explained. Also, there’s a reveal late in the book about who may be behind the death of the agent, and when Aurora tries to chat with Dante about that, he blows her off. This also is not like him. So, of course one of two things is going on: either it’s poor character development or something drastic has happened to Dante behind the scenes that us readers are not privy to in this book. And that brings me to another point – nothing is resolved in this book. While this is a series, I do like some resolution for some of the plot points per book. That didn’t happen here.

Lastly, there were a ton of vampires mentioned in this book and I am sure most, if not all, were in Book 1. But there were no reminders for who most of these characters are. Really, for most of them, it was just a series of names that could be swapped out. Descriptors were few and far between. So, after a while I gave up trying to keep them straight. So, yeah, I kept hoping the book would get meatier, that the plot would strengthen, and it didn’t. There’s plenty here to intrigue, just not much to satisfy. I am not sure yet if I will continue with the series. I want answers, action, mystery, vampire slaying… but not teen angst in large quantities.

Narration: Em Eldridge did another good job as the voice of Aurora Sky. She has a young lady’s voice that can hold great emotion or become an angsty, flippant teen as the scene demands. Her other character voices were distinct and her male voices were believable.