Reviewed by Jen
TITLE: Bite Me Not
SERIES: Vampires of New Hardenberg
AUTHOR: Ray Celar
PUBLISHER: Independent
LENGTH: 349 pages
RELEASE DATE: April 17, 2026
BLURB:
A vampire walks into a bar….
Eric
Unintentionally giving the guy I totally haven’t been stalking for the past three years a spiked drink was an accident, I swear.
I mean, how was I supposed to know that ‘The Special’ was a drink vampires ordered to help with… feeding?
I’ve dreamed of having Finn in my arms for years, but ever since I was turned into a vampire, I knew it couldn’t happen. Tasting his blood, even just a tiny drop to make sure he was okay, wasn’t supposed to happen either, and especially not like this.
But that little taste left me with a bigger problem than just having my unconscious crush in my he’s sick, and I don’t know what to do about it. I can’t just walk up to him and tell him I know he’s sick because I might’ve taken a teeny, tiny sip of his blood, can I?
So, leaving a note on his apartment door is the reasonable thing to do, right?
Finn
My life is stressful enough; I really don’t need medical advice from a creepy stalker, too. I mean, he’s implying he somehow got a blood sample. Like, WTF?! The fact that he’s spot on with the diagnosis—which was taped to my door—is even more disturbing.
Hopefully, he’ll back off once I’m better.
I need a distraction from everything that’s going on—and Eric is exactly what the doctor ordered. He’s attentive and serious, but his stoic face goes all soft when he looks at me.
So maybe I’m ignoring a few red flags on my quest to keep my mind off my stalker. And, okay, while a lot of things with Eric don’t add up and nearly everything points to him being a vampire… that would be ludicrous, right?
Bite Me Not is a darkish rom-com featuring an infatuated vampire dutifully watching over his unsuspecting mate and a human who’s way too smart, but also too oblivious for his own good.
REVIEW:
Grabbed this one because I have enjoyed this author previously and I’m always up for a good dark vamp story. This one starts out right away with our main vamp, Eric, a recently turned youngling, doing his thing of keeping an eye on human, Finn. He has felt a connection to Finn from before he was turned and has this overwhelming feeling of needing to protect him. Things heat up when Finn is drugged at a club and in the process of seeing him home safely, Eric learns Finn has some health issues and encourages him to seek medical care. This really begins his stalkery where he leaves notes and gifts for him. It seems a bit creepy on the outset, but he really is a kind heart and we learn the reasons for his infatuation.
Meanwhile, not-stalker Eric runs into Finn, and they begin an actual relationship. This is the point where things start to get really problematic for them with the crossover between stalker and not-stalker, are they the same, Finn doesn’t know, etc. There is also the problem of Finn being human and Eric not. Eric also has to deal with his compulsion to take care of Finn while not scaring him off, etc., since Finn is pretty clueless about vamps even existing.
Eric was a sweetheart, good Samaritan type before turning, and he remained so after. He has his bff/sire/mentor, Benny trying to help him out and even a “neutral” vamp, the bartender Aries. Both made interesting side characters that I’d be interesting to see more of, especially Aries.
I was honestly expecting this to be a bit darker and might have been a little disappointed that it wasn’t. It took a while for me to get into the story as it starts out fairly slow with all the stalking and early relationship things going pretty slow. But, in the end, it was a really enjoyable feel-good vamp story and I’m looking forward to seeing where it takes us next.
RATING: 
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