Biting Cold (Chicagoland Vampires, #6)

by Chloe Neill

[Cocktails and Books]

Biting Cold picks up where Drink Deep ended, with Ethan and Merit heading towards Nebraska in hopes of beating Mallory to the "safe" site the Order is hiding the Maleficium. But Mallory is the least of their worries. Sean Tate is also after the book, but for more nefarious reasons than Mallory. But no one could have imagined that they would end up in the fight of Light versus Dark when the evil in the Maleficium is released.

Merit grows into her vampire life and her role as Sentinel with each book, but the changes were very apparent in Biting Cold. As Ethan struggles with his connection to Mallory, it's Merit that proves to be the stronger of the two. She's able to give him focus when he can't deal with the emotional toll from the connection to Mallory, but she also wasn't willing to let Ethan dictate how their relationship (working or otherwise) was going to be affected by this. While Ethan went back behind his wall, all in the name of protecting Merit (which made me want to smack him), Merit refused to lose Ethan and forced him to acknowledge that they worked better as a team.

Ethan, Ethan, Ethan. Nothing made me happier than the scene at the end of Drink Deep when Ethan walked out of that fire, but I did wonder what that meant. Would he be the same Ethan? He didn't come out of his "reawakening" unscathed, but I think the man we have now is one that understands the gift he's been given. For a bit, the old Ethan made an appearance. The one that hid behind his emotional wall and dictated in the name of keeping everyone safe. But when Merit broke down that wall, we finally got the man I knew had to be lurking in the back. He's now the man that will do whatever it takes to not only ensure his vampires have what they need, but also himself.

And then Mallory. I loved that Mallory was somewhat able to redeem herself. She has a long road to go to make things up to Ethan, Catcher and Merit, but I'm hoping we'll see some good to come with her working with the pack. It'll be interesting to see how her relationship with Merit will come out in the end. While what Mallory did may have brought Ethan back, she also destroyed many years of trust. Mallory's recovery, both from her addiction and the consequences of her actions, is something that I look forward to seeing more of. I hated the slight evil turn she took, but I like the way her storyline is playing out.

Chloe Neill brings us some new characters in this story, but I loved none more than the Gnomes. Who knew garden gnomes were such fierce warriors. I hope we get to see more of them in future books.

The only thing that was missing in this book for me was more Jonah. After Merit agreed to become part of the Red Guard, I expected him to be a bit more involved. Maybe with the vote that ended Biting Cold we'll see a few more new members to the Red Guard as the fight with the GP grows.

I thought this was an absolutely fabulous read. I will admit, there were times when I was mad at Ethan and wanted to smack him, but it wouldn't be a Chicagoland Vampire story without being pissed at him for some stupid stand he's taken at least once. I was at the edge of my seat hoping and squirming that I'd find an ending that made me happy (for now). I wasn't disappointed. My only struggle now is to wait for House Rules to come out.