FangsLikeMeRating: 3.75 stars
Buy Link:
Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel


Lane is what the vampires call a newborn. He’s not been a vampire for long. Turns out his ex boyfriend was a vamp who got carried away and bled him dry one night and he died. A vampire named Theo saved Lane by turning him. Now, Lane lives in a den with several others, but he’s angry, sad, and feeling abandoned when Theo takes off for a year-long summit in Switzerland. A friend (Heather) invites Lane to a shifter party, and it’s there he meets a handsome and intriguing wolf shifter named Parker.

Parker is a brooding wolf shifter. His family has disowned him because he didn’t want to settle down and start a family. Oh, and he is bisexual, and that is not acceptable. When Parker meets up with Lane at the shifter party, he feels the attraction right away, and they very nearly hook up.

As the two begin to tentatively dance around each other and a relationship, they have to deal with a lot of things: Lane’s fear, Parker’s need to be the dominant force (He’s not a Dom, though. He’s just more aggressive.), Lane’s newborn status, and his grief over being abandoned by his maker. Will they be able to overcome all this and be together?

Hot vampire? Check! Sexy wolf shifter? Check! Interspecies romance that makes my heart pound? Check and check! When I saw the blurb for Fangs Like Me, I jumped all over it, and although there were some parts I had issues with, I wasn’t disappointed.

I felt so bad for Lane. Not only did he have to deal with being “killed” by his ex, but he had to cope with being a new vampire and all that comes along with it…learning to feed being a big one. He worshipped Theo, his maker, and is devastated when Theo leaves him for a year. It wasn’t a romantic love, but it was a powerful love, and Lane was suffering the agony of abandonment. He has his denmates and his friend Heather, but he feels completely alone.

I liked Parker too and felt sorry for him as well. I could never imagine being disowned by my family simply for who I was or who I might love. He’s a protective sort, and he does want someone to take care of, so when he met Lane, all his buttons were pushed. Parker wanted to offer Lane comfort. He wanted to love and protect him. It’s just that he wasn’t quite sure how to do that without scaring Lane away.

Parker and Lane had an outstanding chemistry. Their attraction was palpable. Vampires and shifters aren’t supposed to be together, but they can’t fight it. Parker wanted to put Lane at ease when Lane admitted he was afraid of Parker’s fangs. Their back and forth was very nearly painful at times…the want and the need really got to me, and I felt such relief when they finally came together. Their sex scenes were hot, but I have to admit it took me a little while to get used to the fact that all of Lane’s bodily fluids were replaced with blood. That means saliva (so his lips and tongue were dark), his sweat (so he would be covered in a bloody sheen post sex), and perhaps the weirdest of all, his pre-cum and cum.

I liked most of the background characters. Lane’s friend Heather was great. She’s a house cat shifter, and I’m a big fan of cats (we have five). What’s really amusing about that is Heather’s girlfriend, Rina, is a mouse shifter. How adorable is that? Erica, one of Lane’s den mates, was also great. It seemed like she hassled Lane a lot, but it was only because she cared about him. I didn’t care much for Sam, Lane’s other den mate, because of some things he did and said, and I despised Theo, the maker. It was so cruel for him to leave Lane the way he did, and he only called when he found out he was seeing a shifter. He left Lane bereft, and I had no tolerance for that.

As I mentioned, I had some issues with Fangs Like Me. There were quite a few scenes I felt were choppy and disjointed. I understood the need for the initial hot and cold, but occasionally, Parker’s protectiveness was a bit much and bordered on a not so cute possessiveness. Also, no spoilers, but I was mortified by a stupid decision Lane made. I know it was done to create drama and conflict, but I was stunned and angry when I read it. I felt it was completely out of character, and I had to put the Kindle down and walk away for a bit before I could finish the story.

I wasn’t tickled with the ending, but that is just a personal thing. It’s not like it was written badly or anything. In fact, it seemed as if Dering was finding a stride just as the book was winding down.

All in all, I’m going to recommend Fangs Like Me, especially to fans of the paranormal. Also readers who loved the Sookie Stackhouse series might enjoy this one very much. I’d love it if Dering would consider using this book as a springboard to a series of its own.

kenna sig