Sunshine McDonald couldn’t be more different than her twin sister, Rayne. Sunshine plays field hockey and has her eye on the cute guy who plays the lead in all the school musicals. Rayne is totally into the Goth scene. When Rayne convinces Sunny to visit the popular Club Fang with her one night, Sunny finds out that Rayne has been hiding a lot from her. Rayne is planning on becoming a vampire. She’s gone through the required training and is supposed to be meeting her “bloodmate” that night to begin the transition.

At the club, Sunny catches the eye of a handsome stranger. She thinks the night is off to a perfect start, and when the sexy stranger leads her out to the parking lot to make out, she couldn’t be happier. There’s only one problem: the sexy stranger is a vampire named Magnus and he thinks that Sunny is her twin sister, Rayne. When Magnus bites Sunny, she realizes something is seriously wrong, but by that time, it’s too late. Turning into a vampire was so not what Sunny had in mind for her 17th birthday.

Boys that Bite is the first book in Mari Mancusi’s Blood Coven series. While Ms. Mancusi’s vampires might follow all of the stereotypical vampire “rules” (aversion to garlic and holy items, sleeping during the day, turning to dust when staked), they are not the scary creatures of horror films - more like the dreamy heartthrobs that seem to be the norm in today’s YA paranormal fiction. Ms Mancusi’s vampires, though, seem more realistic, making mistakes, struggling with their emotions and revealing their humanity.

Her heroine is just as well-written. Sunny is forced to deal with more than the normal teenage angst and choices that will not just change her life but the lives of everyone around her. Ms. Mancusi has her handle these challenges with a perfect blend of humor and “over-the-top teenage drama” that will entertain readers of all ages. Teenagers will be able to relate to Sunny and her sister while older readers will be reminded of their own high school years. All in all,  Boys that Bite is an entertaining read, and I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

Book Excerpt: “Technically Sunshine can’t get killed-because she’s immortal. Well, not quite yet. Due to the worst case of mistaken identity with her dark-side-loving twin sister at a Goth club called Club Fang, Magnus, a vampire hottie, went for Sunshine’s innocent neck. Now if she doesn’t reverse it in time, Magnus will be her blood mate forever and she’s doomed to be a blood-gulping, pasty, daylight-hating vampire. That would seriously bite.

And now, after the unfortunate slaying of the vampire leader, Sunshine, her sister Rayne, and Magnus must find the one thing that can solve her problem: the Holy Grail. They wish it were a joke but it’s not. It’s absolutely necessary that Sunshine gets out of this in time, because somehow she scored the hottest prom date in her school, the mouth-watering Jake Wilder. So she just can’t be a vampire for the prom-let alone the rest of eternity.”

Book Stats:

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Trade (April 4, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425209423
• ISBN-13: 978-0425209424

To purchase a print copy of Boys That Bite from Amazon click here.

To purchase a print copy of Boys That Bite from Barnes & Noble click here.

Books in the The Blood Coven series in the order they should be read:
Boys that Bite
Stake That
Girls That Growl
Bad Blood

(5 votes, average: 4.2 out of 5)

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