PNR Review: ONCE BITTEN, FOREVER BURNED by Eve Langlais and Stacey Kennedy

Title: Once Bitten, Forever Burned

Author: Eve Langlais; Stacey Kennedy

Publisher: Self-published

Publication Date: May 4, 2011

Links: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N

Synopsis:
DEVON'S REDEMPTION by Eve Langlais

Bethany lost her one and only love to a war overseas. As if that weren’t bad enough, a brutal attack and claiming by a Lycan makes her life a living hell. She lives only for revenge until the day love comes back into her life and promises to rescue her from her misery. However, the mate who forced her isn’t about to let her go.

Devon died on the battlefield only to be reborn as a creature of the night. He fights to stay away from his one true love, but when he caves to his desire and sees her again, he discovers redemption is possible even for one who walks in darkness.

CRUZ'S SALVATION by Stacey Kennedy

Cruz understands torment. A mortal turned vampire in the war, he has suffered untold loneliness and despair. That is until he meets Kiara—a werewolf he’s forbidden to love.

Though Kiara needs Cruz, and wants him forever, werewolves and vampires are bitter enemies. To make matters worse, her Alpha, also her father, suspects that Kiara pines for a mate. Mistaking her sadness for the longing she feels for Cruz, he sets out to give her all the happiness he can provide.

Together, Kiara and Cruz will have to fight against the rules placed upon them to hold onto their love. But an unwanted visitor creates a complication neither of them planned for. Milo, Kiara’s chosen mate, has come to stake his claim. Now, not only are lives at risk, but hearts are threatened and dreams hang in the balance.

Review:
After reading YA books for the last month, I was starving for some romance. I felt like an addict having withdrawals and this book served as a quick injection. I finished the book in one night before going to bed! I’ve never read any books by either of these authors before, but I can say I thoroughly enjoyed these short stories. Both authors managed to make the characters alive and special in such a short novella.

In Devon’s Redemption, Bethany, despite being in an abusive relationship for the last six years, is a strong heroine. She never gave up and held out hope for escaping. Eve Langlais didn’t really hold back in describing Bethany’s situation. I admired Bethany for standing up for herself. Her story is very emotional for such a short novella. I’m a fan of second chance love stories and vampires, so I really liked this one, especially when Devon refused to let her go. There’s not a lot of world-building since it’s such a short story, just basic vampire versus werewolves, but there’s enough background that readers wouldn’t be lost.

In the second story, Cruz loves Kiara, but werewolves and vampires are enemies never meant to be together. The characters weren’t as well developed for this one, I thought. Kiara and Cruz had already fallen in love and it’s mostly about them overcoming the obstacle that separates them. I liked how the author handled the conflict and you can really see Cruz trying to do what’s best for Kiara, but I didn’t really understand why Kiara loves Cruz so much other than that you’re just told so. For such a short novella, it’s still pretty good and I enjoyed the interactions between Kiara and Cruz.

Both authors are really good at the smexy scenes! With so few pages, they still made the sex scenes smoking hot and used them to form connections between the characters! I’d recommend this book if you’re looking for something quick and romantic with vampires and werewolves. It’s also free on Amazon as of the time the review is posted so there’s definitely no harm in getting it!