This review was first posted on http://www.rubysreads.com. 
 Chloe Neill continues to amaze me with this awesome series. She does a fantastic job of balancing characterization with plot and that oh-so-necessary smidge of romance. There are times, I admit, when I think Merit verges into too-wonderful-to-be-true territory, but she always redeems herself with some faux-pas or the other. I have to confess that, though I find Merit to be a wonderful narrator, what I really love is Neill's ability to build a supporting cast of male characters who are, to a man, fantastic. This is totally a universe I wish I could inhabit. Between geeky-but-adorable Jeff, Ethan (who needs no explanation), and my personal fave, Alpha shifter Gabriel (suh-woon), I'm ready to up and move to Chicago. 
 Hard Bitten is a fantastic installment in an awesome series. With each volume, Neill expands on Merit's world, from personal details of her past, to the vampire bureaucracy of her future. I feel like Neill has a definite plan in mind, which I appreciate. Too often, I find that series that I loved in the beginning begin to fizzle out, become meandering and scattered. This is, of course, only the fourth volume in this series, and Neill herself has said she doesn't know how many books there will ultimately be. I have to confess: I'd rather see the end of Merit and Ethan's story than to have things wander all over the place, but to be honest, I have high hopes that Neill's going to make the entire series a keeper. 
 If I had one complaint about this book, it's that it was Mallory-lite. It's not that I love Mal all that much--although I do think she's great--it's that I really appreciate when Neill focuses on their best-friend-ship. It's nice to see that Merit gets along so well with Lindsay (who I totally want as my BFF), but the Mal-and-Merit-are-family wasn't as omnipresent as I'd have liked to see. It takes a backseat to the action in this book. 
 Plot-wise, I'm not sure I can even begin to explain how many threads Neill is playing with. She manages to touch on a little bit of everything: the delicate situation between Merit and Ethan, the GP, the shifters coming out, Celina still on the loose, that creepy, lecherous Mayor Tate, Morgan's unresolved feelings...everything gets a little airtime. And it all weaves together to formulate a shocker of an ending. It's enough to send readers clamoring and frothing at the mouth to get their hands on Drink Deep. 
 About a million years ago, Jenny from Supernatural Snark began gently to prepare me for the end of this book. Nonetheless, when I finished it, I threw the book aside and raced to my computer in order to type this email: 
 No, no, no, no and also: NO! 
 Long story short: be forewarned. Hard Bitten is doubtless going to send you off into a similar tailspin. If you've already read the book and you want to talk about it--or if you've already read it and want to talk about it--by all means, drop me a line. I'll be chewing over the ending for a couple of days. Weeks, even.