[ARC Review] After the Bite by Lynsay Sands

Publisher's synopsis: Immortal Enforcer Valerian just wants to relax. His last assignment had been more grueling than he’d care to admit, and golf has always helped him unwind. If golf course owner Natalie thinks it’s a little odd for him to tee off at sunset every evening, she’s keeping it to herself. The single mom is sexy as hell, and her little daughter Mia only adds to his delight. He knows Natalie is wary of a relationship of any kind…what will she think when she discovers he’s an Immortal? His best course of action is to woo her the old-fashioned way.

But the course of true love never did run smooth—especially for a vampire and a mortal. And when danger stalks Natalie, Valerian realizes he’s playing a game of life and death and if he loses this round, he risks losing her forever.

My thoughts: I'll admit it: I was skeptical when I read the blurb for this one. Valerian... and golf? I never really had the opportunity to love Valerian in previous books, and golf has never really interested me, so I went into this Argeneau book cautiously optimistic. 

But I shouldn't have been worried. Sands always has a way of sucking me into her stories (pun intended), and Valerian and Natalie's story was no different. 

After the Bite picks up four months after Stephanie and Thorne's story in Immortal Rising. It's been quiet for the Enforcers, and Valerian has been spending his sunsets teeing up to pass the time. So many of the Immortals we love end up finding their life mates while out on an action-packed, dangerous mission, so I loved that Valerian was able to find his in a moment of relaxation. Of course, those quiet moments on the golf course don't stay that way for Natalie and Valerian, but I quite enjoyed seeing more of the Immortals during their downtime. 

As usual, Sands gives us plenty of references to previous books/characters while also making Natalie and Valerian's story unique to them. For a while, Sands gave us an over-arcing plot that ran from book to book, making it impossible to get the full story if you skipped around or missed a book. But we are officially back to self-contained Immortal plots; readers can definitely read After the Bite without having picked up the previous book and still understand the action within this story.  

After the Bite was a fun, binge-able read that gave us an insight into how Immortals spend their free time that we don't see in many Argeneau books. I loved getting to know Valerian better, and especially loved seeing him interact with Natalie's daughter. This was a great addition to the Argeneau canon, and I can't wait to see what comes next for the Immortals and our favorite Enforcers. 

A huge thank you to Avon for providing a review copy of this title! 

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Release date: 9/27/22
Format: eARC
eARC provided via: NetGalley