Sunshine "Sunni" Marquette is a shoe-happy businesswoman, the sole owner of a self-named San Fransisco art gallery. Her family consists of an adoptive father, Dennis Laforge, who helped provide the funding for Sunni's art gallery, and his daughter Isabel who has MS. Sunni has been followed all her life by a mysterious and handsome stranger who at times has swooped in and rescued her from various dangers, including a mugger. The mysterious stranger, Jacob Eddington, has circled close enough to meet her in recent days but he is far from a protector, he works for the Council of Vampires and is sent to make certain she never discovers her own secret powers. If she does, he is duty-bound to kill her. She is one of the forbidden dhampir, the result of breeding between a human and vampire.

Jacob isn't the only mysterious stranger after her, there is also a rogue vampire who wishes to bind her to him and use her super-dhampir powers for his own cause. This evil being will use whatever it takes to get what he wants, even her adopted family and the naiveté of her sister Isabelle.

When examining the plot, BITING THE BRIDE was very much paranormal light with only enough logic to precariously connect the different parts of the story. For example, although Sunni knows of herself only as a human, there have been enough clues (super speed, super healing etc.) that she really should not have been surprised to be told she was part human and part something else. Willis' portrayal of Isabel as a naïve woman unable to think her way out of a paper bag is a very old fashioned and insulting view of someone with disabilities. Even though I classify this as a light romance, with light paranormal elements, there are some very gory scenes which seem to stand out even more bloodily against the shoe-loving and fairly superficial life lead by the main character. If you are a reader who enjoys romantic suspense with plenty of violence and also enjoy Prada and Manolo Blahnik you may enjoy this book. If you are looking for urban fantasy or paranormal romance, you likely won't find it a satisfying read. With more humor, I might have liked this book a bit better. The contrasts between the characters might have worked well with some leavening and it may have smoothed the jagged edges between the light romance and violent scenes to add some comedy.
I believe Clare Willis has the skills to write well, it's just this book I found hard to swallow.

Book Summary

Sunni Marquette has always been a little different. There's the whole mind-reading thing, for a start, which comes in useful for a criminal defense attorney. Except that lately, Sunni keeps encountering people who are immune to her gift. Like Jacob Eddington, the star witness in her latest case. And her best friend Isabel's new fiance, Richard Lazarus, who's as sinister as Jacob is attractive. Not that Sunni intends to interfere - until she learns that Richard is a vampire who's made a centuries-long career of marrying wealthy women, then killing them for their inheritance.

Sunni is convinced Jacob is a vampire, too, and that he's her only chance of saving Isabel. With his help, she'll discover powers she never knew she possessed, an enemy who's closer than she could have ever guessed, and the kind of love that's worth staking everything on - if she can just stay alive long enough to enjoy it...