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Kalayna Price
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Once Bitten (The Haven Series Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Kalayna Price (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 343 ratings
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Kita Nekai, on the run and the smallest of her shifter clan--a calico cat among lions and tigers--is being hunted. She was expected to accept her role as her father's successor whether or not her cat was up to the task of leading the clan. She disagreed. Now she's less than a step ahead of the hunters, bone-tired, cold, and living hand-to-mouth in the city of Haven. And that's the high point of her day. She's also drugged, "accidentally" turned into a vampire, and sentenced to death for recklessly creating a rogue shifter who tortures its human prey. She's got seventy-two hours to find the rogue, evade a city full of hunters, prove she's not responsible for the rogue, and keep the vampire council from killing her. All while sorting out an apprentice mage, a married ex-boyfriend shifter-hunter, and the vampire who made her.
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  1. Book 1 of 2
    The Haven
  2. Print length
    264 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publisher
    Bell Bridge Books
  6. Publication date
    January 15, 2009
  7. File size
    545 KB
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
    Enabled
  10. Enhanced typesetting
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  11. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Many of the world-building elements such as the nature of the vampire council, Firth and the society of the mages and Nathanial's backstory are deliberately left enigmatic to pique our curiosity and look forward to exploring the possibilities in future tales. Refreshingly, Once Bitten wraps up without the usual ubiquitous series cliff-hanger and ends on a positive note. Once Bitten is a solid urban fantasy debut with enough original ideas and twists to satisfy readers looking for something different and fresh. Kalayna Price is currently working on the next book in the Haven series." --Scifiguy Reviews

"Once Bitten is imaginative, thoroughly entertaining, and easily keeps a reader's attention." -- Patricia's Vampire Notes Reviews

"I'll be watching for book two in this exciting new series." -- Darque Reviews

"This was a perfect adventure." -- Paranormal Romance Reviews

"Urban fantasy readers who enjoy the works of Kelly Armstrong and V.K. Forrest will have a great time reading this exhilarating story." -- Harriet Klausner

"Young Adult girls will swoon over the strong male characters and try to be just like Kita. 4 Hearts" -- Book Reviews by Crystal

About the Author

Kalayna Price is the author of two dark/urban fantasy series: the Haven novels, which include Once Bitten and Twice Dead, and the Alex Craft series. Kalayna draws her ideas from the world around her, ancient mythology, and classic folklore. Visit her at kalayna.com.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0072NM3PI
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bell Bridge Books (January 15, 2009)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 15, 2009
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 545 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 264 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 343 ratings

About the author

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Kalayna Price

Kalayna Price

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USA Today Bestselling author Kalayna Price writes the Alex Craft Novels, a new dark urban fantasy series from Roc, and the Novels of Haven from Bell Bridge Books. Her works have been translated into several languages and are available (or have been contracted for release) in more than a dozen countries. Kalayna draws her ideas from the world around her, her studies into ancient mythologies, and her obsession with classic folklore. Her stories contain not only the mystical elements of fantasy, but also a dash of romance, a bit of gritty horror, some humor, and a large serving of mystery. Kalayna is a member of SFWA and RWA, and an avid hula-hoop dancer who has been known light her hoop on fire. To find out more, please visit her at www.kalayna.com

Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
3.9 out of 5
343 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

OliviaKat
5.0 out of 5 stars Once Bitten
Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2009
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Since there are already many in-depth reviews about this book, my review will be brief. I bought this book because it was a free download from Kindle. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed this book immensely, considering I had never heard of this author prior to my download. The author has a crafty and clever way to immersing the reader right into the story from the beginning and forgoes the overblown back story. This book was well written. The characters and world building were developed just teasingly enough so that I felt a connection to the heroine and understood context but not too much which kept my curiosities wet. This book delivers an exciting twist and formidable and powerful competition to the vampire and shifter arena. I highly recommend this book to fellow dark urban fantasy readers and I will definitely be looking out for the sequel Twice Dead due out late 2/2010.

I also recommend:
 Skinwalker (Jane Yellowrock, Book 1)
Angels' Blood
Red-Headed Stepchild (Sabina Kane)
Three Days to Dead
Vicious Circle
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Barb
4.0 out of 5 stars A Fun new series ..
Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2012
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Once Bitten by Kalayna Price is the first book in her Haven series., which is considered Urban Fantasy. The heroine in this book is Kita, who is a cat shapeshifter, and she has been in hiding for years, from her clan and the clan's leader, her father. Kita, who shifts into a calico cat, ran away because she didn't feel her little cat belonged with the larger cats, and she would be the heir apparent. She lives and barely survives in a town called Haven.

I thought the story started a bit slow, as Price tried to lead into the story, introducing us to Haven, and its underworld. Kita can sense hunters chasing her, and knows her father has sent them to find her, and return her to the clan, something Kita does not want. When she needs to find a place to live, or food, Kita will shift into her cat, and live as someone's pet. But on this occasion, she finds herself in a bar as a human, and is drugged. While running away to try escape, she is attacked by a hunter. When she wakes up, a strange woman is trying to heal her. She learns from the woman and the man who saved her, that she is now a vampire. A shapeshifter, who can no longer shift, and now must drink blood to survive.
Kita is not your normal heroine. She is feisty, totally independent, and very difficult to control. Nathanial, a vampire, who is known as The Hermit, is the one who turned her, but he did so to save her life from the Hunter. He tells Kita that it was an accident, and he is sorry. But as you will see, she gives him a hard time, not forgiving him, even if he saved her. Knowing she knows nothing of how to survive as a vampire, Nathaniel follows and stays with Kita throughout her upcoming ordeal. He is enamored by her, which surprises him, as he is not known as the Hermit for nothing.

We also meet her ex boyfriend, Bobby, who shifts into bobcat, wants her to go home. He also part of the entourage that follows Kita. Things turn from bad to worse for Kita. A Mage Judge appears out of nowhere to accuse her of being a rogue, and sentences her to an immediate death. Nathanial convinces the judge to allow Kita to find the real rogue, and the judge gives her three days, or she will die. He gives her a student scholar (Gil) to study her, while they try to find the rogue. At this point, the story starts to get interesting, with a lot more action.

This is a worldbuilding of cat and wolf shifters, vampires, vampire councils, mages, rogues, hunters, and other normal supernatural characters. As we follow Kita, and her three other companions to find the rogue, before its too late, so many things happen along the way. You get to enjoy the possible romance building between Kita and Nathanial, though Kita continues to treat him with disgust. But Nathanial is determined to teach Kita how to survive, despite her stubbornness, and at times difficult behavior. I liked Nathanial right from the start, and wasn't crazy at times how Kita treated him, no matter how hard he tried to help her. But there was a lot of action and at times it was funny to see how Bobby reacted to Kita being a vampire, and Gil's reaction to anything. These parts were fun.

Kalayna Price does a good job creating these characters. Kita is different then most heroines; she is strong, and way to stubborn, and refuses to admit to her growing feelings for Nathanial; you see her flaws, and yet you know her strengths. In the action packed last third of the book, Kita fights to save herself, and the others. She is a strong heroine, and the end was a wild ending. Price leaves us with a cliffhanger, that forces us to get the next book, as Kita's story continues. What will happen with her and Nathanial? What happens with the Vampire council? Will Bobby recognize that he will never have Kita? Will Kita ever return to her father and their clan, now that she is a vampire? Will Kita learn how to drink blood and survive as a vampire? To find those answers, we need to read the next book....Twice Dead.
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Lauramania
3.0 out of 5 stars A quick read
Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2010
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For free (on the Kindle), I'm not complaining. Free was about as much as I'd pay for this book. The author certainly has a lot of potential, and I hope she continues to develop her storytelling skills because I can see her writing great books in the future.

The plot of Once Bitten is, more or less, intriguing. But the characters -- particularly the heroine -- are annoying and underdeveloped. Kita was so incredibly grating, I found myself hoping the antagonist would just hurry up and get rid of her. Every cliche about vampire culture is included in this novel; there's nothing new added to the folklore of the vampire world. After getting about three-quarters through the book, you begin to realize that there's no real climax here, there's no epiphany coming at the finale. It's a bit like going for a drive in the car just for the sake of going for a drive in the car, rather than because you have any specific place to go.

Price dips her toe into the lake of character development, but won't fully jump in. I suspect this is because she's waiting to do so in presumed sequels -- which, by the way, is clearly set up. Price may have hoped to leave readers wanting to know more about Kita, Bobby, Nathanial and Gil, because she believed it would lead readers to delve into her future books. Instead, the result is that the reader forms no real attachment to any of the characters and therefore doesn't care what they do in future books.

That being said, I've read much worse from first-time authors. This one seems to have a decent career ahead of her so long as she continues to learn and evolve.
4 people found this helpful
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Eric J. Martin
5.0 out of 5 stars An Amazing Journey!
Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2010
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I expected this book to be not worth the paper, or should I say, the electronic ink it was written on due to the fact it has been offered for FREE to all Amazon Kindle users for the past few weeks now, but I downloaded it anyway, the price was right. However, after reading just only half of it, I can say that I would have paid full price for the volume, it is a nice vacation from reality and a story plot that keeps you turning the next 'page' of the story. I thouroughly enjoyed the work, and hope the author will produce a series using these characters as Dan Brown has done with his Professor Langdon in the Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons series, and such. I would buy the next book in the series if, and when, it is released...Kindle users, hurry and up download this one while it's FREE, you won't regret it!
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Angie Hackett
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 6, 2013
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I had only read the Alex Craft series by Kalayna Price so I didn't know what to expect when I came by this book.

I had a bit of a tough time getting in to the book initially but I grew to love it and the characters. It was easy to fall into the realm of shifters and vampires, and all the things in between.

I feel this was a well thought out, well developed story and I look forward to the next in the series.
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valentde
5.0 out of 5 stars Mon attrait pour les livres de Kalayna Price s'intensifie
Reviewed in France on December 6, 2012
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J'ai commencé par découvrir Kalayna Price avec sa série Grave Witch que j'ai adorée, et ne voulant pas rester sur ma faim (sort quatrième tome !!) j'ai décidé de chercher d'autres livres d'elle et ai découvert Once Bitten et Twice Dead. Le personnage de l'héroïne est très travaillé et on s'attache pas immédiatement mais après c'est pour la vie ! C'est une métamorphe chat et ayant moi même un chat je trouve son caractère parfait !
Vivement le tome 3...
En fait Kalayna Price ne fait que nous faire attendre ! et en plus on en redemande...
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Chris
4.0 out of 5 stars on the brink
Reviewed in Germany on August 28, 2011
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Is she going to go too far by combining the shape-shifter idea with vampire? In this volume it is working out nicely. The problem of coming to grips with being a fresh vampire and not understanding the consequences is nicely played out. However, I could imagine, that it hits other people a bit harder to find themselves the walking dead. It is going to be interesting to see if the author can make this work in the next volume. This one was entertaining to read for sure.
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Naomi Clark
4.0 out of 5 stars Once Bitten - Kalayna Price
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 30, 2010
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Kita Nekai is already on the run. She fled her homeworld of Firth to escape her destiny as leader of her clan of shapeshifters. With her other form a calico cat, Kita knows she could never hold power. She's living hand-to-mouth in the city of Haven, staying one step ahead of hunters determined to bring her home when suddenly everything gets much, much worse. Now Kita's got two nights to find a murderous rogue shapeshifter and escape a death sentence. Not that she's exactly alive anymore, thanks to an encounter with vampire Nathanial...

Once Bitten is a fast-paced, fun read with a new take on shapeshifters and vampires. Although the worldbuilding is a little flawed in places (I assumed Haven was part of "our" Earth, and the other realms mentioned were parallel dimensions rather than other planets, say, but it's never explicitly stated), Price drip feeds the reader enough information to keep them satisfied, without info-dumping. I would like to see more development of the worldbuilding in the sequel, Twice Dead, though, as it seems Price has something quite unusual in mind that didn't entirely make it to the pages here.

The characterisation is strong, with Kita herself making for an intriguing heroine. There are elements of the usual urban fantasy chick - prickly, loner, mouthy - but Kita is also vulnerable and full of heart. Supporting characters are well-fleshed out - I particularly liked Gil, the student mage who wants to study Kita for her thesis.

Whilst the main mystery is neatly solved, there are plenty of plot threads left for the sequel. Kita doesn't know if she can still shapeshift now she's a vampire, and her struggles to adjust to her vampiric state will make for compelling reading in the future, I'm sure. There is a sort-of love triangle (I say sort-of because Kita doesn't seem interested in romance, which was actually something I enjoyed as it made a change from the usual angst-ridden love affairs common to UF), which I guess will be resolved/continued in the sequel. And I will absolutely be buying the sequel: Once Bitten is a great book from an author with a lot of promise.
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Tali
3.0 out of 5 stars Its decent enough
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 1, 2012
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NOt much of a strong book this but decent enough for a bored moment. Having read this authors other series I thought i'd give this a try but honestly its not as strong as her other works. It starts in a place that left me feeling as though I'd missed part of the story and although plenty happens it still felt slow and not very exciting. I was honestly rather dissapointed. Despite this it did have an interesting take on shifters and vampires, if it had been a little faster and the world explainedin more detail before we got thrown straight in it might have faired better for me.
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