Successful Seattle baker Alena Budrene doesn’t want to die. But when she’s infected with a lethal virus spread by supernatural beings, her only chance for recovery is to make a deal with the devil—or in this case, a warlock.Though he saves her life, it looks nothing like the life she once knew—and neither does she. Alena is a new breed of “Supe” no one has ever seen before. Even the supernatural … supernatural police don’t know what she is. Now exiled to the northern side of the Wall, which marks the divide between humans and Supes, Alena is thrust into a dark and magical new world.
But just as she begins to adjust to all things supernatural, she realizes that her transformation is the least of her worries—and it was no accident. She was chosen…to be killed by a Greek hero trying to make a name for himself once more.
Alena was brought up to be subservient, preferring creating to fighting, and vanilla and honey to blood. But that was then. Now, to survive, she must stand up for herself—and this time she’s got fangs. But will she be ready to use them?
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I am a huge fan of Shannon Mayer and would recommend any of her books. This is her new release (soon to be Trilogy) and it was just as entertaining as her other series. This story is about Bakery owner Alena Budrene living in a world being changed by a deadly virus. She is a quirky character and I found myself laughing out loud at some of the things she says. This is a great read for anyone that enjoys the supernatural world stories.
This was the first book I read by Ms. Mayer and I read all 3 books in the Venom Trilogy series in 1 month. The main character, Alena Budrene started off as a humble and rather timid character but over time her true nature was revealed (strong yet sexy with amazing supernatural abilities)! Reading this series really made me wish I had supernatural abilities to fix the many evils in this world)!
Shannon Mayer is Brilliant… I love how she brought the Monster vs. Greek God Heroes back to life in a new way.. her way to be exact…
In Venom and Vanilla we have our main character Alena Budrene who was an awesome baker and she owns her bakery is infected with a lethal virus and is in the Hospital with a room mate Dahlia (who is fun and sweet with Dahlia… then there is Merlin the Warlock with a special Cure…
my favorite Lines in the book are
“Alena” talking to Merlin… “What did you do to me?”
Merlin answers = “You are my special snowflake, Alena. One of a Kind. Or close to it.”
Will Alena take the Cure? How strong is the friendship bond between Alena and Dahlia?
If you want to know the answers to the questions… you need to read Venom and Vanilla.. I did and loved it
Meek & Subservient To Large & In Charge!!
(Read using Kindle Unlimited)
Venom & Vanilla: The Venom Trilogy #1
Alena is a baker, she’s built her business over 10 years while her husband seems to ruin anything he tries his hand at. So much so that for the past 2 yrs he’s stayed at home. Feeding a homeless man leads her to catching a deadly virus only humans contract. In her final days he comes to her bedside & tells her he’s going to pool her life insurance, the sale of their house her Grandparents left her and her Bakery, to start a new business. He’s excited & thinks she will be too. She’s stunned he’s planning all of this before she’s even dead. She’s gutted when he tells her he won’t risk visiting her again & to take care!
The next day a Warlock visits her roommate in their ward room. Dahlia is few days closer to death than her but has been told there’s a cure. He’s here to give it to her. He tells Alena she’s had her cure paid for too, but she refuses it. She was brought up in a fundamentalist religion, she didn’t agree with everything they taught but becoming a Supernatural to continue living felt like she’d be damning her soul!! Being left alone after Dahlia leaves she questions her choice. She just wants it all to be over so she can join her brother in heaven.
She wakes up a different women, literally!! Merlin, the warlock, caught her at her weakest, she’d told him she still wanted to be human & he’d said he could make her special, she had no idea what she had agreed too. After dressing and talking to Merlin he said her benefactor would be arriving, she’s stunned when her brother Tad walks through the door!! It turns out her family has secrets, lots of them! Like her Yaya (Grandmother), used to date the Greek God Zeus, she was one of his his Priestesses! Also Merlin tricked her. He’s turned into something special alright so special Achilles is back, to kill her!!
This is mostly a fun story. Alena is pretty bigoted through much of it but slowly comes around. She’s also really whiney with zero backbone. Then she grows into her supernatural self & changes but by bit, refusing to fit into the box people want her to! I think, hope, I’ll enjoy the next books even more. I’m pretty sure her Bakery was in ‘Liam: The Rylee Epilogues #2’ where he meets Mia?!? The world build doesn’t seem the same at all though so I’m not sure!! Its definitely enjoyable.
Debbie, 1970, UK
Venom and Vanilla been hiding on my kindle library for some time now. I am highly disappointed in myself for not reading it sooner. This is one of those one clicks that should be read right away, before a curse on laid upon your reading device.
If you have a thing for Supes and Greek Mythology, then stop waisting your time reading my review and start reading Venom and Vanilla!
This was a interesting world of supernaturals and mythology. I liked Alana. At first she was kinda wimpy but she quickly grew a pair and started taking control of her life.
Overall a very interesting world and I will be reading the rest of the series at some point.
There is a new style of a story here with gods, vampire, and cupids. Alena is an over the top innocent character whom I still am not clear if I am fond of yet. She is a grown, been married, ran a business woman who says donkey butt. Everything moves at a quick pace so you don’t have time to get bored.
Venom & Vanilla is one crazy ride. There’s vampires, sirens, werewolves, and mystical gods. If you can think of anything supernatural, they exist in this world.
The story is told in Alena’s point of view. A young woman that constantly follows rules… until she gets a deadly disease and later gets left alone to die in a hospital.
As she prepares for her final days, she gets a chance to live one more time. But she has to turn into something unnatural.
The setting is similar to X-Men. Normal humans don’t like unfamiliar people, so everyone is segregated. Supernaturals have no rights and are assigned to live in designated areas.
As Alena navigates the new world, she makes new friends and enemies.
The pace is very fast, and there’s never a dull moment. I enjoyed the humor, action, and light romance, and I can’t wait to read book 2!