Love Bites: A Collection of Short Stories

“Love in all its Sordid and Troubling Glory. They say to never judge a book by its cover, but on this occasion I am glad I did. At first, looking at the disturbing S&M-like image and the snappy title of Wattle Publishing’s latest offering, I thought I was in for a 50 Shades meets True Blood sex-fest. But I was wrong – and in a good way – it was a lot better than that! Kogan’s book is about love. Not the Mills and Boon kind, there are no brooding handsome strangers and damsels in distress, and neither is it an epic Gone With The Wind tumultuous frenzy of sighs, kisses and drama. No. Love Bites is real.
Each story centers around a particular emotion. There is the widowed woman who is so bereft from having lost her husband she makes a home in the earth around his grave; the prostitute who loves her job and chooses it over her future husband; the perfect homemaker who starts to fall for the help, and the obnoxious man who drove his woman away… but not before she ruined her body with her plastic surgery obsessions. And many, many more characters. I would definitely recommend Valeria Kogan’s Love Bites. It’s beautifully written but unpretentious. In fact I would make every loved-up teenager, fed on Hollywood’s unrealistic hearts and flowers, read it. Because I’m a bitch like that, and I would want every young adult on the brink of true love to know that there is something agonizingly sweet and deliciously painful about loving someone to the terrifying edge of no return. To the point where you disappear and only cold, dark, naked love remains.” - Review Lady Lolita, The Glass House Girls

“Love Bites is a collection of short stories, mostly told from the woman’s side. I can’t say that is romance per-say. It’s more about the feelings of love. I found it emotional, dark, and gritty at times. Showing how love can sustain you, build you up, surprise you and break you. They are all told wonderfully. I must admit I cried a few times the stories are sometimes sad, but always thought provoking. Ms. Kogan’s writing is fluid, her characters are very well developed and will keep you involved. I am a firm believer in books that make you feel – happy, sad, angry, Love Bites hit on all these emotions. I finished this one appreciating the loves I left behind, and appreciating the lifelong love I have, and well reminded me that love is worth the chance. If you are looking for something different, something to make you feel, I would highly recommend this collection.” -Paranormal Romance and Author’s That Rock

“It’s eccentric, it’s insane, it’s way out of the ordinary but that’s the universe of Valeria Kogan.” -Review by Ariadni Papaioannou, We adore books