Review - Rises the Night

Title: Rises the Night
Author: Colleen Gleason
Publishing Date: 2007
Genre: Historical Paranormal
Rating: C+
Sensuality: Hot

Rises the Night is book two of Colleen Gleason's The Gardella Vampire Chronicles. This series centers around Victoria Gardella, a young woman from a long line of vampire slayers, also known as venators. The series is set in London during the 1800s. Only a few people are aware that vampires exist and it is Victoria's job to make sure it stays that way. Victoria inquires new information of a vampire uprising in Italy. She travels there under the guise of a widow and hopes to infiltrate an underground society. Along the way, she discovers what happened to Max after he went missing and she learns more about the mysterious Sebastian Vioget.

I have mixed feelings about Rises the Night. The pacing of the story is uneven. Some parts of the book went very quickly and held my attention raptly and other parts seemed to drag on. Certain scenes where there were a lot of external action, Victoria with Sebastian or Victoria fighting the vampires, moved the story very quickly. When Victoria was conversing with her Aunt or discovering the history behind vampires, I found my mind wandering. It seemed it was one extreme or the other, but not much in between; feast or famine.

I still haven't warmed up to Victoria as much as I would like. She is a rule follower and comes across as sort of stuffy, but then occasionally she acts impulsively and it gets her into trouble. In my opinion, some of her actions could be considered, Too Stupid To Live (TSTL). In her defense, she is young and is still learning what she is capable of handling and when she needs to ask for help.

Note* This book is labeled as a paranormal romance by Signet Eclipse. Victoria does have some romantic entanglements, but there is not a clear cut hero, nor is the romance wrapped up at the end of the story. The romance thread will continue in future books in the series.

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Review - The Rest Falls Away

Title: The Rest Falls Away
Author: Colleen Gleason
Publishing Date: 2007
Genre: Paranormal (Historical)
Rating: B-
Sensuality: Warm

Victoria Gardella’s family has a unique legacy. Her family has been fighting vampires for centuries. Recently she has been having strange dreams. These dreams are a trigger for Victoria’s heritage. She seeks out her Aunt for answers. She finds that she has been chosen and such begins her training as a vampire slayer.

There are two men Victoria is drawn to; Phillip of Rockley, a Marquess whom she met when she was just a young girl and Sebastian Vioget who remains a mystery but stirs unfamiliar feelings within her. Three, if you count Maximilian Pesaro, master vampire executioner. Victoria accepts her calling as a vampire slayer, but seeks a balance of normalcy in her life. She is willing to go out patrolling for vampires at night, but she also wants to attend balls and be a part of normal society. This is one of the main conflicts driving Victoria in this book.

The world building and vampire mythology was very well developed. The vampire lore involved religion in a believable way, adding a unique twist to vampires. I like Victoria, from what I know of her so far. She is a practical girl and yet she is also hopeful. I feel like we have just scratched the surface of her personality.

The pacing of the book seemed unbalanced to me. At certain times, especially in the beginning, it took a while to for the story to grab a hold of my interest. Scenes with Victoria’s mother and her friends were especially annoying. Yet there were certain passages that I seemed to speed through. These were the passages with Victoria and Phillip and the climatic ending.

Another thing that bothered me was the abrupt changes between passages. One scene would end and then the next would start up days or weeks later. Lots of time would pass between scenes. It seemed to me the author was only highlighting those scenes she thought were most important.

I think this series shows a lot of promise and I am intrigued to see where the author is headed with the next book.



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