by Colleen Gleason as part of that huge box of books. I finally got around to reading it. (Published January 2007 by Signet Eclipse -- 347 pages) Genre is Romance (man-woman) with a sub-genre of paranormal.
Vampires have always lived among them, quietly attacking unsuspecting debutantes and dandified lords as well as hackney drivers and Bond Street milliners. If not for the vampire slayers of the Gardella family, these immortal creatures would have long ago taken over the world.
In every generation, a Gardella is called to accept the family legacy, and this time, Victoria Gardella Grantworth is chosen, on the eve of her debut, to carry the stake. But as she moves between the crush of ballrooms and dangerous moonlit streets, Victoria's heart is torn between London's most eligible bachelor, the Marquess of Rockley, and her duty. And when she comes face-to-face with the most powerful vampire in history, Victoria must ultimately make a choice between obligation and love...
Loving all the new authors I've been introduced to because of Jordan Summers generous box o' books! Colleen Gleason is one such and she has completely hooked me into her series called The Gardella Vampire Chronicles with this book.
I loved Victoria's duality. On one hand she was a typical -- or at least what I imagine a Regency miss would be like -- debutante in nineteenth century London, complete with all the airs. On the other hand she was a nineteenth century Buffy the Vampire Slayer without the sensitive Angel at her side. Instead, her aunt's cynical acquaintance with a questionable agenda, Max, is there to assist and annoy Victoria.
The plot moved along at a steady pace, building to a life altering climax. The backstory was introduced seamlessly. The book is billed as a paranormal romance but was rather light on the romance, at least in this first book of the series.
I'm curious about Max and Sebastian and hope to see more of them in future books. While Victoria was well fleshed out, the secondary characters were less so. I won't go so far as to say the secondary characters were flat but their motivation was often lacking. I wish Gleason had explored Phillip's character more. It certainly would have gone a long way toward spicing up the romance part of the story. I hope the lack of his development wasn't the result of manuscript cuts for length.
All in all, a very satisfying read. The ending wasn't completely unexpected but sets Victoria up for a lot of growth within the series. Currently there are five books in this series so I have a lot of reading to do, LOL
1 comment:
Very much enjoyed these books!
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