Wednesday, January 03, 2007

The Rest Falls Away by Colleen Gleason (Book one of The Gardella Vampire Chronicles)


Books Completed: 1
Completion Date: January 3, 2007
Publication Year: 2007
Pages: 347
Acquired in 2007

From the back of the book:
Beneath the glitter of dazzling nineteenth-century London Society lurks a bloodthirsty evil...

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 Gardlla 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.....
What a wonderful way to begin the New Year. This book was very captivating! I bought it online, but then my order did not arrive yesterday, so I am giving that copy to a friend and I bought another copy yesterday. I am glad I did. The last few days have been stressful, as I think I have made clear, so I needed a nice distraction. I have been pointing out on other blogs that I do not normally visit the romance section. Even my breakthrough read last year, J.D. Robb is housed in the mystery section at the bookstore I buy her from, so this would likely be the first time I have ever bought a book from the romance section. If it wasn't for the publicity that other bloggers have been showing, I likely would never have read it because I do not generally browse the romance section.

Anyways, I read the majority of this book last night in one sitting. I read a lot of historical fiction, so the time period was appealing. Adding in the vampires made for an interesting read. We have these prim and proper ladies of society, and this girl in a ball gown kicking vampire butt. I know a lot of people are reading this book, so I am going to be careful and not give anything away. The main character, Victoria, can be a bit naive, but she living in two worlds. She goes to fancy parties and dances with young men, and then she feels a cold draft on her neck and totally switches roles to nineteenth-century vampire slayer. It is an interesting contrast. Venators can be male or female, but females are rare. Victoria has to prove herself to be worthy of the role, and not just another society girl.

The characters in this book are interesting, though. We have Victoria, who if she lived in the twenty-first century would annoy me, but looking at her from a nineteenth-century perspective she is quite exceptional for her times. Then there is her aunt, Eustacia, who used to be a Venator, but arthritis caused her to stop. Her family thinks she is crazy, but she is a compelling character. As to the men, there are three main ones: Max, the skeptical Venator whose past makes him hard put to accept the future; Phillip, a man straight out of Victoria's past; and Sebastian, the man that keeps things interesting.

I started this review this morning, but then my net decided that it was going to stop working. It was all fresh in my head when I started, now, I am trying to find my place. I could say a lot more about this book, but I do not want to give too much away. I will just tell everyone that it was worth a visit to the romance section. Gleason has written a first book that has the potential to be a very interesting series. I cannot wait until the next book comes out in June! In the meantime, everyone should check out this book. It might not be everyones cup of tea, but it is very well-written.

I give this book a 4.5/5. It has been a few weeks since I read a book practically in one sitting, so you know that this book is a good one!

Author Gender:
Female: 1
Male: 0

This author was a new to me author.

10 comments:

  1. Anonymous5:07 PM

    What a great review. I'm looking forward to reading this as I'm a fan of historical novels and having a vampire in them doesn't hurt :)

    Anyway, glad the book was able to take you away from all the stress, if at least for a while.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous5:33 PM

    I don't read romances either, but The Rest Falls Away had more to it. I enjoyed the characters, too. Really liked Max and want to know more about him, don't you? Actually, I need to know more about Sebastian, too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey Kailana :D I hope that you feel better! and I'm glad that you liked the book, cos it's sitting on my TBR pile!

    ReplyDelete
  4. iliana: I hope you read it, it was really good!

    booklogged: I meant to say that Max, for me, was my favourite of the men folk.

    Nath: It was really good! A nice distraction. And, I saw it in the pics you posted the other day. If you read it soon you could add on to my post and we can repost it on Twisted Kingdom if you want. Just let me know!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous7:20 PM

    Thank you so much for a fabulous review, Kailana!

    I'm glad you enjoyed the book and thank you again for buying not one but two copies!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Colleen: I cannot wait for the sequel. I am so glad I do not have to wait another year like many authors that I read. Not to mention, you ended it where the reader is curious, but it was not an annoying ending that makes people impatient. I like that! I will be sure and post if my friend likes it or not, but she reads slower than me, so it might be a while!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous7:33 PM

    I posted this on Colleen's site too: I think it was cool that we were both up throughout the wee hours reading this book. It was so much fun and I just devoured the last 250 pages in one night. Great stuff. I look forward to the next one.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Carl: A vampire novel is perfect to stay up late reading, isn't it? I probably would have read it all, but it was 3:30 when I put it down. That will teach me not to start it so late!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous12:35 AM

    Great review sweetie! I'm glad I bought it. :P

    Hope all is going well with you. HUGS

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous10:21 AM

    Great review!
    Again, can't wait to read it!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

I am so sorry, but I turned anonymous commenting off. I have had it from the very beginning, but that is how the spam is getting by my spam filter at the moment. If it is a big deal I will turn it back on and moderate all comments. I also changed moderation from older than 14 days to older than 7.