Rabid Reads

The Rest Falls Away
Series: The Gardella Vampire Hunters #1
Author: Colleen Gleason
Publisher: Avid Press
Published on: September 15, 2014
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Format: 300 pages, eBook
Provided by: Purchased

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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 control of 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 dark, dangerous duty.

And when she comes face-to-face with the most powerful vampire in history, Victoria must ultimately make a choice between duty and love.

A few days ago I found this book, and it immediately jumped ahead of all the other books I have waiting. I had never even heard of this series, or this author, and since it’s a best selling series, that was kind of different for me. Reason? Because I really wish I had heard of this series before! It was just so, so good.

Victoria Gardella is a member of the ton, otherwise known as the high society of London. It’s the time of Jane Austin, she’s nineteen, and is getting read for her debut. She begins having horrific dreams. Her elderly aunt, Eustacia informs her of her destiny. The dreams come only to the members of the Gardella family, that are to be Venators. Venators are the vampire hunters of the world, and are pretty rare considering how many vampires there are. Two generations of Gardellas have gone without a new Venator, not since Eustacia, so now Victoria will be one of the strongest ever. Her first test? Kill a vampire at her coming out ball.

Victoria was fascinating as a young woman brought up to be a debutante, and land a rich, and preferably titled husband. She’s beautiful, and once trained by her aunt’s lover, becomes a formidable fighter. The reader gets to go along for the ride, as she comes into her own as a successful Venator. Along the way, she works with Max, a bad tempered Venator, that helps train her on the streets. She also meets Sebastian, a handsome but shady man, one that owns a vampire friendly club. As far as falling in love, that involved another man entirely.

This story was so much fun-not that it was humorous, because it wasn’t. It was just a complete adventure, with great characters, and a good(adult)romance, served up in historical London. Victoria, sneaking around on the dangerous streets of London, was probably the best part of the story, at least it was for me. She manages to get into all kinds of situations, and when Lilith, the Queen of the Vampires shows up, the story ramps up even farther.

The world building was also one of the best parts of the book as well. Vampires in historical London, are not the romanticized ones that we usually read about. They are evil creatures, and they really aren’t given personalities, with the exception of Lilith. Lilith is pure evil. The background of how vampires came to be, was uniquely imagined by the author, as well. There’s also different kinds of vampires. It all was very interestingly told, and absolutely was not an info dump.

This is the second vampire hunter book I have read this month, and it’s actually a toss up which one was better. I completely loved both of them, and they were both wonderful reads for me. I liked this one enough that I have already started the second book, about five minutes after I finished this one. The series has five books, and they are all out already, so no waiting!

It should be noted that this is a re-release, originally released in 2007