In Which Our Heroine Finds Even More Trouble

Ahhhhh.....T'is truly the Season of the Vampire. For my next RIP selection, I decided to pick up Colleen Gleason's Book 3 in the Gardella Vampire Series, The Bleeding Dusk (368 pgs, Signet 2008). Yes, I know. I'm WAY behind. I'm not sure what happened, but for some reason I just didn't get to this book right away. On the bright side, I already have Book 4, so now I can just keep right on reading!!

Note: There are spoilers in this review for Rises the Night.

The lair of the Queen of the Vampires was tucked away in the snowy mountain range of Muntii Fagaras. The only reason Maximilian Pesaro had been able to find the hideaway was because of the two bite marks on his neck. Permanent ones left by Lilith herself.

The Bleeding Dusk continues the adventures of Victoria Gardella Grantworth de Lacey just a few months after the conclusion of Rises the Night. Things have changed for the Venators in Rome. Because Eustacia had been sacrificed to stop Nedes from activating Akvan's Obelisk, Victoria became the Illa Gardella. Still reeling from thhe loss of her aunt, she stayed in Rome to be at the Consilium with the other Venators instead of immediately returning to London.

Max was also grieving. He had to do the unthinkable in order to destroy the Obelisk, and it was killing him inside. But Lilith's promise of releasing him from her thrall was the one thing keeping him going. Until he met with her. She indeed said she would release him, but there was a price.

Now there are other things stalking the streets of Rome besides Vampires. And everyone is in a race to find the keys to the legendary "Door of Alchemy". Behind it are secrets left by the Alchemist Palombara, and vampires and demons alike are trying gain access. It's up to Victoria and the rest of the Venators to stop them.

I enjoyed the first two books in this series....a lot. But Colleen Gleason kicked it up a notch with The Bleeding Dusk. The weary little love triangle has now gotten even bigger. It's more like a square, with Victoria dead set in the center!! And no matter whether you happen to favor Sebastian or Max, it's apparent in this book that things are about to change rather drastically for everyone.

At the heart of this book is the notion of sacrifice. Not only Victoria, but both Max and Sebastian. And they are called to sacrifice something that is very near to their hearts and personal to them. How they handle it just makes the storyline grow stronger with each page turned. Colleen throws in a couple of curves with this book (like I expected any less!) and in the end, I think this might be the best book yet. The characters are evolving rather quickly, and although my tolerance for Victoria and her short-sightedness and quick-to-jump-to-conclusion way about her is starting to grate on me, I do understand where she is coming from. But the evolution of both Max and Sebastian is where the strength in The Bleeding Dusk lays. The foundation that was laid in the first two books takes on a whole different meaning now. And I can not wait to find out what happens. It will be a bittersweet day for me when this series has ended. But the end is near. I can feel it coming and I already have When Twilight Burns ready to go! If you have read the first two books, then you MUST read The Bleeding Dusk. Honestly, the series just gets better and better. And if you haven't read any of the Gardella books, I would completely recommend them. A Fantastic story for anyone that loves Vampires, but especially Buffy The Vampire Slayer! 4.5/5