Reviews – The Bleeding Dusk & When Twilight Burns by Colleen Gleason @colleengleason

The Bleeding Dusk by Colleen Gleason
Series: The Gardella Vampire Hunters #3
Publisher: Avid Press
Publication Date: September 8, 2014
Date Read: June 21, 2018
Length:  298 pages
Source: Edelweiss
★★★★★

The third installment in New York Times, award-winning author Colleen Gleason’s international bestselling series The Gardella Vampire Hunters follows Victoria Gardella as she hunts vampires in 19th century London & Rome.

The undead of Rome race to unravel an ancient mystery–and only one woman can stop them…

As Rome prepares for its Carnivale, the new leader of the city’s vampire hunters–Lady Victoria Gardella Grantworth de Lacy–must prove herself as never before.

For, in order to gain access to the secrets of a legendary alchemist, Rome’s vampires have allied themselves with creatures as evil and bloodthirsty as they are. Reluctantly, Victoria must turn to the enigmatic Sebastian Vioget for help–just as Max Pesaro arrives to help his fellow slayers, no matter what the cost.

Desire puts Victoria at the mercy of Sebastian, while loyalty binds her to Max…but can she trust either man? Especially when a seductive vampire begins luring her into the shadows…

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I loved this book!  This is the third book in The Gardella Vampire Hunters series and my favorite installment so far.  This is a series that does need to be read in order since so much of the story builds on events from previous books.  I have had this book sitting on my Kindle for several years and I do have to say that I am a little mad at myself for neglecting for so long because it was excellent.  I didn’t want to put it down for a single moment and was kind of mad that I had to do responsible things, like go to work, instead of read once I started with the book.  I had a fantastic time with this story.

This book picks up right after the events of the previous book.  Victoria has had a lot to deal with since becoming a vampire hunter.  She is now Summa Gardella which means she is now the leader of the group of vampire hunters.  Rome is very busy with Carnivale not to mention vampires and demons.  Dead bodies are piling up and Victoria and the other vampire hunters are doing their best to keep the city safe.

I have really had a great time watching the characters in this series grow over the course of the series.  Victoria is so much stronger than she was at the start of the series.  She has been through a lot that has changed her outlook on the world.  She cares less about what society thinks of her and feels responsible for the safety of others.  When her mother and her mother’s friends show up in Rome, she does conform to society’s standards but only to make them happy.  Max is not in a good place at this point and there are some pretty pivotal changes for him in this installment.  Sebastian plays a very important role in this book and some pretty surprising developments with his character that I did not expect.

This was a very exciting book.  There were a lot of different things going on and plenty of action to keep things interesting.  I was really nervous for the characters several times and I wasn’t quite sure how things would work out.  I thought that there was a perfect balance between action filled scenes and scenes more focused on the characters.

I would highly recommend this series to others.  I love that the series is set in the Victorian period and believe that adds an interesting element to the story.  Everything seemed to come together in this book and some really important developments were revealed.  I had such a good time with this book that I bought the next book in the series right away because I couldn’t wait to find out what would happen to Victoria and the other characters next!

I received a review copy of this book from Avid Press via Edelweiss.

When Twilight Burns by Colleen Gleason
Series: The Gardella Vampire Hunters #4
Publisher: Avid Press
Publication Date: September 15, 2014
Date Read: June 24, 2018
Length:  296 pages
Source: Purchased
★★★★★

After narrowly escaping from Rome, Lady Victoria Gardella returns to London, where not even sunrise can stop a vampire’s carnage…

Ruining Victoria’s homecoming, a vampire stalks the streets of London–during the daylight. Not only is Victoria unable to detect the vampire with her heightened senses, but she’s being framed as the prime suspect behind the killings.

Meanwhile, her heart is still divided between the enigmatic Sebastian Vioget and her fellow slayer Max Pesaro. The battle is made even more difficult by the legacy of a vampire’s touch–a vampire who left in Victoria’s veins boiling blood that forces her fight evil on two fronts: against the new breed of undead threatening London…and against the darkness within herself.

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I had a great time with this book!  I had such a good time with the third book in this series that I had to start reading this installment right away.  This is the fourth book in The Gardella Vampire Hunters which is a series that really needs to be read in order.  This was a book that I wanted to read for hours at a time and was completely consumed by the story.  I am so glad that I decided to pick this one up.

This book takes Victoria back to London and picks up right after the events of the previous book.  Victoria has survived a really close call but not without a few lingering effects.  She has a lot to deal with in her own life and will need to move since the heir to her late husband’s title has been found.  Victoria’s mother is back to her match making ways and it appears that there is a vampire in London that is able to move around in the daytime.  There is plenty of things going on in this book to keep the pages turning.

I love the excitement of these books but the characters are really what keeps me reading.  Just when I think I know all the important stuff about this group of people, some vital piece of information is revealed that changes everything.  I am not usually a fan of love triangles but I think that they way it was handled in this book made it work well.  I feel like romance is part of the story but the fight against the vampires is always the focus.  Victoria does not spend her time swooning over men.   I like that she isn’t afraid to take what she wants and I think that the chemistry between Victoria and both men felt very authentic.  There were a lot of important developments between the characters in this installment.

I would recommend this series to fans of urban fiction.  This series has really had everything that I look for in this kind of book with great characters, complex mysteries, and lot of action.  I can’t wait to read the next book in this fantastic series very soon.

About the Author

Colleen Gleason is an award-winning, New York Times bestselling author. She has written more than two dozen novels in a variety of genres, including the internationally bestselling Gardella Vampire Hunters series and the young adult steampunk Stoker & Holmes books. Her novels have been translated into a number of different languages. She lives in the Midwestern United States with her family and two dogs and is always working on her next book.

Author Links: Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

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