Roaring Shadow, Raging Winter, & Roaring Dawn

Posted March 20, 2023 by Carole in Reviews / 5 Comments

Roaring Shadow, Raging Winter, & Roaring DawnRoaring Shadows by Colleen Gleason
Series: Macey Gardella & Max Denton #3
Published by Avid Press on August 30, 2015
Genres: Fiction / Fantasy / Historical
Pages: 261
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Goodreads
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four-stars

In the dark underworld of Jazz Age speakeasies and gangsters, Macey Gardella finds herself caught up in a dangerous alliance with Al Capone. The murderous crime boss squires her about Chicago, showing her off as his moll while she struggles to fulfill her duty hunting the undead on the midnight streets.

She’s learned the brutal lesson of loss and betrayal that comes to those who live out the legacy of the Venators, walking away from her friends, co-workers, and even Grady—the intrepid newshawk who seems to dog her every movement.

But when the worst comes to pass, and the powerful Venator alliance of Sebastian Vioget, Chas Woodmore, and Macey herself stumble in the face of the insidious evil of Nicholas Iscariot, even Macey has cause to question her motives and decisions.

And when the ultimate sacrifice must be paid, who will remain to wield the stake—and who will walk away?

I liked this book quite a bit! I didn’t like it quite as much as I liked the first book that featured Macey but it was still an excellent read. This is the third book in the Macey Gardella & Max Denton series which is a spin-off of The Gardella Vampire Hunters Series. I would recommend reading at least the first book featuring Macey, Roaring Midnight, before diving into this one since this story picks up shortly after the events of that book.

Macey is working for Al Capone rather unwillingly. Spending time with him has proven to be worse than imagined but she needs to keep those she cares about safe. I must say that the parts of the book that involved Al Capone were my least favorite of the book. Macey does get back in touch with the other venators, or vampire hunters, which is where the story shined for me.

I would not hesitate to recommend this series to others. I found this installment exciting with enough action to keep things very interesting. There were a few surprises that kept me glued to the pages. I cannot wait to see what will happen next in the series!

Roaring Shadow, Raging Winter, & Roaring DawnRaging Winter by Colleen Gleason
Series: Macey Gardella & Max Denton #4
Published by Avid Press on December 15, 2015
Genres: Fiction / Fantasy / Historical
Pages: 88
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Goodreads
Amazon
four-stars

A stand-alone, short novel in the international best-selling Gardella Vampire Hunter series.

"If Buffy were to visit Downton Abbey."-- Laurie London, New York Times bestselling author

When vampire hunter Max Denton goes undercover at an English estate over the Christmas holidays, the last person he wants to find there is the lovely Savina Eleiasa. But present she is--and on the arm of her new fiancé.

This is the second short Max Denton novel and can be read as a standalone.

This was an entertaining novella! It was pretty short and I am not sure how much it added to the larger series, but it was a fun way to spend some time on a weekend morning. This story features Max Denton, who is Macey’s father. In the last story to feature this character, Raging Dawn, we met Max as he fell for Savina. It seems that they have since gone their own way since that story.

Savina goes to a Christmas party with her fiance hoping to acquire an amulet. Max shows up a bit later in disguise trying to get his hands on the same thing. There was an interesting group of characters at this party and I had a good time watching Max and Savina dance around each other. This isn’t as much action as I would have hoped but it was entertaining nonetheless. I thought this was worth the read, but I didn’t feel it added much to the overall series.

Roaring Shadow, Raging Winter, & Roaring DawnRoaring Dawn by Colleen Gleason
Series: Macey Gardella & Max Denton #5
Published by Avid Press on July 5, 2016
Genres: Fiction / Fantasy / Historical
Pages: 339
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Goodreads
Amazon | B&N
four-stars

Macey Gardella Denton has loved, lost, and made difficult, heart-wrenching decisions, but now she must stay strong as she battles the most malevolent of evils–the horrifying Nicholas Iscariot.

But even facing down the most terrifying of all undead is nothing compared to the terror happening in her personal life, with her father showing up after a thirteen year absence.

Macey can wield a stake as well as Victoria Gardella, but when it comes to those she loves…can she balance her heart with what’s right?

I thought that this was a wonderful conclusion to a series that I have thoroughly enjoyed. It was wonderful to finally see Macey and Max together, although I felt like Macey was justified in being upset with her father for not being a part of her life for the past 13 years. I felt terrible for Macey at times because it seemed like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders and the man she loved was just out of reach. I have a tough time putting this book down once I started reading it.

Nicholas Iscariot is in Chicago trying to get his hands on a couple of artifacts that would give him more power. Macey, Chas, and Max will do everything in their power to make sure that does not happen. This book had many emotional ups and downs for the characters and things looked desperate at times. There was plenty of action to keep things very interesting and there were quite a few moments when I wasn’t sure how things would work out for this group of characters that I have grown to love.

I would definitely recommend this series to others. I would recommend reading the series in order since the events from previous books come into play in this installment. I hope to read more of Colleen Gleason’s work very soon.

5 responses to “Roaring Shadow, Raging Winter, & Roaring Dawn

  1. This series looks so good! I love the time period it’s set in and I can’t resist that the main character is in an alliance with Al Capone. I’m normally not interested in vampire books but this sounds just perfect.