The Rest Falls Away by Colleen Gleason

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 of vampire slaying, 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 enigmatic ally, Sebastian Vioget. And when she comes face to face with the most powerful vampire in history, Victoria must ultimately make the choice between duty and love.

You may remember a few weeks ago I was off work with my sick son. This book was one that I tried to read while I was off work. What I don't understand is why can't I read when I am not working. When other people go on holidays they say things like "I am going to get through so many books" or "I am just going to read and read", but I just can't seem to get through many books at all when I am not going to work. Very strange.

Colleen did such a great job of raising the profile of this book, and in making sure that it was out there, with even non romance readers reading it and enjoying it. I was so excited about getting this book but maybe because I was feeling sick and tired it wasn't really grabbing my attention. I did enjoy many aspects of the story - the colour coordinating stakes that doubled as stakes were particularly ingenious and a lot of fun! I did like the two mysterious men that are part of the storyline. I am sure that we will get to see a lot more of Max and Sebastian.

Interesting that there were multiple hero possibilities but it wasn't really a romance in my opinion, and I think that that was something that the author was very clear about when talking about this book. There were romantic elements but not exactly a HEA, I think partially because this is planned to be a true series and there is therefore a longer story arc...not just books that are connected by recurring characters.

I'm not sure that I can verbalise what exactly it was that didn't work for me during this read. In a way it felt like I was reading the surface of a really good story, but didn't really get the depth that I would like to read normally. Having said that, I will definitely be getting the next book in the series, Rises the Night, when it comes out in June, so I was sufficiently hooked to want to go on with the series!

I guess this is definitely a case of where my mood has definitely put a dampener on a book that I probably would have enjoyed more had I been feeling better.

Rating: 3.5/5


Other Blogger's Thoughts:

Stephanie - Confessions of a Book-a-holic
Book-A-Rama
Bold Blue Adventure
Melody's Reading Corner
Hey Lady, Watcha Reading?
Romance Rookie