Review: Roaring Midnight by Colleen Gleason

Roaring Midnight

The Gardella Vampire Chronicles - Spin Off

Colleen Gleason

From NEW YORK TIMES and USA Today bestselling author Colleen Gleason, the long-awaited spin-off of the international bestselling Gardella Vampire Chronicles.

 
Amid the glitzy age of Jazz, when gangsters and bootleggers control the cities, there lies another, more insidious threat ... the undead.

Macey Gardella is a typical young woman of the Roaring Twenties: she works a job, has her own flat, and loves to dance the Charleston. But when a mysterious man named Sebastian Vioget informs her she belongs to a family of vampire hunters, Macey is stunned and disbelieving.

Yet, strange and frightening things begin to happen, and when Macey comes face-to-face with one of the fanged creatures, she has no choice but to believe Sebastian. And when she learns his own soul depends on her willingness to carry forth the family legacy and hunt the undead, Macey capitulates and joins the fight.

As she begins to learn about her new life, Macey meets the handsome newspaper reporter known as Grady--who seems to know more about vampires than he should. When he begins to ask too many questions, she has to juggle her strong attraction to him with the need for secrecy.

Slipping into speakeasies and sampling bootlegged whiskeys, dodging gangster gunfire and trying to keep her nosy landlady from finding the stakes in her flat, Macey Gardella must navigate through a world of stunning violence, passionate romance, and dark betrayal...


My Review: 

     It breaks my heart to give this 3 stars because The Gardella Vampire Chronicles is my absolute favorite series of all time; The Regency Draculia spin off series was good too; but this spin off just didn't do anything for me. 

     The book starts off slow, and continues at a dragging pace until a little after the half way mark. I enjoyed the setting, with the 20's era speakeasies and gangsters - but I didn't want to read about history - I wanted to read about blood thirsty vampires and the great Venators that hunt and kill them. It was ridiculous how easily one of the oldest vampires in existence was killed so easily. Macey doesn't compare to Victoria, and even she couldn't get that job done... 

     I was surprised at the reveal of another villain turned Venator, but I'm not sure how that is supposed to play out in the future. My favorite character from the original series, Sebastian, seems to have lost something. He's not the same exciting, sexy vampire that I've compared all male vampires to over the last few years. 

     It's sad really. Sometimes you just need to leave a good thing alone. I will read the next book in the series when it comes out in hopes that the spark is back, or because I'm a glutton for punishment, I'm not quite sure yet.  ;)

       

Perhaps instead of reading this book, you should start with The Gardella Vampire Chronicles, as it is one of the best series I've ever read!