When Twilight Burns by C. Gleason

I finished When Twilight Burns by Colleen Gleason tonight and all I can say is…SCORE!  Okay, if you’ve been following my reviews of the series, then you probably know what I’m talking about.  That’s all I’m going to say on the matter so I won’t spoil it for anyone else…yeah, like that’s going to happen…if you want the spoiler part, skip to the end.

Anyway, Victoria Gardella is back in London since the new Marquess of Rockley has been found, but she’s not the only one who has returned.  George Starcasset and Sara Relagado have arrived in London as well and Victoria know they are up to no good.  Plus, there are still some residual effects from her time with Beauregard that Victoria is still trying to get over.

Just like the previous novels, Gleason throws in enough twists to keep our attention and to keep us guessing.  Some of the new character developments I so did not see coming.  Well, okay, maybe some of the developments are not surprising, but the role they have was.  Th e plot itself was good and kept me glued to the pages from beginning to end, but for some reason, I’m having trouble writing this review.  When Twilight Burns was spectacular, but at this point, I’m expecting that from Gleason.  Maybe that’s wrong, but I have high expectations for the Gardella series and they are being met.

Overall, When Twilight Burns was a great addition to this series and now I’m upset that I have to wait until March to read more.  As Shadows Fade will be released on March 3, 2009 and will be the last novel in the Gardella Vampire Chronicles.  I’m really hoping that the one underlying story arc that has been magnificently played out so far (see spoiler for more details) will be concluded, because it’s obviously going to be a major part of the ending (see the As Shadows Fade description over at Gleason’s site since I’m trying to be spoiler free).  For a more spoilerish discussion, continue below…

Read Order:
The Rest Falls Away – excerpt
Rises the Night – excerpt
The Bleeding Dusk – excerpt
When Twilight Burns – excerpt
As Shadows Fade (March 2009)

Also reviewed by:
Vampire Romance Books
Stuff As Dreams Are Made on

—-SPOILER ALERT—-—-SPOILER ALERT—-—-SPOILER ALERT—-

It happened.  Max and Victoria have shared that they have feelings for each other.  However, Max is being the type of companion I love in my romance stories.  Max is that tough guy who can be just as stubborn as Victoria, yet he’s been around the block longer and sees things in a different light.  He’s no longer a Venator, and he knows he doesn’t have to protect Victoria, but he also knows that Victoria will try to protect him (which she has done) and he doesn’t want to be that obstacle for her.  He knows that Lilith wants him back and she’ll use him to get to Victoria.  He doesn’t want that either.  So knowing all of this, he leaves.  Walks out on Victoria again.  Of course, this is after the two of them has spent a very passionate night together.  Like any girl is going to let THAT go.  Seriously, he tells her he loves her, but he doesn’t want a relationship because he doesn’t want to be a liability for her.  Talk about male ego.  Victoria even points out that Kritanu stayed around for her aunt, and basically calls Max a coward for not trying to make a relationship work.  I can see both of their points of view…Victoria wants someone in her life, she misses having a male around, and to have someone who also knows about her double life gives her the chance for that.  Max can still stake vampires, he just doesn’t have the strength or the supernatural powers of the vis bulla, but he doesn’t want to be the one who could result in Victoria’s death or turning because she was trying to protect him from the Queen Bitch.

I think this is why I’m loving Gleason so much.  The twists she has given to the “courtship” (even though neither acknowledge there was one initially) were subtle and kept me guessing as to whether they would ever end up together.   Especially after Victoria had locked Max up for a bit in order to protect him.  He was sooo mad that I honestly thought that was it.  That Victoria had lost Max and she was going to be with Sebastion (I have nothing against Sebastion, but between the two men, I would definitely chose the one who I haven’t had to question about his loyalty and could count on his trust).  And then the scene were the two explode over the incident.  It was a beautiful way of getting the two together.  Both of them have been at each other’s throat’s since the Rest Falls Away that it just made it believable that this is how they ended up together.  I’m really looking forward to seeing these two get together in As Shadows Fade and I know I’m going to be eternally sad when we won’t get to see anything beyond that.