The third novel in Colleen Gleason’s Gardella Vampires Chronicles, The Bleeding Dusk, finally answers some of my questions!
We’re still in Rome and Victoria is dealing with the loss of her Aunt Eustacia and the betrayal of Max. Granted, she hasn’t seen Max since he gave her his vis bulla, but they both needed time to heal. They’ve destroyed Akvan’s disk thingy (I can’t find the spelling at the moment) and while they did prevent Nedas from gaining the power, now Akvan is walking the mortal coil and they need to stop him before he destroys mankind.
It’s a good tie-in with Rises the Night, yet this novel was more about tying up some loose ends than any real plot in my opinion. The Bleeding Dusk was still a great novel, but the action wasn’t there like before. However, Gleason totally makes up for it by showing us more Sebastion and giving us something I’ve been waiting for….a heated moment between Max and Victoria! Woo Hoo! Granted, it was a simple kiss, but once that happened, there seemed to be more clues that Max did have feelings for Victoria, and vice versa, and that something could happen. Granted, the life of a Venator is never dull and it’s not exactly relationship friendly, so nothing more is given to us, but the kernal of hope has been fed and I’m hoping that it continues to grow with When Twilight Burns.
While I did say the action wasn’t as much of a focal point as before, there was still enough action to ensure The Bleeding Dusk wasn’t dull or boring. However, all of the action that did take place was there to help move the story arc into a direction that I hadn’t seen coming. Gleason continued to keep me off balance by throwing in a few twists that never entered my mind before and I can see how they are going to change the dynamic of all the characters involved.
Overall, I’m still in awe of this series. I’ve already started reading When Twilight Burns and I’m sadden that I won’t be able to read more until March when As Shadows Fade is released. The Bleeding Dusk has given me hope in some areas and has left me hanging in others; while I hate it when I’m left in suspense with a novel, that becomes the best part of a series. I love it when a books makes me crave for the next one in a series and this one has continually done that. Now that I’ve written this review, I’m going back to When Twilight Burns. You can expect that review soon.
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:
Musings of a Bookish Kitty
I’ve been wanting to read these since I heard of them (and believe me, I’ve seen a LOT of reviews for them) but my library only has one so I need to ILL them soon!