The Rest Falls Away: The Gardella Vampire Chronicles (Gardella Vampire Chronicles, #1) (Gardella Vampire Hunters, #1)

by Colleen Gleason

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 taken over the world. In every generation, a Gardella is called to accept the family legacy, 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.

• ISBN10: 0451220072
• ISBN13: 9780451220073
• Publish Date: 23 May 2008 (first published 2 January 2007)
• Publish Status: Transferred
• Out of Print: 11 August 2016
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Books Australia
• Imprint: Signet
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

The Rest Falls Away was such a fun read! I love the combination of Historical and Paranormal! Victoria is about to have her debut, but she's also about to become the family vampire hunter. Instead of worrying about whether her dance card is full, she has to make sure none of her guests are seduced and killed by a vampire. But Victoria has been training for this her entire life, she's well prepared when a vampire does indeed crash her party. Meanwhile, she's caught the eye of Lord Rockley, but constantly disappearing on him isn't the best way to show she returns his affections.

I really liked The Rest Falls Away's version of vampires and vampire hunters. It's nothing too different from the standard, but it all worked really well with the setting. Vampire hunters, or Venators, are genetic. There's one in every generation of Victoria's family and she's next in line, following her aunt. The vampires are all descendants of Judas (yep, that Judas), with his daughter Lilith being their queen. Of course, the overall plot is Victoria versus Lilith, which was quite exciting at times. I wasn't quite sold on this mysterious book that Lilith was after, since we know next to nothing about what's in it, but it still kept me engaged as Victoria used her brains and her brawn to keep it from falling into the wrong hands.

There is also romance in The Rest Falls Away, but not in the way that you'd expect. Obviously, Victoria is going to live a dangerous life and it's probably better for her to remain single. But she and Lord Rockley hit it off, and he tries to woo her while she tries to keep killing vampires without him knowing. Things do progress and get infinitely more complicated and I really liked that. I do think it's pretty obvious how it was going to turn out, but I was still shocked by that ending. I wasn't expecting it to be quite like that. There are some hints toward a love triangle, but based on how the romance went in this first book, I might be totally wrong and surprised by the direction that it goes!

In the end, I really like The Rest Falls Away. Victoria was a great heroine. She's not perfect, but she's doing her best and not backing down. I am looking forward to getting to know Max and Sebastian more. They're not quite what they seem.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.