Dark Debt (Chicagoland Vampires, #11)

by Chloe Neill

[Cocktails and Books]

The Chicagoland Vampire series is one that I've always enjoyed, but with each new book in the series I find new reasons to love Cadogan House, it's master and it's sentinel.

In DARK DEBT, Navarre House and it's master, flame for a minute to Merit, Morgan, finds himself and his house trying to find a way out of the debt it's former master got them into a some less than savory characters. This story introduces us to a new foe, one that is intertwined with Merit's father and seems intent on getting their hold on the supernatural community along with it's other wrong doings. To do so, they bring in someone from Ethan's past hoping to insight all kinds of fear to get their way.

As with other CV stories, no one can handle their own business, which means Merit, Ethan and company have to come in to try and fix whatever their issue is. This is generally what I enjoy most, because the relationships between the characters continue to grow the tightness within the Cadogan family (including the Ombuddies) gives readers the sense of a family willing to do whatever they have to for each other. We see that when Catcher and Mallory's relationship takes a turn or when Ethan has to contemplate his maker. Time and again, this tight knit group continues to prove they have each others backs.

My only disappointment with the story was with Jonah. He and Merit have a disagreement and that isn't resolved when we get to the end of the book. Jonah is an important person to Merit and I didn't like that they were still mad at each other. Sure, he showed up to help her when she needed him but the tension was there and I needed them to be ok as partners.

With recent entries into the series, Merit and Ethan's relationship gets stronger with each book. No longer does a reader doubt the strength of this couple, even when things seem bleak. They fight for each other and support the other, even when they don't know.

DARK DEBT was hard to put down and when I did reach that last page I was a bit sad. Chloe Neill always gives us great page-turning stories that are engrossing, from the suspenseful storyline to the comic relief. The books are always a pleasure to read and most definitely a series I highly suggest.