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“I ask for nothing but a kiss,” he said, his voice still calm and low, but his eyes dimmed. “Mouth to mouth. You might hold your stake between us if it would make you feel more as ease, Venator.”

“Perhaps I would slam it into your heart and send you to Hell, then,” Victoria replied, her voice easier, more normal. [pg 76]

The Bleeding Dusk by Colleen Gleason
Signet Eclipse, 2008
Fantasy (Paranormal Romance); 346 pgs

From the Publisher:

To gain access to the secrets of a legendary alchemist, Rome’s vampires have allied themselves with creatures as evil and bloodthirsty as they are. The new leader of the city’s vampire hunters-Lady Victoria Gardella Grantworth de Lacy-reluctantly turns to the enigmatic Sebastian Vioget for help, just as Maximilian Pesaro arrives to aid his fellow slayers, no matter what the sacrifice. Desire puts her at the mercy of Sebastian, while loyalty binds her to Max, but she does not know if she can trust either. Especially when a seductive vampire begins luring her into the shadows . . .

The Bleeding Dusk, the third book in the Gardella Vampire Chronicles, is probably my favorite in the series so far. It is dark and thrilling. Victoria continues to grow as a character, coming into her own. With each book, the reader learns more about Maximillion Pesaro and Sebastian Vioget, two complicated and very different men whose histories are somehow intertwined.

It was good to see the return of a few favorites from the first novel, The Rest Falls Away, characters I had not realized I had missed until running into them again in The Bleeding Dusk. Melly, Victoria’s mother, and her two friends provide a bit of comic relief in an otherwise dark and suspense filled novel that literally kept me all night as I raced to the end to find out what would happen next.

The only downside is that I do not yet have my copy of the final book in the series, When Twilight Burns. Oh, how I wish I did! And yet, in a way, I am glad I don’t. I am not sure I am ready to see this series come to an end.

Rating: Rating: (Very Good)

You can learn more about the author and her series at her website and on her blog, For All the World to See.