Review: House Rules by Chloe Neill

House Rules by Chloe Neill
Series: Chicagoland Vampires #7
Published by NAL
Published on: February 5, 2013
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 353
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher

Amazon | Book Depo 

In a city full of vampires, trouble never sleeps.

At the tender age of twenty-seven, Merit became a sword-wielding vampire. Since then, she’s become the protector of her House, watched Chicago nearly burn to the ground, and seen her Master fall and rise. Now she’ll see her mettle—and her metal—tested like never before.

It started with two . . . Two rogues vanishing without a trace. Someone is targeting Chicago’s vampires, and anyone could be next. With their house in peril, Merit and her Master, the centuries-old Ethan Sullivan, must race to stop the disappearances. But as they untangle a web of secret alliances and ancient evils, they realize their foe is more familiar, and more powerful, than they could have ever imagined.

Chloe Neill and her Chicagoland Vampires are certainly firing on all cylinders in this 7th installment! And that’s saying something considering that I was all but ready to give-up on this series after the last couple of novels. House Rules is the book that keeps on giving with lightning fast pacing, a masterful web of plot lines and a steadfast heroine who refuses to give up.

To say that Merit has her hands full in this installment would be the understatement of the year. Pick your poison, take a number and get in line behind: a killer on the lose, a love sick master vampire moving in on her turf, Cadogan’s upcoming excommunication from the GP, allies turned enemies and RG secrets. The fact that all of these events unravel over the course of a mere 72 hours is extraordinary. It’s been a while since I’ve stayed up late into the night to finish a book but House Rules was simply impossible to put down.

Ethan and Merit’s relationship has been a point of contention for me since Drink Deep and when trust issues surface between them I couldn’t help but roll my eyes and think “here we go again”. With so much going on in this book I found it difficult to understand why Neill chose to go there. Again. I was really hoping for a drama free installment but this time around their relationship woes actually added to my overall enjoyment of the story. It’s sad that it’s taken them 7 books to reach their happy place but I guess even vampires aren’t perfect.

I’ve always loved Merit as a character and House Rules was her moment to shine. I’ve never witnessed a heroine stick to her guns as adamantly as she does in this book. She finds herself forced to choose between her House and the well-being of all vampire kind while at the same time trying to make Ethan understand that she’s actually picking both. The resulting argument plants doubt in Merit’s mind but despite her internal struggle she makes the right call, consequences be damned. That a girl!

My love/hate feelings towards these books have officially been put to rest thanks to House Rules. For the first time in a long time I’m actually looking forward to the next Chicagoland Vampires installment.

Books in this series:
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Recommendation:	Great for fans of strong heroines and lots of action.
Like this, like that:	The Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost, the Sabina Kane series by Jaye Wells and the Elemental Assasin series by Jennifer Estep.

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