Review: When Twilight Burns by Colleen Gleason

Posted April 21, 2015 by Lorna in Lorna, Reviews, Urban Fantasy / 26 Comments

Review: When Twilight Burns by Colleen Gleason
When Twilight Burns by Colleen Gleason
Series: The Gardella Vampire Hunters #4
Published by Avid Press
Published on: September 15, 2014
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 354
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
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After narrowly escaping from Rome, Lady Victoria Gardella returns to London, where not even sunrise can stop a vampire's carnage...

Ruining Victoria's homecoming, a vampire stalks the streets of London--during the daylight. Not only is Victoria unable to detect the vampire with her heightened senses, but she's being framed as the prime suspect behind the killings.

Meanwhile, her heart is still divided between the enigmatic Sebastian Vioget and her fellow slayer Max Pesaro. The battle is made even more difficult by the legacy of a vampire's touch--a vampire who left in Victoria's veins boiling blood that forces her fight evil on two fronts: against the new breed of undead threatening London...and against the darkness within herself.

Kickass Fantastic Well Written Historical

Burned out by all the vampire romances out there? I can pretty much guarantee that this series will draw you right back into the vampire world, and keep you reading until you finish them all. This is the fourth in the series, and this series hasn’t let me down yet!

Victoria is a member of the ton, otherwise known as the high society of 1822 England. She is also known in vampire circles as the ‘Summa Gardella’ due to being the last of the Gardella’s bloodline. It’s a bloodline that means it’s her duty to be the leader of the Venators, a group whose mission is to kill vampires. When this series started, she was a debutante, and just learning about her heritage. It’s all very hush, hush, and she can not even tell her mother. She wears a talisman that makes her stronger then most humans, but still has to train often.

So by day, she’s being called upon by members of the ton, evenings are mostly spent at balls, dinners, and other frivolities. But it’s night that finds Victoria roaming the streets of whatever city she happens to be in, sometimes by carriage, sometimes on foot, hunting evil vampires in their quest for blood. Don’t get me wrong, she also manages to kill more than her share of vampires at some of the events she attends, and it makes for quite the story and adventure.

There are two men in Victoria’s life. Max is a venator-one of the few not of the bloodline but one that won the title after many trials. He is enigmatic and fiercely loyal to the venators. Recently, he lost his venator powers and is not taking it well. Sebastian is the great (many greats)grandson of one of the strongest vampires, Beauregard. He is charming, good looking, and Victoria has spent a few pretty sensual moments with him in the past. Even so, Max has been my favorite throughout the series up to this point.

So much has happened to this trio thoughout all of these books. I really don’t want to tell specifics, but things are always changing in Victoria’s life. Her mother and her two friends are still trying to calm Victoria down so that she can find another husband from the members of the ton. She, of course, knows she can never again marry someone that doesn’t know her secrets, but she also is aware that she must have a child to carry on the bloodline. Her mother’s two friends are also the cause of much needed levity during parts of the story.

This installment fulfilled one of my wishes for Victoria, and that just added to my enjoyment of this read. Lilith the vampire queen is back, and causing all sorts of havoc in the characters life-as is her usual. This book is a bit darker then the others, although the last one had it’s fair share of darkness as well. There’s plenty of tromping around in the bowels of London, lots of staking of vampires, and of course it has it’s moments of gore to the extreme. This one features the coronation of King George IV, and the author had fun with involving Victoria, and her cohorts in that event.

I could ramble on and on, but I won’t. Suffice it to say, if you love vampire books, love a good urban fantasy, with a side of romance and don’t care what the time period is, I feel certain you will love this read, as I do.

The Gardella Vampire Chronicles




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I’m Lorna and I live in Maryland. Since retiring, I spend my time mostly reading and reviewing books. My favorite reads are Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy, and Young Adult. I read a lot of indie books in addition to traditionally published books. Favorite paranormal creature? Vampires, but I am really liking werewolves more everyday.

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26 responses to “Review: When Twilight Burns by Colleen Gleason”

  1. Bookworm Brandee  

    I’m pretty sure I’ve read a review from you of a previous book in this series, Lorna, but I will say it again if I didn’t already…I really like the idea of vampires among the ton! 🙂 This series is on my tbr (likely because of you) and I’m happy you’re still enjoying it 4 books in. Victoria seems like a strong, independent young woman and I like that, particularly during this time period. I’m also intrigued with her friendship with Sebastian, who I assume is a vampire? I know I say this a lot *ha* but I will try to put this on my schedule sooner than later. I’m eager for some good vampire fare. 🙂
    Bookworm Brandee recently posted…#ShelfLove ~ Preventing Relapse

    • Lorna  

      Yes it’s probably because of me since I have reviewed all 4 of these so far. Just one more to go. Actually I guess I wasn’t clear, Sebastian isn’t a vampire, but since his relative is, all the vampires know him. Victoria has grown a lot since the first book, and she is extremely brave and strong 🙂

  5. Lori from Romancing the Dark  

    This was the first series I read years ago when I first bought my Nook. I picked up book one and bought the rest of the series before finishing the first book! I remember thinking Jane Austen meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer while reading this series. I’m not a huge fan of love triangles but really enjoyed how the author played this one out…reading your review makes me want to revisit this series and do a re-read! 🙂
    Lori recently posted…Blog Tour: Deadly Curses by Donna Shields {Guest Post + Giveaway}

    • Lorna  

      I agree, I didn’t mention the love triangle thing cause it just wasn’t one of those obvious ones, and it was done so well. I can understand wanting to re-read-I probably will also, in a couple of years 🙂

    • Lorna  

      Oh it’s definitely historical UF, and really done well-in my opinion. I have read vampire books back to back before and didn’t get burned out, but I am getting more into shifter books now 🙂

  12. Melliane  

    I like the new covers, they’re fun. I tried many years ago the first book. I liked it even if I didn’t love it but maybe I should try again and read book 2 now. Great review!

    • Lorna  

      ahem..I could definitely say the same to you 🙂 My tbr is ridiculous as well but this particular series gets read, instead of sitting there-it really is that good 🙂