The Rest Falls Away (Gardella Vampire Chronicles Series #1) Book

I started The Rest Falls Away with some misgivings. Away opens with a cheesy ceremony, some cliché about destiny, and a series of infodumps through a wise aunt, teaching the audience along with Victoria Gardella, vampire hunter. However, once we're up to speed, there seems to be a spirit of, "Now let's get to the good stuff!" as author Colleen Gleason moves us swiftly into plotty goodness, beginning with Victoria's coming out ball, where she begins her vampire -and husband- hunting careers with youthful certainty and great promise.

Naturally, by the end of the novel, things have changed. Three, count them, three engaging men have entered her life. What's a girl to do? I know what you're thinking, but she doesn't sleep with all of them, LOL. Gleason's trim, compact scenes allow us to follow Victoria breathlessly as she pits her wits against a vampire queen, weathers her colleague's disdain, and tries to juggle a proper courtship. No lengthy internal monologues, no very flowery language. Away is written much like any other urban fantasy without the Starbucks references. If those books were set in Victorian England. Also, Victoria Gardella is not sarcastic, LOL.

Though this novel was not a disturbing number overall -more emotional- I liked the surprisingly dark aspects of the vampires. I also enjoyed Victoria's juggling act between her secret identity and her public persona, her personal growth, and the tension between her and her men. It was fun chasing Victoria through the streets of London and watching her hide lethal stakes in her coiffure. She uses an Indian mode of martial arts-- pretty unique. I could have done without the irritating aunt scenes. They were pointless as far as I could tell and about as interesting as lesser scenes. Why, Ms. Gleason? Those were only a few pages, and aside from that, I'm very interested to learn more about what will happen to Victoria after that emotional whopper of an ending.