I had a great time reading this book and thought it was even better than the first book in the series. I have had the first three books from this series sitting in my review pile unread for a couple of years. I am so glad that I am finally reading the series because I am really enjoying it. I ended up reading most of the book in a single day simply because I didn't want to put it down.

This is the second book in the Gardella Vampire Hunter series and the series really does need to be read in order. This book really assumes that the reader knows everything that happened in the first book and picks up shortly after that installment ends. Victoria has been through a lot and seems stronger now as a result. I really felt for her as she struggled to find herself again. I thought that the opening scene of the book really did a fantastic job of illustrating how dark her world has become.

I really liked seeing how much Victoria has grown in this book. Everything she has been through has really changed her and she seems to have a harder edge in this book. She doesn't worry as much about society and actually has a lot more freedom in that area. She is both physically and mentally strong which she proves many times in this story. It was really wonderful to get to know some of the other characters a bit better. Sebastian was great in this book. I was never quite sure if he should be trusted but I really wanted him to prove to be trustworthy. I was never quite sure if I liked his character in the first book but I loved him in this one.

This book really had everything I hoped to find when I started reading. There is a whole lot of excitement and action spread throughout the book to really keep things moving forward. I love that the vampires in this book are definitely the enemy and are not romanticized. There was enough mystery in the story to really keep me guessing until the very end and a few shocking scenes that made me doubt everything I thought I knew. The chemistry between the characters was also really well done and a bit of a surprise.

I do recommend this series to others. It really was one of those books that are just really hard to put down. I can't wait to start the next book in the series so that I can find out what is in store for Victoria next!

I received a review copy of this book from Avid Press via Edelweiss. ( )

Ed anche questo secondo volume della Saga dei Gardella è andato e devo ammetterlo questo è nettamente superiore al precedente! Le premesse ufficiali che la Gleason aveva fatto erano quelle di tentare di portare nel XIX secolo la cacciatrice di Vampiri Buffy e, nel primo libro, i collegamenti con la famosa saga televisiva erano piuttosto evidenti, a partire dal famoso ‘Puff’ del vampiro che viene colpito con un paletto. Con questo secondo volume le ‘similitudini’ sono sempre meno e la Gleason si è ben avviata verso un’originalissima Saga.
L’idea della Cacciatrice di Vampiri vestita di pizzi e merletti mi affascina, soprattutto per la collocazione di queste fascinose creature in un epoca fondata sull’eleganza e, perché no, sulle frivolezze.
In questo secondo libro ritroviamo Vittoria, Cacciatrice, furiosa ed in cerca di vendetta.
Un Max che sparisce per quasi un anno senza che nessuno sappia che fine abbia fatto per poi rispuntare fuori all'improvviso sorprendendo Vittoria e lettori. La profondità di questo personaggio, la complessità della sua anima sono tali da avviluppare il lettore ed allo stesso tempo tenerlo sempre in bilico fra una sorta di odio/amore nei suoi confronti.
Sebastian, viceversa, benché affascinate e indubbiamente ben fatto non riesco proprio ad apprezzarlo. Il suo essere doppiogiochista, vile, arrivista e maledettamente sfacciato mi ha più volte stizzita. Come mi ha stizzito Vittoria che, in preda (forse giustamente) al fascino si Sebastian finisce per farsi fregare ogni santa volta.
Travolgente, coinvolgente ed appassionante, attendo con ansia di poter leggere il seguito. ( )

Pros:
- After finishing this book, I immediately looked up the rest of the series. I wanted to know if the 5th was the last and I was not surprised that it is. I felt like there was definite movement of the plot and character revelations that you just don't see from open-ended series a lot of the time (I'm looking at you Charlaine Harris). I love moving forward as opposed to standing in place.
- Learning more about Sebastian was... interesting. He is a hard character to like even before you learn more about his past. Now I'm finding it close to impossible but looking forward to the next books. On the other hand, not nearly enough Max time.

Cons:
- The one sex scene felt extraneous. There was really no reason to even have it in the context of the plot and it felt shoved in there just to have one.
- This heroine continues to annoy me in how TSTL she is. I really cannot see how the characters around her have any faith that she is this amazing Venator. She seems to have common sense only 10% of the time and that tends to be at the end of the book when the author has no choice but to write her that way (although that is a bit of a stretch at places in this ending...). Max describes her as "headstrong" and "naive" and I don't find these as being strong enough words to describe her most of the time.
- Also, I feel like a lot of the problems they came across in this book would be solved if people would just speak to one another. This goes for Victoria's character too. I don't think that she would take some of the risks she does if someone would sit her down and explain some facts of their world to her. What was she doing that whole year in London anyway? Because obviously no one was filling her in on important details of their enemies. ( )

Great book, exciting story and caracters, fantasic story line, the only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is that it broke my heart. It would be hard to read this again, though good enough to read several times. Victoria has her family torn and ripped from her, he beliefs crushed, it left me with a feeling of no hope for her. I need a break before going on in this story, what a great author, she really drove the story home ! ( )

In this second novel in the series, the vampire-slaying action moves out of London and into Venice and Rome. Victoria suffered a staggering loss at the end of the first novel, but she will discover that this was only the beginning of her sorrow and sacrifice. Making things even more difficult, she can never be sure if Sebastian or Max or can be trusted, but she knows that she can't save the world all alone. Who will prove to be the truest ally? ( )