by Colleen Gleason

Rises the Night isn’t just the second installment of Colleen Gleason’s series about Victoria Gardella, slayer of vampires and wearer of lace and corsets, it’s also the second novel in this period that I’ve read and enjoyed, and it’s all because Gleason manages to make her characters ride the edge between being truly period and truly contemporary.

As with the original book in the series, a continuing theme is protagonist Victoria’s struggle between the demands of the society in which she lives, and the calling she has answered. While the first novel raised that issue, however, this one really explores it, as well as giving Victoria a bit of dark romance on the side.

I’m afraid to even mention character names because I don’t like to spoil things, and I’m terrible at not giving away plot points. Suffice to say that even though Victoria is wearing bodices and full skirts instead of sleek black port authority clothing, she is every bit as much an action hero as a certain blonde vampire slayer we all watched on television, and every bit as star-crossed when it comes to love.

Read this book!