The Bleeding Dusk by Colleen Gleason

To gain access to the secrets of a legendary alchemist, Rome's vampires have allied themselves with creatures as evil and bloodthirsty as they are. The new leader of the city's vampire hunters-Lady Victoria Gardella Grantworth de Lacy-reluctantly turns to the enigmatic Sebastian Vioget for help, just as Maximilian Pesaro arrives to aid his fellow slayers, no matter what the sacrifice. Desire puts her at the mercy of Sebastian, while loyalty binds her to Max, but she does not know if she can trust either. Especially when a seductive vampire begins luring her into the shadows...

Words cannot describe how much I love Colleen Gleason! She is fantastic both as a person (even though I have never actually met her) and a writer! I always buy her books as soon as they come out, even if I am a bit slow at actually getting around to reading them! I am a slacker with this one, but I am so glad that I finally got around to reading it! Before Colleen I didn't even KNOW where the romance section in the bookstore was.... Unless I am going for something specific, I pretty much make my way to fantasy/science-fiction section and then sort of glance at the other sections in passing on my way out the door.... I didn't even really notice that the romance section is actually on the way to my favourite section of the store....

In this novel, Victoria is back once more! She is still in Rome and staying on the outskirts of society. It is hard to talk about this book without ruining the first two books that came before it... That's the worst thing about series! I don't want to stumble across a huge spoiler that will ruin a book for me, so the last thing I want to do is do that to someone else! Everything I think to write gives away something from the two books before it... So, let me summarize. Victoria is still vampire-butt-kicking. There is some romance found within the pages and the dreaded fact that the reader is left wondering who Victoria will choose: Sebastian or Max! I imagine that is a question that will not be answered until the very last book! In the meantime, there are a few other men thrown into the pages to leave the reader wondering!

This book has history, adventures, suspense, romance, murder, kid-napping, near death, surprises, and a whole bunch more wrapped up in a relatively short book! As with Colleen's first novel, I finished this book in the early hours of the morning... My friend was at the bar and I was waiting for them because I didn't feel like the bar scene that night. I had put some food in the slow-cooker (sometimes I am domestic) and was on my last one-hundred pages. I curled up on the leather couch with an ice cold beer (I worked until midnight, I deserved that beer!) and flew through those last pages. Actually, I closed the book and my friend called to tell me that they were at Subway and would be home momentarity! I call that great timing... Colleen's books are perfect books to enjoy during the 'Witching' hour.

Another awesome book from a talented author! This is my second read for the R.I.P. Challenge! I hope to read her newest book for the challenge as well!