PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THE CHICAGOLAND VAMPIRE SERIES AS HOUSE RULES IS THE SEVENTH BOOK IN THAT SERIES.

House Rules by Chloe Neill

Title: House Rules (Chicagoland Vampires #7)
Author: Chloe Neill
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Gollancz Fiction (14th February 2013)
Blurb:

In a city full of vampires, trouble never sleeps. At the tender age of 27, Merit becomes a sword-wielding vampire. Since then, she’s become the protector of her House, watched Chicago nearly burn to the ground, and seen her Master fall and rise. Now she’ll see her mettle – and her metal – tested like never before.

It started with two . . . Two rogues vanishing without a trace. Someone is targeting Chicago’s vampires, and anyone could be next. With their house in peril, Merit and her Master, the centuries old Ethan Sullivan, must race to stop the disappearances. But as they untangle a web of secret alliances and ancient evils, they realise their foe is more familiar, and more powerful, than they could ever have imagined.

Rating: *** (3 stars)
Review:

House Rules is the seventh book in the Chicagoland Vampires series, and it continues Merit’s story. I think Merit is a really interesting character, not at all what you would expect to find as a main character who is a vampire.

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As this is the sith book in the series it may be possible that this review will contain spoilers for previous books in the Chicagoland Vampires Novel series.

Biting Cold by Chloe Neill

Title: Biting Cold (A Chicagoland Vampires Novel, #6)
Author:Chloe Neill
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Gollancz Fiction (9th August 2012)
Blurb:

Turned into a vampire against her will, Merit found her way into the dark circle of Chicago’s vampire underground, where she learned there was more to supernaturals than met the eye, and more of them than the public ever imagined. And not all the secrets she learned were for sharing – among humans or inhumans.

Now Merit is on the hunt, charging across the stark American Midwest, tailing a rogue supernatural intent on stealing an ancient artefact that could unleash catasrophic evil on the world. But Merit is also the prey. An enemy of Chicagoland is hunting her, and he’ll stop at nothing to get the book for himself. No mercy allowed. No rules apply. No lives spared. The race is on.

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

Biting Cold is the sixth book in Chloe Neill’s brilliant Chicagoland Vampire Novels.  We are reunited with Merit, Sentinel of  Cadogan House, and recently turned vampire. A lot has happened to Merit and her House since she became a vampire. It has been an exciting and enjoyable read. This sixth book is no different.

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Drink Deep by Chloe Neill, UK edition cover.

Title: Drink Deep (A Chicagoland Vampires Novel)
Author:  Chloe Neill
Genre: Paranoraml Romance, Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Gollancz Fiction (10th November 2011)
Blurb:

Clouds are brewing over Cadogan House, and recently turned vampire Merit can’t tell if it’s the darkness before the dawn or the calm before the storm. With the city itself in turmoil and the state threatening to pass a paranormal registration act, things haven’t been this precarious for vampires since they came out of the closet. If only they could lay low for a bit, and let the mortals calm down.

That’s when the waters of Lake Michigan suddenly turn pitch black, and things really start getting ugly.

The mayor insists it’s nothing to worry about, but Merit knows only the darkest magic could have woven a spell powerful enough to change the very fabric of nature. She’ll have to turn to friends old and new to find out who’s behind this, and stop them before it’s too late . . .

Rating: ***** (5 stars)
Review:

This is the fifth book in Chloe Neill’s exciting Chicagoland Vampires series, and it is a very exciting read. Drink Deep starts not long after the end of Hard Bitten, the previous book in the series, with everything slowly starting to settle back into place. Unfortunately it would seem that Merit is not destined to have a quite life (but then if she was, we wouldn’t be reading about her).

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Hard Bitten by Chloe Neill, UK edition cover.

Title: Hard Bitten (A Chicagoland Vampires Novel)
Author: Chole Neill
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Publication Date: 12th May 2011

Blurb:

Times are hard for newly minted vampire Merit. Ever since shapeshifters announced their presence to the world, humans have been rallying against supernaturals – and they’re camping outside Cadogan House with protest signs that could turn to pitchforks at any moment. Behind its doors, things between Merit and her Master, green-eyed heartbreaker Ethan Sullivan are . . . tense, to say the least. But they have to work together when the may of Chicago calls Merit and Ethan to a clandestine meeting: there’s been a violent vampire attack which has left three women missing. They mayor’s message is simple: get your house in order. Or else.

Merit needs to get to the bottom of this crime, but it’s not easy when she can’t tell who’s on her side. So she goes outside Cadogan House, secretly calling in a favour from someone who’s tall, dark and part of an underground vamp group which might be able to shed some light on this attack. It’s not long before Merit finds herself in the dark, heady heart of Chicago’s supernatural society – which seems to be full of vampires ready to fulfill the human’s worst fears. She’s about to learn that you can’t be a vampire without getting a little blood on your hands . . .

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

Hard Bitten is a rip-roaring read for any vampire lover.

It is the fourth book in Neill’s A Chicagoland Vampires Novel, and continues on from the plot of Hard Bitten. Neill has managed to balance the action and the romance plots in the series brilliantly, so neither overpowers the other and at times they seamlessly merge. Neill does however follow the conventions of the Paranormal Romance genre and have a first person narrator – everything is told from Merit’s point of view, and it works because Neill resists the temptation to tell the reader too much. Neill also follows the convention that Chicago is gangland, albeit with vampires and shifters and other creatures of myth instead of the usual gangster/mobster.

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