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snoopydoo77's review against another edition
5.0
This book starts right where the last one ended. And we get to find out who was behind all the anonymous notes left for Merit and what they want from her and or the house.
I like that Merit, is stronger and more comfortable with being a vampire, more than ever. She also interact more with other vampires and has made quite a few friends in the house. Things between her and Mallory are still not the same and need some work.
Things between her Ethan also are very stressful on so many levels, I swooned, I cried I wanted to throttle him and not in a good way. I just wish he would grow a pair and stand up for what he wants and believes and not hide behind excuses.
We get to meet some new players, the pack and while Ethan and Merit working hard to work with them and to get them as allies, someone has other plans.
You can find my full review here:
http://snoopydoosbookreviews.com/2931-2/
I like that Merit, is stronger and more comfortable with being a vampire, more than ever. She also interact more with other vampires and has made quite a few friends in the house. Things between her and Mallory are still not the same and need some work.
Things between her Ethan also are very stressful on so many levels, I swooned, I cried I wanted to throttle him and not in a good way. I just wish he would grow a pair and stand up for what he wants and believes and not hide behind excuses.
We get to meet some new players, the pack and while Ethan and Merit working hard to work with them and to get them as allies, someone has other plans.
You can find my full review here:
http://snoopydoosbookreviews.com/2931-2/
kathydavie's review against another edition
4.0
Third in the Chicagoland Vampire urban fantasy series based in Chicago and featuring Merit, the Sentinel of Cadogan House.
The Story
We meet Gabriel Keene, the Apex of the shifters, their King so to speak, and his very-pregnant wife, Tonya, when an all-shifters convocation is headed to Chicago and tensions are high between and amongst vampires and shifters. It's Merit who makes the speech, which appears to sway Gabe's decision to put the question to his people: do they retreat to Alaska or stay and help the vamps face the war that he has foreseen coming?
Ethan is terrified they'll run just as they did in the Second Clearing when vampires were slaughtered and the shifters stood aside. The animosities between shifter and vampire stem from that avoidance with neither side trusting the other. Ethan wants to change this. He wants to show the shifters that if they stay, they can count on the vampires to assist them. To this end, Merit and Ethan agree to stand security for the pre-Convocation meeting as well as the Convocation itself.
Both meetings are eye-opening events for Ethan and Merit and create opportunities in which Merit proves that friendship with Ethan and Cadogan House are in the shifters' interest. More, Merit becomes intrigued by the "debt" to which Gabe continually refers. A debt he believes he owes her, something about family.
The story culminates in the betrayal and reveal at the end when both sides learn who is the moving force behind the assassination, the identity of the person who set up the contract killing and the attack that devastates Cadogan House, and how Cadogan House was set up for the fall.
The Cover
Merit really seems to like her leather as she cautiously strides down a Chicago alley, her katana strapped to her back.
The Story
We meet Gabriel Keene, the Apex of the shifters, their King so to speak, and his very-pregnant wife, Tonya, when an all-shifters convocation is headed to Chicago and tensions are high between and amongst vampires and shifters. It's Merit who makes the speech, which appears to sway Gabe's decision to put the question to his people: do they retreat to Alaska or stay and help the vamps face the war that he has foreseen coming?
Ethan is terrified they'll run just as they did in the Second Clearing when vampires were slaughtered and the shifters stood aside. The animosities between shifter and vampire stem from that avoidance with neither side trusting the other. Ethan wants to change this. He wants to show the shifters that if they stay, they can count on the vampires to assist them. To this end, Merit and Ethan agree to stand security for the pre-Convocation meeting as well as the Convocation itself.
Both meetings are eye-opening events for Ethan and Merit and create opportunities in which Merit proves that friendship with Ethan and Cadogan House are in the shifters' interest. More, Merit becomes intrigued by the "debt" to which Gabe continually refers. A debt he believes he owes her, something about family.
The story culminates in the betrayal and reveal at the end when both sides learn who is the moving force behind the assassination, the identity of the person who set up the contract killing and the attack that devastates Cadogan House, and how Cadogan House was set up for the fall.
The Cover
Merit really seems to like her leather as she cautiously strides down a Chicago alley, her katana strapped to her back.
yodamom's review against another edition
5.0
This was a whirlwind of " who done it" and why. Somebody is trying very hard to kill the head of the shifters and maybe some vamps along with them. The shifters play a huge role in this addition to the series. Will they leave Chicago and hide in the hills or will they stay and fight the foreseen upcoming war ? The tension between them and the vamps, seems never ending. Ethan and Merit struggle to fit together. He is so many years away from his human side and she so new and still so human, there relationship grows, blows and sizzles.
I was not disappointed at all, the story was fast paced and intriguing. I can't wait till the next installment of this series. I see some big changes coming !
I was not disappointed at all, the story was fast paced and intriguing. I can't wait till the next installment of this series. I see some big changes coming !
kerithesmutslut's review against another edition
5.0
In love with this series!!! quickly becoming one of my top 5 favorite series.
tadams_sg's review against another edition
5.0
I enjoy this series more and more with each book. I'm really happy Merit is finally coming into her vampire ways and fully embracing them. I like her interactions with Ethan even though he was a complete ass at times throughout this book. I'm excited to continue this series!
halynah's review against another edition
5.0
My favourite in the series! This book is more emotional, than the previous ones, where more attention was paid to actions. Here we can see different sides of Ethan and his inner struggle. I enjoyed it immensely and it is worth reading, as all the books in the series!!!
devansbooklife's review against another edition
4.0
Thank heavens! It's about darn time!!!! Way to go Ethan and Merit! I mean lets not fool ourselves that is the most interesting plot in the books. And every relationship brings its own kind of problems. This book is sizzling. Fun, easy read.
bookeen_la_rouquine's review
5.0
oulala!! j'ai beaucoup ri, j'ai pleuré, j'ai adoré et détésté Ethan!!! En bref j'ai adoré ce tome, viiiiiiiiiiiiite la suite!!!!
Mon avis complet ici : http://nymphearvenar.blogspot.com/2011/10/les-vampires-de-chicago-tome-3-mordre.html#links
Mon avis complet ici : http://nymphearvenar.blogspot.com/2011/10/les-vampires-de-chicago-tome-3-mordre.html#links
katyanaish's review against another edition
5.0
I definitely liked this one a lot better than the second one. I probably should wait to get my thoughts together a little bit more, but I just want to talk about it!
I liked that, whereas the second book felt like the series was trending into a hopeless place, with this book - though it is undeniably dark - there is a bright spark of hope we can cradle in our hands, try to fan into a flame. Things are becoming dire for supes in general, but the fact that they banded together at the end, fought off the attack... that was fantastic, and made for a great climax.
I was also really glad that the shifter / ConPack storyline didn't just fizzle out after the convocation ended, the way it initially seemed to. I was sure Neill couldn't just leave it at: yeah, someone arranged this hit on Gabriel, eh, who cares, the shifters are staying, woo!
Other stuff I really liked about this book:
1. Mallory / Merit resolution - thank god. And it was well-done. Not a quick tossed-off snippet of her coming, crying, to Mal, and everything else washing away under the bridge. They talked. About Merit, about Mallory. About how Merit let Mallory down. It felt real. But I really hope that Neill makes better use of Mal and Catcher as cast in the next book. They are strong, and they are built in to the foundation of who Merit is. This also applies to Chuck Merit (Grandpa).
2. Merit didn't join the Red Guard. And I will repeat: thank god. I was REALLY nervous at this subplot, as it rang to me as a betrayal on the highest level. I get that, philosophically, it is all to the good that people want to hold Masters accountable (though where were these guys in book 1, when a Master was running amok?). But quite frankly, it is a job suited to the Rogues. For Merit to have some kind of dual allegiance... I don't really have good words for it, but it struck me as utterly, intrinsically wrong. And Noah's line about "Who needs a Sentinel more? The vampires of Cadogan House, who have a corp of trained guards and a powerful Master at the helm... or the rest of us?" really rubbed me the wrong way. Firstly: then start training, bucko. Step up to the damn plate. Secondly: feel free to sign up at Cadogan House any time, if you want the protection of their Sentinel. I am sure Ethan wouldn't turn away Rogues that applied to Cadogan House if war really came - a) he isn't that cold-blooded, and b) he knows that in the end, numbers only make him stronger. But you don't get the benefit of protection without the responsibility of commitment. Thirdly: I'd like some info on these Red Guards. Okay, so they were formed to protect some old vampires during the Second Clearing. Who? Are they worth it? Are they worth Merit abandoning her commitments to her House? For Merit to join up without that info... I would have been smoking pissed.
3. Shifters! It was a hell of a lot of fun to get immersed into the world of the shifters in this book. To learn about their organization, their powers, how they conduct themselves... I really enjoyed it. And Gabriel really appeals to me too. I will admit that I was more than a little heartbroken when it looked like he was up to some shenanigans, before we came to understand what was happening at the bar in the end. But with them being outed to the world at large, I am worried about him. And Jeff. And Fallon. I feel certain we will see more of all these guys.
4. Merit bonding with her housemates. It is about damn time. But as a minor side note... Lindsey seems, to me, to be vamp-Mallory. Like, a personality carbon-copy. And I just don't get the point, when there is a perfectly good Mallory waiting to be written in (I know, I know, I am a Mallory fan... but seriously, you could replace Lindsey with Mallory in most of the non-guard-duty related scenes, and you wouldn't know the difference. The dialogue wouldn't even need to change - she talks just like Mal). That aside, it was great to see her bonding with her fellow housemates, and it was really great to see them coming to respect her. I was afraid that, after the fight with Ethan at the end of the last book, all that progress was down the toilet. I am glad to see it isn't. Also, the Ethan Sullivan drinking game wins the literary girl-bonding award. It was pure awesome.
Lastly, let's discuss Ethan. I had a REALLY hard time with him, right until the last... 2 pages of this book. I was getting worried that, for me, he was becoming an unsalvageable hero. That he was screwing up to the point that, no matter what he did, I wouldn't be rooting for he and Merit to work it out. He wins the asshole award for toying with her, in this book. I get that he has issues, fine. All alpha males do, right? But the fact that he couldn't sustain a relationship for 24 damn hours... wow. And Lacey... whatever the reason (and I don't buy that it was purely business, as Merit, we know, was the topic of at least one conversation), that was low class. As I said in my update, for a guy who is "Very Strong Strat", that was as dumb as a box of rocks. And so anyway, my problem was, ... you know in these series, it is practically inevitable that the H/H gets their HEA. And I was heading into territory where... I didn't even want that for them anymore.
Thankfully, he scored some brownie points there in those last 2 pages, with the Cubs ball, and the (unspoken) admission that he fucked up. I decided that there might still be hope for him when he basically said he'd be willing to wait an eternity for her ("I'm prepared to wait for a positive response." "That's going to take awhile." "Sentinel, I am immortal.").
Couple last things... mostly speculation about what is to come.
Firstly, I can't help feel that there is still more about Merit's original targeting (to become a vampire) than we were told. Ethan still seems to skirt the subject. And Celina definitely implied that there was more going on there, when we last saw her at the end of book 2 (and yeah, I know that Celina is fairly full of shit, but still... something rings true there). Why was Ethan there that night? It is really the last question that needs answering. Honestly, he's not the "going out for a stroll" kind of guy. We never see him out of the house, unless it is on business.
Secondly, I am not sure what to make of Gabriel's vision. He seems to be particularly drawn to Merit, and I think we are led to believe that Merit saves his son, though I can't find the reference that made me think that. But later, at ConPack, when he talks about his vision, he is pleading with Merit (pleading in his eyes, she says)... and he seems to share his vision with Merit (side note: how cool is that? And also, how? Is Merit still developing abilities?). But she sees "the eyes of his child, and another set of green eyes, eyes that looked nothing - and everything - like Ethan's." Now... I know Morgan tossed out the "vamps can't have babies" line at the end of book 2, but... does anyone else get babies from that? Ethan babies? Particularly given how Merit largely wigged out in response to the vision (though to be fair, maybe that was just due to, you know, HAVING A VISION).
Anyway. When does book 4 come out?
I liked that, whereas the second book felt like the series was trending into a hopeless place, with this book - though it is undeniably dark - there is a bright spark of hope we can cradle in our hands, try to fan into a flame. Things are becoming dire for supes in general, but the fact that they banded together at the end, fought off the attack... that was fantastic, and made for a great climax.
I was also really glad that the shifter / ConPack storyline didn't just fizzle out after the convocation ended, the way it initially seemed to. I was sure Neill couldn't just leave it at: yeah, someone arranged this hit on Gabriel, eh, who cares, the shifters are staying, woo!
Other stuff I really liked about this book:
1. Mallory / Merit resolution - thank god. And it was well-done. Not a quick tossed-off snippet of her coming, crying, to Mal, and everything else washing away under the bridge. They talked. About Merit, about Mallory. About how Merit let Mallory down. It felt real. But I really hope that Neill makes better use of Mal and Catcher as cast in the next book. They are strong, and they are built in to the foundation of who Merit is. This also applies to Chuck Merit (Grandpa).
2. Merit didn't join the Red Guard. And I will repeat: thank god. I was REALLY nervous at this subplot, as it rang to me as a betrayal on the highest level. I get that, philosophically, it is all to the good that people want to hold Masters accountable (though where were these guys in book 1, when a Master was running amok?). But quite frankly, it is a job suited to the Rogues. For Merit to have some kind of dual allegiance... I don't really have good words for it, but it struck me as utterly, intrinsically wrong. And Noah's line about "Who needs a Sentinel more? The vampires of Cadogan House, who have a corp of trained guards and a powerful Master at the helm... or the rest of us?" really rubbed me the wrong way. Firstly: then start training, bucko. Step up to the damn plate. Secondly: feel free to sign up at Cadogan House any time, if you want the protection of their Sentinel. I am sure Ethan wouldn't turn away Rogues that applied to Cadogan House if war really came - a) he isn't that cold-blooded, and b) he knows that in the end, numbers only make him stronger. But you don't get the benefit of protection without the responsibility of commitment. Thirdly: I'd like some info on these Red Guards. Okay, so they were formed to protect some old vampires during the Second Clearing. Who? Are they worth it? Are they worth Merit abandoning her commitments to her House? For Merit to join up without that info... I would have been smoking pissed.
3. Shifters! It was a hell of a lot of fun to get immersed into the world of the shifters in this book. To learn about their organization, their powers, how they conduct themselves... I really enjoyed it. And Gabriel really appeals to me too. I will admit that I was more than a little heartbroken when it looked like he was up to some shenanigans, before we came to understand what was happening at the bar in the end. But with them being outed to the world at large, I am worried about him. And Jeff. And Fallon. I feel certain we will see more of all these guys.
4. Merit bonding with her housemates. It is about damn time. But as a minor side note... Lindsey seems, to me, to be vamp-Mallory. Like, a personality carbon-copy. And I just don't get the point, when there is a perfectly good Mallory waiting to be written in (I know, I know, I am a Mallory fan... but seriously, you could replace Lindsey with Mallory in most of the non-guard-duty related scenes, and you wouldn't know the difference. The dialogue wouldn't even need to change - she talks just like Mal). That aside, it was great to see her bonding with her fellow housemates, and it was really great to see them coming to respect her. I was afraid that, after the fight with Ethan at the end of the last book, all that progress was down the toilet. I am glad to see it isn't. Also, the Ethan Sullivan drinking game wins the literary girl-bonding award. It was pure awesome.
Lastly, let's discuss Ethan. I had a REALLY hard time with him, right until the last... 2 pages of this book. I was getting worried that, for me, he was becoming an unsalvageable hero. That he was screwing up to the point that, no matter what he did, I wouldn't be rooting for he and Merit to work it out. He wins the asshole award for toying with her, in this book. I get that he has issues, fine. All alpha males do, right? But the fact that he couldn't sustain a relationship for 24 damn hours... wow. And Lacey... whatever the reason (and I don't buy that it was purely business, as Merit, we know, was the topic of at least one conversation), that was low class. As I said in my update, for a guy who is "Very Strong Strat", that was as dumb as a box of rocks. And so anyway, my problem was, ... you know in these series, it is practically inevitable that the H/H gets their HEA. And I was heading into territory where... I didn't even want that for them anymore.
Thankfully, he scored some brownie points there in those last 2 pages, with the Cubs ball, and the (unspoken) admission that he fucked up. I decided that there might still be hope for him when he basically said he'd be willing to wait an eternity for her ("I'm prepared to wait for a positive response." "That's going to take awhile." "Sentinel, I am immortal.").
Couple last things... mostly speculation about what is to come.
Firstly, I can't help feel that there is still more about Merit's original targeting (to become a vampire) than we were told. Ethan still seems to skirt the subject. And Celina definitely implied that there was more going on there, when we last saw her at the end of book 2 (and yeah, I know that Celina is fairly full of shit, but still... something rings true there). Why was Ethan there that night? It is really the last question that needs answering. Honestly, he's not the "going out for a stroll" kind of guy. We never see him out of the house, unless it is on business.
Secondly, I am not sure what to make of Gabriel's vision. He seems to be particularly drawn to Merit, and I think we are led to believe that Merit saves his son, though I can't find the reference that made me think that. But later, at ConPack, when he talks about his vision, he is pleading with Merit (pleading in his eyes, she says)... and he seems to share his vision with Merit (side note: how cool is that? And also, how? Is Merit still developing abilities?). But she sees "the eyes of his child, and another set of green eyes, eyes that looked nothing - and everything - like Ethan's." Now... I know Morgan tossed out the "vamps can't have babies" line at the end of book 2, but... does anyone else get babies from that? Ethan babies? Particularly given how Merit largely wigged out in response to the vision (though to be fair, maybe that was just due to, you know, HAVING A VISION).
Anyway. When does book 4 come out?
mollywetta's review against another edition
3.0
Fun series! I'm blowing right through these. I've been in the mood for fun urban fantasy, and this certainly delivered. Full review (for books 1-4 in the series) at wrapped up in books.