House Rules

by Chloe Neill

Published by: NAL/Penguin

Heather’s Rating: 

In a city full of vampires, trouble never sleeps.

At the tender age of 27, Merit became 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 realize their foe is more familiar, and more powerful, than they could have ever imagined.

Book Savvy Babe’s Review: 

I have been a Chicagoland Vampire fan since book 1, Some Girls Bite.  Since that first book, there have been ups and downs for the series, but with House Rules, I am very pleased with how the series is developing and once again eager to see what comes next.

As a relatively new vampire, Merit has a lot of responsibility in her Vampire house and in her community.  Merit has come so far since that book-worm of a girl in book 1, and with each book, she grows into a stronger, more self-assured and confident character (plus, she has mad katana sword skills).  She does not always make perfect decisions, and her relationship with Ethan can be maddening at times, but she is a character that I love.  In fact, Merit is an all-time favorite heroine of mine.

There is always some trouble surrounding the supernatural community, and Merit is always involved somehow.  In House Rules, Merit’s Cadogen House of Vampires is processing and preparing to separate from the GP, the ruling council of vampires.  There is political maneuvering, Merit is called in to find a vampire serial killer, and Merit and Ethan have some relationship issues to work through…again.

I found House Rules to be a fast paced read, I finished the book in almost one sitting, and I was hooked on the story.  Merit and Ethan do have some issues to work through, but it’s not nearly as bad as earlier books have been.  I am very excited that both Ethan and Merit are getting stronger in their relationship and getting better and working through things.  House Rules sets up the Cadogen vampires for a big change, for being independent vampires and I can not wait to see what comes next for them all.

I was also very happy to see how Mallory was progressing and that she was in fact progressing.  The relationships between Mallory and Merit and Catcher are still tense, but I was encouraged by the improvement.  I am hopefully curious to see what comes next for Mallory and how her character will grow and change in upcoming books.

I feel like House Rules brought the Chicagoland Series to a new, more solid place.  The characters are growing, the emotions still run high, but the story feels like it has better balance than there was in earlier books.  I am highly invested in the characters, in the series, and I still call the Chicagoland Series one of my favorite Urban Fantasy series.  I can not wait to read book 8, Biting Bad, when it releases in August 2013.

Readers, if you like urban fantasy and vampire/supernatural books, I definitely recommend reading the Chicagoland Vampires series.  Not every book is easy, but the series overall is awesome and only getting better.  This is a series you do not want to miss.  That said, I highly recommend reading the series in order, to better understand the characters, their motivations, and where the series is going.