Review & Giveaway: House Rules (Chicagoland Vampires Book #7) by Chloe Neill

Posted January 31, 2013 by Karen in Book Reviews / 1 Comment

HR_BUG3-300x171house_rules-199x300

Title: House Rules (Chicagoland Vampires Book #7)
Author: Chloe Neill
Rating: 4.75/5 Stars
Genre: Paranormal
Sub-Genre: Romance & Mystery
Publisher: NAL
Sold by: Penguin
ISBN: 0575113456

Synopsis

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.

eight-225x300

Review

Author Chloe Neill does it again; she hits the ball right out of Wrigley Field and blasts the Chicagoland Vampires into 2013 with a home run, with all the bases filled. Merit, Ethan, and Cadogan House are back with a vengeance. In House Rules, they have declared themselves free from the European Greenwich Presidium, the vampire ruling council, and are finally set to become true revolutionaries. Yes, it should be noted that these vampires are 237 years behind Yankee Doodle; but when you live forever, what’s the hurry?

Fans of the series should be prepared for lots of adventure, with plenty of twist and turns and vampiric political intrigue. Yes, romance is on hand too. How could anyone resist Ethan, Catcher, Jeff, Morgan, Luc, or Jonah? The alpha-males may be in full predator mode, but so are the ever-present ladies of Merit, Lindsey, and Mallory who can give as good as they get in the love department.

When it comes to Neill’s newest book, her savvy dialog and witty banter is in full swing. The characters’ relationships are believable, and you are pulled into the rich world that author Neill has created. Neill writes some of the best dialogue in paranormal fiction; the wit, snark, charm, and friendships shine through when her characters verbally spar.

“That guy,” Lindsey said, “is a douche. Asterisk, I hate him footnote, he can suck it.” Lindsey speaking about McKetrick

“You need to whip them out to compare notes,” Merit talking to both Ethan and Jonah

Breaking the ties that bind with the Greenwich Presidium, presents its challenges to Cadogan House, which reaches out to the Rogue vampire of Chicago as the Cadogan vampires are soon to be all considered rogues. Cadogan House’s decertification from the Greenwich Presidium is pending, and the entire GP is headed for Chicago. Lacey Sheridan, Ethan’s progeny and wanna be lover, is on the house transition team; this should make for an interesting transition. Maybe Ethan needs to take a page out of the French Revolution and employ the guillotine. Just a thought.

Of course nothing ever goes smoothly for the vampires of Chicago, and Merit is boot deep in dead vampires. Plus her life is about to change–for better or worse? Only time will tell.

Merit, being the voice of the book, is as funny, snarky, and sarcastic as ever. Can you tell I have a major girl crush on Merit? I want to be her BFF in the worse way; move over Mallory and Lindsey, Lover Karen is elbowing in.

“If you get old and gray, I’ll be honest about your roots.” Mallory to Merit

“Vampires don’t get old or gray, I’m stuck with this hair forever.” Merit’s response.

Could I really be Merit’s BFF if I wanted to steal her dark and deadly boyfriend Master Ethan Sullivan? Could I? Gone are the days of Darth Sullivan, as Merit has fallen in love with Ethan and he with her. Took them long enough. Excuse me as I digress.

To say that Ethan had issues would be like saying that the Grand Canyon is a hole in the ground. Because of Merit Ethan became a better vampire, stick not so far up his butt, but still occasionally there. Merit, of course, would take said stick and whack him with it. Gotta love Merit…keeps Ethan on his toes.

“Ethan Sullivan, registered smart-ass.” Merit on Ethan

“Your cars are always so flashy.” Merit to Ethan
“Your car is so……….orange.” Ethan’s rebuttal

The one aspect that turned my stomach was the vampire registration. Yes, these people are vampires, but they are citizens of the good ole USA, where we don’t register our native born residence. I’m not talking about green cards. This is registration because their diet is different…reeks of Nazi Germany to me. I’m glad that Cadogan House is in a revolutionary mood; hopefully that mood extends to the mayor of Chitown too.

I whole heartedly recommend House Rules Chicagoland Vampires for this book and the whole series is not to be missed by any paranormal fan. The Chicagoland Vampire Series keeps getting better and better, and House Rules is a diamond in the series.

I have a personal note for the author: 750 pages next book, please. My adventure with Merit and gang always ends too soon.

BLOG TOUR GRAND PRIZE GIVEAWAY

You can also enter Chloe’s House Rules Grand Prize Giveaways, which will run January 30 through February 7 on Chloe’s web site.

What are the Grand Prize Giveaway prizes?

Prize One: The Paper Prize

A complete set of autographed Chicagoland Vampires novels
A $50 gift card from Amazon or Barnes & Noble (winner’s choice)
A set of personalized bookplates, courtesy of Felix Doolittle
A Chicagoland Vampires tote bag

Prize Two: The Tech Prize

A set of Chicagoland Vampires audiobook CDs (Books 1-6), courtesy of Tantor Audio
A $50 gift card from Amazon or Barnes & Noble (winner’s choice)
A Chicagoland Vampires tote bag
Both prize packages will include plenty of Chicagoland Vampires and Dark Elite swag, including bookmarks, stickers, pencils, or other goodies (as supplies last)

OUR BLOG GIVEAWAY
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Prizes
Two “Chicagoland Vampires” tote bags designed just for this tour
Chicagoland Vampires pens designed just for this tour
A signed copy of one Chicagoland Vampires or Dark Elite novel
“I survived Hard Bitten” buttons
Chicagoland Vampires and Dark Elite bookmarks and other swag

Where to Buy House Rules
AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLES | BOOKS-A-MILLION | INDIEBOUND

House Rules Blog Tour Schedule

January 28, 2013
Fangs, Wands & Fairy Dust
A Book Obsession

January 29, 2013
Reading and Writing Urban Fantasy & Paranormal Romance
Oh Paper Pages

January 30, 2013
YA Reads
Mystifying Paranormal Reviews

January 31, 2013
Saucy Wenches
Literati Literature Lovers

February 1, 2013
Readers Confession
Mostly YA Book Obsessed

February 2, 2013
Dark Faerie Tales (The Mating Game Event)
Fic Fare

February 4, 2013
Vampire Book Club (Character Love Letters)
Cocktails and Books
Paranormal Cravings

February 5, 2013 – Release Day!
The Autumn Review
Gizmo’s Reviews

February 6, 2013
A Great Read
The Book Twins

February 7, 2013
Books-N-Kisses
She Wolf Reads

February 8, 2013
A Thousand Lives
Forget About TV, Grab a Book

HR_BUG3-300x171

One response to “Review & Giveaway: House Rules (Chicagoland Vampires Book #7) by Chloe Neill

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.