House Rules

A Chicagoland Vampires Novel, Book 7

By: Chloe Neill

Narrated by: Sophie Eastlake

Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

At the tender age of 25, 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 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.

©2013 Chloe Neill (P)2013 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Rising star Neill has made the learning curve for her gutsy heroine, Merit, quite steep, which means the journey is all the more spellbinding." ( Romantic Times)

Good series

I like this series and story line. Not sure if it can go much longer though.

Yes!

Best one in the series as of yet!! Don't read if you haven't read the others, but it was sooooo good!!!

Intersting

A good vampire series that blends mystery, suspense, and romance into an interesting story that keeps the audience actively listening.

Great!

This series keeps getting better and better and the romance between Merit and Ethan keeps getting better and better too!

Decent series that gets better as it goes...

This series is pretty good. It starts out sort of slow story-wise but begins to pick up with Ethan's return and the gradual introduction of more and more types of sups (pronounced like super... these narrators are driving me crazy saying suhp, whomever is responsible for that--I bite my thumb at thee, sir). I think the biggest problem with the first books is just that Selena is a boring villain. Once the author moves on from her, things get going.

Merit's character starts out as a bit of a Mary Sue... immediately awesome at everything for no apparent reason (a bookworm ballerina socialite who can weild a katana like a master within two weeks after being turned...not joking). Keep in mind in this book, Merit has only been a vampire for roughly 6 months, and she's already an unstoppable powerhouse, and more than one centuries old master defers to her wisdom (along with everyone else), just because.

She does do a lot of training, so at least that makes her OP-ness more palatable as time goes on. If you can look past that, the plots do get more interesting around book 5. This is my 2nd listen-through of the complete series. Listening to them back to back, I do have an appreciation for the author's growth as a writer as we go along.

By the way, I looove Mallory's character arc. Her journey from temptation to mega-contrition to reformed bestie are a real highlight in these books for me. Her story, while a lot of it happened "off-screen", hit me right in the feels. Her insta-love with Catcher doesn't do much for me, but I'm a big Mallory fan. (definitely not a Mary Sue lol)

There are some weird phrases here and there that take me out of the story, like Ethan saying "I don't think I'm possible of infuriating." (or something very close to that) That's just an editorial problem, but it bugs me. lol I THINK capable was what she meant. Anyway... stuff like that. This author loves to use $50 words. If you write like an intellectual, little pickies like those stick out more.

As far as the narrators, the other one (Cynthia?) made the first book unbearable. She drove me crazy with her tones and pronunciations. But she DID get better as time went on. I like Sophie's performance better, except the way she delivers Ethan's lines. Yeah, his character is kinda uptight, but I believe he's meant to have more personality and life than either narrator gave him.

I have small issues here and there, but overall the series as a whole is a pretty good listen, especially after book 4.

If you like paranormal romance/adventure stories like these, I can't recommend Dannika Dark enough. She is an outstanding author with a variety of supernatural beings, probably a few unique and cool ones you've never heard of. All her characters begin to feel like family. She's my #1 favorite in the genre. Happy reading!

A- rating overall

My Review:
Overall: 4.25
Performance: 4.5
Story: 4.0

It's been a couple of years since I read one of the Chicagoland Vampire books, although it is easily one of my favorite urban fantasy series. I decided recently to pick up again via audiobook...and I'm so glad I did. I've missed Merit.

In this book, Cadigan House is on the cusp of the ceremony breaking all their ties with the GP, so nerves are very high. Add to that, there appears to be a vampire serial killer on the loose and Merit still hasn't come clean with Ethan that she's joining the Red Guard. There's a whole lot of stress on Merit...and Ethan.

But with all that going on, I really like where Merit and Ethan are. There's no doubts between them anymore (for the most part) and they are a united front in trying to do what's best for Cadigan House and the vampires in general. It feels like Merit finally has earned the respect she deserves...not only from Ethan, but from the majority of the vampires. Yes, she's still young, but she's strong and willing to do what she needs to that gets the job done. They recognize that in her now...and this series is even better for it.

I also really like where the series is going overall. The separation from the GP for Cadigan House is not going to be easy, but I foresee that creating some great drama in the future. It will be interesting to see what happens with the other two houses in Chicago.

Overall, I just really enjoy this series. This book was action packed and riveting. I listened to it in just two days because I didn't want to step away from the story.

And the best part now...since I took a break, I can devour several books in the series back to back.

DON'T CHANGE NARRATOR MID SERIES

DON'T CHANGE NARRATOR MID SERIES AND IF YOU DO, AT LEAST GET SOMEONE WITH THE SAME STYLE.

I love this series

I picked it back up after years of to busy and tired to pick a book up. I loved the series then and still do. However, the narrator prior to Sofie was hard to listen to. She read the book as though she was at reporter reporting the news or commentator from the 40’s giving action by action plays. It was weird.

So much easier to listen to

loved it!

there's a lot of emotional stuff going on on this one! you'll be thinking to yourself~ if he breaks her heart again... but, as always, Merit is a firecracker, and her smarts and wit will get her.. Everywhere=)

Why change the narrator?

IF I MAKE IT THROUGH THE BOOK IT WILL BE A MIRACLE!!! The story isn't bad but for some reason the narrator is so monotone that I can hardly pay attention. She speaks softly and all of the male characters sound the same. (Gruff or tired) she sounds bored. HOPE the next book goes back to the original narrator. Being that it is an audio book this is important more energy is needed to keep the listers attention.