5 Reasons To Read Dark Debt By Chloe Neill
I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. No compensation was provided and all opinions are strictly my own.
Dark Debt by Chloe Neill Series: Chicagoland Vampires #11
Published by NAL Penguin on March 3rd 2015
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
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A vampire never gets old. But neither do his enemies. When a figure from Ethan's dark past makes a splashy debut in Chicago, Merit and her Master don't know whether he's friend or foe. But they'll have to figure out soon, because trouble is brewing in the Windy City.
At an exclusive society soiree attended by the upper echelons of the human and supernatural worlds, Merit and Ethan barely stop the assassination of a guest. When the target turns out to be a shady businessman with a criminal edge, Merit suspects a human vendetta. But the assassins have fangs....
The connections to Chicago's Houses go deeper than Merit knows, and even one wrong move could be her last....
5 REASONS TO READ DARK DEBT BY CHLOE NEILL
1. classic chicagoland!
I felt like Dark Debt was a return to the earlier feel of the series, which made me so happy. The relationships between some of the characters (like Merit and Mallory, Mallory and Ethan, Catcher and Mallory) have been strained lately it made me happy and hopeful to see those relationships back on track. The gang is feeling more like a family again.
2. secondary characters
One character I was surprised to see a lot of was Morgan. I see Morgan like Tate from the Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost. Yeah he can be an asshat most of the time but under all that he is a good guy with good intentions. I really liked see more of him and I hope he gets a HEA one day.
“Your” – I waved my hand at his body – “rod and tackle touched pretty much everything in the place.”
“My body is a wonderland” was his only response.
“Be that as it may,” Ethan said, “Merit is not your Alice . I’ll thank you to keep your rod and tackle away from her.”
“Nowhere near my agenda,” Catcher assured him.
I wish we would have gotten more of Jonah but there was a very interesting scene between him and Ethan and I hope that Jonah will be around more in the next installment because now that Merit’s other relationships are on solid ground her partnership with Jonah needs work.
I was fun seeing the full cast of secondary characters in Dark Debt.
3. no angst
“Soon,” Ethan promised, reading me even in the darkness of the room. “Soon, and inevitably. For you are mine, Sentinel,” he said, words slower and softer as sleep overtook him.
“Mine.“
Ethan and Merit is finally acting like an adult couple! There’s no jealousy, no fighting, just love, respect, sexy times and of course fun snark. I really should have made this #1 on my list. After all the things this couple has been through before and after Ethan making the biggest sacrifice for Merit they still had major angst in their relationship. So much so that it was turning me off the series. But now I think they are finally in the place they should have been after Drink Deep.
“I am, apparently, Darth Sullivan,” he said, lifting a corner of bread to stuff the tomato back in. “I understand that building things, Death Stars or otherwise, isn’t my particular strength.”
My heart melted a little. “Did you just make a Star Wars reference? And a joke? At the same time?”
4. chilling villain
I think a villain that can get into your head and make you do things against your will is scarier than one that can hurt you physically. Plus when a villain makes our heroine weak in a way she’s never dealt with before it throws us as reader off right along with her.
Merit’s turning into a vampire has not been textbook. One thing that has never effected her before is vampire glamour so when it’s finally used against her it almost is her undoing.
Although the main villain was stopped, another one is still hanging around and I could see a story ARC involving him and it will be interesting to see how Merit and the gang take him down.
5. humor
Merit and the gang has dealt with some dark times so it was great to see some of the old humor come back. I hadn’t laughed so much while reading a CV books in a while.
“Damn,” Mallory intoned, amazement in her voice. “Are there any ugly vampires?”
I glanced in the direction of her dreamy smile, found Jonah walking toward us, eyes on me. His auburn hair gleamed like bronze, highlighting his blue eyes, and in his dark tux, he looked like an Armani runway model.
“Get out of my dreams,” Lindsey sang into my ear, “and into my car.”
“There’s a lot of male sexualizing going on right now,” Luc said. “And it’s making me uncomfortable.”
“Snark is allowed on an op,” I reminded him.
“Check out Mallory’s boobs again,” Lindsey said to him. “You’ll feel better.”
Dark Debt had the classic CV feel that made me fall in love with the series! After a couple of middle road installments, Dark Debt has renewed my excitement for the next release. I can’t wait for Chicagoland #12!!
About Chloe Neill
Chloe Neill is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Chicagoland Vampires and Dark Elite series.
She was born and raised in the South, but now makes her home in the Midwest–just close enough to Cadogan House and St. Sophia’s to keep an eye on things. When not transcribing Merit’s and Lily’s adventures, she bakes, works, and scours the Internet for good recipes and great graphic design. Chloe also maintains her sanity by spending time with her boys–her favorite landscape photographer/husband and their dogs, Baxter and Scout. (Both she and the photographer understand the dogs are in charge.)
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