Beneath the glitter of dazzling nineteenth century London Society lurks a bloodthirsty evil…

Vampires have always lived among them, quietly attacking unsuspecting debutantes and dandified lords as well as hackney drivers and Bond Street milliners. If not for the vampire slayers of the Gardella family, these immortal creatures would have long ago taken control of the world.

In every generation, a Gardella is called to accept the family legacy, and this time, Victoria Gardella Grantworth is chosen, on the eve of her debut, to carry the stake. But as she moves between the crush of ballrooms and dangerous moonlit streets, Victoria’s heart is torn between London’s most eligible bachelor, the Marquess of Rockley, and her dark, dangerous duty.

And when she comes face-to-face with the most powerful vampire in history, Victoria must ultimately make a choice between duty and love. 

Into every generation a slayer is born… Oops, sorry…wrong universe…

Although to be honest, dear reader, the comparison between Colleen Gleason’s The Rest Falls Away and Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer isn’t too far off. Both exist in a universe where vampires and other creatures of the night are real. Where the belief in such things is passed off as foolishness, of fairy tales and stories. Both feature a young woman suddenly having a great destiny thrust upon them. And both follow the young woman as she not only accepts her calling but learns to balance the two halves of her new life.

Yet, just as there are similarities, there are just as many differences. For example, Victoria’s family have been slaying vampires for countless years. The calling to be a Venator (the name for a vampire slayer) is strong in her family and when one is called, they have a choice to either embrace their destiny or to have their memories wiped away. Whereas with Buffy, there is no family legacy of vampire slaying. The duty is simply thrust upon her with almost no warning.

The cast of characters in The Rest Falls Away were an entertaining lot. Because Victoria is the main character we as the reader are supposed to really connect with her and want to know more about her. I personally found Phillip to be a more interesting person and I would have enjoyed having more with him. Sadly, this does not occur and it leaves us with a lot of “What if…?”s.

The writing for Away is decent. There are a few scenes that are quite steamy and as such it does not surprise me to learn that Ms. Gleason is also an erotica author albeit under another name. She does a good job of creating a world and a cast of characters and if it weren’t for some minor details the book could easily be set in modern day.

Overall, I found Away to be fairly entertaining. It wasn’t one of those books that completely blew me away but neither was it one of those books that was completely awful either. It was okay. And I think that in itself is okay.