The Rest Falls Away
by Colleen Gleason

Beneath the glitter of dazzling 19th-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 taken over 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 enigmatic ally, Sebastian Vioget.

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

Colleen Gleason's Bio

I can't remember a time when I wasn't writing some kind of story—from the 6th-grade version of Gilligan's Island that starred my classmates and me, to the passed-around-the-classroom story of my friends in high school meeting our favorite rock band and the adventures that ensued, to my first real attempt at writing a full-length novel, which was in college (when I should have been studying).

Off and on over the years, during my career in health care and with small business start-ups, getting married, raising two dogs and three children, I wrote—sometimes finishing the book, sometimes moving on to greener pastures (ie, a different story. New. Exciting. Fresh!).

I recently became addicted to Buffy the Vampire Slayer (thank heaven for DVDs!), and thought... hmm...what would it be like if Buffy had been living during the times of balls and chaperones and the ton? And thus The Gardella Legacy was born.

The first book in the historical Gardella Legacy series of vampire hunters, The Rest Falls Away, will be released by Signet in January 2007, with the second volume following shortly after.