Once I picked up House Rules I fell straight into Merit’s world like the rest of the series, House Rules is a very readable book. There is a definite tension at the beginning of the book, as House Rules marks the beginning of a new era for Cadogan House. I’m not exactly sure how much time has passed between the two books, Neill doesn’t make that particularly clear and it’s been a while since I’ve read Biting Cold.

House Rules starts with the results at the end of the vote in Biting Cold coming to fruition in mid-December. I think Merit is a really interesting character, not at all what you would expect to find as a main character who is a vampire.

House Rules is the seventh book in the Chicagoland Vampires series, and it continues Merit’s story. But as they untangle a web of secret alliances and ancient evils, they realise their foe is more familiar, and more powerful, than they could ever have imagined. With their house in peril, Merit and her Master, the centuries old Ethan Sullivan, must race to stop the disappearances. Someone is targeting Chicago’s vampires, and anyone could be next. Now she’ll see her mettle – and her metal – tested like never before. Since then, she’s become the protector of her House, watched Chicago nearly burn to the ground, and seen her Master fall and rise. At the tender age of 27, Merit becomes a sword-wielding vampire. In a city full of vampires, trouble never sleeps. Publisher: Gollancz Fiction (14th February 2013) Title: House Rules (Chicagoland Vampires #7)

House Rules by Chloe Neill