Review--Midnight Marked by Chloe Neill

As the Chicagoland Vampires series continues, Merit and Ethan find themselves in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse, where winning may require the ultimate sacrifice...

A vampire’s grudges don’t stay dead long...

Merit is one of Chicago's most skilled vampire warriors; these days, she doesn't scare easily. But she and Master vampire Ethan have made a new and powerful enemy, and he won't give up until he owns the Windy City.

With his last plan thwarted, he's more determined than ever to watch Cadogan burn. Ethan has put the House's vampires on high alert, but their enemy will stop at nothing, including pitting vampire against vampire...

In this deadly game of cat-and-mouse, the stakes are life or death—and winning might mean sacrificing everything...

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I was in no way compensated for this review.

Midnight Marked is the second to last book in Chloe Neill’s phenomenal Chicagoland Vampire series that has pretty much had my heart since the very beginning. This is a series that has really grown on me over the years, yes I was in love with book 1, but I pretty much grew to love the series even more with each and every book. Watching the characters grow from who they were back then has been exhilarating!

In Midnight Marked, Cadogan House is still dealing with public enemy number one, Adrien Reed. He’s been a thorn in their side for awhile and continues to wreak havoc on their lives, even when he’s no directly responsible. Such as the latest case; a shifter is found dead outside Wrigley field just when Merit and Ethan were about to enjoy a Cubs game, against the Cardinals no less! To make matters even more mysterious, there was a set of alchemical symbols found near the body, which suggests a sorcerer was involved.

And soon the hunt begins for this sorcerer and the murderer. Though Merit and Ethan suspect Reed, there’s no hard evidence to pin him to. The mystery element was pretty strong in this one. There were a lot of people to identify and naturally, the tension to stop Reed once and for all. But there was also a great deal of tension between our cast of heroes. Not only was there some fallout between Ethan and Gabriel with his shifters, but Ethan and Merit were running into personal problems again as well.

I truly love the pacing of these books! Chloe Neill is a master at her craft! The books have all been incredibly enjoyable! The dynamics between Ethan and Merit have been spot on since book 1! And even though they are officially a couple, it doesn’t stop the tension that grows between them, both romantic and not! And of course, there’s still plenty of snark and laughs to be had! This is Merit we’re talking about!

Quite a few exciting things happen in this one! Not only does Merit have to deal with Reed, but another enemy comes to fore. One we weren’t really expecting! I quite enjoyed how Merit handled it too! I won’t divulge in the other exciting things, just be prepared to enjoy yourselves! Of course, any Chicagoland Vampire novel is sure to delight its readers!

I am dreading the next and final book. Only because I am not ready to say goodbye to Ethan and Merit and all their friends just yet! I feel like we’re given a nudge onto their final course, but there’s bound to me more trouble ahead than what we’re given! As we all know, nothing ever comes easy for Ethan and Merit! And while I don’t want the series to end just yet, I do say that they deserve themselves a break and a little R&R to enjoy themselves! And of course, that involves a HEA ending as well!

If you haven’t yet read the Chicagoland Vampires series, I urge you to pick it up now! Not only can you pretty much breeze through the entire series to date, but there’s just one more book to wait for. And did I mention you’ll be able to read Drink Deep immediately after Hard Bitten? Trust me when I say, that’s a VERY, VERY good thing! So come and enjoy and the highlights Chicago and its vampires has to offer with this incredibly awesome series that is a perfection in the world of Urban Fantasy!

Overall Rating 5/5 stars