de la Cruz's Blue Blood series has definitely put a unique flavor into vampire lore. In the third novel, the Blue Bloods (a.k.a. vampires) have recovered from the the trouble they face in Venice in the previous novel. Schuyler Van Alen is still dealing with the fact her grandmother has passed away while she learns to live with her new identity. She has moved in with the force family, and this means coming head to head with the difficult Mimi.

Mimi, Schuyler, and Bliss all attend an exclusive private school in Manhattan. They are from the big families that have had all the money and the power in the city for generations. If Edith Wharton were still alive and writing today, the lifestyles of these characters would be her focus.

Mimi is really coming into her power. Not only is she reaching the age where people view her as an adult, but her memories of previous incarnations are coming to the fore. You see the Blue Bloods are not only vampires, but they are the angels of Christian lore. Their enemies, the Silver Bloods, are the Fallen.

Mimi and her twin Jack have been soul mates through the centuries. They are two powerful angels that helped lead the battle against Lucifer and his followers during the great war. Now, she is hoping to rekindle their relationship only to be confronted with the fact that Jack is quite interested in Schuyler.

Everything is thrown up in the air when Dylan, a Blue Blood who had previously been corrupted by the Silver Bloods, returns. It soon becomes clear that everyone's assumptions about him are wrong, and the Blue Bloods still have a traitor among them.

Everything comes to a head as the major characters race to Rio de Janeiro in the hopes of preventing a Silver Blood plot tied to Jesus the Redeemer, the famous statue on a mount on the outskirts of the city. Can Schuyler and the others sort out what is going on before all is lost?

These books are great at showing that nothing is ever what it seems. The author has artfully formed a series of books that seems to meld the high school intrigue of the wealthy found in the Gossip Girl with a Gothic sense of the paranormal. I have to admit that I was a big fan of the first book, which gives the series its name, and enjoyed the second book, which was called Masquerade.

The storyline of this book was very interesting, but it seemed to be overpowered by the high school interaction of the students. While Bliss, Mimi, and Schuyler still live exceptional lives because of the vampiric/angelic powers, they are still totally obsessed with who is going to be bonded with who and sorting out family troubles. You would think that in the centuries and lives they have passed through, they would have gotten past that.

This means that the "big battle" that happens at the end is brought to the fore in the last 40 pages or so, not really giving enough build up to the action or a chance for the reader to get a sense of the enormity of the challenge the Blue Bloods are facing. I would not change the plot a bit, but I would have adjusted the writing to provide a better balance of between the two arcs.