Please note: I have been an Adrian fan girl since his first appearance in the VA series (VA #2, Frostbite). Sure, Dimitri is awesome. So don't get me wrong there. But if you asked me to choose, I wouldn't hesitate. In a heartbeat, I'd pick Adrian. Mead has crafted such an amazing character with him. It's kind of crazy to be such a fangirl over a fictional character, but I don't care. 
 I wasn't initially a fan of the idea of a spin-off of the VA series. I also wasn't a fan of the ending of the VA series (despite that it's probably one of my all-time favorite series) but that was due to reasons of how things worked out. Things felt rushed and unresolved I guess. Anyways, when the announcement was made that there would be this spin-off, I was a bit wary. When the second announcement came that Adrian was going to be the main focus, I changed my mind. I want to see him get his happy ending. Bloodlines took me by complete surprise and I loved it. I remember saying in my review that there may even be a possibility that I could end up liking this series more than VA eventually. I'm going to repeat the same thing now after having read The Golden Lily, which I felt was even better than the first. I was sucked in from the first page and held on through the last. I stayed up through the early morning hours devouring this book--smiling and laughing out loud (oftentimes at Adrian) and pleasantly surprised at some of the interesting new twists. Sydney has grown a lot on me too, and I'm really liking her voice--along with the inner struggles she is constantly having to face in her position. 
 I don't want to say too much in this review for fear of spoilers since it's the second installment. Just know that I loved it. I'm already craving the next. It's going to be an insanely long wait. If you haven't read the VA series and you're interested in this one though, I always highly recommend reading it first before this spin-off. There are events and characters throughout that are easier to understand if you've read VA first. 
 Absolutely fantastic. Always action, amazing detail, dialogue, and intense character development that I love--this is why Mead is one of my inspirations and one of my favorite authors. 
 <3 
 Pixie