Shadowspell

On top of spending most of her time in a bunkerlike safe house and having her dates hijacked by a formidable Fae bodyguard, Faeriewalker Dana Hathaway is in for some more bad news: the Erlking and his pack of murderous minions known as the Wild Hunt have descended upon Avalon. With his homicidal appetite and immortal powers, the Erlking has long been the nightmare of the Fae realm. A fragile treaty with the Faerie Queen, sealed with a mysterious spell, is the one thing that keeps him from hunting unchecked in Avalon, the only place on Earth where humans and Fae live together. Which means Dana’s in trouble, since it’s common knowledge that the Faerie Queen wants her – and her rare Faeriewalker powers – dead. The smoldering, sexy Erlking’s got his sights set on Dana, but does he only seek to kill her, or does he have something much darker in mind?
from jennablack.com

Beth says 4 Stars…

This series is quickly becoming one of my favorite guilty pleasure reads. First of all, I’m loving that Black is a North Carolina author because I love to support people who are (relatively speaking) local. Now to the point of why these books are delightful; everything’s just flat out fun. Yes there are serious portions; Dana’s mother’s alcoholism is nothing to be laughed at. Yet somehow nothing brings down the tone of the novel. The plot for this had a moment or two that was unsurprising enough, but I didn’t see a couple of the plot twists coming. I got thrown for a loop more than once in the most delightful of ways. I was enthralled by the story and devoured the book in one afternoon, that’s the way I seem to read this series. This falls into the category of page turner; as soon as I finished it I looked around in a daze, thinking that I’d just started the novel. I will say the quality of writing tends to be mediocre. It’s not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s nothing spectacular either.

The characters in the book are so much fun! I love how the Faerie class system permeates the interactions in Avalon, because it sets the world apart without being too removed. I also think it allows for the generational gaps to be seen nicely without undue effort and awkwardness. Dana still remains a delightful heroine. Although she makes mistakes, she owns to them and does as well as she can. Instead of just sitting and moping about her fate she tries to change things, for better or worse. Also, the romance absolutely sizzles! Ethan has some shining moments, but more than that the tension and fire that should be there when he and Dana are together come through perfectly clearly. There have been an unfortunate number of books built around the paranormal romance theme that don’t have a spark between the potential lovebirds. Not so here… in fact the chemistry is so intense that there are a few things that might be inappropriate for younger readers. Then there’s Keane, whose bad boy image cracks ever so slightly even as he continues pounding on Dana for the sake of teaching her.

Basically this is a perfect summer series. The third book in the series, which looks super intense, is coming out next month which gives everyone time to read the first two to prepare. This is certainly a great summer series for anyone who wants a relatively light novel with a fantasy twist. Take this one to the beach or wherever you’re headed on vacation to fulfill the guilty pleasure quota that comes with summer.
Book from Library