Reviews with content warning for Blood - Shadows of You

I knew Roan and Aspen's story was gonna knock it out of the park and this surpassed all my expectations — what a book 😍

Has anyone actually done sunshine x grumpy before this book existed? I don't think so, right? Because here, it is straight up perfect. Roan has been hiding himself and his secrets from his family for so long that most of the town has written him off. But beneath it all, there's is the purest heart of gold and Aspen is determined to bring that out into the world.

We've seen loads of traumatized women in Cowles' novels but they're still each unique and I love how much emphasis Aspen put on still staying positive throughout it all, mainly for Cady's benefit but also for her own. This isn't a basic abusive ex story as I expected and I loved the twist and also how invested the true crime community still was in the case.

Don't know if that was Cowles' intentions but we've got some true crime podcasters basically stalking Aspen and I felt it was a really good representation about how privacy-invading and basically life-ruining true crime shows/podcasts/forums etc. can be for running cases. At first, it just seems like harmless fun but, as it does here, it can so easily devolve.

Before we talk about Roan and Aspen, let's talk about the real main relationship here aka Roan and Cady. You KNOW, there's nothing more that gets me going than good father-daughter relationships and from page one, even if he wasn't ready to become Aspen's partner, Roan was ready to become Cady's dad. It's what makes Aspen really start to look through his facade because he doesn't ever have a bad word to say to Cady and is so considerate of her and understands from the start that Aspen and her only come in a double-pack. Cady's being bullied at school, so Roan comes with her to throw withering glances at 6-year-olds and while we all thought protective!boyfriend!Roan was where it's at, protective!dad!Roan actually takes the cake.

But let's get into it: Roan and Aspen. You guys, YOU GUYS. I love these two so much 😭😭 They help eachother heal and each encourage the other to open up their struggles and seek support and it is just so healthy! And loving! And had me sobbing my eyes out! Was it all a tad insta-love-y? Yes. But I have a rule that I only complain about insta-love if I didn't like the couple, sooo. Even if he doesn't want to be, Roan is immediately intrigued by and protective of Aspen and then after Cady's pulled him, there's really no stopping him. In typical Hartley man fashion, he promptly decides to move himself into Aspen's place and that's all already cute enough but then we find out that he doesn't even stay over at his parents' for Christmas because he doesn't like not having his own space! But for Aspen and Cady all bets are off and he doesn't mind sleeping on the couch for weeks and being awoken by a demon kitty every morning.

And guys, the spice 🤭 Off. The. Charts. That's all I'll say but I, myself, was very pleasantly surprised.

I'm so so ready for my baby Lawson to finally get his book!! Have been looking forward to this since day 1 😍

This is slowly but surely becoming my favourite romance series, every book just delivers.

(okay okay, this is definitely a 4.75 and not a 5 because, first and foremost, i am still a hater, so here's some parts i didn't completely love
— we get The True Reason why roan is such a grump and it is touched upon very little
— maybe it's the thriller fan in me but i hate it when the twist just comes out of nowhere 😤 i had such good theories) anywayyy still a hoe for roan hartley

Content Warnings

sienasummerrreads's review

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challenging hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

“You can’t let anyone steal that light. Can’t let anyone dim it. No matter how hard they try. Because that lights magic”

This follows Roan and Aspen. Aspen and her daughter Cady have a past but are trying to make a future in the small town and hide in the shadows. Roan the grumpy wildlife worker who is not the best communicator has a protective side and is known in the town as someone who keeps to himself.

I enjoyed this book. The Hartley family just bring me joy especially seeing the couples from the first three books make an appearance as well. Roan grumpy side is my favorite but his world stops and he opens up when Aspen is in his orbit. Love how strong Aspen is and honestly, Cady is one of the best kids written that I have read she has a great personality.

I read this on my Kindle and was lucky enough to get the Audiobook as well and it's fantastic. Zachary and Maxine you can't fault them loved them in this.

I would like to mention that honestly Roan as a bother is forgettable in the other three books as the siblings are mentioned a lot throughout the series. He was my least favourite but now he is memorable. This also for me seemed like a similar intense situation as a few of the other books in the series where someone from the past comes back and causes all this hassle and the target is the FMC and the MMC’s always there to save them. In this book yes was someone from their past but was a random character you didn’t even really meet in the book. Lastly, the FMC and MMC have only been together for a short time and the next life step happened way too fast for me but this is a personal preference. I don’t think these are major things just have a bit of perspective from reading the other books in the series.

If you love:

🔹Suspence Romance
🔹Small Town
🔹FMC In Hiding
🔹MMC Grumpy & Alone
🔹Great Family Dynamic
🔹Great Spice

Genre/Type: Small Town Romance 18+
APK: Kindle & Audiobook ARC
Pages: 348
Audiobook Length: 10hrs
Narrators: Zachary Webber & Maxine Mitchell - Dual
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Spice: 🌶️
Series or Stand Alone: Series Book 4 In The Lost & Found Series
Tropes or Themes: Small Town, Grumpy Sunshine, Single Mum, Found Family, Forced Proximity, FMC Hiding, Bullying, Nightmares, Violence, Scars, Trauma, Sexual Content, Murder, Gun, Death Threats, Wild Animal Cruelty, Blood & Injury.
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