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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
4.5 stars Maybe my favorite IAD thus far!
Vampire Dacian finds his Bride in a Princess who is part sorceress part demon; he enters the competition for her hand, competing for her love and kingdom.
-This one felt really different from the rest of the IAD series, with Trehan showing absolutely amazing restraint and control, which was actually a very nice change of pace to be honest
-It was also interesting to have Bettina be already into another guy, I feel like most of the main female characters have been meh on guys. Bettina having some trauma was an intriguing element--to see her working through it on page, and the true support of Trehan was beautiful to see
-was good to see the bits of Lothaire sprinkled in here too
-I think that Trehan was the best part; he still had his tension and BS and moments, but his demonstration of control and rationality felt like a nice break from previous hotheaded male characters (maybe especially true immediately following Lothaire?)
-This is apparently also a new book in a new series, Dacians #1, so... not sure how I feel about this off-shot series
Vampire Dacian finds his Bride in a Princess who is part sorceress part demon; he enters the competition for her hand, competing for her love and kingdom.
-This one felt really different from the rest of the IAD series, with Trehan showing absolutely amazing restraint and control, which was actually a very nice change of pace to be honest
-It was also interesting to have Bettina be already into another guy, I feel like most of the main female characters have been meh on guys. Bettina having some trauma was an intriguing element--to see her working through it on page, and the true support of Trehan was beautiful to see
-was good to see the bits of Lothaire sprinkled in here too
-I think that Trehan was the best part; he still had his tension and BS and moments, but his demonstration of control and rationality felt like a nice break from previous hotheaded male characters (maybe especially true immediately following Lothaire?)
-This is apparently also a new book in a new series, Dacians #1, so... not sure how I feel about this off-shot series
To read the rest of this review and links for the book, please check out The Brunette Librarian's Blog
Shadow’s Claim is the beginning of a new series (The Dacians) but fits somewhat into the Immortals After Dark world that she has created. Trehan, our hero, first shows up in Lothaire as a cousin to the Enemy of Old. He’s mysterious, deadly, and likes to lurk in the shadows. Not the best hero material, but my goodness was I wrong.
One of the things Cole does best is the layering of her books. I may be saying it wrong, but the events of one book bleed into another. As you read her various titles, you have huge overlaps in time, space, and characters which makes it such a rich series. Huge payoffs for readers and I have to say the same of this book. While I was reading so many of the things from Lothaire were mentioned I just kept going, oh yeah! Yeah, I remember that too! Triple love that soooo much.
Anyway, back to the book...We’ve met Trehan before but our heroine Bettina was new. Bettina, a half sorceri/half demon child of royalty, is young and poised on the precipice of gaining her power as Queen. However, just shortly before gaining immortality she is attacked and nearly killed by her family’s mortal enemies. In an effort to protect her and ultimately her future kingdom, a fight to the death is arranged for worthy males to help her find her husband.
Where does our unhappy assassin fit into that dynamic? On a mission to kill a demon who had entered the mysterious land of shadows, Trehan encounters Bettina. As you can imagine, he is shocked when he finds out she is his bride (mate). So what happens when a sheltered princess, who by the way may or may not already be in love with a different demon who is totally unworthy of her, falls for a mysterious assassin vampire who has never loved in his life?? Shadow’s Claim delves into all of that and so much more.
As I said before, this title has it all. A handsome and complex hero, a strong heroine coming into her own powers and being, a tumultuous romance, heart stopping action and a completely satisfying ending all come together to create a wonderful start to a new series and add new dimensions to the already diverse IAD universe. All I can say is that I’m already counting down the days until the next release.
Oh oh oh! On a side note, I forgot to mention for fans...Nix, Lothaire, Morgana, Sabine and all of your other favorites make an appearance. Did you hear Dirty Jobs (Nix's FAVORITE show) was cancelled?? Sad sad day, but as Kresley said, maybe it is the sign of the Accession??
Shadow’s Claim is the beginning of a new series (The Dacians) but fits somewhat into the Immortals After Dark world that she has created. Trehan, our hero, first shows up in Lothaire as a cousin to the Enemy of Old. He’s mysterious, deadly, and likes to lurk in the shadows. Not the best hero material, but my goodness was I wrong.
One of the things Cole does best is the layering of her books. I may be saying it wrong, but the events of one book bleed into another. As you read her various titles, you have huge overlaps in time, space, and characters which makes it such a rich series. Huge payoffs for readers and I have to say the same of this book. While I was reading so many of the things from Lothaire were mentioned I just kept going, oh yeah! Yeah, I remember that too! Triple love that soooo much.
Anyway, back to the book...We’ve met Trehan before but our heroine Bettina was new. Bettina, a half sorceri/half demon child of royalty, is young and poised on the precipice of gaining her power as Queen. However, just shortly before gaining immortality she is attacked and nearly killed by her family’s mortal enemies. In an effort to protect her and ultimately her future kingdom, a fight to the death is arranged for worthy males to help her find her husband.
Where does our unhappy assassin fit into that dynamic? On a mission to kill a demon who had entered the mysterious land of shadows, Trehan encounters Bettina. As you can imagine, he is shocked when he finds out she is his bride (mate). So what happens when a sheltered princess, who by the way may or may not already be in love with a different demon who is totally unworthy of her, falls for a mysterious assassin vampire who has never loved in his life?? Shadow’s Claim delves into all of that and so much more.
As I said before, this title has it all. A handsome and complex hero, a strong heroine coming into her own powers and being, a tumultuous romance, heart stopping action and a completely satisfying ending all come together to create a wonderful start to a new series and add new dimensions to the already diverse IAD universe. All I can say is that I’m already counting down the days until the next release.
Oh oh oh! On a side note, I forgot to mention for fans...Nix, Lothaire, Morgana, Sabine and all of your other favorites make an appearance. Did you hear Dirty Jobs (Nix's FAVORITE show) was cancelled?? Sad sad day, but as Kresley said, maybe it is the sign of the Accession??
A vampire assassin and a demon-sorceri princess.
I really enjoyed his constancy and dedication to being all she needed.
Though I know it was a sexual awakening for a female that had not had the opportunity to create different types of relationships in her life, there were some decisions and thoughts Bettina made that took me out of the story at times because they felt written just for the sake of additional conflict.
Loved the competition setting, lots of tension and action!
And something I particularly enjoy about this series is the the timing - the fact that this book occurs at the same time as the previous book and touches on events and characters already known.
I really enjoyed his constancy and dedication to being all she needed.
Though I know it was a sexual awakening for a female that had not had the opportunity to create different types of relationships in her life, there were some decisions and thoughts Bettina made that took me out of the story at times because they felt written just for the sake of additional conflict.
Loved the competition setting, lots of tension and action!
And something I particularly enjoy about this series is the the timing - the fact that this book occurs at the same time as the previous book and touches on events and characters already known.
OMG! It's been awhile since a book grabbed from the get go! I fell in love with Trehan right away! WOW just WOW! Can't wait the rest of the series!
This book BEGINS with a non-consensual sex scene. WTAF?? Not. Okay. Not a book for me.
4.5 Stars
Trehan Christian Daciano….you sir are a force to be reckoned with, and a hot one at that.
“You don’t appear to be an afterthought with that one, dearest freakling. You appear to be the only thought.”
This isn’t really a spinoff, it incorporates many of the same things from the IAD series time lines and the many of the same characters. I would say that this should be the book you read directly after Lothaire since the timeline lines up semi-concurrently with that.
Reasons I totally liked this book…..DEATH MATCHES, yes you heard it right there are fights to the death all for the hand of Bettina of Abaddon the half demoness half sorceress suffering from a slight case of PTSD and in love with her best friend. But I love the survivor aspect of it all and winning a kingdom is quite an incentive. Daciano is one of my favorite males in this series so far. The lengths he goes to the things he is willing to give up for his bride and the way he treats her is fantastic.
“Greatness resides in you. Power or not, you can become empowered.
If I were Bettina the second he showed up I’d be “Casspian who?” oh that manwhore over there, yeah I knew him once. But she isn’t that smart so he totally has to work for it.
The other great part is the phantom sylph who has been assigned to protect/watch Bettina by her uncle. Since there isn’t really any Nix dialogue in the book he was a much needed comic relief and had some of the best one liners.
“I spent the morning as the ceiling in the warlocks’ tent. Found out that the hobbies of Those Best Forgotten include long walks on the beach and sacrificing nymphs on altars. I mean, who’d want to hurt a nymph? That’s like kicking a rainbow in the nuts.”
Who knew that rainbows had nuts?…Maybe they are under the pot of gold, you know with the lucky charms.. Even Morgana was so much fun. The way she taunts Bettina just to get her riled up was fantastic. I really do love the evil sorceress types, they can be fun to read about.
Other likable items in the book include conversations with Lothaire and cameo’s from Nix, Monroe and Sabine.
It had to be the odd spectator who’d been showing up every night. She had pointed ears and wore T-shirts emblazoned with PRINCE OF SHADOW #1!
The only thing I didn’t like was Bettina for a little while. She was a little whiny at times and let herself be put on the auction block so to speak and then freaked out about it later. But she grew on me and by the end I liked her more.
I had so much fun with this story and it leads up to right before or possibly concurrent to Dark Skye I believe.
Trehan Christian Daciano….you sir are a force to be reckoned with, and a hot one at that.
“You don’t appear to be an afterthought with that one, dearest freakling. You appear to be the only thought.”
This isn’t really a spinoff, it incorporates many of the same things from the IAD series time lines and the many of the same characters. I would say that this should be the book you read directly after Lothaire since the timeline lines up semi-concurrently with that.
Reasons I totally liked this book…..DEATH MATCHES, yes you heard it right there are fights to the death all for the hand of Bettina of Abaddon the half demoness half sorceress suffering from a slight case of PTSD and in love with her best friend. But I love the survivor aspect of it all and winning a kingdom is quite an incentive. Daciano is one of my favorite males in this series so far. The lengths he goes to the things he is willing to give up for his bride and the way he treats her is fantastic.
“Greatness resides in you. Power or not, you can become empowered.
If I were Bettina the second he showed up I’d be “Casspian who?” oh that manwhore over there, yeah I knew him once. But she isn’t that smart so he totally has to work for it.
The other great part is the phantom sylph who has been assigned to protect/watch Bettina by her uncle. Since there isn’t really any Nix dialogue in the book he was a much needed comic relief and had some of the best one liners.
“I spent the morning as the ceiling in the warlocks’ tent. Found out that the hobbies of Those Best Forgotten include long walks on the beach and sacrificing nymphs on altars. I mean, who’d want to hurt a nymph? That’s like kicking a rainbow in the nuts.”
Who knew that rainbows had nuts?…Maybe they are under the pot of gold, you know with the lucky charms.. Even Morgana was so much fun. The way she taunts Bettina just to get her riled up was fantastic. I really do love the evil sorceress types, they can be fun to read about.
Other likable items in the book include conversations with Lothaire and cameo’s from Nix, Monroe and Sabine.
It had to be the odd spectator who’d been showing up every night. She had pointed ears and wore T-shirts emblazoned with PRINCE OF SHADOW #1!
The only thing I didn’t like was Bettina for a little while. She was a little whiny at times and let herself be put on the auction block so to speak and then freaked out about it later. But she grew on me and by the end I liked her more.
I had so much fun with this story and it leads up to right before or possibly concurrent to Dark Skye I believe.
Whew. *fans self* Mercy.
This book does have one of my favorite things: Not sure what that says about me, but....it is what it is.
This book does have one of my favorite things:
Spoiler
a hero who brings to his lover the heads of her enemies
I really enjoyed this story I have read every book by Ms. Cole and this is just another for my keeper shelf. I cant wait to see where she takes us to next:)