Review – Shadows of Fate (Shadow Born #1) by Angela Dennis – The Book Pushers | Book Reviews

Publisher: Samhain
Publish Date: Out now
How I got this book: ARC from the publisher

After witnessing her husband’s brutal murder, Brenna Baudouin lost control of her Shadow Bearer powers and wreaked havoc on her home world. Her penance: one hundred years policing hordes of supernatural misfits that spilled onto the Earthly plane after a cataclysmic war.

She’s on a routine exorcism run when she learns she’s been assigned a new partner. But there’s something about this Shadow Bearer that sparks her suspicions. Particularly when people closest to her start turning up as piles of ash.

Gray Warlow holds tight to the glamour that allows him to get close to the woman on whom he plans to wreak vengeance for betraying his people. Yet as he skillfully manipulates his way past her distrust, he begins to see her not as the heartless monster he was led to believe, but a strong, vulnerable woman.

As they work to put together the pieces of a killer’s macabre puzzle, an attraction deeper than blood and bone flares between them. And they must reveal their deepest secrets to avoid becoming the final targets.

Warning: A thrill ride of supernatural proportions. Contains violent battle scenes, nail-biting suspense, crazy hot sexual tension, and enough twists and turns to make your head spin.
This blurb came from the author’s website.

I was browsing through Samhain’s list of upcoming titles and this caught my eye. I read the blurb and found myself rather intrigued with the idea of vengeance, lies, penance, murder, and a post-apocalyptic Earth facing an increasing number of supernatural beings. I have to say that after finishing this installment, I can’t wait to read the next.

Brenna was tired, almost beyond exhausted as she tried to deal with a drastic increase in demonic possessions, a wounded partner, and an off the books serial murder investigation. Then to make her life even more complicated, her wounded partner was pulled from active duty and she received a new one, one from her home world with secrets of his own.

Gray was such a torn man. He showed up with plans, schemes, and plots of his own. Then he discovered that maybe, just maybe things weren’t exactly as he thought they were. I was impressed by his willingness to take what he learned about Brenna as she gradually revealed some of her past life into consideration before taking action. I will say I felt the reveal of secrets between Gray and Brenna was a bit uneven with Gray continuing to hold a few things back.

Regardless of that little quibble, as a reader, I enjoyed learning about the secrets on both sides. Watching Brenna and Gray dance around each other, the truth, and learn to not just work together but trust each other was a treat. That this was happening while they faced a foe who wasn’t playing by the rules and seemed to be a step ahead made it even more imperative they work through their differences. I also found fascinating the instinctive pull between Shadow Bearers and how crucial blood was to more than one species.

I found the world Dennis created fascinating even though her world-building seemed to be a bit rushed and complicated towards the end. I loved the mixture of different species and goals not to mention how betrayal seemed to be a consistent theme. I do wish I could have seen more of the interaction from Brenna’s housemates. They kind of fell off the page once they established different facets of Brenna’s character and everything focused on Brenna, Gray, and their foe(s). I thought they were very intriguing and would like to see more of them in future stories.

Overall I enjoyed Shadows of Fate even though it had some unevenness. Dennis caught and kept my interest with her characters, the setting, and the mystery. I found the resolution intriguing and indicative of how the lust for power can ruin so many lives. I will certainly be following Dennis to see what she comes up with next.

I give Shadows of Fate a B

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