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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
AMAZING- Shayla Black is not afraid to go against normal stereotypes making this book: grittier, real and very compelling, September 29, 2009
This review is from: Seduce Me In Shadow (The Doomsday Brethren, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)
Seduce Me In Shadow (The Doomsday Brethren, Book 2) by Shayla Black
Paranormal Romance- Sept. 29th, 2009
4 ½ stars
Seduce Me In Shadow is the 2nd book in the bold new series of the Doomsday Brethren, but it can be easily read by itself. Let me start by saying this is a fantastic series that you DO NOT want to MISS!! I think the best part of this series is that it also includes several side stories that include an incredible cast that are captivating to read. I can only hope this author plans to continue her series past 3 books!! But although this is a complicated series, Seduce Me in Shadow can actually be read easily by itself. (Although I would highly recommend reading Tempt Me with Darkness first to make the experience more satisfying.)
In Seduce Me In Shadows we meet Caden and Sydney.
Caden has hated magic ever since he was young and in rebellion left to America. But now he's back in England on a mission to save his brother Lucan. Lucan is part of a powerful and elite group of magical men called the Doomsday Brethren with a mission to save the world. Lucan's mate is a witch who was kidnapped violently. Without her to stabilize him, Lucan is slowly going insane. Despondent and desperate Caden finally catches a break when he discovers a tabloid that is printing stories exposing the Doomsday Brethren and their magical world to humans. He wonders if the informant is a lead to Lucan's mate, Anka. Either way Caden knows he must investigate if only to quell the dangerous leak from spreading. To infiltrate the tabloid he poses as a photographer. However he doesn't count on being attracted to Sydney Blair, the reporter and main lead to Anka. Even as Caden tries to persuade Sydney to tell him her source she befuddles his mind and shatters his already shaky control. Something he doesn't need as he realizes he is undergoing the traumatic change into a wizard. (The same transformation where all wizards also undergo a frenzied sexual marathon!)
Sydney Blair knows she is onto a powerful story. And the tempting and sexy Caden doesn't fool her. She knows he is after her source but she isn't about to jeopardize her informant and compromise her budding career. But magical and mysterious things occur when she is around Caden and soon she finds her fantastic story might be not only be true but that knowing the truth may lead to her death.
Who are the real allies? The plot twists and turns as new and unexpected revelations unfold. Shayla Black is not afraid to go against normal stereotypes in her story line which makes it: grittier, real and very compelling. We see the darker side of our heroes and what their vulnerabilities can make them do. I also enjoyed the clever interplay between all the characters. I especially loved the section where Caden is trying to seduce Sydney without actually seducing her to find her informant. In this scene, Sydney tries to drive Caden crazy and lose his cool control. Go, Sydney!
Shayla Black is an extremely strong writer, while writing secondary characters most authors often loose the intensity and focus of the story. But in this case the secondary characters drove the story enriching it to even higher levels of tension. I really felt the characters had known each other for a long time and had an intricate history that I wanted to unravel. In fact, I found I enjoyed the complex cast of secondary characters even more intriguing than the main ones! I am particularly interested in Bram and his mysterious mate who disappeared and is slowly driving him insane. The incredible love triangle between: Shock , Lucan and Anka. And the unrelieved sexual tension between Sabelle and Ice. I felt deeply attached to her characters even the villains. Shalya Black leaves tantalizing glimpses that kept me in delicious suspense as I eagerly await her next installment!
Shayla Black's combination of intricate storytelling adds to the drama and tension of this dazzling series. And will make you long for the next book as soon as you finish the prior one. I cannot stress how amazing this book is, so do not miss it!
Reviewed by Steph from the Bookaholics Romance Book Club
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
I wasn't Seduced even a little bit, November 9, 2009
This review is from: Seduce Me In Shadow (The Doomsday Brethren, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)
Caden MacTavish hates magic and all things magical because his two year old brother was killed by magic gone awry. He left England at eighteen, moved to Texas to become a photographer and forget that one day he will transition into a wizard. He is brought home abruptly when his other brother collapses in mate mourning and is about to die. Plus there is an evil wizard, Mathias, who is raping and killing and generally inducing mayhem among magickind in a bid for ultimate power. His latest battle left corpses behind that Sydney Blair has photographic evidence of and is ready to publish a story in the tabloid she works for. A story that will prove that magic truly exists and hopefully win her a Pulitzer and the approval of her parents. Sounds interesting? It should be. It ought to be. But it isn't. It was just... boring.
Worst of all, the characters are flat, one-dimensional, and irritating. The story never comes alive because the characters aren't vivid and real. Or even likable. Caden knows that Sydney is his mate but he not only doesn't want a mate, he doesn't want to be drug into any part of the magic kingdom. And who can blame him? In Black's world a wizard and witch mate and if they lose their mate they can't function at all. They must have sex with each other to get energy. Without it they die. So Caden runs around dithering all the time because he is transitioning so needs to have lots of sex with Sydney but he can't kiss her or he'll mate with her but he wants to kiss her but he can't, but he really really wants to.....Yes, it's just that irritating. And so is he. He comes off as weak, fearful, and pathetic.
Sydney is even worse. She is the Queen of Too Stupid To Live. Everyone keeps telling her that she is in danger but all she cares about is getting the story so she can be a big success. Even after she finds out that magic is real and is told that nothing she has seen can be revealed to the human world or she puts all magickind in jeopardy she doesn't care. She just wants the story and that Pulitzer no matter what. She bulls her way into one danger after another because she refuses to listen to anyone. About anything. I found myself wishing someone would kill her because she really deserved it.
There was a lot of wand waving and teleporting and battles that no one really won. There was a magic book that you could write your sexual fantasy in and it would come true in a couple of days. Unfortunately the bad guy wants to write the end of the world in it but that's another story. This should have been a good book. It wasn't. Included was a chapter of the next book in the series. I won't be reading it.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
DEVASTATINGLY SEXY & MAGICAL PARANORMAL ROMANCE, September 30, 2009
This review is from: Seduce Me In Shadow (The Doomsday Brethren, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)
Devastatingly sexy magic is back big time in Book #2, SEDUCE ME IN SHADOW, of Shayla Black's Doomsday Brethren series for Pocket (Oct. 2009) In the second thrilling installment,
ex-Marine, Caden MacTavish has renounced his English family's magic and is living far away in Dallas, Texas. However, Caden is forced to return to England because his older brother, Lucan is crazed with mate mourning from losing his beloved, Anka to the evil wizard, Mathias, the immortal Brethren's sworn enemy. Caden just can't lose another brother and agrees to go undercover as a photographer for paranormal tabloid, Out Of This Realm, whose latest scoop on the battle brewing between magickind could destroy the Doomsday Brethren. When Caden arrives at the newspaper's headquarters, he is instantly taken with the feisty, red-haired reporter, Sydney Blair, who has just received an unusual old book for a birthday present from a co-worker. A book Caden recognizes as the powerful Doomsday Diary that head wizard, Bram Rion has reported missing from his home and holds the key to all of magickind! At first, Caden is all business, helping Sydney with her investigative reporting even though he also desperately wants her in his bed. Sydney has never had much luck with men and doesn't think the super sexy Caden is interested in her. However, one night she decides to make a wish on the Doomsday Diary for Caden to desire her. Be careful what you wish for because after these two make passionate love, Sydney discovers Caden's real motives for helping her with her latest story and believes he is just using her. It will take some mighty powerful convincing by Caden to persuade Sydney he might have started their relationship to help his brother and the Doomsday Brethren but now he has fallen in love with her. Caden is also fighting his upcoming magical powers but when Sydney finds out, she wants him to stay in England and use them to help the Doomsday Brethren win the war against Mathias' minions, the Anarki. Shayla Black has another winner on her hands with SEDUCE ME IN SHADOWS as she seduces readers with her sexy Doomsday Brethren and the women that are destined to be their mates. Readers will be breathlessly waiting for the magic to continue in Book #3, POSSESS ME AT MIDNIGHT (Nov. 2009) featuring hardened wizard, Ice Rykard and witch princess, Sabelle Rion.
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