Monday, September 30, 2013

REVIEW ~Shadowed by Rebecca Zanetti~ (ARC)

*Spoilers; If you have not read the previous books in this series there are spoilers*

Title: Shadowed
Author: Rebecca Zanetti
Series: Dark Protectors #6
Release Date: October 3, 2013

My Rating: 4 Stars

Jase Kayrs was the fun brother. The warm, charming, easy-going brother of the vampire leaders. Until he was taken and tortured by demons with their evil mind tricks for nearly five years. Upon his return, he’s dark, violent, and not the man they all thought they knew. Not the man he once was. He’s haunted that the only reason the demons would have let him live was to use him as a weapon against his family—but he can’t figure out when or how he’ll explode. Plus, once again the demons are after Jase with a vengeance…or rather, a female demon he rejected is out to destroy him.

Then the king asks Jase for a favor…a big one. To mate with one of their allies in order to save her. She’s everything that’s good and light in the world…while he’s at home with darkness. Yet he agrees…knowing mating may be the only chance to save them both.

Oh how I love it when two of my longtime favorite characters fall for each other! Until the last book, Provoked, I did not foresee Jase and Brenna being a couple. There might have been hints in previous books but I get so caught up in the main couple I tend to not commit little nuances like that to memory sometimes. These two could not have been more made for each other. They both hold an enormous amount of responsibility, some of it self-assigned, some of it a product of the war and their families. Jase is still trying to recover from being help captive by the demons for 5 years. Brenna, on the other hand, is dealing with a sickness that will kill her by her next birthday. Jase's torture and Brenna's illness have rendered them powerless. There's a loophole though. Isn't there always? If they enter into a mating Brenna could be healed and they could both gain their powers back. Everyone wins! Except Brenna, a romantic at heart, does not want to enter into a marriage of convenience.

"I'm damaged, and I'm determined to kill."
~Jase

Well, the one thing these two have in common is that they have families that would do anything to save them. More than not wanting to marry for anything but love, Brenna does not want to see her family suffer. The mating is advantageous in many ways and Jase and Brenna both realize that. Jase has ulterior motives though. While he wants to save Brenna from certain death, what he wants more is to gain his powers back and take revenge on the demons who held him captive, which is his certain death. Jase and Brenna struggle throughout Shadowed with their feelings for one another. Their mating was supposed to solve their problems not create more with their undeniable passion. As much as they fight believing they can have a future together, Jase and Brenna cannot fight their attraction. And let me tell you, Jase is alpha all over! I find that couples who try to push each other away, tend to have way hotter sex. It's so impulsive, gasping and groping hands. I love it.

"I love you with everything I am, everything I'll ever be, and with every hope I could ever dream."
~Jase

I had a soft spot for Brenna since she was introduced in the earlier books, she was the eighth daughter of a seventh daughter. She isn't even supposed to exist, and she has always felt like an outcast. But Jase makes her feel like she belongs... with him. So, how is she supposed to let him gain his revenge, when it almost certainly means his death? And Jase... well he made me wonder if I even wanted to finish Shadowed. I was afraid after his trauma, that even Brenna could not keep him from self destructing. Of course I finished it but, Jase about broke my heart in the process. I am going to go out on a limb and say Shadowed was the most action packed out of the Dark Predators series. There are no slow parts, and if you start to gloss over a sentence you miss a huge plot twist. I thought with Jase's story I would feel a sense of calm, but no. Rebecca Zanetti built this story up to a peak, with several different lose ends. It's not necessarily a cliffhanger, but several story arcs are still left unanswered. We get closure for the couple, but not for the group as a whole. I have said this before, and I'm going to say it again... I am SO excited for Janie's story. She played a bigger role in Shadowed than the last couple of books. And I will say this, Ms. Zanetti about caused me heart failure at one point. Shadowed does not necessarily wrap up in nice, pretty bows. After all, it is Jase's story.. he has never been a simple character. I have no doubt that fans of the Dark Predators will love this addition, and that new comers will be intrigued enough by the hype that they will pick up the series at the beginning :)

Happy Reading!
*This ARC was provided by the published in exchange for an honest review*


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