Reviewed by: Laura

RATING: 7/10 – Very good, would definitely recommend

GOODREADS:

Custo Santovari is a fallen hero, a man who sacrificed himself for his best friend, an angel who’s earned himself a well-deserved place in Heaven. But he risks it all to rescue a woman from soul-sucking wraiths.

REVIEW:

But Custo has no time for the angelic duties, he knows that there is a traitor working at Segue, the agency Adam owns, and that Adam is still in terrible danger and is obsessed with finding a way to get the message to him.

Dragging his way through the shadowlands back to earth he encounters beautiful ballerina Annabella. Annabella is such a gifted dancer that when she dances she slips into the shadowlands, but that has brought her some unwanted attention and she is now being stalked by a dangerous magical wolf who wants to posses her. As soon as Custo sees her he is entranced and has to save her.

The writing in this book has definitely improved since the last one, the pacing and characterisation are much tighter making the overall narrative flow better. Custo was a really engaging lead character, although I liked Adam in the first, I liked Custo even more. There was something about his noble, self-sacrificing personality that appealed to me. While Annabella wasn’t a tough heroine, she had strength and determination and I could see the beauty of her dance in my mind as it was written. I didn’t quite get hooked into Adam and Talia’s story in ‘Shadow Bound‘ but I found Custo in particularly more engaging which drove the story for me.

We get to meet more mystical creatures in this book, as well as some interesting interweaving of Greek myths. Once again Shadowman makes several important appearances and I find the development of his story fascinating. I’ve seen that book three in the series is about him and I actually really want to read it as I have been hooked by his forbidden love story and believe that he deserves a happy ending.

If you’re desperate for a dose of Adam and Talia, don’t worry, Adam in particular makes plenty of appearances and you get an update on the development of their story.

The ending itself was a little strange. I wasn’t quite sure how it all got there and the overall implications for the characters, but it certainly was an interesting twist.

VERDICT:

If I’m honest I wasn’t particularly taken with the first book into this series and if I hadn’t been sent this one for review, I may not have picked this one up. But the author’s writing has really improved and I thoroughly enjoyed Custo and Annabella’s story.