Review of ‘In the Shadow of Darkness’ by Nicole Stiling
This was a fun and entertaining lesbian paranormal romance. This is the second book Stiling has written. While I liked her debut a little bit better, this was a very solid sophomore installment. If Stiling can just use a tiny more show and a little less tell -I’m sure the more she writes the more that will improve- I could see her becoming an automatic read author for a lot of people. She has some really good potential with two good first books.
If you have been reading my reviews for any length of time, I make it pretty obvious how much I love paranormal anything. But my absolute favorite of all supernatural creatures has to be vampires. I was really excited to get my hands on this vampire romance book especially with all the really good early reviews. I thought this was good and solid, but I was hoping I would have loved it instead. I’ve talked about it before but I think I’m picker on paranormal books because I love the genre so much and have read so many. I think my pickiness should be kept in mind when reading the rest of my review.
When it came to the actual romance itself I liked it quite a bit. I did want to be shown more how the characters felt about each other instead of being told, but I did enjoy the romance. The main characters are very likeable and the secondary characters were pretty well done too. The closer the mains got the more I was rooting for them. The chemistry is not off the wall but it was there enough to make them believable.
The main issue I had and why I can’t rate this more than 3.50 stars are the paranormal aspects. This book was extremely predictable. The main storyline about a crappy maker (I’m leaving this vague here) is one of the most recycled vampire romance storylines I’ve read. I knew all the big plot points to come and how the book would end by the time I was just one third of the way through. I know it’s hard to think of new things with vamps. I’m not looking for new mythology or anything drastic like that, I just wish I would not have been able to guess what happened at every turn.
On the good side most of the book was well written. It had a good flow and pace that I enjoyed. This book had flashbacks which I am never a fan of, but this was the perfect example of how flashbacks are supposed to be written and when to use them. They didn’t bother me in the least and instead they added to the story so I have to give Stiling big props for that.
While this was a very predictable story for me, I was still entertained. If you don’t read a ton of paranormal -especially vamp books- chances are you might enjoy this even more since the storyline might be new for you. Stiling writes well and I think she will just keep getting better. Also, the way the story ended this could be a start to a series. It looks like it could turn into a paranormal crime/mystery romance series which would make me very happy. It would also open this world up for lot of new ideas that Stiling could play with. Her debut book was a crime/mystery so we know Stiling can write in that genre already. So I will be keeping my fingers crossed but I will absolutely read anything new that Stiling puts out next. 3.50 stars.
An ARC was given to me for an honest review.
