Review of In Twilight's Shadow

Originally written June 29, 2009

In Twilight's Shadow by Patti O'Shea. This was simply an amazing read. A great addition to the Light Warriors paranormal romance series. In the world where magic users, Gineal, fight demons in a seemingly unending battle that is kept from humans by the Council as well as warriors known as troubleshooters. In this volume of the Light Warriors series, we meet Maia Fraiser, a former troubleshooter who gave up her magic when she began slipping into dark magic. Creed Blackwood is a troubleshooter who may have already fallen to the dark magic, but needs Maia to help bring down a demon who is after Maia's sister Ryne (from In the Midnight Hour, book one of the series). As the story unfolds, you're never quite sure if Creed is who he says he is, or if his motives are pure. Despite warnings that Creed is not to be trusted, Maia falls for the man, as he falls for her (it is a romance, after all!).

The action and suspense keeps up a steady pace and continually grows throughout the book so you don't want to put it down! I had a knot in my stomach the whole time I reading it because I wanted more and hated the idea of stopping. The chemistry between Maia and Creed, whether it be their physical attraction or their stubborn head-butting, is electric and you can't help but cheer for their relationship to survive despite all the obstacles in their way. At times Creed was a bit of a bastard, due to his normal personality or the dark forces that had crept into his mind, but you still wanted them together. They need each other, and were prefect for each other.

A fantastic read and Patti O'Shea just gets better with each book. I give In Twilight's Shadow a solid 9 on my 1-10 rating. The third book in the serious comes out later this week and I can't wait to pick it up and continue in the world of the Gineal!

After reading a book like this, and even the first one of the series, it makes me look back at my own writing; and I almost second-guess my writing abilities. At times I wonder if I write a plot with intrigue and mystery as well as Patti O'Shea. Do I reveal too much right away and not build up the proper suspense it deserves? Well, I think I don't do it as well... but I also know the story that I'm writing, so I already know what's going to happen, so some of the suspense is lost to me. But I fear that my precognition of the events of the book bleed through somehow and I don't keep things as closely guarded as I should. Ugh. As certain people have told me before: I need to stop comparing myself to others! But it's so hard once you read a book as epic as this one! Awesomely, the third book of the series, Edge of Dawn comes out on the 30th. However, I have to wait a few more days before I can get it, because I pre-paid for it at work (to get extra discounts off it!), and it won't ship until after the 30th. ACK!