Forsaken by Shadow {novella review} * * * 3/4

** Check back soon for an interview with the author

and giveaway of the novella! **

Forsaken by Shadow by Kait Nolan

- paranormal romance, UF, novella -

reviewed by Tara SG

bought eBook via Amazon.com ($1.00!!)

Book Order (Mirus World)

1. Forsaken by Shadow (novella) * * * 3/4
2. Untitled Novel

Links

Author’s Website : www.kaitnolan.com

Amazon : eBook ($1.00)

Add To Your GoodReads TBR List

This book in 6 words:

absolutely fantastic start to new series

Why did I read this? And am I glad I did?

I came across this via Wicked Little Pixie and was a little on the fence. I could tell she was super excited about the MMA/UFC element and I hoped that didn’t mean that it was the focus of the story… but for $1.00 how could I not try it?! I really loved this and cannot wait for the rest of the series. While I think the pacing, info, and characters were done very-well in the novella, I liked it so much I left wanting more. Again, I’m pleasantly surprised by a debut author I’ll definitely be reading the rest of the series.

Brief Summary

Cade Shepherd is on top of the world as this year’s Ultimate Fighting Champion. He doesn’t even remember his life as Gage Dempsey, a Shadow Walker with the ability to magically transport himself from shadow to shadow. In fact, he can’t remember anything before waking up in a cheap motel room ten years ago with mysterious burns on his hands–not even the woman he almost died for.

Embry Hollister has picked up the pieces of her life, learned to control her ability to generate flame, and now works an enforcer for the Council of Races. But when her father is captured by the human military and the Council refuses mount a rescue mission, Embry has no choice but to go rogue. All she has to is find the man with the new name and new life who was completely wronged by her people, give him back the memories they stole, convince him to join her on what’s probably a suicide mission, and hope that after ten years of living as a regular guy he still remembers what her father taught him.

And after that, she just has to leave him. Again.

- via GoodReads.com

Plot/Pacing/Writing Style

I was extremely impressed with how developed the story was in this novella. We get a good understanding of the new world the author has created. Looks like we’ll have a ton of different mythical creatures featured in future books! Thanks to the glossary of terms in the beginning, we aren’t overloaded with explanations for every little thing.

The pacing was fairly intense which I think is expected/wanted out of a story of this length.

I really enjoyed the writing style. Ms Nolan does a great job of easing you into her new world and making you care about the characters within the first few chapters.

Characters

I almost always start with the female, but I think I’ll shake things up and start with Gage/Cade. You couldn’t help but feel bad for him within the first few pages. He’s a twenty-something that wakes up not knowing who or where he is, but feeling like he’s supposed to be protecting someone… and failing at it. We forward 10 years and he’s made a life for himself before Ember walks in and shakes things up again. I loved watching him deal with his dueling lives and his feelings for Ember.

Embry is someone I want to get to know more. We get a good feel for how caring she is and strong she can be. I like that she’s stubborn and willing to break the rules. It was hard to watch her try to kill her feelings for Gage, but also entertaining

There are a few side characters (Adan, the drakyn, the hunters, Matthias…) that I’m really looking forward to showing up in the future books.

Recommendations

If you like paranormal romance or UF, I’d highly recommend giving this a try (specially since it’s cheap and fairly short).