Shadow by Laurann Dohner
I was highly anticipating a book about one of the Gift species in Laurann Dohner’s New Species series after they were first introduced at the beginning of the series. Shadow delivered everything I hoped for. Beauty was rescued by the New Species and special ops teams that saved the Gift species and other species in the evil Mercile testing facilities. We met Beauty in Justice’s book after she was rescued by his mate Jessie. She was being held and abused by the person she called “Master”. Beauty (like the other Gift females) is kept secluded from the other species because she is deemed too fragile to be around the rest of the species society. Beauty resents this treatment and breaks free of her apartment building one stormy night because all she wants to do is experience life like everyone else. Shadow, having been on patrol, sees what he thinks is a human intruder on Species land and chases after her. Shadow had been sexually abused by Mercile and has his own set of traumatic hang-ups about women and sex, but after meeting Beauty things start to change. The ensuing attraction that blooms between the two is explosive!
"What do you need? Tell me. It's yours." Shadow
I loved that we got to watch two very fragile people get their HEA and save each other. Once the confusion about what Shadow and Beauty feel for each other is resolved their relationship is amazing! I was glad to get a book that wasn’t based on a New Species and a human relationship. We have met so many great New Species characters (Breeze, Smiley, Destiny, ect.) that it was nice to see one of them get a story. I really enjoyed that they incorporated some of the back story that will be needed for the next book about Moon. This book features the type of writing I have come to know and love from Laurann Dohner and includes: a ton of action, adventure, hot love making, and sweet dialogue.
