Review: Forsaken by Shadow by Kait Nolan

Book: Forsaken by Shadow by Kait Nolan
Stand Alone or Series:  Mirus Novella #1
Pages: 165

Genre:  Paranormal Romance / Urban Fantasy

Buy A Copy: Amazon | Smashwords | Barnes & Noble
Publication Date: March 25, 2010

How Did I Get This Book: Purchased from Smashwords

First Line: "He didn't open his eyes when he heard the scream."

Description: 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.

   
    Forsaken By Shadow by Kait Nolan was an exciting, interesting read. I do not remember ever reading a book about shadow-walkers before, which immediately makes this one standout. It's an urban fantasy/paranormal romance that does not center around werewolves, shape-shifters or vampires. To me, that is a feat all it's own.

    Yes, it is a novella, but I still wanted it to be longer. It’s not that the story was confusing, because it wasn’t. Nolan provides a glossary of terms at the beginning of the book that proves to be extremely helpful and makes it possible for her to skip drawn out explanations during the story. It’s simple that I wanted more story. I am a greedy reader and I honestly enjoyed the characters and unfortunately, I didn’t get my fill of them. It looks as though the following books in the series don’t deal directly with Gage and Embry; they are take place in their world. A 165 pages were not enough for me.

    Embry (or as Gage calls her, Ember) is determined, strong-willed and tough. She will do anything to get her father back, even open painful doors to her past. Embry is a fire elemental; a sort of witch who can produce, control and manipulate fire. 

    Gage is equally as awesome; he is a shadow-walker, which means he can travel from shadow to shadow. I am a bit iffy on the details, but from what I was able to gather, he just needs to envision the shadow he wants to appear in and he can bounce amongst them. Does that make sense? He can teleport between shadows – that is probably a better description. When we first meet Gage, he is living under the name Cade; he has lost his memory and has now made a career for himself as an ultimate fighter. he is a funny mix of characteristics; he is extremely tough and can be brutal, but he is also rather loyal and a bit of a southern gentleman.  

    Nolan's writing style lends itself to the fast paced story, she isn't overly concerned with descriptions. I do not mean to say that she doesn't adequately cover things - she does, but her writing is more centered around the movement of the story, as opposed to the setting.

    My major complaint with the book is that the way that Gage and Embry go about rescuing her father is extremely far-fetched. Even for a fantasy novel. I just cannot believe the way they got in to rescue him – it’s just so incredibly unlikely. I get that this was a novella, and the plot cannot be too complicated, but that was one big coincidence. 

    Overall, Forsaken By Shadow was a quick, enjoyable read. There were some predictable plot elements and sometimes things were a bit far-fetched, but the majority of the story was creative, unique and exciting. 

 Favorite Quotes

“He probably has women throwing themselves at him all the time, she thought with disgust. The sexy, successful fighter. Probably gets all the tail he could want. Neanderthal. Flavor of the week, my ass.”

“Her breath whooshed out again as he crushed her to him, almost cracking her ribs with shaking arms as one hand cradled her head. The combination of strength and gentleness all but undid her.”

“(I can’t do this with you watching me.) 'Oh for heaven’s sake, it’s not like you’re taking a piss. Just dematerialize already.' Impatience simmered in Embry’s voice.”

“It had never occurred to her that he would have built a nice life without her. She found herself unreasonably pissed off that he’d managed it so well.”

“Get this straight, woman. I am not going anywhere without you.” Terror whipped fury into his voice.”