Toot's Book Reviews: Shadow's Claim: Immortals After Dark: The Dacians by Kresley Cole (PNR)

Blurb from kresleycole.com

#1 New York Times bestseller Kresley Cole introduces The Dacians, a new paranormal romance collection following the royal bloodline of Dacia, a vampire kingdom hidden within the Lore of the Immortals After Dark.

Shadow's Claim features Prince Trehan, a ruthless master assassin who will do anything to possess Bettina, his beautiful Sorceress mate, even compete for her hand in a blood-sport tournament—to the death.

HE WON'T BE DENIED

Trehan Daciano, known as the Prince of Shadows, has spent his life serving his people, striking in the night, quietly executing any threat to their realm. The coldly disciplined swordsman has never desired anything for himself—until he beholds Bettina, the sheltered ward of two of the Lore's most fearsome villains.

SHE'S BOUND TO ANOTHER

Desperate to earn her guardians' approval after a life-shattering mistake, young Bettina has no choice but to marry whichever suitor prevails—even though she's lost her heart to another. Yet one lethal competitor, a mysterious cloaked swordsman, invades her dreams, tempting her with forbidden pleasure.

A BATTLE FOR HER BODY AND SOUL

Even if Trehan can survive the punishing contests to claim her as his wife, the true battle for Bettina's heart is yet to come. And unleashing a millennium's worth of savage need will either frighten his Bride away—or stoke Bettina's own desires to a fever-pitch....

To buy, click here:
Shadow's Claim: Immortals After Dark: The Dacians

Damn, when Kresley Cole decides to do a spin-off......she does a spin-off with the might of her mighty pen!

The blurbs will give you the gist of the story but I'll give you a short setup. First, if you didn't know, this is a spin off from Kresley Cole's famous Immortals After Dark series. This series involves the Dacians' whom we get our first real look at in the last IAD book, Lothaire. This book actually takes place right alongside the events in that book. So if you haven't read Lothaire yet, I'd suggest reading it, to get a better grasp on the happenings but it's not a requirement, just a suggestion.

So as for the story, we have our hero, Trehan whom is a Prince of the Dacians. He is also their royal assassin. He's sent to track down and execute a Demon named Caspion who's hiding out in his home realm. While having tracked Caspion, Trehan decides to take a look around the town for a bit while waiting for the perfect opportunity to kill him and is drawn to a light in a tower window.

Enter our heroine Bettina. She's the orphaned Princess of Caspion's Demon realm and Caspion is her BFF. She's agreed to be the winning prize in a tournament because she will be ascending to the throne and her guardians think she needs a king/protector but she's having second thoughts. As a last ditch effort to get out of the agreement before the tournament can take place and her get married off to whomever wins, Bettina decides to seduce Caspion, that way she won't be a virgin bride and therefore not a fitting prize (isn't that what BFF's are for?). Unfortunately for Bettina, Caspion has absolutely no romantic feelings for her and tells her so. He doesn't want to be tied down or king. He says he's waiting for his mate, although he's a notorious man-whore. Still holding out hope, Bettina puts a lantern in her window, so that Caspion knows she's thinking of him.

As you can imagine, with that set up, the fates and/or Kresley Cole, are going to wreak havoc on the threesome. You can probably guess what happens next although the ending isn't want you would predict but yes, Trehan enters the tournament and so does Caspion, begrudgingly.

What I loved most about this story is probably also what you wouldn't think, it's actually all the wonderful cameo roles of some of our favorite IAD characters. Even though this story is taking place alongside Lothaire, Kresley Cole does a fantastic job of winding the two stories together to make very plausible appearances by some of our favs. I actually think my favorite was a scene that involves Lothaire and Elizabeth. Ahhhhh Lothaire can really spout words of wisdom when he wants to!!

As for the main story, I actually listened to this book via audio book and I think it was much more enjoyable that way. The narrator did a fabulous job of really bringing some wonderful emotion to all the characters that might be lost in the reading of it. I've read other reviews that said that Bettina comes off wimpy and confusing. Trehan comes off as a caveman and Caspion as a brat but with listening to it on audio book, I found that the narrator really brought life to the characters in his portrayals. Bettina to me came off as shy and uncertain at first but eventually grows into a woman capable of being a queen. Trehan comes off as very arrogant in the beginning and by the end, he's so tortured with emotions and love that he's literally gone crazy and Caspion, well he's still a clueless twit but you can see his point of view, LOL.

The story is full of action, romance, strength, epic battles and tender moments. Definitely worth the read!