Tag: Shadowdwellers- • BookLikes

Opening Line:"Ashla stood shivering in the darkened streets of Times Square.

Jaquelyn Frank has created a dense and complicated new society in ECSTASY. I tried very hard to like this new world but it was a tough read and fans should be warned that this is not a continuation of the Nightwalker series.

After a horrific car accident our impish heroine Ashla awakens to find herself in Shadowworld. A strange version of New York City without any lights or people. It is also a place of endless night. Just as she grows accustomed to her solitary, dark world Ashla is confronted by a sword baring warrior named Trace. He is a Shadowdweller. A being able to exist in two demensions; Realscape (our world) and Shadowscape (an in-between world i.e. ghosts, spirits, coma patients). 'Dwellers' are unable to tolerate even the smallest amount of light and therefore must live in the shadows of Realscape as well as being able to fade into Shadowscape where there is no risk of light. If a Dweller however remains in Shadowscape too long he risks 'Euphoria' a deadly form of selfish lustfulness.

Trace has been followed into Shadowscape by a conspirator against the Shadowdwellers. He manages to kill his enemy but is mortally wounded in the process. Normally those stuck in Shadowscape such as Ashla are unaware of Shadowwalkers like Trace but fortunately for him she not only sees him but possesses the ability to heal with her touch. After healing Trace Ashla takes on his injuries and Trace, feeling responsible as well as an unexplainable connection to her lingers in Shadowscape and begins experiencing Euphoria. Ashla accommadates Trace in his sickness and they both discover that she is turned on by submission.

In Trace's culture selflessness and gentleness while making love are paramount and much time is spent schooling the youngsters in all manners of lovemaking. However Trace is so filled with Euphoria that he has all consuming, selfish sex with Ashla for days on end without relief. Evenually Trace is brought back into Realscape by two Shadowwalker warriors sent to rescue him. Leaving poor Ashla alone again in her gloomy spirit world. As Trace recovers back in Realscape he is filled with guilt and vows to return into Shadowscape, find Ashla and make amends. Unfortunately his people have begun their annual migration to Alaska and when he recovers enough he is expected to lead them.

I was initially intrigued by the idea of someone living in an in-between world of darkness and solitide but when I had to read a whole paragraph explaining what a lie means in Shadowese culture and every single detail regarding that society including sex education, history, religion and politics. I was frankly overwhelmed and became bored with the complexity of the world Jacquelyn Frank has created. There is little character developement with Trace and Ashla and I didn't ever really get a feel for their characters. The many pages spent on their lovemaking are crass and border on erotica more than romance. Fans of the Nightwalker series will be thrilled however by a scene in the final pages when Gideon makes a brief appearance.

This book is not a continuation of Jacquelyn Franks Nightwalker series and I would have a trouble recommending it to anyone except her die hard fans.

Shadowdwellers #1 shelf 9 paranormal romance Jaquelyn Frank

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review 2013-02-15 23:59

Magnus - unterhaltsam & sinnlich zugleich

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Inhalt: Magnus ist ein Mann voller Widersprüche – ein Priester im Leib eines Kriegers. Eines Tages hat er eine Vision, in der ihm eine junge Frau erscheint, die von ihrer Familie als Sklavin gehalten wird. Magnus befreit die schöne Daenaira und macht sie zur Dienerin in seinem Tempel. Doch unter den Reihen seiner Anhänger lauert Verrat. Ein unbekannter Feind will die Shadowdweller ins Verderben stürzen, und Magnus und Daenaira sind die Einzigen, die das noch verhindern können. (Quelle: Amazon.de)

Meinung: Am Anfang des Buch hatte ich damit gerechnet, dass es mir gar nicht gefallen könnte, weil ich bei "Trace" - dem vorigen Band der ShadowDwellers-Reihe - sehr enttäuscht war und das Buch mehr als nur nervig empfand.
Deswegen bin ich auch mit wenig Elan an "Magnus" herangegangen und konnte mich nicht sofort fesseln lassen, weil ich dem Buch sehr argwöhnisch entgegegen getreten war. Doch ich wurde zum Glück eines besseren belehrt!

Auch, wenn die Autorin hier wieder ihr Kunststück zeigte und die Sex-Szenen über mehr als 20 Seiten beschrieben hat - was wirklich diesmal ein Vergnügen war zu lesen -, konnte sie dennoch Spannung aufbauen wegen der Intrige im Sanktuarium.

Die Beziehung zwischen dem Priester Magnus und seiner Dienerin Dae ging mir am Anfang etwas zu schnell muss ich gestehen. Der Leser wurde nach dem Prolog sofort ins Geschehen geworfen in dem Daenaira weiterverkauft wurde. Ich fand es etwas schade, denn ich hätte gerne gewusst, wie sich Magnus bei den ganzen Visionen fühlte.

Dennoch war ihr Beziehung typisch aufgebaut für solche Bücher, obwohl Jaquelyn Frank sich wirklich Mühe gegeben hat hier ein bisschen Feuer mit Wasser zu vermischen.

Dennoch werde ich mir bald den dritten Band der Reihe besorgen, weil ich ein Charakter-Paar seit dem ersten Band habe, bei dem ich unbedingt wissen möchte, was mit dem noch passieren wird. (:

Ich werde dennoch wohl wieder mit arger Vorsicht drangehen, weil ich schon zwei Mal von der Autorin enttäuscht wurde. (Bei "Noah" von der SchattenWandler-Reihe und wie oben genannt bei "Trace" von der ShadoDweller-Reihe.)

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review 2013-02-06 00:00

Pleasure: The Shadowdwellers

The Window Seat on a Rainy Day

This book is actually two novellas rather than a single novel, and that was a bit disappointing. It seemed almost...lazy that Frank didn't find a way to weave Sagan's story with Malaya and Guin's, but I so loved Malaya and Guin's story that I really don't mind it too much! :)

First is the novella of Sagan and Valera. Sagan was the penance priest that we first got to really know in Magnus and Dae's story, Rapture, and I enjoyed seeing the austere and somewhat distance priest find his happy little witch. It was a short story, maybe less than 60 pages, but it was sweet. And since Sagan and Valera play a pivotal role in the last Nightwalker book - Adam - you can say they are important characters. I would say that the author left something hanging, though. How can an immortal live beyond his mortal life mate? Unless Frank finds a way to make Witches immortal, these two are ultimately doomed. And that takes away from the Happily Ever After.

For the full review, please go to http://www.thewindowseat13.com/2013/02/jacquelyn-frank-pleasure.html

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review 2013-01-28 00:00

Rapture: The Shadowdwellers

The Window Seat on a Rainy Day

The second book in the Shadowdweller series is not as strong as the first. Though it gives a lot more insight into the Shadowdweller world and has a wonderful Beta hero, the heroine made this a less than enjoyable read.

Magnus is the head Priest in the Sanctuary. This gives him an incredible amount of power in the Shadowdweller world. He is an advisor to kings and a man who Sinners fear. But after the death of his handmaiden, Karri, after a shattering betrayal of him, Magnus is torn. His dreams and visions are telling him he must save his next handmaiden while his conscious self doesn't want another. But he can't resist and eventually he saves Daenaira from enslavement by her aunt and uncle. He brings her to the Sanctuary, but his biggest fear is that he is bringing her into a dangerous world. One that is hiding traitors under a thin veneer. As Dae's life is threatened, I think a few times, in only the first few days, he begins to wonder why his goddess Drenna would have sent him after Dae in the first place.

For the full review, please go to http://www.thewindowseat13.com/2013/01/jacquelyn-frank-rapture.html

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review 2013-01-08 00:00

Ecstasy: The Shadowdwellers

The Window Seat on a Rainy Day

I hesitated with this series, I really did. This is an offshoot of Frank's Nightwalkers series and it focuses on the Shadowdwellers. Now, having finished the Nightwalkers with a bit of a WTF on the hanging story lines, I was nervous. But I jumped in anyway. What mixed feelings I have about that!

Trace is a Shadowdweller of considerable power. In addition to his special gift which allows him to move from Shadow to Shadow, without them being linked, he is the special advisor to the king, Tristan, and the foster son of the most powerful priest in the Sanctuary. As such, he has power, clout, and status. So when he stumbles upon a human in Shadowscape, he is stunned that he can't quite understand what she is doing there. Humans shouldn't be able to exist in Shadowscape, yet there she is. And while Ashla is there, she saves his life at the expense of her own safety. Trace knows that no matter what, he must try and help her in honor of the service she has done him.

For the full review, please go to http://www.thewindowseat13.com/2013/01/jacquelyn-frank-ecstasy.html