Seduced by Shadows, A Review

Seduced by Shadows is Jessa Slade’s opening salvo in her Marked Souls Series and a grand salvo it was. Seduce tells the story of Good vs Evil, Black vs White and all the shades of Grey in between. A history of Damnation, a dream of salvation with twists and curves and jaw dropping suspense until the very end. I believe Seduced is aptly name because the entire book is pure seduction.. That’s right is teases and taunts, flirts it’s way into the readers very being all while telling a story of hope lost and faith found.

It’s amazing that a book that is termed PNR Romance could be so much more. It makes one question.. which is an interesting coincidence since the main female is tempted by her desire to KNOW. She is the ultimate toddler with the ever present why! Not that I feel there was anything juvenile or infantile about Sera.

The Talya, people who faced their temptations and lost.. became possessed by demons who want to find their redemption. The thing is, the only way towards redemption is to die trying. Once a demon possesses someone they are given all the perks of immortality except of course they can and do eventually die, several hundred years later.. or of course in battle. These demons want nothing more than to return to heaven, to find their redemption so they fight.. eternally, they fight. The ever growing mass of Demons who escape from behind the veil to wreak havoc upon an unsuspecting world (don’t you just love when you get to use phrases like that?). For Millennium the Talya have all been men, even the history of female Talya is seeped in myth. Needless to say the advent of Sera Littlejohn with her powerful Demon confuses them all, most especially Archer.

Ferris Archer, knew there was something big coming.. “The end is nigh” quoted his brother in arms. As an immortal being fighting along side his inner demon, this once tempted man tried to warn Sera. Tried to tell her don’t give in to temptation only to find out later that temptation took his face, while offering Sera her promises. Archer is a brooding, loner who gave up his faith an hope before he was even possessed. Two hundred years later he has to rethink his beliefs. He knows there is a connection between Sera and himself. He knows something powerful happens when they touch but he doesn’t trust it. He pretty much doesn’t trust anything. All in all he is a great anti-hero.

Sera Littlejohn, a woman who really should have just lost faith.. in life in general. Her father is ailing, her mother is gone, her body is wracked from an accident and her job is all but on the line. Since her mother’s disappearance she has spent a lifetime learning how to usher the dead from this life into the next. She offers them peace and consoles the families a beacon of gentleness in a harsh time. And yet beset with the need to know, why? Unknowingly tempted by the visage of a handsome stranger she becomes the first Talya in recorded history.

Archer and Sera make the kind of couple that sneaks into your heart. The type you don’t always think you are going to like and then end up totally and completely in love with. Strong, intense, confused.. she wants to know why and how can she fix it and he has shut down all the doors into his soul. No way is more escaping. He stands alone and yet you don’t get the goody goody off to make everything perfect vibe from Sera, you get a woman you can understand. One of us, one who loves, who is willing to fight for and who she believes in, is willing to sacrifice for those same things and yet won’t put up with any crap in the process. Yeah, I really liked these two.

Seduced, really is a compelling story, with amazing plot twists. There are times when I cried, in frustration, in grief, in triumph! I was completely sucked into this book. It had a slow start and at first I was a bit confused but once I got into the rhythm of the story, I fell in love. With the characters, with the series, with the very concept. It left me with a need to read.. and read.. and read some more. Of course I have the next two books, Forged in Shadows and Vowed in Shadows already on my kindle and I am ready to go!

I can’t wait to see what is in store for these half damned men! Make sure you get yourself up to date with this fantastic series as we will be posting an interview with Jessa Slade March 13, 2012. Along with a give away and some fun questions for you the reader!!

Shauni