Review: Shadow Born by Rebecca Hamilton + Jasmine Walt

Shadow Born

Author: Jasmine Walt, Rebecca Hamilton

Release Date: August 16, 2016

Publisher: Blue Bolt Publishing

Shadows of Salem Book #1

ASIN:   B01FT4OAUW

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Review Copy Source: Author

Chicago Police Detective Brooke Chandler is keeping a secret… and if she’s not careful, it could get her killed.

Brooke is no stranger to the supernatural. In Chicago, vampires are just as prevalent as drug lords, and infinitely more bloodthirsty. So when her partner and fiancé dies in a mysterious fire while chasing down a lead in Salem, she suspects something dark and otherworldly is at play.

Blessed with the ability to see into the past by touching inanimate objects, Brooke transfers to the Salem PD, hoping her talent will help her get to the bottom of things. Between dodging assassination attempts and being stonewalled at every turn, the going is tough. Add in a mysterious fae club owner with secrets of his own and a personal grudge against her, and it becomes nearly impossible.

If Brooke wants to play in the supernatural sandbox, she’s going to have to roll up her sleeves and get dirty. But how many people will have to die for Brooke to discover the truth about her fiance? And is she even ready to know?

Both Rebecca Hamilton and Jasmine Walt are new authors to me. I can't remember how the came to be on my radar, but I saw the cover for SHADOW BORN at some point, knew I had to read it after reading the blurb and added it to my wishlist. Once I started reading it became clear that storyline was easy to follow, there were interesting characters and I very easily stayed glued to the pages.

I had no trouble liking Brooke. From the first chapter you start to get a good idea of who she is and what she is willing to do to get answers and justice. As for her being a part of the supernatural world in  her own right, there is a ton of mystery. A few things are revealed throughout the book, but there is so much more to learn. Maddock took a little bit to grow on me. He is a bit of a mystery, but by the end of SHADOW BORN I really wanted more to be between him and Brooke. They butt heads a lot, but they definitely have a spark and I have some hopes for them in future books.

So if you jumped ahead to my rating you might be wondering why I gave SHADOW BORN a 3.5. Well, the murdered fiance part of the storyline was a HUGE part of the story and while there are a lot of answers, the closure part of the story was lacking to me. I can't really say much about it without giving away spoilers, but I needed a little more out of the final revelations at the end.

Will I read book two? Heck yes, I immediately stalked the author page to get more information for it. SHADOW MARKED is expected to release on October 28th and I can't wait to jump back into the Shadows of Salem world.

I gave it 3.5/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.