Review: Shadow Reaper by Christine Feehan

Shadow Reaper

Author: Christine Feehan

Release Date: May 30, 2017

Publisher: Jove

Shadow Book #2

ISBN:   0399583955

ISBN13: 9780399583957

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Review Copy Source: Publisher via NetGalley

#1 New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan continues her sexy new series, as the Ferraros—a Chicago crime family—use their power as shadow riders to protect their empire and the ones they love…

Billionaire playboy Ricco Ferraro knows no other life. Being a shadow rider is in his blood - but so is a haunting desperation stemming from the secrets of his dark past. His recklessness puts not only his life at risk, but also the future of his entire family. To save them all, he must find a woman who can meet his every desire with a heat all her own...

Just when Ricco has given up hope, he meets her - a mysterious woman whose shadow connects with his. She's someone looking for a safe haven from the danger that has stalked her over the last several months. In Ricco's embrace, she finds one. But the darkness in which they so often find sanctuary can also consume them...

I absolutely loved SHADOW RIDER and couldn't wait to get my hands on SHADOW REAPER. Although book two didn't blow me away, I still enjoyed jumping back into the Shadow world and revisiting some of my favorite characters from book one.

I really liked both Ricco and Mariko as characters and they worked well together as allies and a couple, but their relationship didn't seem to resonate as deeply with me as Stefano and Francesca from book one did. I don't know why, I just felt like their romance was missing that all consuming connection that I was looking for. On top of that, I wasn't really into the Shibari aspect of their relationship so those moments bored me more than pulled me in. Their back stories however pulled me in like their relationship didn't. Both of their stories were very interesting and heartbreaking at times.

The pace in SHADOW REAPER was on the slower side, but I really loved all the action scenes. I really enjoyed the fact that Mariko was bad-ass on her own and was able to completely and fully protect herself and those around her and although Ricco wanted to protect her, he LET her protect herself.

Although SHADOW REAPER wasn't the home run that SHADOW RIDER was for me, it was still a great addition to the shadow world. I learned a lot more about the world and the characters and it made me love all the characters even more than I did before. I will be stalking Goodreads until book three goes up so I can add it to my wishlist.

I gave it 3.5/5 stars

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