Shannon C.’s review of Through the Veil by Shiloh Walker
Fantasy romance released by Berkley Sensation 3 Jun 08

I like Shiloh Walker. She seems to be one of the most together people out there in romancelandia, and, what’s even better for me as a reader, she is one of those authors I can turn to for a nice comfort read. I may not love all her books, but I can count on her to tell me a fun story with engaging characters that I will be rooting for. Plus, well, she gave me an e-ARC, for which she is automatically due kudos and cookies.

The plot centers around Lee, a graphic artist who keeps waking up after receiving strange bruises all over her body. She does not know that her bruises come because she has been entering a completely different world in her dreams, where she must fight the invading hordes who would destroy her allies. Among those for whom she fights is Kalen, a devastatingly sexy man with the face of a dark angel, who is determined that Lee should come from her world into his, to be with him and to embrace her destiny.

I liked Kalen and Lee well enough. They are both reluctant heroes, forced by the hand that fate has dealt them to fight a war they can’t win. I particularly enjoyed watching Kalen fight his attraction to Lee, knowing that he couldn’t have anything soft in his life. Lee herself is less compelling, because though she comes to fight alongside Kalen, it took her a little too long to realize how important she was. She never quite reaches ‘annoyingly shrill’, but she does come close a time or two. I would have also liked to see more of the romance between herself and Kalen, because it is set aside for a large percent of the overall plot.

The plot starts out a bit more slowly than I’d have liked. We get a lot of introduction to the world that Ms. Walker has created, which has a tendency to bog the story down. With all the battles and magical destruction, this is a shame because I think this story would have been vastly better if there were more of a suspenseful element to the plot. As it was, all the explanations and the struggles Lee has to deal with in order to come to terms with her purpose in the story started to feel a bit old after a while and I just wanted Lee to get on with it.

The secondary characters were interesting. It looks like Ms. Walker has left herself some more room to play in this world, because several of the characters definitely need their own stories told. I also didn’t expect one of Lee’s allies to be one of the characters introduced, and I was startled by who the surprise villain was.

I keep bitching that I don’t get interesting enough settings in fantasy romances, and then I bitch when things are unusual. This is not your normal paranormal romance, nor your normal fantasy, and though I think the story could have been a lot stronger than it was, I still think fans of Ms. Walker’s books or fans of fantasy romance should pick this one up.

Grade: B-

Summary:

Found wandering in a field as a child, Lee Ross was given a name by the state and placed in a foster home–without anyone realizing that she wasn’t entirely human. All her life, she’s tried to dismiss the odd dreams that have plagued her, dreams of monsters creeping through the night and a man fighting demons by her side. But the bruises she wakes up with are all too real to ignore. . .

Then the man from her dreams appears–in the flesh. His name is Kalen, and he insists that her destiny lies in his world, the world of her dreams. To save their people, he mist convince Lee to give up everything she knows, follow her heart, and cross over into the Under Realm–even though once she does, she’ll never be able to return.

You can read an excerpt here.