Devon’s review of Son of the Shadows by Nancy Holder
Paranormal Romance released by Silhouette Nocturne 1 Aug 08

I was intrigued and excited to see Nancy Holder’s name on a list of upcoming Nocturne releases. I was familiar with some of her horror short stories, and her novels for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series. Someone from such a different background could bring something really new and different to the genre, thought I. Well, this story of three magically gifted and conflicting families is different…but for this reader different did not mean good.

Son of the Shadows starts off with a bang (ha! not.) just after Isabella de Bouvard has performed sex magic with Jean-Marc de Devereaux’ soulless and presumably unconscious body. Yum. The mojo returns Jean-Marc’s soul to his body, but missing a few pieces, and it wipes out Isabella’s memory and her “gifts.” Not good. Did I mention that they are in the middle of a Louisiana forest, fighting, with bodies, lying around? Why? Well it takes awhile to find out. But we do, in an unsatisfactory way.

You see, I soon realized that this book must’ve picked up right after a prior one. I was growing increasingly frustrated, because we are told little tidbits about each and every character, but it’s info dropping, not woven into the story. We learn bits about Isabella, Jean-Marc, Isabella’s lover Pat Kitrell and others, but the reader has to fill in some major blanks. A bit of research shows that Holder wrote two Silhouette Bombshells, Daughter of the Blood and Daughter of the Flames. Of course, these books are no longer available, but from what I could gather from the Klausner reviews, these books tell Isabella and Jean-Marc’s story up to this point. Since I haven’t read them I felt awfully gypped. There’s nothing more annoying than being dropped into a developed story with little background.

Not to mention, this book did not work as a romance at all. Isabella is suffering from amnesia, and there is no connection between her and Jean-Marc, not even a new or growing one. All Isabella can remember is her feelings for her “Ungifted” lover, Pat. I wouldn’t have minded the interloper, but there was no chemistry between Isabella and Pat either. Jean-Marc didn’t seem like much of a catch anyway, with his eighties rock star ringlets and his French endearments and curses. Very Pepe LePew. At one moment he’s mad with love for Isabella, the next he’s going on about how the “Gifted” don’t love, they just have sex. I really felt as though I was being told a lot of things without being shown anything.

Everybody thinks lots of conflicting thoughts, but they don’t show each other any kind of emotion. I was completely uninvested in the characters, even finding them unsympathetic. Couldn’t tell how anyone was really feeling. Add to this one of the worst HEAs I’ve ever read in something that was supposed to be romance. Not to be spoilery, but Isabella appeared to be unconscious the entire time. It might have worked in a twisted horror story, but for a romance, we want the lovers awake.

The strength of this book was in the non-romance plot, the fight to defeat Isabella’s twin and get souls and gifts and memories back. The imagery was cartoony, and so was the evil Liliane, but these scenes were also interesting and vivid. I liked the demons and vampires as well. Ms. Holder can write good fighting/action scenes. I haven’t been more disappointed by a hero/heroine and their romance in a long time. I’d only try this if you’ve read and enjoyed the prior books. I might try the author again, but mostly out of curiosity.

Grade: D

Summary:

Jean-Marc de Devereaux, son of the magical House of the Shadows and its most powerful mage, loses a part of himself when a demon ravages his soul. Though an intense union with Isabelle De Bouvard—a powerful mage—enables Jean-Marc to recover his soul, the union costs his forbidden lover her powers. And the powers of darkness still call out to him. If Jean-Marc heeds that call and kills Isabelle, the world will fall to the evil unleashed by their worst enemy—Isabelle’s twin sister.

Somehow Jean-Marc must learn to control his deadly impulses and restore Isabelle’s memories. And the only way to do that might be impossible. For he must open himself to that most treacherous of all human emotions—love.…

Read an excerpt here.