Kinley Baker

This is book 2 of the Shadowed Love Series, the story opens with Caleb trying to prove his people worthy of residing in the Shadow Shifters kingdom. He promises that he and his men, the only survivors of his kingdom, will leave the Shadow women alone until they have proven themselves honorable…Then he finds his ahora, the woman he is to be with. I loved this story, although a work of fiction, exemplifies how different cultures have different ideals and religious beliefs. As in the story, Caleb wanted acceptance and trust from the king and his people. I also enjoyed the love/hate relationship that went on between he and Tabitha. This was a fantastic adventure that drew me in and kept me mesmerized until the very end!… (meer)

3.5 STARS!

The following review is a partial review. To read the entire text, please visit http://tbqspersonalbookpalace.blogspot.com/2012/04/review-ruined.html

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Fantasy, love and intrigue combine to form a quick story that is sure to please!

Vale has spent his entire life in the shadow of his older brother, Zander. As heir, Zander has always been the responsible one. As the King, Zander was the one in control, while Vale was most often seen in the forests hunting. But when Zander goes missing, and is later declared dead, the throne is suddenly thrust upon Vale's shoulder. Can he bare the weight of the job better suited for his brother?

Jessa, the Senior Healer, has spent the last few years secretly spying on Vale. Something about him captures her attention—and ignites passion within her. She knows nothing could ever come of such an affair, especially once he is made King, but how can she walk away when her body wants her to stay with him?

As far as creating an enjoyable fantasy world goes, Kinley Baker has done a wonderful job. I was very interested in the world she introduced to us in Ruined, and it's one I'd like to read more about.
However, I was left wanting a bit. I wanted to know more about the Realm of Shadows and the people who lived in it. I felt like I was only given parts of the picture and I wanted to see the whole thing. I will say I'm quiet interested by the mysterious Varner that are introduced towards the end of the book—they're mating bonds are very unusual, and, depending on how the writing is pulled of, it could be quiet sexy!

My feeling of disappointment spread to other parts of the story, too. The romance was pretty good, but nothing grand. I wanted to like Vale and Jessa, but in the end they were just “ok”. I felt like I only knew a little bit about them, and it just wasn't enough.

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This review is property of TBQ's Book Palace (The_Book_Queen)… (meer)

This book is without a doubt a paranormal romance. It has all the elements you would need to make it a paranormal book, but it is also very heavy on the romance. I do really enjoy paranormal romance books, but often times I find that paranormal romances feel like they need to be so romance filled, that they put in a lot of unnecessary sex scenes that don't actually propel the plot. This was not at all the problem for this book at all, the romance in the book was instrumental to the plot of the book and helped move it forward.

I really enjoyed the book overall, there were a wide variety of characters, and lets just say that Jessa and Vale had some serious opposition to them being together. It pretty much seemed like everyone was out to keep them apart. It could have been repetitive but each one of the characters who wanted to keep them apart had their own unique reasons for it. I think it made it all the more interesting to watch Jessa and Vale try to find a way to be together in spite of everything that was going on.

The novel starts with a tragedy, the death of King Zander (Vale's brother), and this death is a huge undertone to the entire book. Mystery shrouds what happened to him and why. And as this book is going to have a sequel I am pretty sure more of that mystery will be revealed (at least I hope so). You find others had a hand in his death, and as you read you want to find out more. In fact so many of the characters all had their own little parts to play that all indirectly or directly played a role in some serious changes for the kingdom.

The villains in this book Vierty and Andre are really well written. They both have their own motivations, and are sometimes willing to work with others to get their goals achieved, but one thing is clear about them, they are only in it for themselves. They are master manipulators who are interesting to watch, because as you are reading the book you just can't help but hope someone brings them down a notch.

One of the most sad things about this book was the group of basically refugees that are introduced. They have lost everything, they lost their home, and they lost the women of the kind. There is so much despair in these people, and you can't help but feel for them.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. I am going to give this book a "Good" rating because while I enjoyed all the elements listed above, I did feel like the pace of the novel got very quick towards the end, which sometimes made the characters actions feel rushed or inorganic. But other than that it is a great read, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys paranormal romance, or someone who enjoys romance but wants to try out a book with paranormal elements.… (meer)