Shadows by Kristen Proby
Series: Bayou Magic #1
Publisher: Ampersand Publishing, Inc.
Publication Date: October 29, 2019
Date Read: October 12, 2019
Length: 324 pages
Source: Publicist/Blog Tour
★★★★☆
From New York Times Bestselling Author, Kristen Proby, comes an all new paranormal romance set in the mystical city of New Orleans…
I am never alone. Not even when I am alone.
I see the unquiet dead, the souls that wander through the French Quarter.
They can’t move on, and I can’t stop seeing them.
I wear malachite for protection, and I control what I let in. It’s the only way to stay sane. Everything changes the day Cassian Winslow joins my ghost walking tour and knocks my world off its axis with green eyes the color of the stone around my neck.
An unspeakable evil is loose in New Orleans, taking young women and leaving a bloodbath in his wake. More shadows lurking for me. More unhappy dead. There might be a way to stop it.
Open myself up to Cassian.
If I do, it could spell his death.
But if I don’t, it’s mine.
I liked this book. It wasn’t perfect but I liked it. Believe it or not, I have never read Kristen Proby’s work before picking up this book. I love paranormal stories so I thought that this would be a great place to start. So many things worked really well for me with this book and I am glad I made the decision to give it a try.
I loved the premise of this story. There are three sisters that all have extraordinary abilities. The focus is on the oldest sister Brielle in this book but we do get a chance to see the sister’s powers in action and learn some of their past. The three sisters all have different abilities. Brielle is able to see ghosts. She lives and works in New Orleans giving ghost tours to tourists and some locals. When she starts seeing recent murder victims, she knows that there is a killer on the loose.
I loved the mystery and paranormal aspects of the story. I have to admit that there were parts of this book that were a lot more graphic than I had expected…and I couldn’t have been happier about it because I love a good twisted story. The things that were happening to the women he was taking was almost hard to even think about. The bad guy in this one is a pretty sick case. I was so eager to find out who was responsible and what his motivations were. I thought that the way that Brielle was able to use her gift to help the women was rather imaginative.
Unfortunately, I did have some issues with the story. The romance is this story completely depends on insta-love. Cash see Brielle and decides he is for her. I can sometimes deal with insta-love if the couple has a lot of chemistry but I wasn’t feeling that here. Don’t get me wrong, I liked both Brielle and Cash quite a bit but they way they jumped into a relationship so quickly without even sharing a kiss just felt off. I decided to just go with it and enjoy the story but the romance always felt like the weakest part of the book.
I would recommend this book to readers who don’t mind insta-love romances. Ultimately, I enjoyed the mystery and paranormal elements in the book so much that I wasn’t too bothered by the issues I had with the romance. I do want to read the rest of the series to see what will happen to the other two sisters!
I received a digital review copy from the publicist and have voluntarily left this review.
About the AuthorKristen was born and raised in a small resort town in her beloved Montana. In her mid-twenties, she decided to stretch her wings and move to the Pacific Northwest, where she made her home for more than a dozen years.
During that time, Kristen wrote many romance novels and joined organizations such as RWA and other small writing groups. She spent countless hours in workshops, and more mornings than she can count up before the dawn so she could write before going to work. She submitted many manuscripts to agents and editors alike, but was always told no. In the summer of 2012, the self-publishing scene was new and thriving, and Kristen had one goal: to publish just one book. It was something she longed to cross off of her bucket list.
Not only did she publish one book, she’s since published close to thirty titles, many of which have hit the USA Today, New York Times and Wall Street Journal Bestsellers lists. She continues to self publish, best known for her With Me In Seattle and Boudreaux series, and is also proud to work with William Morrow, a division of HarperCollins, with the Fusion Series.
Kristen and her husband, John, make their home in her hometown of Whitefish, Montana with their two pugs and two cats.
I love the idea of it taking place in The French Quarter. Sounds pretty good and glad you enjoyed it.
I love the setting and enjoy this genre. It's a new author for me too:)
Great review! I hadn't realized that Proby had written a PNR.
I heard so much about this author but I haven't tried any of her books
I don't mind insta love most times and this definitely sounds like my kind of book.
Sometimes I can do insta, sometimes not
I have met this author but have yet to read her. This sounds pretty good. Fabulous review!
Anne – Books of My Heart
I bailed on this author a long time ago because of insta-love. I'd only read one book, and I just had a feeling she wasn't for me.
I may be in the minority, but I love graphic thrillers. It makes it so much more real. I'm glad this one worked for you in the end.
Great review!
Yep. Totally understand why the romance didn't work for you. Chemistry is a huge element when it comes to insta-love otherwise, it'll never work.