♠ Book Summary Release ♠ The Shadows

Two brothers bound by more than blood fight to change a brutal destiny in the heart-wrenching new novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood by #1 New York Times bestselling author J. R. Ward.

Trez “Latimer” doesn’t really exist. And not just because the identity was created so that a Shadow could function in the underbelly of the human world. Sold by his parents to the Queen of the S’Hsibe as a child, Trez escaped the Territory and has been a pimp and an enforcer in Caldwell, NY for years- all the while on the run from a destiny of sexual servitude. He’s never had anyone he could totally rely on… except for his brother, iAm.

iAm’s sole goal has always been to keep his brother from self-destructing- and he knows he’s failed. It’s not until the Chosen Serena enters Trez’s life that the male begins to turn things around… but by then it’s too late. The pledge to mate the Queen’s daughter comes due and there is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and no negotiating.

Trapped between his heart and a fate he never volunteered for, Trez must decide whether to endanger himself and others- or forever leave behind the female he’s in love with. But then an unimaginable tragedy strikes and changes everything. Staring out over an emotional abyss, Trez must find a reason to go on or risk losing himself and his soul forever. And iAm, in the name of brotherly love, is faced with making the ultimate sacrifice…

★ Review ★ Story of Son

Story of Son

Book Series #: Stand Alone
Author(s):J.R. Ward
Summary: Claire Stroughton is a beautiful lawyer who would rather spend the night with a legal brief than the man of her dreams. Then a routine client meeting turns dangerous—and deeply sensual—when she is held captive by a gorgeous man with an unworldly hunger…
Rating: ★★ ½ /5

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This short story is set in the same world as her Black Dagger Brotherhood, and the fifth book in! When I started reading I thought to myself that this was going to be her regular plot format and for those who read her BDB series you know what I mean. I was shocked however that it was different (not by much), and by different I didn’t think that she was going to lead her heroine into being kidnapped for three days to become a food source for her male lead.

At first I was okay, Claire is drugged and taken to her appearing-ish-like doom. As any sane person would she immediately freaks out but soon grows curious of the male that she is confined with.
Soon, Claire becomes attracted to a man she can barely see, and gives him the name Michael (which he goes by through the rest of the book). My eye brows kept rising as I got to the first time the two have sex. To be honest, I’m taken aback.

My issue? Consent. I felt that it wasn’t all the way given, and it was supposed to be implied because they continued on. I realize there is a lot of implied consent going on in the Romance genre, but the Warden already had a – and I’m stretching this extremely thin – similar story line with Zsadist. This story could have been better and I do understand that this was a short story not a full novel. Overall, I wouldn’t re-read or recommend this short.