Seduce Me in Shadow
4 Stars

Synopsis
The Doomsday Brethren are continuing their struggle against the diabolical wizard, Mathias D'Arc while searching for Lucan MacTavish's missing mate. Unfortunately, Sydney Blair, a human reporter, has taken an interest in the possible magical aspects of certain events and Caden MacTavish is sent in to dissuade her from publishing her stories and to retrieve the Doomsday Diary which has found its way into her possession.

Review
Exciting world of magic, brotherhood, passion and good vs. evil, i.e., Harry Potter with steamy sex scenes.

The plot is fast moving and the action scenes exciting but the romance is the weakest point. Caden and Sydney's angst becomes tiresome after a while - he is in denial of his magical heritage while she is constantly questioning whether their relationship is due to a spell.

Sydney is an intrepid female reporter akin to Lois Lane. She is snarky, stubborn and reckless but her determination and courage make up for it. Cade is sexy and honorable but his inability to accept his magical abilities and the fact that Sydney is his mate is frustrating.

The best parts of the book involve the question of Shock's allegiance (his moral ambiguity makes him particularly compelling) and Ice and Sabella whose relationship is shaping up to be the best in the series - they have such intense chemistry and I look forward to finding out what happens with them.

All in all, a fast and exciting story with immersing world building make this a good addition to the series. ( )

This is the second book in the Doomsday Brethren series. The main character are Caden and Sydney. First, I have to say the alpha males in this book are crazy protective. I understand why, but some of it seems a bit over the top for me, the are even worse than the Black Dagger Brothers when it comes to their women folk. The plot was pretty good...kept moving forward. I am really starting to hate this Mathias guy even more with each book, he is like "He who shall no be named" times 1000. Its pretty bad, he is the villain of villains. The sensual scenes in this book were pretty steamy, but a tad bit slow to get going as opposed to the first book in this series. I do think someone should have bashed Caden up side the head with something hard to knock some sense into him about his adversion to magic. His friends and family are dying...why wouldn't you use all of your given abilities to do something. Overall, not to bad, I liked the first book in this series better as of right now...we shall see what number three holds. ( )

Seduce Me in Shadow by Shayla Black

Romance and magic intertwined provide the setting for this romance. Caden Mactavish has struggled all his life to be “normal”. He has done his best to avoid his family’s magical heritage. He is thrust into the conflict between good and evil when his brother’s wife is kidnapped severing their interconnected souls resulting in Lucan’s desperate illness. Caden’s search for his missing sister-in-law is complicated with his fascination with Sydney Blair, a tabloid reporter.

The Doomsday Brethren were introduced in the first book of the series, “Tempt Me With Darkness”. The Brethren and their magical talents stand between humanity and the forces of evil.

Ms. Black portrays luscious women and robust men. Unless this type of magical romance has sprung full blown from the heart throbbing consciousness of the teenage psychic, I have been pretty much blithely ignorant of the genre. The action and characters are solid but the romantic overtones that permeate the book are just not my cup of tea. Keeping in mind my age and gender, I suspect this book will be very popular as well as the prequel and sequel. I can see my teenage niece devouring it and that is to whom I will give it. For myself, I am going to start avoiding books that have covers featuring roughly shaved studs with no shirts, I am beginning to realize that the interior story is most likely not going to be one of my favorites. ( )