Review: Claimed By Shadow

Karen Chance ups the ante for Cassandra Palmer in Claimed By Shadow, as the young heroine must embrace her destiny even though it’s the last thing she wants to do.

Action picks up in Claimed By Shadow not long after events in Touch The Dark.

Cassie is on the run from everyone now, having abandoned her vampire “protectors,” unsure of who to trust. She learns, while on the lam, that her vampire master has put a “geis,” a magical territorial claim that warns would-be lovers away, on her. Meanwhile, her powers continue to grow, enabling her to better control her shifts through time. Many plots are afoot, however, and it’s up to Cassie, chosen to be the world’s most powerful clairvoyant and guardian of time, to sort everything out and to make sure that things turn out for good. It’s not a charge she wants, but it is one she has to face, along with the implications of the geis, her vampire master, and the friend who betrayed her.

The Cassandra Palmer series reminds me of Keri Arthur’s Riley Jenson Guardian series — they are urban fantasies where romance, love and sex are found, but getting a couple with chemistry together isn’t the central goal. Rather, those elements play a part in a bigger story, and often times help define the character on a personal, intimate level.

This is a well-written series with a broad and intriguing mythology, melding varies figures and stories of lore from around the globe, and I am interested to see where Ms. Chance takes Cassie next in Embrace the Night (4/2008).

P.S. If you don’t find this series (or Keri Arthur’s) in your local bookstore’s romance section, make your way over to the fantasy/sci-fi shelves. You just might find them there!

Have you read Claimed by Shadow? If so, please feel free to leave a comment and let us know what you think.