Title: Shattered
Author: M.L. Rhodes
Publisher: http://www.amberquill.com/Amber/Allure
Genre: Paranormal, Dark Fantasy, GLBT (M/M)
Length: Extended Novella (31K words)
Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5
THE BLURB
In Book II in The Vertigo Chronicles, Simon Saint-Saëns hunts the creatures of darkness others fear—beings that come through dimensional rifts into this world from a world called Vertigo. Simon’s chosen to isolate himself and fight alone. But when the man he’d once loved and thought dead makes a sudden and shocking appearance, Simon finds himself torn between his self-imposed duty and the deeply entrenched feelings he still has for Jaden Cole.
After a battle in which Simon is almost killed, Jade knows there’s only one being powerful enough to help them. He and Simon journey into the dark caverns beneath the city to an ancient realm of magic and illusion. There, Jade makes a deal that will help ensure Simon’s protection from the wraith that wants him dead. In a world where human inhibitions are stolen at the door, however, and primal passions reign, Jade quickly finds himself losing control not only of the beast that lives within him, but a dark dangerous secret he’s yet to share with Simon…one that could shatter everything…
THE REVIEW
Shattered opens a short time after the end of Vertigo, Book I in this series, and Simon and Jade still have secrets which they cannot share because they fear rejection. The enormity of their burdens and the extent to which they will go to protect each other leads to a deal with the Faerie Queen whose demands could place them in even more jeopardy and they may have to pay the ultimate price for her protection. However, they have no choice if they want to defeat the wraith whose sole objective is to kill Simon.
But before they can seal the deal, Jade’s wolf emerges and creates havoc in the land of the Fae. The secret that he has kept since his return is revealed to Simon who can only marvel as Jade’s full power is unleashed and for the first time he has to submit to Jade’s unbelievable strength. But Simon has his own secrets and reservoir of awesome magic which he must use in order to save Jade when he is struck down by aliens.
In Shattered, Simon and Jade acknowledge that they value one thing above all – each other. This is the recurring theme of Book II in this series. I thought that this was a much better story than Vertigo because the characters were more fully developed and the author gave the readers an expanded back story of the protagonists and bridged their lives since Jade had been presumed dead 9 years ago. The Faerie Queen and her realm added complexity to the story with new paranormal and magical elements, and the different creatures introduced in this book gave it a heightened sense of danger and immediacy in the fighting sequences. Jade and Simon switch places and demonstrate their strengths and vulnerabilities and the characters seem to draw their strength from each other.
M.L. Rhodes has a gift for world building and placing the readers right in the middle of the fray in whatever dimension her aliens inhabit and Shattered continues this tradition. Anyone who visits this blog on a regular basis knows that I love paranormal stories and when they are as well done as Shattered, and in addition are enhanced with magic to create a superb story, that for me is a wonderful book. And let’s not forget the incredible sex which is a trademark of this author.
If you like dark fantasy with demons and heroes that have superhuman powers, battles between good and evil in a mythical far away land, with creatures who threaten the world and demonstrate their awesome power against humans, then you will love Shattered. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes excellent paranormal adventures with fantasy elements and lots of action.
