Shadowed (Dark Protectors, #6)

by Rebecca Zanetti

“Intense. I love it.” --Night Owl Reviews

Danger signs rise off Jase Kayrs like steam—the scars, the secrets, the strength. He’s got a mission, and he’s not interested in much outside of it. Except Brenna Dunne.

Brenna was an ass-kicking, name-taking witch—before the poison that’s killing her sapped her powers too. She knows there’s more to Jase than a handsome face and an ugly history. But there’s no time to find out what. Taking him as her mate might save her life. But once she unleashes the force of his desire, there will be no turning back…

Ready or not, here they come…

Includes a preview of Rebecca Zanetti’s exciting new series, The Scorpius Syndrome!

“Paranormal romance at its best!” --Cynthia Eden

• ISBN10: 1601831528
• ISBN13: 9781601831521
• Publish Date: 3 October 2013 (first published 1 January 2013)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Ekensington Originals
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 289
• Language: English

Reviews

[Melanie]

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

I was really excited to finally get to Jase’s book. As the youngest of Kayrs brothers, he was always the funnest brother. That is until he was kidnapped and tortured by demons for five years. Not only did the demons physically torture him, but they also did some pretty bad mental torture on him. We saw some of this torture in the previous book. Once he got out, he was not whole and he was no longer the fun-loving brother that he was before capture. He had only one thing on his mind, revenge.

Brenna Dunne isn’t supposed to exist according to several people. As the eight sister to a seventh sister, she is an abomination. No witch has ever had an eighth daughter before. They are supposed to stop at seven. There is also a prophecy about her, the solstice and a comet. People believe she is going to blow up the universe. Needless to say that has a target on her head. In an earlier book, she was poisoned and it has been killing her slowing ever since. In a desperate move to save her life, they decide that she needs to mate with a vampire to help heal the poison out her system. Jase agrees to this arranged mating because he wants her powers to go after the demons.

This is my favorite romance of the series so far. Both of these two are broken, in different ways, but broken none the less. They both agree to this arrange mating for different reasons. Both of them come together to be what the other needs to save themselves and to save each other. It is things that they are forced to do as a couple that will save them. Their love for each other that will help make them whole.

There is also a ton of stuff that happens with the war. Garrett, Janie’s young brother, is kidnapped by the Kurjans. Janie is forced to make tough decisions which really puts her at odds with her family that wants to protect her, but she knows that she must join this war if she is going to end it. Janie’s book is the next one and final book in the series. I’m excited to see how it will all wrap up.

Narration
Once again, Karen White does an amazing job. Brenna has this great Irish brogue. I don’t like it as much as Moira’s, who also has a large part in this book, but Brenna’s voice was wonderful. She also did a great job with gravelly demon voices, which I’m sure were tough to do. She continues to do a great job with men and female voices. I did listen at an increased speed, but that is normal for me.

[EBookObsessed]

Jase Kayrs, the youngest of the Kayrs brothers, was always the happy, fun-loving brother. But five years ago he was captured by the demons and was tortured both physically and mentally. By the time his brothers located him, he had given up all hope and had been praying for the peace of death. Jase was so desperate for the torture to stop that he almost agreed to mate with the demon leader’s sister, Willa, but it was one of Brenna Dunne’s paintings hanging on the wall of Willa’s bedroom that centered him once again and gave him the courage to fight on.

So when the King asked Jase to mate with Moira’s sister, Brenna, to save her from the poison slowing killing her, Jase didn’t hesitate to agree. Since mates take on each other’s strengths, it is hoped that Jase’s vampire strength would boost Brenna’s system to fight off the poison’s effects, and Jase wants to gain Brenna’s abilities as well so that he can finally destroy the demons…every one of them.

While big sister, Moira, is the seventh daughter of the seventh daughter and a powerful witch. Brenna is the unheard of eighth daughter of a seventh daughter, and a pariah among the witches. Brenna was born at the convergence of the winter solstice and the passing Pagurus comet. As the comet will soon pass once again on the night of the solstice, fulfilling a very vague prophesy which can be interpreted as Brenna gets great power or maybe, she destroys the world. But all the factions are fighting to get to Brenna first; some want to use her and some want to destroy her before the solstice arrives.

Although Jase agreed to mate Brenna for a strategical reason, he is finding that being with her brings him the same feeling of peace that her painting brought to him during his torture. For the first time since his capture, Jase is actually feeling hope.

What happens if Brenna can survive the poisoning, the comet and the solstice? Will Brenna lose Jase anyway to the rage which is burning inside him for revenge?

THOUGHTS:

I jumped this story up my TBR list. I just couldn’t wait anymore. I have been dying for this story since I did an interview with Rebecca Zanetti back in 2012 and she hinted that Jase will be captured by demons.

As the series progressed we learned the years had passed and that they still have no location on Jase, and then in Kane’s story, Provoked, we got a glimpse into how bad the torture was for Jase both physically and mentally. We also got a foreshadowing of the peace that Brenna would bring to Jase and maybe she would help him heal.

This story falls under my favorite trope of the wounded hero, and it did not disappoint. Jase is filled with rage at the demons. He is frustrated because his brothers are filled with guilt for failing to find Jase and they treat him like an invalid. Maybe he can’t control his rage during a battle and maybe he can’t go back underground without falling victim to a panic attack and maybe he can no longer control the elements like he used to, but he does not wanted be treated like he is damaged. It is only Brenna who looks past his anger and treats him like she always did.

Brenna has always had an attraction for Jase and therefore, agrees to the mating, but she fears that she will lose everything if she looses her heart to Jase since he is determined to fulfill his suicidal mission to destroy all the demons. But whenever Jase is with Brenna, he turns towards her healing kindness and she will begin to become more important to him than his vengeance.

I believe Rebecca Zanetti has at least two more short stories that will come out before she gets to Janie’s story which would be the conclusion of the series. Young Janie is now 24 and she has known since she was a child that the destiny of the war and the world would be in the hands of herself, Kalin (the leader of the evil Kurjans) and Zane (half vampire/half we’re-not-so-certain and a soldier for a warring army that might not be on the same side as our vampires). After this last story, I’m getting to the point I can’t wait. I have to see how it all turns out in the end. Please, please, please, finish the story.

Received an ARC from netgalley, courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

See more at http://ebookobsessed.com

[Cocktails and Books]

After being tortured for five years at the hands of the demons, Jase Kayrs is a changed man. What was once a happy, lighthearted soul is replaced with anger and vengeance. Five years after his rescue, he’s asked by the king to mate with Brenna Dunne to help save her from a poison that’s been slowly killing her for the past 10 years. Jase agrees to the mating in order to have access to her powers and the possibility of rekindling his own powers which have been dormant since his torture. Will the mating save them or destroy what’s left?

With the war escalating, demons, witches, and Kurjans attacking from all sides and an unexpected, yet dangerous ally, the Kayrs brothers can’t seem to catch a break. Brenna has her own problems to deal with: dying, losing the ability to form magic, being hunted by all factions, and facing a loveless mating, just to name a few. Brenna always thought she was a freak because she was born as an eighth sister to a seventh sister since there has never been a recorded event of that in all of the history of witches. There’s a lot of speculation around Brenna’s birth that has factions either trying to mate her to balance the immeasurable powers she is prophesized to receive on the winter solstice and another faction, including the Citizens Revolting Against Pagurus (CRAP, hehe), that want Brenna dead. It seems business as usual for the Kayrs.

I have had my fingers crossed for a Jase/Brenna mating ever since Brenna was introduced in Conn’s book! I knew she would be perfect for Jase and I’m glad Rebecca did as well! I hated seeing how Jase’s character changed since his torture. His laughter and easy smile killed by those damn demons. Brenna’s loving and nurturing nature really paired well with Jase’s hard edges. It wasn’t an easy road to journey and there were many times I didn’t think Jase could pull up from the self-destructive blaze of glory he’d resigned himself to.

My favorite part of the book was seeing all the brothers interacting together. When there are so many characters in a book, it’s hard for everyone to have face time. I’m sure glad the Kayrs brothers did, even though they were conversing in fisticuffs the majority of the time.

This book is the most action-packed of the series. There is so much going on, as soon as something else seems tied up, something else happens and the domino effect continues. There’s also lots of explosions, rescue attempts, smokin’ hot chemistry between Jase and Brenna, many fights between brothers, aFifty Shades reference that had me laughing out loud and a hilarious drunken barroom brawl with a couple of shifters.

Zane, Zane, Zane. We finally get to see him in the real world and not just in Janie’s dreams. I totally love him but he is starting to piss me off. He needs to show up, throw Janie over his shoulder and ride off into the sunset; perhaps in the next book? There are many surprises in the story and a scene that really “killed” me to read. I laughed, I cried, I was on the edge of my seat with anxiety and anticipation.

Rebecca is a great author and creates characters with such depth and emotion. Her books are always an auto buy for me because she is masterful in creating these magical worlds to get lost in. I recommend ANY Rebecca Zanetti book to readers who enjoy the same.

Reviewed by Elizabeth for Cocktails and Books