Into the Shadows (Undercover Associates, #3)

by Carolyn Crane

[Melanie]

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

I started this book in the middle of the series. It came highly recommended by several other bloggers that I know. I asked around if I could start with this one or if I needed to go back and start at the beginning. I was assured by several different people that starting with this book would be fine. I have to agree. I have no idea what the first two books were about, but this one felt almost more like a book one or even a stand alone.

This story is about a late mafia boss's daughter, Nadia. It takes place right after her father has been killed and the fall of his empire. She grew up being told that her mother died in childbirth. After her father's death, she learns the truth. Her mother was brought to this country to be used in the sex trade. When she got too old for that, they moved her to sweatshops. Nadia can't stop until she finds her mother.

Thorne is a former bodyguard to Nadia, but after her father's death, he was putting himself into place to take over a new gang. Thorne is undercover trying to help find out who is politically helping these gangs. Thorne and Nadia have a past, but they both thought it was just a fling, even though they both secretly wanted it to be more.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story. I like the undercover aspect with Thorne. He has to do some really tough things to keep his cover, he just keeps his endgame in his mind. I love how Nadia, who grew up in luxury, trying to make up for everything the blood money from her father has come. She frees dozens of women from the sweatshops.

There were a few things I didn't like. I was so sick of the phrases "party princess" and "love/hate". Also, there was a more angst that I would like to see in a romantic suspense. But over, I really enjoyed the story and will getting more from this series at some point.

Narration
I keep going back and forth on the narration. At times, I didn't mind it, but one scene that keeps sticking in my head. It was banter between Thorne and Nadia. The lines were quick and they went back and forth between the two. I couldn't tell who was saying what, there just wasn't enough difference in the voices. This didn't seem to be an issue in most scenes, but I can't get that one scene out of my head. I did listen at an increased speed, so that could've had something to do with it too. I did go to Audible to see what others were saying about this narrator after the fact and saw that many people gave her high stars. I'm willing to give her another try. I would hate for one scene to turn me off a narrator. I will try her on another book in this series.

I like to thank Tantor Audio for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.