Shadowdance (Darkest London, #4)

by Kristen Callihan

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

Shadowdance puts the steam in Steampunk! Too cheesy? Sorry. But this series does keep getting better and better, as well as sexier and sexier! This isn't my favorite story plot-wise, but Jack and Mary are definitely my favorite couple so far! Jack Talent has been working on a case involving a string of murders for about a year with no progress. Now he's being paired up with Mary Chase to finally solve it. Jack has always worked alone, so he's not too happy. Plus he and Mary have a past. On top that, Jack is kind of the murderer they're looking for, but there's also a copy cat at play, but why?

I liked how the plot in Shadowdance was directly related to events from Winterblaze. Jack is out for revenge on the demons who kidnapped him and took his blood. He's murdering them all, one by one, and leaving them in the same place each time. Then one night, there's a shifter body there which he didn't kill. This temporarily throws him off, but vengeance has almost entirely consumed Jack, and he's never going to stop until every single one of them is gone. There's lots of twists and turns as the case unfolds, and there's even more supernaturals roaming the streets of London than we knew!

Oddly, the one thing that kept me from loving Shadowdance more was the introduction of one of the supernaturals. I did love the GIM (Ghosts in the Machine), like Mary and Daisy, and the shadow crawlers which are like their zombie cousins, but I wasn't that fond of the angels. The Fallen and Nephilim are pretty important in this book, but I wasn't that impressed with them. They do have some cool powers, but overall, I don't think they're anything special.

The romance. Oh the romance! Enemies to lovers is my favorite, and boy do Jack and Mary butt heads and bicker a lot, to my satisfaction! I loved watching them grudgingly work together and slowly come to care about the others well being. But then, there's a twist! We did get a sneak peek at their meeting four years prior, but it turns out that's not the first time they've met. It wasn't exactly in the most pleasant of circumstances. Actually, it wasn't pleasant at all. It's quite heartbreaking. But, of course, they work past it and are amazing together! Shadowdance contains my favorite scene of the whole series. Let's just call it the "Was it good for you, too?" scene! It's steamy and hilarious!

I love this series, and Shadowdance is no exception. It's dark, twisted, romantic, funny, and just great! I love that the Steampunkness is finally really coming out, and certainly hope that we get more of it in the following books.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.