Reviewed by EBookObsessed on
Note: I highly recommend that you re-read Shadow’s Claim before starting Shadow Seduction. Shadow’s Claim takes place smack in the middle of Shadow Seduction and Caspian is a major character in the prior book. I did not do this and had to re-read my own review to see the connection between the stories. It has been five years since Shadow’s Claim was released so I borrowed a copy from the library. (I think I gave my copy away. Silly me.)
Caspian, a death demon, and Prince Mirceo of the Dacians meet at the cusp of Mirceo being frozen into his immortality. He is a thirty-year-old, natural-born vampire and he plans to enjoy all types of pleasures before he loses his heartbeat and his ability to have sex. He is currently working his way through all the females and the males at the New Rome Pleasure Palace.
Mirceo sees Caspian and must have him as his next playmate. While Mirceo is very flexible in his sexuality, Cas, as a demon, is more conservative and only has sex with females. After spending several hours together, they form a quick friendship and go off together cavorting and drinking as Mirceo’s heartbeat continues to slow down.
The more time they spend together, Mirceo and Cas feel their bond growing. Mirceo believes that Cas might be the destined mate for his sister, Princess Kosmina. He convinces Cas to return with him to Dacia to meet her but he warns Cas that strangers who go to Dacia can never leave. Killing anyone who tries keeps the Kingdom hidden.
After meeting Kosmina, Cas realizes that they are not mates, but as his feelings toward Mirceo grow stronger, Cas starts to become uncomfortable with the possible truth that Mirceo keeps whispering, that they might be mates. Cas panics and decides to return to his home world to see his friend, Battina.
Prince Trehan follows Cas to his home dimension to kill him for leaving Dacia and meets his Bride, Battina.
Here is where the entire Shadow’s Claim takes place!
Upon Cas’s downfall in the Iron Ring of Abbdon, Cas runs away to another dimension where times runs differently from Earth. He returns only weeks later here in this dimension, but Cas has been a Bounty Hunter in the other dimension for five centuries, making him suddenly significantly older than his friend, Mirceo.
Mirceo once again tracks down his friend with all intentions of seducing him so the Mirceo can prove that fate intends them to be mated. But Mirceo is in for a bigger surprise, Cas isn’t avoiding him because he doesn’t want male as his mate. Cas doesn’t want a spoiled, selfish Prince as his mate. Mirceo will do anything to prove himself worthy of Cas.
As always, Kresley Cole keeps the tensions high between the lovers by keeping the consummation until the end. Whether it is a f/m couples or now the m/m couples of Mirceo/Caspian, she keeps the teasing high as well while she continues to keep the action going so she doesn’t lose the audience while they wait to find out if Cas/Mirceo are truly mates.
While I usually don’t grab for a m/m romance, if it is part of a series that I am reading, I want a copy. Right now, I am looking forward to reading my copy of Midnight Target by Elle Kennedy which also features a m/m couple, Liam and Sully.
My only major complaint here (beside the fact that should be a re-read Shadow’s Claim disclosure) is the fact that she ends this story with a set up for another story. She now has several dangling, unfinished story lines and with the release of the last book, Sweet Ruin, she introduced five or six new major characters who will also be clamoring for a HEA. That was bad enough when she was publishing 2 IAD books a year. For the last few years, we only get 1 a year and my daughters will definitely be graduated from high school before we ever get to Nix’s story.
It is wonderful that we, the fans, are clamoring for more stories but sometimes it feels like — if you as old as I am and remember when The Empire Strikes Back released in 1980 and left you crying about Han Solo being trapped in carbonite after telling Princess Leia he loved her, and you knew it would be years–YEARS–before you would ever find out what happened next. KC is not the only author I follow that takes her time between releases, but she is the only one who has so many epilogues setting up another story which we still have no hint when we will get back to. For example, MacRieve was published in 2013 with hint of a storyline for his brother and a mate. It is 2017 and her 2017 release, Wicked Abyss has nothing to do with the brother or that storyline.
Ms. Cole, we need more IADs or please only tease us with the next couple on the list. Trust me, we will read the next book. We are already dying to read it, but waiting years and years for the book you want causes a certain disappointment when each book release is finally announced and it is not the couple you are waiting for. I cried each time for years over the Lanthe/Thronos books that seemed to never be coming out.
Kresley Cole delivers an interesting new couple in this latest release, but please someone lock her in a room until she catches up with more on this series.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 26 February, 2017: Finished reading
- 26 February, 2017: Reviewed