Soul Stealer by Brenda Cothern

Soul Stealer by Brenda Cothern

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Having read book five in the Shadows series first, I was excited to get the opportunity to go back and read the rest of the series. As the first book in the series, Soul Stealer sets the stage for the series as it introduces us to Alec and his night club, Shadows. Enough time has passed since I read Shattered Illusions that I didn’t remember right off who Alec and Kira were, which made reading Soul Stealer feel exactly like I was delving into a brand new series for the first time. As Ms. Cothern has written the books as standalones, this feeling of newness remained with me the entire time and I must say that, as usual, it was an extremely enjoyable book for me.

I found Kira’s character absolutely fascinating. I wasn’t quite sure what she was in the beginning of the book and was rather stunned when Alec had the same lack of recognition as I did. Whereas my confusion was cleared up after her first feeding, Alec remained in the dark far longer. What surprised me was that even after he witnessed Kira feeding, he still didn’t know what she was. While Kira calls herself a Soul Stealer, the description of her feeding coincides with what I typically consider a succubus. However, her ability to detect auras and use them to choose her next “meal” and her behavior immediately after her feeding differ greatly from the succubus legends I am familiar with and made her designation as a soul stealer feel like a more apt name. But what really surprised me was the connection between Kira – one who feeds off souls – and Alec – one who has no soul and who feeds off human blood. It would seem that the two would not be a good match as neither could feed the other, and yet the chemistry and physical connection between the two was IN. TENSE! Vampire sex is hot for the same reason M/M sex is – the participants tend to be equally matched in strength, which tends to lead to really aggressive sex. Yep, you guessed it. The sex between Alec and Kira is HOT! HARD! and deadly.

I must give Ms. Cothern serious kudos for writing in scenes from Kira’s past that added to the story rather than detracting from it. I tend to find such flashbacks disruptive to my reading flow and the storyline, yet in Soul Stealer this was not the case and I actually relished reliving parts of Kira’s life. Equally impressive was the extremely human nature of the conflict of the story that enabled Alec to work his way into Kira’s life, especially considering their non-human natures. As I expected, I was sucked right into the story and was glued to my Kindle until I reached the final page. Well done Ms. Cothern. I cannot wait to read When Beasts Bite next.

I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Reviewed by Angela at Crystal's Many Reviewers!

Check out the Shadows Series Books 1 & 2 by Brenda Cothern blog post on Crystal's Many Reviewers.


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