Darker Than Desire by Shiloh Walker

Darker Than Desire by Shiloh Walker

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I really do not know how Ms. Walker manages to make each book better than the previous one in this series because every time I finish one I am blown away by just how good it is. Darker Than Desire is no exception. In order to understand what is going on in this installment of the Secrets & Shadows series, you must read Deeper Than Need and Sweeter Than Sin first because while Darker Than Desire focuses on Sybil and Caine’s relationship, it is even more deeply immersed in the continued series storyline involving Cronus.

>>>>POSSIBLE SERIES SPOILERS<<<<<

If you haven’t read the earlier books in the series, do NOT read past this point as this review will contain spoilers for the previous novels but not this one (at least I think I’ve managed to avoid any Darker Than Desire spoilers). Having learned in Sweeter Than Sin that Caine is David Sutter, it was no surprise to me that there would be even more of a focus on Cronus in this book. After all, it was David’s abuse and subsequent disappearance that got the ball rolling that led to the disbanding of Cronus years ago. Fans of the series will be pleased to know that we do find out what happened to David’s father and I was shocked to learn who was responsible. But what was even more shocking was finding out WHY the person made sure David’s father disappeared. Yes, we get answers to many of the questions that have gone unanswered and I found myself shocked more than once as secrets were revealed and truths told.

But even as the dominoes continue to fall on Cronus, another murderer has set their sights on the town of Madison and David soon finds himself even more of a person of interest for the police. I will admit that I was not sad to see two of the people who were targeted by the murderer exit the story, but that did not hold true for all of the victims and one death left me (and the town of Madison) stunned. This all plays out alongside the developing relationship between David and Sybil. We learn that Sybil has been involved with Caine for years, but no one was aware of it until he left the Amish community and returned to Madison as David. Not only do we learn more about the horrific treatment David suffered at the hands of the men of Cronus, we come to understand why he is so aloof and how his past has affected his life so completely.

The chemistry between David and Sybil was an odd mix of explosive and calming. Their sexual encounters were highly charged, very erotic, and scorchingly hot. But when they were together otherwise, their presence was a reassuring force for the other and this was most obvious when Sybil was able to calm David down when no one or nothing else could get through. This is what made David’s continued attempts to walk away from Sybil so heartbreaking – I could see where he was coming from intellectually, but emotionally I wanted to smack him for the hurt he was inflicting on Sybil and himself. Ms. Walker does such a good job of answering the major questions for the book and the series that I’m unsure if there will be more books in the Secrets & Shadows series. The ending of Darker Than Desire could easily serve as a series finale, while leaving the door open for further installments. Because I have enjoyed this series so much, it’s no surprise that I’m hoping that Ms. Walker is busy penning the next book in the series.

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 Darker Than Desire (Secrets & Shadows #3) by Shiloh Walker blog post on Crystal's Many Reviewers.


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Burn For Me by Shiloh Walker

Burn For Me: A Secrets & Shadows Story by Shiloh Walker

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I actually started reading the Secrets & Shadows series with the second novella, Break for Me, and never got a chance to go back and read Burn for Me (although apparently I bought it and didn’t remember doing it). Having read the other two novellas and three novels in the series, it was nice to go back and read Tate’s story to find out just how he and Ali got together. While Break for Me got me hooked on the series and Ms. Walker’s writing, I have no doubt that Burn for Me would have done the same had I read it first – especially with that ending.

Truth be told, I’m actually glad I didn’t get to see this version of Tate and met him after the healing had already started. However, knowing the man that Tate becomes did not make this story any less emotional for me. The chemistry between Tate and Ali is apparent and not just because the novella starts with a sex scene (one of several seriously hot sex scenes). The story is written in such a way that the author gives us a little time in both Ali and Tate’s head, so we find out rather quickly that Ali loves Tate and has for years. Because Tate has put restrictions on their relationship to keep it at the friends with benefits level, she knows she can’t tell him how she really feels or she’ll lose him. But three years is a long time to love someone and only have part of him and Ali is beginning to question whether or not her heart can take it. I liked that while it was not an easy decision to come to, when Ali finally admitted that she was never going to have all of Tate and could no longer live that way she didn’t play games and give him an ultimatum. No, she told him straight out that she couldn’t see him anymore and why and didn’t give him a chance to change her mind. It was heartbreaking to watch because Ali didn’t do it expecting that Tate would suddenly profess his love for her, she did it knowing she was ripping her and his heart out and that it would end their friendship as well.

While it may not have been her intent, her breaking up with him forced Tate to reexamine his life and what he believed about his mother’s disappearance. This was the other big revelation for me as I was unaware of just how much Tate had blamed his father for his mother’s disappearance, how long their estrangement lasted, and how it affected everyone in his life that he was close to (his sisters and Ali). Witnessing the reconciliation between Tate and his father left me a blubbering mess both because it was good to see them reunite, but also because of the hard-learned and heartfelt advice his father gave him about love. Burn for Me was a great book and one I am so glad I finally got the chance to read. I really hope that Ms. Walker is planning to write more books in the Secrets & Shadows series because it’s one of my favorite romantic suspense series.



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Review of Sweeter Than Sin by Shiloh Walker

Sweeter Than Sin: A Secrets & Shadows Novel by Shiloh Walker

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



While I enjoy reading romantic suspense, I don’t read a lot of it because it tends to be difficult to find authors who can achieve the right combination of romance, action, suspense and sex in the way that appeals to me. I am not the kind of reader who tries to figure out “who done it” before the reveal. I enjoy following the evidence, seeing where it leads, and being surprised as the facts come to light; I don’t enjoy it when an author leaves so many clues or the story is so predictable that I’d have to have had a lobotomy not to figure it out. Thankfully Ms. Walker’s Secrets & Shadows series gives me everything I enjoy about romantic suspense and does so without the need for a frontal lobotomy. That said, I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! I had my suspicions about Caine and I was right. But that is the only question I had from Deeper Than Need that I got an answer to, and while Sweeter Than Sin does answer a few of the questions raised in book one it raises so many more.

I started this book knowing it was going to be Adam’s story. I was fascinated by Adam in book one and was looking forward to it. However, once I started reading and realized the identity of the mystery woman (as she’s referred to in the blurb), I was blown away. Sweeter Than Sin quickly shifted from a book I was looking forward to, to one that I knew was going to interfere with my sleep for the night. Sure enough it did. Apparently I read until I passed out and when I woke up a 4am with my Kindle on the bed beside me, I picked it back up and proceeded to devour the rest of it.

As there is an underlying storyline to the series, I won’t discuss more than is in the blurb (no spoilers here folks). Madison is rocked yet again with another murder. But murder is not the town’s only sin about to be revealed. While I had my suspicions after reading Deeper Than Need, it turned out to be so much worse than I expected and shocked does not even begin to cover my reaction. Ms. Walker does an excellent job of infusing the book with Adam’s budding romance and it turns out that he is just as hot as Preach was in the first book. My goodness that man knows his way around a woman. Sweeter Than Sin is a brilliant addition to the series – answering some questions brought up in book one, while posing a whole new set of questions. Already I am chomping at the bit for the next book in the series.

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 Sweeter Than Sin by Shiloh Walker blog post on Crystal's Many Reviewers.


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Review of Deeper Than Need by Shiloh Walker

Deeper Than Need: A Secrets & Shadows Novel by Shiloh Walker

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Having read two of the novellas that precede this book in the Secrets & Shadows series, I was familiar with Ms. Walker’s writing style and was looking forward to reading a full-length novel to see what she could do with it. She did not disappoint me at all. Deeper Than Need is a romantic suspense that sucked me so far into the story that I devoured it in one sitting and found myself at the end, not ready for it to be over. Fans of the series will be pleased to see Jensen, Dean and Ali make an appearance in this book. However, you don’t need to read the novellas first to enjoy this book as its storyline is separate from that of the novellas.

In this installment in the Secrets & Shadows series we meet Noah and Trinity. Noah is a Madison native who experienced a tragedy as a teenager that left him numb and merely existing for most of his adult life. That is, until Trinity moved to town and bought the broken down house that served as a constant reminder of all that he lost. As the contractor who agreed to help her fix the place up, he can’t escape the pain the house invokes nor can he escape the desire that Trinity ignites – a feeling he hasn’t had in over a decade. One of the things I enjoyed about the sexual interactions between Noah and Trinity is that most of them occur in dreams they have about one another, which left me anticipating what it would be like when they finally acted upon their attraction. While this did not occur until around the 80% mark in the book, it was SOOOOO worth the wait. Preach is HOT and he knows exactly what to do to unleash the fire that rages between them. That he loves Trinity’s son Micah just makes him that much hotter.

As this is a romantic suspense, readers will realize rather quickly that there is far more going on in the story than the obvious, and as hints were dropped and the clues were revealed I really didn’t want to believe what they seemed to be indicating. And once the news is out, the little town of Madison is shocked to its core. Because this is a series, the next book Sweeter Than Sin seems to be set up to continue with this underlying storyline while giving us Adam’s story – something I am really looking forward to. I enjoyed Adam’s character and the role he played in this book, so I am looking forward to learning more about him. But what I really want to know is whether or not Caine is who I think he is. Well done Ms. Walker, you have me hooked.

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 Deeper Than Need by Shiloh Walker blog post on Crystal's Many Reviewers.



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Review of Long For Me by Shiloh Walker

Long For Me: A Secrets & Shadows Story by Shiloh Walker

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



In Long for Me, the author finally reveals the details about the circumstances that led to the death and disappearance of Nichole Bell 15 years earlier. Readers of Break for Me already knew who was directly responsible for Nichole’s death and I, for one, could not wait to read this novella to find out how the revelation was going to affect Guy’s relationship with Chris.

As the youngest of the Bell siblings, Christina “Tink” was deeply affected by the loss of her mother. Because she was still a child, her world depended heavily on her mother and the sudden and unexplained loss was a devastating blow, as well as what happened in the following years. As time passed, she relied more and more upon Guy, her older brother’s best friend, and he became her safe haven over the years. Guy’s love and devotion to Tink (the full extent of which she is unaware of), is what leads to his presence at her mother’s funeral service and I absolutely loved what Tink said when the whispers about him attending reached her ears. Their foundation as long-term friends coupled with their chemistry makes it easy to root for Guy to win his girl. I thought Jensen and Dean had chemistry, but Guy and Tink’s sex scenes are by far more intense (at least for me). It is because of their long-term friendship and chemistry that Chris has difficulty taking their relationship beyond “just friends” because she’s afraid of losing yet another person of importance in her life.

Yet again, Ms. Walker has crafted a story that is so fully written and involved that you forget that you’re reading a novella. Because of the way the author presents the story, you can read the novellas as stand-alone stories without feeling lost or confused. That said, I recommend reading them all for a richer experience and I intend to go back and read Burn for Me as I adore the Bell siblings and want to read Tate’s story. Does Guy get his girl? You’ll have to read Long for Me to find out.

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 Long For Me by Shiloh Walker blog post on Crystal's Many Reviewers.


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Review of Break For Me by Shiloh Walker

Break For Me by Shiloh Walker

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Ms. Walker does an impressive job of delivering a story worthy of a full-length novel in a novella format – making the reader want more without making them feel cheated. I have not read the previous book in this series and I did not once feel lost. The author presents the pertinent information in such a way that I knew exactly what is going on and I was drawn into the story immediately.

I loved Jensen’s take-charge, no-nonsense attitude. Further, I liked how Dean explains that she needs to be that way as a minority (female) on the force – and that he finds her attitude to be a turn-on was just icing on the cake. As for Dean, he’s down-right yummy. He’s not the in-your-face alpha I enjoy, but make no mistake, he is a MAN. And when Jensen finally stops fighting what she wants, it makes for some steamy sex scenes.

Now without spoiling the book, when the blurb says there’s a shocking discovery that turns her life upside down … well that should be up for understatement of the year. The author might pull her punches in the blurb, but she does not in the book and it makes for an awesome read. I will be stalking Burn for Me (the previous novella) on Amazon so I can grab it on sale because I’m cheap that way and I am so excited that I already have Long for Me. Ms. Walker had made it on my watch list of authors to read and I cannot wait to check out the rest of this series.

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 Break For Me by Shiloh Walker blog post on Crystal's Many Reviewers.


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