He can’t be, not when he’s covered in blood and bruises. His abs clench when he pulls the bandage tight. He wraps the strips of cloth around his injured shoulder. I give in to temptation and glance over when he tears the shirt again. “What are you doing?” I swivel my eyes away from him and stare at the road, trying not to remember the way his body looked when his torso was covered in nothing but silver dust. And I was absolutely baffled as to why Mckenzie was intermittently enamoured with Aren-usually at inappropriate times, such as when Aren is bleeding uncontrollably and she ogles his hawt bod, I didn’t really understand where Aren’s attraction for Mckenzie came from, it was just there, suddenly. He makes sure she learns the fae language (in an absurdly short period of time), convinces her that the rebels aren’t the violent jerks she’s been told they are and tries to get in her pants. Unfortunately, we went through Door #2.ĭuring her capture, Aren expends huge amounts of time and effort to convince McKenzie to question her beliefs about the court for whom she’s worked and help the rebels. This book is either going to be a badass action trip or tediously detailed as these fae battle for supremacy. This all happens in the first couple chapters. Except during that last exam, Kyol interrups her on Very Important Fae Business™ and drags her off into the middle of a fae battle, during which she is kidnapped by a fae rebel, Aren. So, Mckenzie plans on quitting her job just as soon as she finishes her last exam and gets her degree.

During her decade of service with the fae court, she falls in love with the swordmaster, Kyol, though much of the time he chooses to not allow the relationship to progress. She’s been at this job since she was teenage, when the Fae King’s Swordmaster (annnnnd… this is where I should have reminded myself that fae-based urban fantasy simply isn’t my thing-too much royalty) recruits her. She’s really, really good at her job, so her services are in hot demand. Basically, she can read a fae’s (which is basically a magical badass fairy-type person) location when they “fissure” (move from one place to another). And, despite her incessant complaining (which is understandable, given all the warring she winds up involved in as a result of this job), this is a pretty sweet gig. Unfortunately, Sandy Williams’ debut novel, fell flat for me despite its creative premise. I had such high hopes for The Shadow Reader-I’d read a number of rave reviews of it and since I’m desperately seeking a new urban fantasy series, I decided to give it a shot.

Warring, warring, a love triangle and more warring.

The Shadow Reader by Sandy Williams