I have a treat for you all today -- my review of Katie L. Smith's witch/shifter paranormal-romance SHELTER ME FROM DARKNESS, along with an excerpt from the book.
Before I begin, a quick disclaimer: Katie and I are both part of the WH,WN Community. However, I voluntarily offered to review Shelter Me from Darkness, and all opinions are my own.
With that out of the way, onto my review. This book gave me serious author envy. Fellow writers will know what I mean. You read a book that's so good it a) makes you wish you'd written it and b) makes you want to improve your own writing.
That's how I felt on finishing Shelter Me From Darkness.
Something I always look out for when reading is lore and world-building, and Katie does it wonderfully. There's a unique magic system, with different abilities and various origins for these abilities (such as pledging yourself to a God or Goddess), which extends not only to the witch characters but the shifters and other paranormal beings too. It's clear Katie is familiar with mythology and folklore, and she weaves it seamlessly into her story, making the magical systems her own. Honestly, I would happily read a whole lore book about Katie's world!
Another thing Katie does wonderfully is making relatable, likeable characters. I quickly fell in love with her main character Piper, empathised with what she'd been through, and was rooting for her to succeed from beginning to end. The side characters, like Piper's Mom and her best friend Lark, are also easy to like and relatable and I'd happily read spin-off books featuring them.
The sexual tension between Piper and her former lover/fated mate, wolf-shifter Dean is OFF.THE.CHARTS and the steamy scenes left me breathless.
Katie perfectly balanced the supernatural mystery in the story, along with the second chance romance, and the over-arching plot of Piper's death curse.
While book one had a clear resolution, not everything is neatly tied up in a bow by the end, and I'm eager for book two, to read what's in store for Piper next.
Overall, SHELTER ME FROM DARKNESS is an excellent debut, and a promising start to one of my new favourite series.
And if my review doesn't have you convinced, hopefully this excerpt from chapter one will:
About Shelter Me From Darkness
To break her curse, she must face her past.
Piper Hart never planned to return to her hometown, Stonehill. However, with a death curse slowly killing her, she's out of other options.
But Stonehill—a border town that crosses to the Otherworld—is not how she remembers it. A darkness is creeping across the area and werewolves are turning up dead.
In exchange for answers to break the curse threatening her life, Piper agrees to work for Stonehill's founder to solve the mystery of the dwindling wolf population. But there's one catch.
She has to work alongside the man who broke her heart and caused her to leave town in the first place—Dean Lewis, heir to the werewolf pack, vice president of the Iron Wolves MC, and most importantly, her fated mate.
Can Piper learn to trust her magic, solve the town's problems, and break her curse all while avoiding old feelings and the heat that still simmers between her and Dean?
With her life and Stonehill's fate on the line, will Piper rise to the challenge or fall to the curse?
About Katie L. Smith
Katie L Smith has been obsessed with fantasy ever since her mum read Lord of the Rings to her whilst on holiday. While borrowing all the books she could from her Auntie’s fantasy collection over the years, and binge-watching TV shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Charmed it wasn’t until she was older that her love of fantasy grew from epic to paranormal romances and urban fantasies.
When she’s not writing, reading or daydreaming about anything fantasy whilst waiting patiently for her own Dragon Shifter to whisk her away, she can be found obsessively buying stickers and journaling supplies (despite never finishing a journal in her life), playing State of Decay 2 and other fantasy/horror games or binge watching a TV series that captures her attention.
She has a love of photography, baking, music and enjoys all creative arts.
Find Katie online: https://katielsmithauthor.com
Thanks for reading. I'll be back with another Katie and her shifter-romance, as I talk to StoryTellerPublisher22's Katie Jenkins about the Predators of Darkness Shared world, and her plans for her own book in the series.
Until next time, stay safe and keep on creating!
T.T.F.N.
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