It took me a bit to get into the rhythm of this book, but once I did I felt it took off really well. The writing style is fantastic, the storyline was intriguing, and the characters were interesting. I did feel a little lost at times while reading it, though I feel that's more of a me issue than the books issue since I had never read anything by this author before and I didn't have all of that background world building that the author has clearly done in her previous books. All in all it was a very enjoyable book, I loved Ariel (though some of her decisions left me frustrated), she was badass and full of moxie. Valteri was a tad annoying at times, quite frustrating & unwilling to bend or see the better path at times, but I grew to enjoy his character growth throughout the novel. All in all an enjoyable read and I definitely want to go back and read the other books by this author set in this world.

It has been some time since a new book in this series has emerged from Sherrilyn, but I was happy to see a new release! This book felt different from some of the other Dreamhunter books, but as an author grows, so do their books. It was great to dive back into this world, but also was a good book to stand alone. Hopefully we continue to see more from Sherrilyn and books about characters that we’re all waiting to read. This book didn’t hit it out of the park, but it was a good decent read.

Like any Kenyon book, I absolutely loved this. I don't think this author can do any wrong. It's been a while since I read a kenyon book and this made me want to go back and pick up all my physical copies and start reading the dark hunter series again. I will say this couple fell a little flat for me and that's a shock. Usually each book I read from this author, ends up being a new favorite but I don't think this is the case with this couple. Still a fantastic escape from the real world. 4⭐

As a long-time reader of the Dark-Hunters novels, Shadow Fallen by Sherilyn Kenyon was a welcome addition to the list. Protector of mortal souls, Ariel has spent centuries fulfilling her duty until a curse turns her human and erases her memories. Valteri, brother to William the Conqueror, is at war in his brother's name. Hated by his people for his "demonic deformity," Valteri is a warrior looking for peace. When Ariel, a mysterious noblewoman, is brought before him, an unexpected destiny rises to the forefront. From demons to fallen angels, the world of the Shadow Hunter continues. Although a solid read, it does not have the expected drama of other books in the series; it does add an essential piece to the overall storyline carried through in each book.

Let's start this review off by saying I am a huge fan of crossover stories that combine romance and fantasy. That said, I am undecided between giving this book a 2 or 3 star review. All the elements were there to make this story a great romance between two people destined to be together and all against a backdrop of angels, demons, & and a slew of fantastical-biblical characters. (Although, I use biblical loosely).
There is a "Midsummer Night's Dream" feel to this story that was so appealing to me, but it was the characters that nailed the coffin lid down tight for me. Between both main characters running away to their near peril only to be dragged back with injuries and the realization that they need each other, only to then fall back into their near constant and prolonged–and wildly overly repeated personal issues–this book just fell so incredibly flat. I wanted OUT so many times, but I am no reading quiter.
I think I liked the idea of the character more than the characters themselves and found myself making up different ways their story could have been written. I think it was somewhere half way through, I was set to give up until the addition of two badass immortals made their way into the story (I'll let you be pleasantly surprised) and then I was back in. Only, that didn't last long. The Puck-like character who created all kinds of mischief did redeem himself, but it far too quick and foolhardy. After all HE"S A DEMON! I mean, COME ON!!!
I want to give this book more, but I just don't have it in me to give.

Ariel a sentinel of the highest order becomes a target of evil forces. Valteri has been the subject of horror stories and adversaries nightmares for years. The Fates conspire to deliver Ariel to Valteri in the form of a beauty so fair he has a hard time breathing a clash of gods is the only solution, or is it? If ever there was doubt that Kenyon would return to pure form, this will quiet the doubt and hopefully add to her legion of fans.

I haven't read a shadow hunter book before but clearly it's a series I need to start reading. This was true Kenyon writing and reminded me of her original Dark-hunter books. Loved the story, so well done! Can't wait for the next!!

Valteri the Godless has spent most of his life rejected and despised because of his mismatched eyes. He is a formidable knight for William the Conqueror. Valteri finds himself saddled with unwanted lands and a title instead of the promised monetary reward. His men return from a scouting recon with a mysterious, yet captivating, woman with amnesia. Something about Ariel calls to Valteri; however, he insists on keeping his distance from her. Can Ariel help Valteri overcome his inner demons? Or will outside forces steal her away from him?
Ariel is an Arel – an immortal being born from the powers of light to escort souls to their designated afterlife. She finds herself trapped in a human body with no recollection of her former self. Ariel also discovers that she is under a witch’s curse, doomed to watch the one she loves die miserably. She feels drawn to the broody Norman who took her in, but Ariel fights her attraction to spare him from the curse’s effects. However, other forces conspire against them. Can Ariel and Valteri thwart the curse? At what cost? And will Ariel regain her memories?
Valteri managed to tug on every one of my heartstrings. I have always had a weak spot for a wounded/tortured hero, and he is no exception. He is an exceptional man who has survived a childhood filled with pain, humiliation, and cruelty. Valteri never allowed his dark past to turn him evil or vicious. Instead, Valteri maintained his humanity, and I admire that about him. What I adore the most about Valteri is his protectiveness towards certain things and people. He may not have experienced love or kindness, but he refuses to hurt or abuse anyone weaker than him.
Ariel is everything I like in a heroine. She is a strong and capable woman who is not easily influenced by others. I love Ariel’s ability to see the true Valteri buried beneath years of neglect and hurt. She hates what people did to him in the past. What I admire the most about Ariel is her determination to convince Valteri to truly live. She refuses to allow anyone to hurt him verbally or physically. Plus, Ariel knows that Valteri is the most deserving person to survive and prosper.
SHADOW FALLEN is book five in Sherrilyn (Kenyon) McQueen’s paranormal romance series, DREAM-HUNTERS, an off shoot from her award-winning DARK-HUNTER series. It took me a while to understand how this story fit into that world. I should have refreshed myself, since it has been a couple years since I read a DARK-HUNTER book. For newbies, I highly suggest reading the prior books in both series to understand the characters and the supernatural aspect.
SHADOW FALLEN is Sherrilyn (Kenyon) McQueen’s way of announcing her return to the book world. I am so glad that this author has reclaimed her literary spark. She has overcome some personal issues that interfered in her writing and creative process. I cannot wait for the next installment!

I do love these books. The detail and actions that give you the ability to seem like you are involved with the story and characters. Those are the best ones to read the richness of the story and fine details that keep you coming back for more.

A cursed being, a curse itsekf, and an Arel who has it the worse? That would be the one attempting to inflict the damage. Due to a vengeance a old crown placed a curse on an Arel who now has no memory. An abused warrior is the soul she feels most akin to do she attaches herself there no realizing she could cause more harm than good.

Extended family show up some for mischief, some support. She has to find her way back but her heart wants to stay. Will her heart win? Does she break the curse? Will she find peace and love that is forbidden to her kind? Can she sooth the beast inside the damaged warrior?

Join the cast to get your answers as Sherrylynn weaves her magic and brings to life a defining story that will have you wanting to help the Arel and warrior. You may even want to take pity on a demon not worthy most times. This medieval take weaves into your soul to bring unimaginable pleasure through great characters and story telling.

It is so good to see Sherrilyn Kenyon back! And the book did not disappoint. We got everything we want in a Sherrilyn Kenyon book the wit, the romance, and the suspense of the Dream-Hunters world. I can't wait to read more and so glad to see Sherrilyn Kenyon rise like a Phoenix after everything she has gone through.

Shadow Fallen is the newest book from Sherrilyn Kenyon in her Dream Hunter series in the Dark Hunters universe. It is the origin story for the Hellhunter Valteri and how he met his wife in William The Conqueror's Brittan.

This is the very first Sherrilyn Kenyon McQueen book that I haven't loved. Don't get me wrong, I liked it but it didn't keep me up at night turning pages. The thing that I really loved was that there were awesome tidbits about characters from other books in this universe and an oblique reference to Simi! Also, the story line is very reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast, complete with a curse that requires true love, which was fun to read. Ms. McQueen also does a great Heaven vs. Hell subplot.

What I didn't love was that there was no tie in to how Valteri became a Hellchaser, just that he met a couple of them. There was also no tie in to the current timeline of the books, so if you haven't read a Dream Hunter book lately, I would recommend reading a few of the previous books in this series before this one.

Thank you Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley for sending me this book in return for my honest review.

I'm a big fan of Kenyon, so I'm a bit biased when it comes to my opinions on the book. I will admit that the Dream Hunter series is not my favorite of her spin offs, but I was excited to read it regardless. This reads like a historical romance with the paranormal thrown in. Kenyon does a great job of characterization. Ariel and Valteri are interesting and come off as realistic. The book overall was good, even if it felt a bit repetitive at times. In all, it felt like it was setting up for a much larger story arc. I look forward to seeing what Kenyon has in store for the continuation of the series. I know I'll eagerly await the her next novel.

This was a great book by Kenyon. Her Dark Hunters are always page turners. She is coming back full force.

As a long time Sherrilyn Kenyon (McQueen) fan I was thrilled to see she was releasing a new book especially after everything she has been through ove the last few years. It has taken me a few days to formulate my feelings on this book and sadly I was underwhelmed by this one.

The book feels like it was trying to be a standalone/entry point for new readers as the main story doesn't really align with any previous/ongoing storyline. The appearance of some long standing side characters was great for me (and will be for long time readers too) but there were too many references to previous goings on that could confuse new readers. Also. I found myself much more interested in what they were up to than the two main characters

One of Sherrilyn's greatest strengths is her characterisation. This is why fans are desperate for certain characters to get their own books but she misses the mark with Valteri and Ariel. Both characters are almost personality-less and incredibly repetitive. It didn't take long for me to grow bored with Valteri's "woe is me" inner monologues and Ariel.makes the same stupid decision repeatedly that just left me feeling frustrated. Their romance isn't really that exciting either, I almost wasn't bothered whether they ended up together and rhe end feels rushed. We get told after the fact that certain things have happened rather than see them. Considering this involves a certain long standing character, I found this frustrating as a both a fan and a reader.

The overall impression I get is this book is setting-up something for a future book, as one of the MCs is connected to a character that Sherrilyn has announced will be getting a book. While this may pay off later, it does this book no favours. Sherrilyn fans will eat this up regardless. Like me, many will just be happy to see their favourite author goddess is writing/publishing again.

Will this book put me off the next? Absolutely not! I'm desperate to see the stories of certain characters be told. The book is full of her trademark snark and humour which I enjoyed - it was like a literary comfort blanket in some respects. While this may not be her finest, I have no doubt she will come back stronger on the next one and I can't wait to read it.

Many thanks to the publisher who provided an earc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

All I can say is the Queen is Back! I was just starting a reread in anticipation of the long awaited “Munro” when I was lucky enough to receive this ARC. I was a little anxious because it felt like I was skipping ahead, but this book can be read as a stand alone. Wonderful story, great characters, a bit of steam (after tremendous longing and build-up!), and all the great mythology one would expect from Sherrilyn Kenyon. And Acheron (plus Simi!) get to cameo … I couldn’t ask for more.

I have been reading Sherrilyn's books for years.

This one just fell a bit flat for me characterwise.
I still love this world and the lore, but even with this new novel every book in these multiple series startes to feel formulaic and the characters begin to blend together into one big blob.

Along with the fact that this series has gotten HUGE at this point and if you haven't read all.of them sometimes you can feel a little lost

I am hesitant about this book.
Originally, I screamed with delight upon finding it up for an early read and review. I have had the title pre-ordered for what feels like forever now. Sherrilyn Kenyon is an automatic buy/read for me in whatever she is writing.
But this book did not feel like her. I actually almost put it down and DNF'ed it because it felt like I was plopped into a different world.
It didn't make sense to me. It wasn't until about halfway through the book that I was starting to see the world she had previously created.
I was not a fan of the main characters; in fact, it wasn't until Shadow and Thorn came into the scenes that I actually enjoyed the book.
This book felt so out of place in her series. I know it is a dream hunter book but there was nothing recognizable about it.
I would like to see it categorized by itself and the beginning worked on some more, so the main characters had more back story instead of just being thrown into their random setting.

I’ve been reading Sherrilyn Kenyon’s works for nearly two decades now. I prefer the Dark-Hunters series more than the others, including the various sub-series related to the Dark-Hunters series. This one says it is a Dream-Hunters book, but the first quarter reads more as a traditional historical romance with a bit of paranormal in the mix.

Neither the hero or heroine knows what they are, due to him never being told and her getting a double whammy with amnesia and a curse to watch the one she loves die. This bit gets rather repetitive, with him hating himself because of his childhood trauma, or her trying to remember who she truly is or running away once she knows about the curse. The former really got old, as Valteri repeatedly thinks about how everyone has hated him since birth due to his deformity. He has one brown eye and one green, which granted, I can see folks in a more superstitious age using that as an excuse to torment someone, but he also says more than one prostitute couldn’t bear to even kiss him because of it.

Valteri’s not ugly and he’s well off, so it just seems weird that all these people throughout his life have shunned him to the point of outright trying to beat the demon out of him. I kept expecting to see a revelation that he really was cursed by a god, which isn’t exactly uncommon in this series, but if it was mentioned, I missed it. When his true parentage is revealed, it does make the reader wonder if possibly some folks could sense the potential of what he really was, but again, it’s not really explained.

I enjoyed the story, but it did seem repetitive at times with the aforementioned hero trauma, and the heroine trying to run away because she thought it would save the hero from a curse that was placed on her to watch someone she loved die. I feel like some of that could have been trimmed and had more time to explore the ongoing characters of Jaden, Thorn, Shadow, etc., as well as a better wrap up with Valteri learning about his heritage and the “big picture” in which he now has a role. I get the feeling he and Ariel will appear in future books, especially since it appears this is going to be a sort of “mini-series” within the overall series. I’m also willing to wager that Valteri’s twin that supposedly died at birth did not, and will show up in the future. Again, this sort of thing isn’t exactly uncommon in this series.

I really enjoy the world Kenyon has built with real and fictional mythologies mixed up into something new, but the percent of mythology and lore has decreased over time. We get a couple of new tidbits of information but since this series is about two decades old, I often have to read a fan wiki to refresh my memory on who’s who, how they’re all related, and in many cases, keep track of multiple names for the same character.

On its own, I’d probably give it three stars, but as part of a series I’ve enjoyed for a long time, I’ll round up to four stars. I really hope we’ll get books in the future for some of the established characters who are still mostly a mystery, instead of creating new characters who are probably related to the established characters in some way.

ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It has been awhile since I have read one of Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter or Dream Hunter novels. Shadow Fallen did not disappoint at all. Valteri and Ariel both have to over come obstacles to be together and as always Sherrilyn has the gods and goddesses interfering with the humans so the obstacles can seem undefeatable. But they pull through and a the appearance of one of my favorite Dark Hunters and his adopted daughter at the end was great!

One of my favorite authors, I was so excited to get to read this and it did not disappoint! I loved getting back into the Dark Hunter world. Ariel and Valteri were great together, even though they liked to try and push each other away. I had a great time with this book!