I adored this book. Elias and Cress are complete opposites. They are together by an arranged marriage, that brings 2 families together at war with each other.

Many thanks to Net Galley and Dreamscape Media for an audio copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this read. I found Cress to be strong and dedicated and Elias had a vulnerability with a shell of hardness that he usef to.protect himself. Mills did a good job at representing an individuals struggle with a mental illness and how important it is to have people in your corner willing to fight for you and with you. She also showed how damaging it could be to not have that support. I loved the fact that Cress and Elias started out by talking, taking us along as they learned each other. It wasn't always easy and I appreciated that all of the ups and downs were shown.

The banter between them was great and the sexual attraction was hot. Really really good read.

I really liked this one until around maybe the 70% mark, and then it just got a little boring. But for the first part, it was great!

I enjoyed this story a lot. I have read other works from this author and I think this one may be my favorite.

The narrators were just meh for me.

What a perfect combination! This book was so good!

I had the pleasure of listening to this in my car, and it made the drive so much nicer that I had such a great story in my ears. I loved the tropes of this book, and I appreciated that it dealt with a mental illness that isn't always explained enough. That it had darker undertones and yet still it was romantic and spicy, I will admit that I haven't read a whole lot from K.C. Mills in my reading Black Romance journey and I know that I will for sure be reading more from her.

Thank you to Netgalley, and K.C. Mills for an audio copy for review.

3.3⭐️
Thanks Netgalley for this arc!
I don’t have much to say about this book; i enjoyed a lot of it but some parts just got very boring to me. Its probably because it was a little too much insta-lusty for me. I liked the dangerous family aspect of the book though, it was entertaining. The arranged marriage of convenience was also a good part. This book also has bi-polar disorder representation.
If you’re into darkish “mafia”-ish books, you might really enjoy this one.
About the narration:
- The female narrator was great! She voiced her parts so well and made the story so much more enjoyable.
- The male narrator was good, but a lot of the parts were read robotically. I had to speed up the audio to 3x speed just to avoid the continuous pausing after every sentence.

I absolutely loved this book simply because it highlighted a character living with a mental health diagnosis. Elias may be living and navigating life with bipolar but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve love. And I’m glad that Cress was just the one to prove that to him. She was definitely the light to his darkness. Aside from the main love story, I also enjoyed learning the background stories of the Omari and Devereaux families. Hopefully we get to see these families again especially Ez and Christian.

A quick paced urban romance that will keep you on the edge of your seat. This story is narrated by both a male & female to coincide with the story being told by character perspective. The narrators properly used inflection to convey the urgency that is felt within the novel. Vey entertaining & easy to follow along with.

Intense right toward the end but overall really well done. I liked that it dealt with some mental illness. I feel like that can be manipulated or written poorly but this author did a good job with it. The romance was cute and I was happy to see them find a way to get to each other’s hearts even though the relationship was forced. Her dancing was a great piece of this too, I liked how real and feisty she was.

I absolutely love when I read a book that is unique; with so many books available, it’s hard to read a book that doesn’t have similar characters you haven’t already met before or storylines that aren’t parallel to the many books that are already on your bookshelf! Shadows and Whispers is truly unique; modern Black aristocratic families practicing arranged marriages is definitely a storyline I haven’t read but am so glad I did. I especially appreciate the sensitivity with mental health, therapy, and medication.

If you would like a modern escape into a society of elite and wealthy Black families, who have secrets bigger than their bank accounts, this 5 star read is for you!

As a straight woman, this book makes me wonder what is WRONG with the straights.

I didn’t enjoy the writing - it could use a solid edit.

Example: "from the way my fists clenched tightly." Ignoring the cliche of fists clenching to signal aggression - fists clenched tightly? As opposed to what, clenching your fists... loosely? Just cut the adverb.

Another example: "meet his intense brown orbs" for when she looks him in the eye... Orbs are doing the most.

Another: “she exposed a smile” makes it sound like she peeled back her face to show another face underneath and, well, that’s a very different genre.

Another: (MMC) "fucked my fist... ribbons of cum escaped." Um WHAT now? Ribbons? Do you, maybe, um, want to get that checked out?

Another: After the MMC admits he can't have sex because it becomes an addiction for him he "smiled arrogantly." What about confessing you have no self-control (=weakness) makes him feel arrogant? Wouldn't that be more of a self-effacing smile?

Please stop me. Anyway, the stilted dialogue doesn't help. Nor does the extensive exposition-packed internal monologuing.

The characters don’t always make believable choices - I know they’re gangsters, but when MMC has a bipolar episode his brother’s response is to pull a gun on him (he is not threatening the brother). Make it make sense.

There are also some interesting choices for the 21st century...

Example: a guy asks the MMC if he's into women (implication is asking him what his sexuality is) and his reaction is to try to beat the guy up. Oh, is gay still an insult?

Another example: FMC refers to her SIL's abortions as "killing his children." Authors are allowed to be pro-life, of course, but that's a big choice where she could have just said SIL has been faking miscarriages...

On the plus side, the bipolar character gets to have a HEA with a loving wife and a baby son… but the baby son, as an infant, is talking like a toddler.

I think that may well get to the root of the problem - this reads like a first draft. First drafts are usually messy, ugly but if you polish you can find a gem. This book needs that polish.

Thanks, NetGalley and Dreamscape, for the gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.