I almost feel like this book would have been better as a series, a duology at the very least.

The character development and worldbuilding were well done considering the constraint of having to do it all within one volume.

Character motivations were believable, albeit somewhat superficial and obvious. Drue and Talemir were the only characters that really stood out, the side-characters blending into the background. I'd attribute this to the limited word-count rather than Scheuerer's writing skills.

The world was well-developed, but only within the immediate vicinity of the characters (if that makes sense). We weren't really given much insight into the politics and relationships between kingdoms, and in fact, other kingdoms were hardly mentioned at all. Again, I'd attribute this to the story's constraint to one book and not Scheuerer's writing chops.

The conflicts that the characters were up against were pretty cookie-cutter for a NA fantasy. While entertaining enough, I didn't find them to be particularly compelling, and they most certainly weren't anything special. There was a lot of potential with the shadow monsters, but again, I think that Scheuerer wasn't able to develop them fully.

Overall enjoyable, but I just don't think I'll rememeber much about this book in a few months.

a spicy standalone ! I love to see it . We have a black cat FMC and a cinnamon roll MMC with a really great dynamic. The banter is 100% there and it was my favourite part of the story. Their chemistry was also chefs kiss .
High recommend if you want fast paced romantasy without committing to a whole series.

I loved this audiobook - usually I can knit while listening to a story, but Drue and Talemir had me putting my needles down and saying OH MY! The witty banter between these two only added to the obvious heat these two had going on.

Strong FMC and a haughty MMC - lots of worldbuilding and heart wrenching storytelling.

I really wanted to like this one. It was my first by Helen Scheuerer. I think that the premise was great, & had a lot of potential. It just unfortunately fell flat for me.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher/author for providing me with an ALC in exchange for my honest review.

OMG!!! This book was exactly what I wanted it to be! I loved it. I will make sure to check out other books by this author. When I requested this I was just intrigued by the concept of it and I loved how it turned out. This story had a great plot and if you have read this and enjoyed it, This was so much. It was such a great story. I would say give this one a try. I will continue to follow this author. Way to go to this author for not letting me down.

I highly enjoyed the narrator of the audiobook. Kept me listening.

DNF @ 15%. I do not want to bring this author's rating down considering it was just not for me. My apologies.

Slaying the Shadow Prince is a fantasy romance novel where our protagonists will have to face their fears and biases to work together. Could a monster be more than evil?

Drue Emerson is a ranger in the fallen Kingdom of Naarva and will not be stopped in her fight against the shadow wraiths that are devastating her home. Luckily, she had access to the kingdom forge and had created a steel cuff that could sense those beings. To her surprise, when two swordsmen arrive, she realizes one of them is a shadow wraith.
Talemir, Warsword of Thesmarr, has been cursed with this new nature after a battle against the wraiths and is desperate to get rid of this dark secret. But Drue won't back down, she is sure he has an obscure plan and won't even let him breathe.
Reluctantly, our two protagonists will embark on their adventure together to solve the mystery of the manipulated steel source and save those whom Drue love the most.

As an avid fantasy and romance reader, and I'm always looking for new interesting titles, so when I read the synopsis of this novel, I got very excited. At that time I was about to read Slaying the Vampire King, another novel of these "monsters lovers" series, and I was ready to dive into this series head first.
Then the reality hit me: They are not independent stories.
Such an important aspect of this book is not advertised. Yeah, it's a standalone, but it happens in another series universe. WHY IS THIS NOT BEING TOLD IN THE SYNOPSIS? This is a side novel of the series The Legends of Thezmarr and for that reason, it doesn't develop into a full standalone novel! I was full of disappointment, and I hardly finished it.

The story had potential, and I'm always in the mood for this kind of romantasy books with the tropes mentioned in the blurb. And even if this book gave both fantasy and romance, it wasn't compelling enough, and I became quite bored while listening to it.
It felt so plain. I don't know exactly why, but everything about it felt cliché, not developed enough and lifeless.
I expected the stakes to be higher, and to be a more dramatic love story due to their situation. But they have it quite easy: the fact that he is a shadow wraith hardly affects their romance and it doesn't feel like it makes their journey even a little bit harder. Where is the angst this situation would bring? Where is the internal conflict? WHERE IS THE FLAVOR???
As characters, Drue and Talemir could win an award for "uninteresting and unoriginal characters" without the bat of an eye. Not only they didn't bring anything new to the table, but they hardly felt to have a purpose. Just a bunch of characters playing in a vague fantasy setting, not well enough explained because it is part of another existing series!

The book is sold as an enemies-to-lovers story, with the found family trope and forced proximity. And I have to ask... Is that found family here with us? 'Cause last time I checked, having each protagonist a friend didn't count as that trope. Not to get me started with the whole "enemies", because at this point I know it's sometimes used lightly, and...well, there are worse things out there that we can complain about.

The best part for me, and the reason I gave this two stars instead of one, was the audio. In particular the performance of Islay Jacobs, who worked magnificently in this narration, creating an essence for every character. Chase T. Walker also did a great job by voicing Talemir and narrating the story, and the dual POV narrated by different people was a nice touch to keep the listener invested. 

In conclusion, I loved the work the narrators put into it and couldn't enjoy the story. I would not recommend this book unless you are reading the series it came from and I will not pick any other book from this series of "Mortal Enemies to Monsters Lovers".

Where do I start?! I freaking LOVED this. Ate it up in one sitting. It was so freaking good.

Set in the world of Thezmarr, where shadow wraith attack through a veil that threatens to fall apart at any moment.

I loved the world building and our romance between Drue and Talemir.

We also get introduced to Wilder who gets his own series in The Legends of Thezmarr.

I could reread this book over and over again! Can’t wait to read more for this author.

I am so sorry but DNF at 15%. This just did not hold my attention. I have heard good things about the author's Blood and Steele series and will maybe try that instead. This was fine, but I just couldn't get into it. It was giving "girl bossification" unnecessarily.

Slaying the Shadow Prince by Helen Scheuerer
Narrated by Islay Jacobs & Chase T. Walker
Publisher: Dreamscape Media
Genre: General Fiction (Adult), Romance, Sci Fi & Fantasy
Published: December 12, 2023

Slaying the Shadow Prince by Helen Scheuerer is a standalone romantasy. This the first book I've read by the author and I'm sure it won't be the last.

The author created a magical world that I found captivating. The characters were brilliantly written and so fascinating.

The narration by Islay Jacobs & Chase T. Walker was wonderful! I loved how they brought this book to life!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

I loved this one! Shadow daddy yes please. They had great chemistry, and I loved the world. I thought this was an interesting take on "monsters" and their banter was top tier. I can't wait to read more from this author.

I’m glad I read this first before her Legends of Thezmarr series because i feel it sets the foundation for this new world and how the Shadow-touched are created. I loved how the author incorporates the importance of loving yourself completely- not just the good parts, but the darker ones too because let’s be honest. We have both sides and as long as we recognize and understand these things and use them for the better, the world is a more beautiful place.

I seriously can't get enough of this world! We learn about Talemir first in Blood & Steel, and he's such an enigma! Definitely made me curious to learn more about his story and why he left the Warswords. Well, he had a perfectly acceptable reason! He's part shadow-wraith and knew the Warswords wouldn't accept him if they found out. So, when he meets Drue, and she does accept him for exactly what/who he is, he knew he'd found where he belonged. Absolutely love Drue! Fierce, snarky, and a total badass! The line about Tal asking Drue what Terrance eats and her response "starlings" had me busting up! I hope we see more of Drue and Tal in future Legends of Thezmarr books 🤞

Loved the dual narration as well! Both narrators did a fabulous job!

"I don't know what I prefer more... when you say my name like a curse... or when you say it like a blessing."

"Because there's no one else I want fighting at my side, whose home I'd wish to defend. If you're going into the depths of darkness, I'm going with you."

I was so excited to listen to this because I've really enjoyed some of Helen Scheuerer's other books. This one unfortunately is not for me. I'm not particularly a fan of the narrator and I felt like the relationship between the two main characters moved too fast for me. The spicy scenes were a little ick and cringe for me.

I am definitely in my monster smut era.

Slaying the Shadow Prince was a complete stand-alone. (Thank you, thank you, thank you to authors who write stand-alone romance books!) I loved Drue - smart and sassy, two of my favorite traits in a FMC. The banter between True and Talemir is also top notch. This is a mild-burn, with just enough spice, romance, action and plot to keep me entertained.

Written as a dualPOV and the audiobook is produced with two narrators, who both did an excellent job embodying the characters.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media for the #gifted audiobook review copy.

I really enjoyed the characters in this one. Drue was a fun combination of sassy and serious. And a little stabby. Talemir was a delight. I felt like it was more of a medium burn than slow burn; regardless, the spice was spicy. Like a jalapeño.

The narrators were great as well.

This is a standalone fun fantasy romance novel, part of a series called "Mortal Enemies to Monsters Lovers", which has been written by various authors. The book features Talemir, a Warsword who was attacked by a shadow wraith and has now become a part shadow wraith. Only Drue and the people she has told know about Talemir's secret. Drue is a skilled ranger and one of the best in their squadron. She agrees to help Talemir if he promises to never leave her side due to trust issues. This will lead to the two of them sharing a tiny tent, we all know where that will lead to.

The book has excellent fantasy elements, including shadow wraiths, world-building, and magical aspects. It also has plenty of action scenes and several spicy scenes. The writing is well done, and the plot is presented in a balanced way. The romance is integrated well into the story and is not overdone. The book has elements that we see quite often in other popular romantasy books such as a dark and handsome man with leathery wings who shadow walks and bends shadows, a male protagonist who reads romance novels, and snarky protagonists. Though the book uses many tropes, it is still entertaining. The side characters are well-written, and their stories are engaging.

The narration is done by two different narrators, who both did an excellent job with their respective parts. Overall, the book is entertaining, with just enough spice and romance to keep the reader engaged, and plenty of fantastic fantasy elements.

3.5 stars
This was a unicorn in fantasy- a complete standalone, not connected to any other books in a series! 😱
It’s an enemies to lovers high fantasy plot that’s easy to follow, chock full of intrigue, and a gang of characters fighting for human survival. The narration was well done for both the female and male main characters. Recommend!

It has been so long since I read a standalone, so this was extremely appreciated. It is somewhat spicy and has some great fantasy elements. It definitely is a series of popular tropes rolled into one yummy, spicy story - but it works here. The character dynamics were fun, it had the right plot/spice pairing, and I love that it relates to other stories but you don't have to have read them to understand and enjoy this one.

I'd consider this junk food, it is fun, a really great time, but it isn't going to leave you dwelling on it for months to come.