The first in the Shadow rider series. The premise of this book was so new and exciting. I enjoyed the characters and the story arc. The Ferraro brothers and sister were a great new cast of characters with their gift. Was a great start to a well written series.

I’ve had Shadow Rider on my Goodreads TBR list for a while now and finally gave it go due to the fourth book that came out earlier this month (June 2019). I’ve had a hit or miss with Christine’s books I’ve noticed. I enjoy her writing style though but sometimes can’t connect with the characters. This book, in particular, I didn’t connect well with either character (hero or heroine). Although, I enjoyed the storyline of this book and where Christine is taking it.

The story follows Stefano Ferraro and Francesca Capello. (I love the heroine’s name since it’s close to my first name, but I have a ‘J’ instead of a ‘C.’) Francesca’s best friend Joanna helped her get from California to Chicago to get away from a bad guy who has it out for her. Joanna and Francesa met in college, so they are close to each other. Francesca gains the attention of one of the Ferraro family members, and she’s very suspicious of him at first. He comes off as being part of the mafia and being into illegal things. Everyone is scared of the Ferrao family or respect them. Once she gains the attention of one of the family members, Stefano Ferraro then he won’t leave her alone. He’s always getting on her for things she has no control over at first, or she is no clue of, especially in being in parts of a city that are protected by the Ferraro family. Here’s when the characters drive me crazy. Stefano is very bossy and controlling. He’s used to getting his way, and Francesca is not used to his personality. She comes off of being scared and naive at times. She has really low self-esteem of herself and she shouldn’t. She’s a fascinating character on how Christine describes her, but she’s been put through a lot. She doesn’t have family, but then she has the Ferraro family stepping up to help her.

Stefano can’t believe she’s one of him since she’s a female. Stefano is considered a Shadow Rider. He can manipulate light and dark. I found this part of the book fascinating and loved how Christine wrote and went into detail of Shadow Riding. This is not something I read before, and I was intrigued by it.

Now there is a lot of characters introduced in Shadow Rider that I wrote down everyone’s name in a book so that I can remember them all. Christine has a way of adding quite a bit of characters, which I don’t mind at all because that tells me lots more books to be written. I was interested in learning more about the other Ferraro family members. The mother drove me crazy though in the story. You find out a lot about how the brothers and sister of the Ferraro family were treated in this book. Stefano has some family drama that he is dealing with on top of keeping Francesca protected by the bad guy that has it out for her.

Overall, I enjoyed the first book. It didn’t get a higher rating from me, but I will be checking out the rest of the series. Oh…and if you are audiobook listener then you will find out the narrator is Jim Frangione who also narrates the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. He’s one of my favorite narrators, so I devoured the audiobook in no time when listening to it. He always manages to bring characters to life for me.

Story Rating: 3.5 stars
Steaminess Rating: 3 stars
Standalone or part of series: Part of series, but a different couple for each book.
Do I recommend this book? Yes.
Will I read other books from the author? Yes.
Tropes/Elements: Fated Mates; Suspense
Hero: Shadow Rider; Sexy; Rich; Bossy; Controlling; Jealous
Heroine: Orphaned and sister was murdered; Very low self-esteem; Scared

I always read any book by Christine Feehan. I love the start of this series. The hero is wonderful as is her family's gift. I can't wait to read the other books in this series.

I’m honestly not sure where to start with this book, or how it made me feel. This is the first story I have ever read from this author, which makes my feelings for it that much more complex. On one hand, I have been dying to read one of her stories for so very long, and I am aware that they are loved by many. I know that she could be considered the Queen of Paranormal Romance as well, and has been hailed as such before. So, naturally, I wanted to love this book so hard, but unfortunately, I didn’t.

There were certain aspects of the book that I enjoyed though. I pushed through the story to finish it and I’m glad for that. I loved the concept behind the Shadow Riders. The ability is fresh, new, and unique as is their cause. The thought that certain individuals have the capability to attach their shadows to other shadows and disappear into them, able to ride them to another destination is pretty rad. Add in the ability to hide within the depths of a shadow, psychic abilities, and exceptional fighting skills? Yes please.

I loved the Ferraro family, and honestly, I probably would read the next in the series just to see what happens to the next member of said family. I would also be curious to see if the storylines themselves get better. However, I wasn’t too fond of the heroine, Francesca. In some ways, I liked her. I liked her ability to empathize with others and that she had pride in her work. With that said, she was a very wishy-washy character who one minute would be hell-bent on reveling in her independence and suddenly be the ultimate submissive. While I have thoroughly enjoyed other characters and books that explore those sexual preferences, there wasn’t consistency between the hero and heroine of the story. There appeared to be boundaries that simply disappeared with no effort or a way to understand why.

Stefano was the typical Alpha male hero, and usually I like that, but the writing swept away the majority of the substance needed for a story. While I loved the backgrounds of the characters, and how they came to be Shadow Riders, as well as how they were vigilantes in the war against hardcore criminals in a flawed system of justice, I couldn’t get past other aspects of the book. I think that the idea behind the story, and the storyline revolving around Francesca and Barry Anthon (the bad guy) was good. I also loved the ending. I loved the conclusion. Despite that, the book itself fell flat, and it took me weeks to get through.

I know that I am mostly rating the book based on the story, but I cannot deny the issues I had with the writing itself. The redundancy and constant use of certain words relating to thoughts and actions between Francesca and Stefano made it nearly impossible to turn the page. I had a difficult time wanting to wait for the next interesting part because the sexual scenes were anything but hot because of the misguided use of certain words and descriptions.
Honestly, if I’m reading a romance, I want to feel it to the depths of my soul. I want to feel so turned on that if my guy is next to me, he can feel the heat. This book didn’t transport me into an experience of love and want and need that I crave when I read a romance. It didn’t give me the feeling of happiness I like to find when the couple overcomes their obstacles and gets their happily-ever-after. So, unfortunately, this book just wasn’t the one for me. Regardless, I will most likely read the next one, hoping that it will be not only better, but also that the next couple does give me that feeling of a lifted heart.