Review: Shades of Wicked by Jeaniene Frost

In this thrilling new Night Rebel series set in New York Times bestselling author Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress world, sexy and ruthless vampire Ian finally meets his match!

The Rule Breaker

Master vampire Ian is unrepentant, shameless…and every shade of wicked. He’s made one too many enemies in his two centuries of existence, including Dagon, a demon who now lays claim to his soul. Ian’s only chance to escape Dagon is to join forces with a Law Guardian, but he’s never been able to abide by the rules for long.

The Law Maker

Veritas’ normal role is police, judge and jury to reprobates like Ian. But she has her own ax to grind with Dagon, so if she can use Ian as bait…well, all’s fair in law and war. As they scour supernatural hotspots to perfect their trap, Veritas soon realizes Ian’s devil-may-care, roguish image hides something much more powerful. And Ian discovers that Veritas has shocking secrets of her own. As they’re drawn to each other with a passion as intense as their peril, either love or justice will prevail. But each will have devastating consequences…

So, I rarely read paranormal romance, which this book falls squarely into, but you know, sometimes the mood just strikes to read a book were passions run high. I’ve not read any of Jeaniene Frost’s other novels, but evidently this one, while a first in series,  is set in the same world as other books and features a character, Ian, that has been a secondary character from her existing works. I had no problems at all entering with this series. If I was missing knowledge or connections for backstory or references I think it was trivial and definitely did not impact my enjoyment of the book. There’s a chance there could be references that other readers may pick up on that went over my head, but as a new reader this felt like the start of a brand new series and worked quite well. Anything I needed to know was provided as part of the story. I mention this because I have read some books where it was quite evident I was missing something important by not reading the previous series. So for anyone concerned, this absolutely felt like a great starting place.

Evidently Ian has been a fan favorite and honestly, it’s easy to see why. He is a classic sexy bad boy that is incredibly fun to read. He is a bit irreverent, and certainly has a strong disregard for rules and a sense of humor you might expect from someone like this. So when Veritas, who is not just law abiding, but also law enforcing as a Law Guardian, searches for Ian, it is no surprise that they clash and are both incredibly distrustful of the either. They are polar opposites, after all. But we all know, opposites attract, and sometimes that clashing can trigger something a bit … shall we just say ‘more’. The chemistry between these two is so thick you can feel it immediately. And when they finally act on it? The passion between these two runs so strong, they can literally bring down the house around them and not notice.

So, beyond the romance, there is also another plot involving Ian and Veritas working together (or trying to work together given they don’t really trust each other) to hunt down a very powerful Demon named Dagon. They both have their own motivations for finding and destroying him, but their odds of success are so much higher  (meaning they might actually have a slim chance) if they work with each other. While this plot was probably given equal attention in the book and kept me intrigued, I have to admit it’s the romance aspect of the book, and Ian and Veritas’ relationship that stayed with me the most but this part of the story was critical in making the book work for me because it gave me something more than just romance and also gave Veritas and Ian so many opportunities to test their relationship and provide opportunities for them to get to know one another.

So overall, I did enjoy this and recommend for someone looking for a bit more of steamy read than your standard fantasy. I will definitely keep book 2 on my radar as well because I am curious where the story part of it (past just their relationship) will head in the next book.