Lord Of Shadows was a book I thought could have been so much more then what I was actually given. I enjoyed parts of it but felt there was less romance and more mystery then what would normally be considered a paranormal romance. The parts where Daigh and Sabrina are together I enjoyed. I thought them as a couple really worked and the interactions between them were really good. It was everything else that had me puzzled. First I couldn’t even begin to pronounce the names of everything in this book. I mean usually I can just think of a way to pronounce things and that’s that, I don’t care if its how it’s supposed to be pronounced or not. But in this book, things were spelled so weird, with what seemed like strange comma placements, that I couldn’t wrap my head about it. It really took away from the story IMO. Because every time I saw the names I’d have to stop and think…how does this work?

The world building was decent but again it got pretty confusing at times. I haven’t read the first book in this series, but I’m thinking that wasn’t the problem. I just think it was a bit hard to follow overall. I think had there been more story directly between Sabrina and Daigh (no clue how to say that either, I went with Day-g..or sometimes Dag lol) then I would have connected much better. As it stands I just didn’t.

Normally I get into the scarred guys…come on, you know I do..and Daigh was pretty hot. All manly, muscley and brooding. His inability to remember who he was with the exception of knowing who Sabrina was (except she didn’t know him) was a great mystery. Timeless even. Her ability to heal was also a cool addition. Though she had a whole lot of unholy feelings for a woman of the cloth hehe

While I did have issues with Lord Of Shadows I’m still going to give it 3 stars because it did keep me reading. Daigh alone kept me turning hoping to catch another glimpse of his fine, albeit scarred, ass.

I’m pretty conflicted about how I feel about this story and I think it’s because of my expectations coming in. I was expecting more of a cross between a historical romance with some paranormal elements thrown in but it was just not that to me. Because the book was not what I was expecting I felt let down. I also picked up this series on the second book, not the first, so I was a little confused about the world I found myself in. I really enjoyed the interactions between Daigh and Sabrina and I felt that their path towards their Happily Ever After was well told. Both of those characters were well written and I enjoyed the conflict and growth that they both experienced throughout the story. I will try another story by Alix Rickloff and hope that by reading the first in the series I can appreciate this story more.

Part Fey, part human, Lady Sabrina Douglas is Other and has never really known what it is to belong. The closest she’s gotten has been in the seven years since her father’s murder that she has spent cloistered among the Sisters of the High Danu. She finds contentment in using her powers to heal, but that calm is shattered when she heals a man who was discovered half-drowned. Daigh MacLir doesn’t know who he is or where he came from, but his body is a veritable map of scars that indicate a life not easily lived. As bits and pieces of his past begin to come back to Daigh, Sabrina finds herself drawn into a dangerous situation that makes her question her judgment in falling for Daigh. Will the truth of Daigh’s past reclaim him with a vengeance that will crush any chance he and Sabrina have of a future?

Murder and magic go hand-in-hand in Lord of Shadows, the second book in Alix Rickloff’s Heirs of Kilronan trilogy. Lord of Shadows picks up where the first book, Earl of Darkness, leaves off, so it’s probably best that the trilogy is read in order. It’s now Sabrina Douglas’s turn to be thrust into the middle of a good-versus-evil battle her brother and an evil Other started. I won’t detail the plot, as the twists and turns of Earl of Darkness and Lord of Shadows are what make the books interesting. Suffice it to say that the paranormal world of nineteenth century Ireland Ms. Rickloff has created is fascinating in its detail.

Daigh is a hero that is sure to capture readers’ interest. The torment he has survived tugged on my heartstrings and the way he strives to become a better man absolutely won me over. Ms. Rickloff created a winner of a hero with Daigh. Where Lord of Shadows primarily fell short was, for me, with its heroine. For the majority of the story, Sabrina seems to simply be along for the ride rather than a useful component to the overarching storyline of the Heirs of Kilronan trilogy. Perhaps Ms. Rickloff spoiled me with Cat, the heroine of Earl of Darkness, but I expected Sabrina to be unique. She isn’t, not particularly, which is a disappointment since many of the characters in the series are. But my biggest issue with Sabrina stemmed from her almost arbitrary worship of one of her brothers, Brendan, which was matched only by her distrust of her eldest brother, Aidan. Being that Ms. Rickloff made me fall in love with Aidan in Earl of Darkness (where he was the hero), Sabrina’s snotty attitude toward him was hard to swallow and only served to highlight her immaturity in other areas.

As I previously mentioned, the Heirs of Kilronan trilogy is best read in order, beginning with Earl of Darkness. Though I did enjoy Lord of Shadows, it does suffer from feeling like a bridge book. All the same, the advancement of the overall plot left me satisfied, Daigh was a wonderful hero, and Ms. Rickloff has me on tenterhooks for the final book, Heir of Danger.

Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed.