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birdloveranne's review against another edition
3.0
Not what I was expecting. Cliff-hanger-ish as well. 3.5 stars
odearime's review
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
divapitbull's review against another edition
2.0
I should preface this by saying that I am an avid reader of mm romance. I prefer the “2 alpha males” trope because I want to read an mm romance; not a mf romance with extra dicks. Shadow’s Seduction for all that it seemed to try not to – seemed to fall into the latter category. It also probably didn’t help that I read it right after reading the last IAD novel and I had pretty much had it with the “fated mate” theme. In fact it seemed very similar to Sweet Ruin – one fated mated doing the “happy happy joy joy, cannot wait to start our life together dance” and the other resisting to the point of tediousness for three quarters of the story.
In Shadow’s Seduction, The Death Demon Caspian was particularly annoying in his resistance. First it was “I’m straight. No interest in males” and it was explained that he hailed from a demonarchy that was particularly homophobic. Then when he wrapped his horns around his attraction to the vampire and Dacian prince Mirceo it became “but I want pups” so I can’t settle for you. Then when it was pointed out that there were ways around the whole having pups thing and they could still sire little demons and vampires to have the whole “family experience” – then it became “but you’re a vampire slut and you’ll never be faithful and my mate will be MINE and MINE ALONE and you won’t be able to keep your fangs in your mouth and your dick in your pants”. And at this point I just wanted Mirceo to tell Cas to go fuck himself, fated mate or not.
Cas was portrayed as the “dominant”, older, more manly male and the Prince was slightly effeminate, more capricious. There was plenty of purple-y prose over the top sex scenes that played up the whole virgin angle:
C: don’t be nervous
M: Wouldn’t any blushing virgin be
C: …but first I need to get my treasured mate ready. I’m going to take care of you Mirceo. Tonight and always. Do you trust me not to hurt you”?
M: I do. I trust you in this. I trust you in everything. I always have.
Me: Oh just gag me with a spoon.
Then action/adventure followed by misunderstandings, assumptions of the ass-you-me variety and much angst (or presumably angst if I cared – which I totally didn’t). Shadow’s Seduction was the first Dacian book I read despite my OCD raging at the gap in my IAD reading history. It seemed to sort of recap the first book Shadow’s Claim and gave me absolutely no inclination to dive down that rabbit hole. It also set up the next Dacian book – and it seems like Cas and Mirceo will play significant roles in that story, but again – all set.
In Shadow’s Seduction, The Death Demon Caspian was particularly annoying in his resistance. First it was “I’m straight. No interest in males” and it was explained that he hailed from a demonarchy that was particularly homophobic. Then when he wrapped his horns around his attraction to the vampire and Dacian prince Mirceo it became “but I want pups” so I can’t settle for you. Then when it was pointed out that there were ways around the whole having pups thing and they could still sire little demons and vampires to have the whole “family experience” – then it became “but you’re a vampire slut and you’ll never be faithful and my mate will be MINE and MINE ALONE and you won’t be able to keep your fangs in your mouth and your dick in your pants”. And at this point I just wanted Mirceo to tell Cas to go fuck himself, fated mate or not.
Cas was portrayed as the “dominant”, older, more manly male and the Prince was slightly effeminate, more capricious. There was plenty of purple-y prose over the top sex scenes that played up the whole virgin angle:
C: don’t be nervous
M: Wouldn’t any blushing virgin be
C: …but first I need to get my treasured mate ready. I’m going to take care of you Mirceo. Tonight and always. Do you trust me not to hurt you”?
M: I do. I trust you in this. I trust you in everything. I always have.
Me: Oh just gag me with a spoon.
Then action/adventure followed by misunderstandings, assumptions of the ass-you-me variety and much angst (or presumably angst if I cared – which I totally didn’t). Shadow’s Seduction was the first Dacian book I read despite my OCD raging at the gap in my IAD reading history. It seemed to sort of recap the first book Shadow’s Claim and gave me absolutely no inclination to dive down that rabbit hole. It also set up the next Dacian book – and it seems like Cas and Mirceo will play significant roles in that story, but again – all set.
mel_jade's review against another edition
3.0
As always she's an amazing writer, but I found this one a little harder to get into. Still a good read though. I love this series.
whatshawnareads's review against another edition
4.0
I’m happy that we’re finally seeing queer characters in the Lore, even if the downside is that the conflict is mainly around being queer. Hopefully this is a sign that Kresley Cole is moving the series in the right direction. I’d consider Shadow’s Seduction a must read as it does set up some future story lines.
This is also advertised as a novella, but contains a fully fleshed out plot and is not much shorter than other books in the series and honestly comparable to many authors fill length novels. I’m so happy that the decision was made to bring it to audio and I hope that will continue for all future IAD novellas.
Narration: Robert Pekoff is amazing as always. Bless him for bringing this book to life.
This is also advertised as a novella, but contains a fully fleshed out plot and is not much shorter than other books in the series and honestly comparable to many authors fill length novels. I’m so happy that the decision was made to bring it to audio and I hope that will continue for all future IAD novellas.
Narration: Robert Pekoff is amazing as always. Bless him for bringing this book to life.
perazo's review against another edition
4.0
I read this extremely fast, and I enjoyed it a lot! I was a bit irritated with the pacing, and then I got to the terrible cliffhanger, but, I guess. The BL romance at times felt too *written by a cis het woman*, but I loved both characters! Very spicy.
sonja_ahrb's review against another edition
5.0
There is absolutely nothing that Kresley Cole cannot write! Her first foray into writing a M/M romance was a smashing success and as someone who reads M/M romance rarely - this is only my second time - for me, that's saying something. Shadow's Seduction was seriously fantastic and I truly loved it!
I confess that it wasn't until I started reading that I realized who Caspion was and while I didn't necessarily favor him in Shadow's Claim because I was all about Trehan, I didn't hold that against him now and I was excited to get to know him. And get to know him I did! I had no idea what Cas had been through, the struggles he faced. After everything, he's strong, commanding, and fierce, but he does have his vulnerabilities and insecurities too. I didn't think any less of Caspion for that though, they only made me love him more. Sure, there might have been times when I wanted to reach inside the pages, grab him and tell him that he's amazing and perfect just the way he is and to believe in Mirceo and himself, but Caspion's a pretty smart demon and he realizes it too. And when he does - it was everything.
Oh, Mirceo, Mirceo, Mirceo, how I loved Mirceo! He's so fun and playful, silly and teasing, and a little bit of a devious troublemaker. Mirceo is unapologetically himself: he's confident and arrogant but the good kind of arrogant. He knows exactly what he wants and he goes after it and doesn't give up until he has it and in this case, it being Caspion, but make no mistake, it would apply to anything Mirceo wanted - that's just the way he is. It was wonderful to experience that and the way he admired, cared for, and loved his Cas. Mirceo is so charming and real and I completely loved him!
I haven't been a big reader of M/M romance not because I had a problem with it, but simply because I didn't believe I would be able to really connect to the heroes or fall in love like I normally do and the first one I read pretty much confirmed that. I loved it more since one of my favorite authors wrote it than for the story itself. I don't want to say it felt forced to me, but it wasn't completely natural either. I'm only bringing that up though because Shadow's Seduction didn't feel that way at all. It was just effortless and natural and everything flowed together.
It was fun and unbelievably sexy, but it also tugged on the heartstrings. There were so many things that I loved about Shadow's Seduction, but I think the thing that I loved most about it was that the fact that Mirceo and Caspion were both males was more of an on-the-surface issue than the main one. They were just like any other normal couple with their own problems and I loved that because that's how it should be. It was beautiful, heart melting, and heartwarming and if Ms. Cole ever writes another M/M romance, I'll be very excited to read it!
I would recommend reading Shadow's Seduction after reading all the Immortals After Dark books because they are outstanding, but you should definitely read it after Shadow's Claim . It's told from Caspion and Mirceo's POV and they get their happily-ever-after. Oh and by the way, the sneak peek of Wicked Abyss was soooo good, I can't wait to read it!
~ Sonja, 5 Stars
I confess that it wasn't until I started reading that I realized who Caspion was and while I didn't necessarily favor him in Shadow's Claim because I was all about Trehan, I didn't hold that against him now and I was excited to get to know him. And get to know him I did! I had no idea what Cas had been through, the struggles he faced. After everything, he's strong, commanding, and fierce, but he does have his vulnerabilities and insecurities too. I didn't think any less of Caspion for that though, they only made me love him more. Sure, there might have been times when I wanted to reach inside the pages, grab him and tell him that he's amazing and perfect just the way he is and to believe in Mirceo and himself, but Caspion's a pretty smart demon and he realizes it too. And when he does - it was everything.
Oh, Mirceo, Mirceo, Mirceo, how I loved Mirceo! He's so fun and playful, silly and teasing, and a little bit of a devious troublemaker. Mirceo is unapologetically himself: he's confident and arrogant but the good kind of arrogant. He knows exactly what he wants and he goes after it and doesn't give up until he has it and in this case, it being Caspion, but make no mistake, it would apply to anything Mirceo wanted - that's just the way he is. It was wonderful to experience that and the way he admired, cared for, and loved his Cas. Mirceo is so charming and real and I completely loved him!
I haven't been a big reader of M/M romance not because I had a problem with it, but simply because I didn't believe I would be able to really connect to the heroes or fall in love like I normally do and the first one I read pretty much confirmed that. I loved it more since one of my favorite authors wrote it than for the story itself. I don't want to say it felt forced to me, but it wasn't completely natural either. I'm only bringing that up though because Shadow's Seduction didn't feel that way at all. It was just effortless and natural and everything flowed together.
It was fun and unbelievably sexy, but it also tugged on the heartstrings. There were so many things that I loved about Shadow's Seduction, but I think the thing that I loved most about it was that the fact that Mirceo and Caspion were both males was more of an on-the-surface issue than the main one. They were just like any other normal couple with their own problems and I loved that because that's how it should be. It was beautiful, heart melting, and heartwarming and if Ms. Cole ever writes another M/M romance, I'll be very excited to read it!
I would recommend reading Shadow's Seduction after reading all the Immortals After Dark books because they are outstanding, but you should definitely read it after Shadow's Claim . It's told from Caspion and Mirceo's POV and they get their happily-ever-after. Oh and by the way, the sneak peek of Wicked Abyss was soooo good, I can't wait to read it!
~ Sonja, 5 Stars