Book name: Shadow Fallen
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon
Publisher: Piatkus
Format: Print, ebook
Genre: Fantasy
Publication Date: 2022
Star Rating: 5/5
No one knows how to tell a paranormal romance quite like Sherrilyn Kenyon.
Shadow Fallen is a dream-hunter novel, but the narrative is easy to follow regardless of how familiar you are with the previous books.
Ariel is an angel, but her powers come under attack by an old crone who is determined that Ariel will now experience the profoundly human feelings of love and grief.
Valteri is the angry and aggressive illegitimate brother of William the Conqueror.
Ariel has her memory wiped by the crone and her powers removed. She is then placed in a field in eleventh-century England and is found wandering in confusion by Valteri’s men.
Valteri has eyes of different colours. This simple fact about him is, in Medieval England, enough for everyone he meets to call him a demon.
This is deliciously ironic, given that Ariel actually is paranormal in origin but appears to everyone she meets as a lovely Anglo-Saxon noblewoman.
It doesn’t take long for Valteri and Ariel to fall in love. She finds that she can instinctively trust him, and he is enamoured of her beauty and kindness.
Above all, she is happy to look at him without being bothered by his eye colours and she doesn’t dehumanise him by calling him the devil’s spawn.
Demons arrive in the form of Belial (the devil) and his cohort. They locate Ariel and Belial pretends to be her brother.
A love spell cast by the crone leads Valteri and Ariel to make love. This propels them into marriage as soon as the fact becomes known, since it is the only way for Ariel’s ‘brother’ to protect her honour.
Many trials lie ahead for the couple after this impromptu union.
I loved Ariel and Valteri. Despite everything, he was a hero and I rooted for him all the way.
Ariel was so brave and patient in the face of her memory loss, and she was a lovely person who was kind and always tried to do her best for everyone, Valteri included.
I totally bought into wanting to see a happy ending emerge from all the many challenges the couple faced.
I loved Shadow Fallen and would definitely recommend it for paranormal romance in a historical setting. The story was satisfyingly complete while also leading on to further narratives in the series.
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