Claimed by Shadow

In book 2 we find Cassie in Hell. Wait, my mistake. She’s at an incubus staffed bar in Dante’s Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas — decorated to look like Hell — surrounded by the 3 Graeae sisters. With war mages coming at her from every direction the Graeae provide the perfect distraction for her to do what she does best...run. Because Cassie doesn’t have time to be killed by the people who are supposed to be protecting her. No, she has Tony, the heinous vampire who raised her, and Myra, the murderous rival for the Pythian power, to catch. Only they’re hiding out in Faery, an extremely dangerous place. She also has the little problem — ok, major problem — of the Pythian power pulling her back in time through the centuries to show more fix who knows what!

And this is where Cassie proves how smart she is. With her eyes wide open to all the possibilities, she teams up with Pritkin and his retired war mage buddy Mac. Sure they might kill her or turn her over to the Silver Circle. But the way the Circle is after her that may happen anyway. And who else is she gonna trust, the Senate (vampires)???

I love Mac. He is a fabulous character. He believes in Cassie when no one else does, even herself. He is also a magical tattoo artist which is pretty dang cool. We also get to re-meet some minor characters from book 1 while in Faery and Cassie has more problems added to her to-do list. That list is getting pretty long!

What I love about Ms Chance is that every piece of information has a purpose. It’s an Easter egg for later in the book or later in the series. The tiniest details come back around and prove important. Fabulous, intricate writing. And across two series with one timeline!!

If you haven’t read the Cassie Palmer and/or Dorina Basarab books you must start now!

TW: rape scene (spoiler alert, Cassie saves herself in the nick of time but the scene gets close enough to be traumatic. It is only a few paragraphs and easily skippable without losing important story pieces. Once the roots start ripping off her shorts jump forward 12 paragraphs to avoid.) show less

This book is a fantastic follow on to the fabulous plot and cast of characters found in Touch The Dark. Again Cassie’s unique brand of terrified courage in the face of total chaos provides the backdrop to some of the most intense inter-character relationships I’ve ever seen on paper. Hot and steamy, while totally true, doesn’t begin to cover the depth and detail of emotion packed into every exchange. Another masterpiece to add to this authors accomplishments to date. The complicated relationship between Cassie and John Pritkin has brought me loyally back to this series more times than I can remember, and each time I crack the cover it’s just as good as the first time I picked it up nearly a decade ago.

Cassie is hiding out in Vegas. She's on the run from any goons Tony sends as well as a wayward acolyte Myra. She's keeping her things in a skating rink locker and stealing outrageous outfits from casino locker rooms to interrogate Casanova. He used to be Tony's second in command and he might know how to get to him in Faerie. She has to get to Tony before he gets to her. She wants to take him down and she wants the paper weight that currently traps Cassie's father's ghost. She also does not want to be Pythia.

Then cruel, annoying Pritkin enters the scene. They may make it to Faerie together, but will they make it in one piece?

Claimed by Shadow is all around great. The warmages get a front seat in this novel rather than the vampires. We show more learn more about the magic within this world by following Pritkin around through the backhalf of the novel. We also get more action scenes, and Chance knows how to write a riveting action scene. Cassie speaks more in this one, I suspect because she's out of the clutches of the vampires. She has more agency all around when she's away from them. In fact, one of the main problems, the geis enchantment placed on Cassie, compounds the vampires' rampant disregard for her agency.

I love Claimed by Shadow. I hope you love it too. show less

I’ll be honest, I’m kind of meh...about paranormal romances; I dig certain aspects of them (the paranormal…vamps, werewolves, witches, etc.) and don’t like other aspects (mainly the romance). Don’t get me wrong if the sex is well done and not the defining characteristic of the story, it can be a big bonus. I don’t necessarily want a love story with every paranormal book I pick up, but that’s my personal preference. I really dug the first book (Tough the Dark, 2006) and I think in my review of it I billed it as Otherworld meets the Soprano’s and said it was wonderfully complex and entertaining and I was certainly looking forward to reading the next in the series when it came out. As fate would have it, I didn’t manage show more to get a copy until recently. As it turns out, that was probably for the best as this second book in the series is decidedly inferior to the first.

In Claimed by Shadow, we pick up shortly after the events of the previous novel with Cassie on the run from the Vampire Counsel and stoically avoiding taking on the duties of the Pythia (she just wants a normal life after all). In the first book Cassie has spunk…she was a butt-kicking heroine who gave as good as she got…in Claimed by Shadow…not so much. Cassie has devolved to a whiny, confused girl who can’t figure out her powers. In the previous book I enjoyed watching her growing skill with prophecy…this time out it seemed like there really wasn’t any skill, she spent all her time screaming at various characters about how she didn’t know how to use the powers and more importantly that she didn’t want them at all. In the end, she who puts up a lot of struggle and energy into NOT becoming the Pythia comes to a lame conclusion…this entire section of the storyline ends poorly (very anti-climatic).

As with the previous book there was an assortment of vampires, mages, witches, fey, shrunken heads, satyrs, ghosts…and what should have been the lovely addition of Dark Fey (this could have been a very interesting addition to this growing world, but in the end…not so much). We were also introduced to incubi (very charming, if a bit over played), gargoyles (I would have liked to see more of them), the Graeae pulling a special guest appearance (very amusing and appreciated), and with Elvis and Hendrix in interesting cameo rolls (I won’t spoil it for you…but it was funny)! Even with all of this, this world manages to fall flat in the sequel…it doesn’t have that gritty dark urban fantasy feel…it’s muddled and confusing and the many plot lines were hard to sort out in the end and I had trouble liking Cassie as the book progressed.

This is billed mainly as a “paranormal romance,” and as I said when I started out here, I can take them or leave them and I prefer the paranormal to the romance…for me to really enjoy a book of this type, it needs to be weighted toward the paranormal, which this mostly was. The twist and play up of the sexual tension through the use of a Geis was potentially interesting, but I found that halfway though the book I really wanted to slap Cassie (and/or the author) around because in the end what could have been a nicely played sexual tension with a side of bittersweet lust became one of the most annoying plot devices I think I have had to keep reading about.

Overall…I have to agree with other reviewers, the first book was far superior and the sequel is almost (but not quite) a tired “rehash” of the original. In my opinion this is not a true continuation of the story line, the author spends 374 pages treading over the same territory again and again….I’ll certainly try the third in the series when it comes out in 2008 (every series has a book or two that aren’t on par with the others), but if there isn’t significant improvement that’ll be the end of this series for me. I rate it at 3 stars (and feel that is generous), if you like paranormal romance, you’ll likely find this amusing and fun…if your like me and prefer the paranormal to the romance…this is likely to fall short of the mark for you. This is definitely one to check out of the library. show less

Just about every mystical creature that you could possibly think of, has been mentioned at least once in this story. This makes for a very large and interesting world. At times however, Chance gets downright ridiculous in her choices. In the last book, we were introduced to Marlow, Rasputin, Baby face Nelson, Jack the Ripper and the famed artist Raphael as vampires. It's enough to make one wonder if Chance believes that any historical figure was human. To some degree, one must suspend belief to read urban fantasy but Chance simply has pushed this too far with her latest editions. Would you believe that zombie Elvis makes an appearance as an Elvis impersonator in Las Vegas and when he gets accidentally hurt in a battle, he is temporarily show more replaced by zombie Jimi Hendrix? If that were not enough, Casanova the incubus, inhabits the body of a vampire. I side eyed my kindle so hard, I damn near hurt myself. It seems that Chance just loves a dash of camp with her urban fantasy.

With the death of the Pythia, Cassie inherits great power, unfortunately she does not have the training to be able to control it and the Circle (Light witches), vamps and fae all want something from her. Cassie's goal is to find someone to transfer the power to, save her father from an eternity of imprisonment and to avenge the mortal death of her parents. As you can see, there is a lot going on with this world and this is even further complicated by time travel. As an agent to move things along, time travel is excellent; however, if not treated carefully, the varying timelines can and in this case do make story difficult to follow.

In a trip to fairy, Cassie is offered the opportunity to complete the transfer of power and claim her rightful tittle as Pythra. As you may have guessed from my previous review, this involves having intercourse. We are repeatedly told that Cassie is a virgin, though if she is -- it is name only --having done every sexual act except penile penetration; this definition of virginity is highly heterosexist. It means that a gay man or woman who has never had sex with someone of the opposite sex, would by Chance's definition, remain a perpetual virgin, regardless of how many times they had sex. This coupled with the fact that there isn't a single gay or lesbian character in the series thus far is highly problematic. I will give Chance a bone though, for having succubi and incubi change gender at will however, once they change their gender to ensure that whatever coupling they participate in is heterosexual. There is only one hint of a same sex relationship involving an incubus and the vampire Dracula and that is thrown in as an aside, but with the ability of the incubi to change genders, there is enough room to question whether this really constitutes a same sex interaction.

A large part of the reason Cassie wants to claim her title as Pyria, is to remove the gies (read: magical spell) that was placed on her at the age of 12. This spell was placed on her by the master vampire Mycia and it ensured her virginity until she was ready to assume the role of Pyria, by sending out strong keep out vibes. The gies is specifically set to only allow Mircea, or a male he designates to have intercourse with Cassie. This of course means that when she find herself attracted to Pritkin the war mage, the gies flares to cause them physical pain to stop any kind of coupling. Wow, a virtual chastity belt on a prepubescent child. Mycia was essentially grooming her for himself. Events however become confused when Cassie travels back in time and inadvertently places a second gies on Mircea. It becomes a case of which came first, the chicken or the egg. Would Mircea have placed the gies on her when she was 12, if Cassie had not traveled back to the 1800's and accidentally placed one on him first?

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Cassie has a whole lot going on... The vamps want to have her under their thumb, the mages want to kill her and get the power to go to one of their choosing, Myra is trying to kill Mircea, the geis is triggered and all over the place... and I haven't even mentioned the fey!

Worldbuilding:
Sooooo much happened in this instalment. We shifted to many different times (god knows how the Pythia keeps track of who and what!?) but apart from being curious where and when we ended up this time, I never felt confused or lost due to the great descriptions and information I got while reading. As always the author has great attention for details, making it much, much easier for readers to follow the story.

Character development:
Cassie didn't really show more have the time to think about all the implications of being the chosen heir for the Pythia, she's too busy saving herself, Mircea or her friends. That said, she rolled with the punches, learning as she went.
I had totally forgotten about Mac (this is a re-read) and his tattoos. Such a cool guy :) So it was strange to see him being friends with Pritkin, who was, for once, not trying to kill Cassie (well...ish).
While Mircea was in the picture a lot, it was mostly in the 1880s where Cassie had to save his ass from Myra, her evil co-Pythia heir. I have to say though that I liked it that he was so much like his modern self even that long ago, for me it means that he managed not to get jaded (too much) and held on to his core beliefs and principles... go Mircea! (*swoon*)

Pacing and flow:
Well, there was a lot of action, I don't even know if there was a time where Cassie and the gang couldn't just relax and take a breather (well, okay, that one time, but that doesn't count). So yes, a lot of action! Fortunately, there was a good balance between everything going on and conversations and the transitions felt smooth.

The book:
The book itself was well written with no (noticeable) errors. There is sex described (if that is important to you).
The book is 374 pages long, spread over 15 chapters and from Cassie's POV (point of view).

All in all:
I'm happy I'm re-reading this series to pick up where I left off since I just can't remember a single thing from this instalment! I loved it! :D show less

Arghhh I really wanted to give this 4 stars because the action is terrific, the pace pulls you along with barely a breath. The world continues to be interesting - this installment focuses more on the mages and a little glimpse of faerie. There are some awesome ideas in terms of magical abilities and charcters. Its lots of fun to read BUT Cassie is driving me insane.She actually accomplishes very little herself because any time anything happens her brain goes numb or she is dazed or confused or too exhausted to make sense of anything. There is only so many times her inaction can be blamed on her being overwhelmed before I am thinking get over yourself already. In the very few instances she makes any decision its an incredibly stupid show more one.I really hope that she starts taking some ownership and deliberate action in the next installment which I am starting tonight show less