Book Review: Shadowing the Light by Miranda Turner

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Shadowing the Light
Author: Miranda Turner
Series: The Bearer of Truth #1
Heroes: Gabriel & Evander
Genre: M/M Urban Fantasy
Length: 273 pages
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: December 17, 2018
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: “Everybody has their own agenda. Everybody.”

Hunted for the unique blood that runs through his veins, half-angel, half-demon Gabriel Sinclair lives without expectations. On the run from forces on both sides of an ancient conflict, he searches for strength and peace in a world which only seeks to use him.

When Gabriel is forced to stop running, assigned a team—and a mate—he doesn’t want, and reluctantly tasked with a mission, he must overcome obstacles both real and imagined. Otherwise, the world as he knows it, and the mate he’s reluctantly come to care for, may cease to exist.

“I will do as the Creator bids me. Always.”

Evander Ryan is special, and he knows it. The final handcrafted immortal warrior for the light, he is the Creator’s greatest masterpiece. For fifty-eight years, he’s lived his life in black and white, coddled by his Maker, while leading his team to countless victories against their enemies. Those fights were easy. Working with a new, uncooperative mate who sees the world in shades of gray? Less so.

As Evander’s eyes are opened to the existence of light warriors who are not good, dark warriors who are, and the wider world of supernatural beings, he learns nothing is as he thought it was, and his mate isn’t who he thought he was either. Maybe there’s something to be said for not always following the rules. . .

Review:

Holy cow! This book caught me completely by surprise! When I started it, I didn’t expect to be sucked in right from the start. Gabriel is such an intriguing character and so charming, he can literally change anyone’s opinion of him, as we saw with him and Luc. It was so fascinating to see how many layers Gabriel has and how strong he really is. I loved that he has to team up with his enemies and the lack of trust or respect between them and Gabriel. I loved seeing them work through that and how close they all become. While Gabriel gets very close to the team – meaning Delsin, Luc, Raf and Logan – he doesn’t really get close to Evander, his mate. They have issues that Evander can’t get passed and it puts a strain of their relationship to the point that it causes a rift between Evander and everyone else.

However, while the character and relationship development is a big part of the story, the romance is not. What this one is about is Gabriel trying to locate his parents that abandoned him when he was young. He has to find his Daemon father and Angelis mother, which forces him to come to terms with his two halves. I loved seeing Gabriel struggle with his dueling natures and I loved seeing the team working together toward a common goal. It was interesting to see the other beings they come in contact with and have to deal with to get a few leads in finding his parents.

I was sucked in as soon as I started this one but I had a few issues with it. For one, I honestly hated Evander. The fact that he couldn’t accept the blame for causing a rift in his team and the fact he kept making things worst and not thinking about anyone but himself really pissed me off. He showed at every turn that he wasn’t fit to be a team leader no matter how many times he tried to tell himself he was doing things for his team, it was BS. Add to that, I didn’t like how repetitive his POVs were. Gabriel changed a lot but Evander, tbh, went backwards in development which really annoyed me and I couldn’t understand why he couldn’t get passed his hangups when literally everyone else was able to.

All in all, though, I really enjoyed this book. I absolutely adored Gabriel and while I didn’t like Evander, I loved their struggle and the mission they were tasked with. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series because their story definitely is not over but I also want to see the other guys again. Plus, I bet there’ll be a huge blow up with Gabriel meets his father.

Overall Impression: I really liked it

*I received a copy of this book from the author in return for a fair and honest review.*