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Shadow and Ice (Gods of War #1) by Gena Showalter [arc review]

Holly Mother of PNR! I think I found a new favorite PNR writer to love! 
I have the best book friends in the world and they know me well!
Why do I say that? because a few of them recommended that I read Gena Showalter. Because I trust them I bought the whole Lords of the Underworld series. I haven't started yet because I want to start at a time I know I will be able to binge on it. But that is not the point here... The point is, because I trust them, I decided to request and read Shadow and Ice, it is only one book at the moment after all...
And now that I have finished the book... when is the next one????? I NEED IT!!!
I'm hooked. This was FAB!

Shadow And Ice, Gena Showalter by @glimpses_of_my_books
The blurb:
Knox of Iviland has spent his life competing in the All Wars, where vicious warriors with supernatural powers fight to the death to claim new realms. One winner takes everything—and all losers die. Enslaved as a child for his ability to control shadows, the most ruthless champion in history will stop at nothing to kill his king. But first he must win the battle for Earth. When a fearsome weapon imprisons every combatant in ice, centuries pass without progress…until she walks in.

Vale London craves a fun arctic getaway with her foster sister before settling down to open a bakery. Street-tough but vulnerable, she is unprepared to find ancient gods escaping a frozen cave—merciless beings who target her when she inadvertently enters their war.

Though Vale is now his enemy, Knox is consumed with lust and a fierce need to protect her. But only one combatant can prove victorious, and he will have to choose: live for freedom, or die for love.
 



 5 Stars

I don't even know where to start... This book was INTENSE!

Knox was definitely what sold the book for me. He is a slave to his King and has no choice but to obey his orders until he can find a way to free himself. He has lost a lot and suffered much through the years. As the King's warrior his orders are rather simple: win at any cost. That cost becomes rather high when he develops feelings for Vale.
To like Knox you need to like the broody, moody, powerful, 'my way or the highway' alpha males. His character grows a lot as the story progresses and it is impossible not to fall for him (or at least I couldn't resist!)
Knox was, simply put: Sex on a Stick! hehe

Vale made me roll my eyes, lough, and want to scream at the book. She was not a bad character but she had bad moments. The story starts with Vale and her sister getting lost and accidentally finding themselves in the midst a bunch of frozen immortal warriors who (you guesses it) became free while they are around. To start the warrior Knox is the main attraction and Vale is just there to make his story possible. But once certain things happen to her (that I cannot tell you without spoiling it for you) her character becomes more important. She quickly adapts to her situation.

Although I personally loved this, I understand why some people struggled with it. There was a huge amount of information thrown at you. I however believe that if you are going to create a long series (as in more than 4 books) you need to create a complex world. And Gena did a marvelous job at that. There are so many possibilities for the books to come! At the same time, Shadow and Ice had a satisfactory hea. That is no small thing or easy thing to do. So go into this knowing you won't remember every last thing or even every last character in the end, and that doesn't matter. They are part of a bigger picture, one we are going to understand better as the series continues.

Find the book at:
GoodReads
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Kobo

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