4.5 stars!

Read my alternate review at Fresh Fiction




****


Puurrrrr.

Who would have thought that I’d love cat shifters as much as I do now?

As the third book in the series, SHADOW RISING returns to the wonderfully detailed and complicated world that Kendra Leigh Castle has created. I have to say that I adore this world. Castle does such a great job of distinguishing the different groups so well that you don’t ever feel lost. As I was reading this book, many readers asked me if they could read this as More...

Fabulous world building, characters and storyline mixed with raw sexuality and heat to make your toes curl.

"Mmm, I love the way you smell" Damien murmured, his breath tickling her ear in the most delicious way. When the purr began to vibrate through him, Arianne's knees went liquid. Only Damien's hands, his fingers twined with hers as they held her captive against the wall, seemed capable of holding her up.

He drew back, brushing his nose against hers. "Now let's see how you taste," he breathed.

I More...

Dark Dynasties series rating: N/A (haven't read them all)

How are the sex scenes?

Sweet, short and hot. Read last paragraph in review.

How are the story lines?

Great. There are so many characters doing so many things, but everyone is trying to reach the same end goal - either for good or for evil.

Would you read it again?

Yes. I'd like to read the series.

Review

"Shadow Rising" by Kendra Leigh Castle is a modern-day fantasy romance novel and is the third book in the Dark Dynasties series. It can be – an More...

Kendra Leigh Castle delivers yet again with her latest installment in the Dark Dynasties series. I love her heroes and their struggle for self-worth. I love her tortured Cait-Sith race, reviled for centuries and now finally coming into their own. I love the world building, the romance... the sex. Yes, I know I'm gushing, but I did not want to put this book down.

Damien is a Cait Sith, but also a Shade... an assassin for the House of Shadows. His latest mission is to find Sammael, a member of the More...

3.8 stars rounded up to 4 stars

Ariane is one of the Grigoris, the most mysterious clan of vampire most known as The Watchers. Her whole existence as a Grigori has been isolated, away in the desert. Ariane longs to live, to experience the life outside the Grigori compound. When her best friend, Sammael, is missing, Ariane defies order and leave to find him. Cath Saith Damien Tremaine is part of the Shade, an extraordinary thief and hired assassin. He has been contracted a job to find Sammael as w More...

**original review by Jamie posted at Romancing Rakes For The Love of Romance**

When I open a book and discover that there is a glossary or an explanation of the paranormal world I get nervous. So of course when I saw that Shadow Rising has a description of the different types of vampires I panicked. Not to mention that I haven’t read the first 2 books in the Dark Dynasty series so I was sure I was going to be lost. But I wasn’t which is a big accomplishment to Kendra Leigh Castle. She does a grea More...

There are about a bezillion paranormal romances our there with vampires and werewolves, and I have to admit that a lot of them that I have read are not really worth the time spent reading them. Almost every indie author out there seems to have a sexy dream of making it a vampire or a werewolf. This book is not like a majority the amateurish tripe that is out there - this is quality writing and story telling - it was an enjoyable read from start to finish. The focus is on the human elements of th More...

Ariane is a vampire from the Grigori Dynastiy. Not much is know about the Grigori. They are a male dominant clan, they live in the desert and are known for being watchers. They will watch things unfold but they will not interfear. Each Dynasity has their own special skill but nobody knows what the Grigori's skill is. Ariane is different from the others of her race. She doesn't rember her life before she was turned plus she still retains much of her humanity. She has been trained to fight along w More...

Reviewed by Autumn

Who doesn’t love a bad boy? I bet there’s not many of you. Come on, raise your hands. I want to count ‘em! I had been waiting impatiently for Shadow Rising, checking NetGalley constantly for a copy. When I had mentioned in a post that it still wasn’t available Kendra contacted me and offered to send me a copy. Seems like there had been a glitch at NetGalley and it should have been up. I had been walking through the parking lot at work that morning and was lucky that I didn’t ru More...

All right, I've had this book for almost a month staring at me, saying "you need to read me." However, there were other books that were calling me. So, I have been putting it off. I know, shame on me. I have been meaning to get to Shadow Rising by Kendra Leigh Castle. So, here is what's it all about:

Ariane is locked up in her gilded cage wishing there was more she could do. She is worried about her friend Sammael who has disappeared from Grigori home. Taking matters into her own hands she leaves More...

Can I say that I’m pleasantly surprised! As soon as I saw this story had vampires in it I cringed on the inside. Now days I think of how commercial vampires have become, I mean come on they are everywhere Vampire Diaries and Twilight for example. I’ve also come to associate vampires with young adults or juveniles. With all that being said this book was none of those things. This was an adult story thru and thru keeping me interested until the very end. I found myself hard pressed to find a chara More...

I loved this book. It was straight up romantic urban fantasy. The chemistry between the two main characters was off the charts hot. Damien was one of those jerks with a hard exterior that was really a soft kitten inside (pun intended). I loved watching them fight their attraction for each other. I couldn't help thinking when I was reading the book that this is what Daemon from the Luxe books could grow in to. Granted, I've only read Obsidian but I always wanted to know more about Daemon and felt More...

When I offered to read this for review for Netgalley I was unaware that it was the third in the series. I was at first intimidated by the breakdown of the various bloodlines and their gifts. But halfway into the second chapter I was hooked. Ms. Castle tells an intriguing story. I was fascinated by the world Ms. Castle has created. I will most definitely be checking out the first two books in this series and looking forward to the next.
What happens when a sheltered member of the Grigori and a wo More...

As one of the Grigori, a noble vampire dynasty shrouded in mystery, Ariane has spent her life hidden away in the desert. Like all of her kind, she is a watcher, fated to observe, forbidden to act. Yet when her best friend, Sammael, vanishes, she defies all rules and flees her safe haven to bring him home. With the help of a sexy shape-shifting assassin for the House of Shadows, Damien Tremaine, Ariane’s search for a friend turns into more than she could have ever imagined, including romance.

This More...

I have to say this was an interesting read. I found the world Kendra has built to be a fascinating one that I will have to read more of. This is the third book in the series but my first one so I can feel safe in advising that you can read this without having read the previous books.



Ariane is a Grigori, a noble vampire race that is mysterious to all outsiders. She has lived a life trapped at the luxurious desert compound and wants out to find her friend that has vanished. She is unusual for a Gr More...

This book caught me by surprise. I received it as a netgalley and didn't realize it was the third book in a series. Knowing that now I can't fault the author in my initial confusion to what time period the story ooh place. For some reason I was thinking it was a more ancient world then a few chapters in I realized its more a modern day America. Other than that little confusion I enjoyed this one.

At first the attraction between Damien and Ariane seemed a little forced but a few chapters in the sp More...

In Shadow Rising Ariane, a Grigori vampire, leaves her clan's settlement in the middle of the desert, when her one and only friend in this group of "watchers", feelingless vamps disappears and she is not picked to go into the world to look for him. She has been trained for centuries and Sam was the only one displaying a semblance of affection in her longtime home that felt more like a prison to her.

She finds herself enjoying the real world, but cannot seem to find traces of Sam. When she is goin More...

I feel like I over rated the 2nd book in this series...should have been a 3 because if I look at the series as a whole (so far) book 1 was my favorite and this one is rated higher than the 2nd - rating it a 3.5. Excuse me while I go back and adjust my star rating on book two....

Anyway, I was very happy to see this one focused on Damien. I was interested to find out how he ended up as a Shade. There is some back story and we find out where he came from but there really isn't anything about his pa More...

Who knew a purr could be so sexy!

The world building in this series is excellent. The author has created a whole new take on vampires, shifters and otherworldly creatures in the Dark Dynasties. In this book we get our first look into the world of the Grigori dynasty. They are the most mysterious group of "vampires" and hardly anyone knows even the tiniest details about them. The Grigori outcast, Ariane, leaves the confines of the Grigori compound in search of her missing friend Sammael. While mo More...

Quickie:
Loved!!! Damien "MEOW"

Full review:
Damien, is just a pain in the ass, smart mouth, totally hot bounty hunter. But really Damien uses all the smart mouth and sarcasm as a way to keep people from getting close to him, and it has worked for a very long time. But like all good things it has to come to an end. When Damien gets his next assignment to track down a missing Grigori the last thing he expected to find was one very hot, very stubborn, defiant female Grigori, that will test every w More...

awal membaca sedikit bingung mengenai dinasty2 yang diterangkan diawal. pertama saya pikir tiap dinasty merupakan mahkluk berbeda. contoh dinasty dracul (jelas-jelas vampir), dynasty cait sith (berdasarkan keterangannya saya pikir cat shape shifter), dinasty Tempusae (saya pikir dinasty peramal dan bisa berubah jadi asap), dynasti Grigori (ga jelas kemampuannya apa) dll

ternyata setelah lanjut membaca, semua dinasty diatas merupakan vampir semua tapi memiliki kemampuan yang beda-beda. sepertinya More...

Una lettura veramente eccellente. E' il primo libro che leggo della serie "dark dynasties" ma sicuramente ora mi procurerò anche gli altri. Ariane è un personaggio eccezionale, ingenua ma forte, un vampiro di 900 anni che però non sa nulla del nostro mondo. E la sua controparte maschile è veramente affascinante. Una lettura che ti tiene con il naso incollato alle pagine; un nuova autrice che devo assolutamente leggere.

Si ringrazia NetGalley per la gentile preview.

Voto: 4 stelle


A wonderful read, More...

I rated this book a 5 if for no other reason than I want to read more on this story so bad I could screem. So many questions I want answered.... So much potential for a really great series it makes me smile for the author. I hope her imagination and love for the story provides many books in the future and because this is me can I just say think diversity when you get to Vlad. hahaha (so much potenial) *** heavy sigh***

Ok sfor this story.... Really cool twist and turns and can I say.... so many q More...

[Ariane] would need all of [her nerve] and more if she really wanted to find her friend. Not to mention evading her own capture. The Grigori did not take kindly to deserters.

Ariane is a Grigori, a member of an ancient race of secretive vampires of which little is known by the other vampire dynasties. The Grigori are watchers of the world, never interfering. Ariane has spent her life secluded in the desert in the American southwest. Then her only friend, Sammael, goes missing. Ariane escapes her More...

The fun of this book was the differences between the couple. They are so different, especially Ariane. Not much is known about the Grigori, so everyone, except Damien, seems smitten with Ariane. Damien's disdain for Ariane at the start is is funny mostly because of the way people look down at the Shadows. I liked seeing them have to work together and start to meet all the other powerful people.

Vlad was fun, he almost seemed like an air head the way he would get lost in books. I liked that he kn More...

Being kept hidden from the outside world, Ariane feels trapped. When Sammael, the only person among her kind who shows her even the slightest bit of affection disappears, Ariane takes it upon herself to flee this isolated place and search for him herself. Damien Tremaine, a cat shifting Shade who has no intentions of taking on a partner when he is handed a job he cant refuse to go looking for a Grigori named Sammael. But when he runs into the beautiful and irresistible Ariane, he can't not deny More...

Review to come, but I just finished Shadow Rising (Dark Dynasties) and I really loved it, the reason I loved this book so much is that the bad boy assassin/thief (cat-shifting vamp) leading man - who actually tried to kill the leading lady of the first book - goes good. Well not truly good but he is definitely better with his heroine, who I also liked - she's a fish out of water but still has some warrior skills and I love the way that she doesn't judge him, and sees beyond the chaff that he thr More...

Synopsis:
As one of the Grigori, a noble vampire dynasty shrouded in mystery, Ariane has spent her life hidden away in the desert. Like all of her kind, she is a watcher, fated to observe, forbidden to act. Yet when her best friend Sammael vanishes, she defies all rules and flees her safe haven to bring him home.

A shape-shifting assassin for the House of Shadows, Damien Tremaine is hired to locate Sammael. His hunt for the wayward Grigori leads him to Ariane, the rogue vamp who stands between him More...

I have a major weakness for books where the hero calls the heroine “Kitten” like a huge weakness. This book did not disappoint. This is the 3rd boo k in the series by Kendra Leigh Castle, we got to know the hero in the previous books, and I absolutely adored learning more about Damien. He was such a sympathetic character but never crossed the line into pity. He was wounded but he covered all of that with a devil may care attitude it was great watching Ariane get under his skin and burrow her way More...

Sometimes, a book has everything going right for it. I like the world, I like the characters... but for some reason, I am just not pulled in. That was the case with Shadow Rising.

Ariane is a Grigori vampire. She is one of a secluded group of vampires that live in the desert and keep to themselves. I compared them to the Vulcans of this world. They believe in logic and they are bound by the rule of non-participation. They will watch and observe things, but never get involved. Ariane is a rebel am More...