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Shadows Steal the Light
It’s love at first sight for rock star Colin Dunlow when he runs into sultry jazz singer, Jenna Lindstrom, with a few complications. The woman of his dreams hates rockers and there’s someone who wants him dead.
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First published February 1, 2011
4 people want to read
About the author
Christine London
19 books34 followersI am an LA girl who writes spicy romance. Multi published and passionate about what I do, I travel widely to learn more about my craft as well as research new settings. Ex kindergarten teacher turned author, I've finally found 'it'!
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 29, 2011
Things you don’t know about me that affected the way I read this book: I love music of all types, and I love musicians. Aside from reading, my primary hobby is going to see live music, and yes, I have been known to wait outside next to a tour bus or near the stage door to get a picture or an autograph or just to thank the performers for sharing their gifts. So clearly, when a romance focused on musicians showed up in the inbox, I jumped at the chance to review it.
Meet Colin. He’s a British rock god, who also happens to be a relatively new member of AA. Colin has been partying it up, Keith Richards style, when he hits bottom. He gets himself cleaned up, joins AA, bonds with Robert, his sponsor, and re-enters the world of rock & roll a semi-changed man. He’s ready to get back on tour, but of course he’s freaking out about getting back into the rock star lifestyle. Robert is there to guide him every step of the way, but he has one major stipulation: Colin cannot involve himself in a serious relationship with a woman until a year has passed.
Enter Jenna. She’s a sultry jazz singer from California, who hates all things having to do with rock music. Jenna is discovered by Kyle while performing with a local choir. Kyle convinces Jenna that she could be the next big thing, so she signs a contract and follows Kyle to London to record an album and perform at the Royal Albert Hall. The morning of the big RAH gig, Jenna is out walking and runs into (literally) Colin. He takes Jenna out for tea, learns of her hatred for his chosen profession and hides it from her. He arranges to meet her at the RAH that night.
It turns out that Kyle is also Colin’s manager. Colin asks Kyle to head Jenna off at the RAH so she doesn’t discover who he really is. But, of course, she finds out anyway. She’s furious with both of them, hates men, regrets her decision to start a singing career, etc. Both men try to apologize, but she’s not having any of it. Until Colin kisses her. And then it’s a match made in heaven – minus the fact that Kyle’s into her as well, and that Colin isn’t supposed to be involved with anyone for a year. Somehow, Jenna and Colin decide that since they can’t be lovers, they might as well be friends. (Cue the music in my head – Michael Bolton’s “How Can We be Lovers” if you were interested.)
Oh wait. I missed one tiny detail. Someone is trying to kill Colin.
Long story short, Jenna gets shot while she’s on a picnic with Colin. He takes her to the hospital and takes care of her. Then he realizes that the shooter was after him. So, in typical hot-headed male hero fashion, Colin decides that never seeing Jenna again is the best way to handle things. He leaves her in Kyle’s care, and disappears into his touring schedule, inadvertently setting up a love triangle.
Colin resolves to work with the police to find the person who shot Jenna. Of course, he can’t quite get Jenna out of his head, so he randomly pops in to see her. Jenna, in the meantime, is trying to figure out what she’s feeling. She’s physically attracted to both Colin and Kyle, but it’s Colin who she connects with on a deeper level. But with Colin’s long absences and Kyle’s proximity, it’s hard to make the choice.
There is a ton of drama in this story. There’s the musical nuances (which I absolutely loved), the love triangle (which was written exceptionally well, and I thought really captured the indecision that usually accompanies an attraction to two men), and the murder plot (which was a little slow to develop, but added a nice little twist). All of this has the underlying theme of Colin dealing with his demons and how that affects everything he does. It could probably even be argued that Colin’s struggles are the main focus of this story, and everything else is just secondary.
I really liked this one. And maybe it was because some of the plot points hit pretty close to home (no, I don’t think anyone has ever tried to kill me), but I thought that Christine London did a remarkable job with capturing the intricacies of emotional turmoil and struggle. Her characters were very real to me, and I imagine that if she weren’t fictional, Jenna and I would be great friends. There is also a very good chance that I would hang out in an alley behind a venue in order to track down Colin and beg for a picture.
--Laura, The One Hundred Romances Project
Meet Colin. He’s a British rock god, who also happens to be a relatively new member of AA. Colin has been partying it up, Keith Richards style, when he hits bottom. He gets himself cleaned up, joins AA, bonds with Robert, his sponsor, and re-enters the world of rock & roll a semi-changed man. He’s ready to get back on tour, but of course he’s freaking out about getting back into the rock star lifestyle. Robert is there to guide him every step of the way, but he has one major stipulation: Colin cannot involve himself in a serious relationship with a woman until a year has passed.
Enter Jenna. She’s a sultry jazz singer from California, who hates all things having to do with rock music. Jenna is discovered by Kyle while performing with a local choir. Kyle convinces Jenna that she could be the next big thing, so she signs a contract and follows Kyle to London to record an album and perform at the Royal Albert Hall. The morning of the big RAH gig, Jenna is out walking and runs into (literally) Colin. He takes Jenna out for tea, learns of her hatred for his chosen profession and hides it from her. He arranges to meet her at the RAH that night.
It turns out that Kyle is also Colin’s manager. Colin asks Kyle to head Jenna off at the RAH so she doesn’t discover who he really is. But, of course, she finds out anyway. She’s furious with both of them, hates men, regrets her decision to start a singing career, etc. Both men try to apologize, but she’s not having any of it. Until Colin kisses her. And then it’s a match made in heaven – minus the fact that Kyle’s into her as well, and that Colin isn’t supposed to be involved with anyone for a year. Somehow, Jenna and Colin decide that since they can’t be lovers, they might as well be friends. (Cue the music in my head – Michael Bolton’s “How Can We be Lovers” if you were interested.)
Oh wait. I missed one tiny detail. Someone is trying to kill Colin.
Long story short, Jenna gets shot while she’s on a picnic with Colin. He takes her to the hospital and takes care of her. Then he realizes that the shooter was after him. So, in typical hot-headed male hero fashion, Colin decides that never seeing Jenna again is the best way to handle things. He leaves her in Kyle’s care, and disappears into his touring schedule, inadvertently setting up a love triangle.
Colin resolves to work with the police to find the person who shot Jenna. Of course, he can’t quite get Jenna out of his head, so he randomly pops in to see her. Jenna, in the meantime, is trying to figure out what she’s feeling. She’s physically attracted to both Colin and Kyle, but it’s Colin who she connects with on a deeper level. But with Colin’s long absences and Kyle’s proximity, it’s hard to make the choice.
There is a ton of drama in this story. There’s the musical nuances (which I absolutely loved), the love triangle (which was written exceptionally well, and I thought really captured the indecision that usually accompanies an attraction to two men), and the murder plot (which was a little slow to develop, but added a nice little twist). All of this has the underlying theme of Colin dealing with his demons and how that affects everything he does. It could probably even be argued that Colin’s struggles are the main focus of this story, and everything else is just secondary.
I really liked this one. And maybe it was because some of the plot points hit pretty close to home (no, I don’t think anyone has ever tried to kill me), but I thought that Christine London did a remarkable job with capturing the intricacies of emotional turmoil and struggle. Her characters were very real to me, and I imagine that if she weren’t fictional, Jenna and I would be great friends. There is also a very good chance that I would hang out in an alley behind a venue in order to track down Colin and beg for a picture.
--Laura, The One Hundred Romances Project
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 3, 2013
I've read many books by this powerfully gifted author before and always walk away feeling like my body has been put through an emotional roller coaster ride unlike any other's. Ms. London knows how to wrest the deepest emotions from your soul while pulling you right into the very center of the action making you, not an observer, but an active participant.
SHADOWS STEAL THE LIGHT gives us gut wrenching pain, heart ripping grief, stomach clenching nausea, bile churning acid, and the same level of despair so we truly know what it's like to be a drugged out rock star skidding down that bumpy row towards destruction.
Nothing else has quite the allure of that next dangerous and all too temporary high, not even the chance for real joy with the light offered by the woman you also crave...or does it?
This is such a brilliant journey through the false underbelly of the fake gold of drug laced highs and their many deceiving masks.
Christine London is never less than a powerful voice, making fiction FEEL terrifyingly real every step of the way.
SHADOWS STEAL THE LIGHT 2012 EPIC ARIANA AWARDS FINALIST...I TOLD you we were talking EXCEPTIONAL didn't I?
And all I can add are FIVE STARS, but they are five stars for one of the BEST books I have read EVER...so anything less than giving five stars would be a travesty.
This is Ladybug Lin, getting my antenna connector firing and my little feelers crackling so I can get back to work and find the NEXT winner out here in the E-READER world of BEST BOOKS AROUND. You just remember to keep coming back and setting a spell ya' hear!
SHADOWS STEAL THE LIGHT gives us gut wrenching pain, heart ripping grief, stomach clenching nausea, bile churning acid, and the same level of despair so we truly know what it's like to be a drugged out rock star skidding down that bumpy row towards destruction.
Nothing else has quite the allure of that next dangerous and all too temporary high, not even the chance for real joy with the light offered by the woman you also crave...or does it?
This is such a brilliant journey through the false underbelly of the fake gold of drug laced highs and their many deceiving masks.
Christine London is never less than a powerful voice, making fiction FEEL terrifyingly real every step of the way.
SHADOWS STEAL THE LIGHT 2012 EPIC ARIANA AWARDS FINALIST...I TOLD you we were talking EXCEPTIONAL didn't I?
And all I can add are FIVE STARS, but they are five stars for one of the BEST books I have read EVER...so anything less than giving five stars would be a travesty.
This is Ladybug Lin, getting my antenna connector firing and my little feelers crackling so I can get back to work and find the NEXT winner out here in the E-READER world of BEST BOOKS AROUND. You just remember to keep coming back and setting a spell ya' hear!
December 11, 2011
A love story that crosses the Atlantic. An American singer and a recovering alcoholic British rock and roll singer fall in love despite their lives being threatened. The author's handling of British idioms and dialect seemed spot on. Her descriptions of English neighborhoods had me walking right along through them with the characters. A tear jerker death toward the end, but a happy conclusion. A little slow in the beginning though. It picked up and kept up the pace when their lives were threatened.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews