Ecstasy

The Shadowdwellers Series #1

By: Jacquelyn Frank

Narrated by: Kirsten Potter

Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Among the Shadowdwellers, Trace holds power that some are willing to kill for. Without a stranger's aid, one rival would surely have succeeded, but Trace's brush with death is less surprising to him than his reaction to the beautiful, fragile human who heals him. By rights, Trace should hardly even register Ashla's existence within the realm of Shadowscape, but instead he is drawn to everything about her-her innocence, her courage, and her lush, sensual heat. After a terrifying car crash, Ashla Townsend wakes up to find that the bustling New York she knew is now eerie and desolate. Just when she's convinced she's alone, Ashla is confronted by a dark warrior who draws her deeper into a world she never knew existed. The bond between Ashla and Trace is a mystery to both, but searching for answers will mean confronting long-hidden secrets, and uncovering a threat that could destroy everything Trace holds precious.

©2009 Jacquelyn Frank (P)2012 Tantor

Critic reviews

"This romantic and strongly sexual story between complicated characters is made even richer by an intriguing secondary cast and efficient world-building that's familiar without being lazy." ( Publishers Weekly)

wonderful

incredible writing, lovely voice and impossibly beautiful sex and creativity. I had never heard of shadow dwellers before, but they are absolutely amazing.

great idea but slow execution

i like the premise and the romance is fun. there are long, boring periods of exposition, sometimes interjected into exciting plot points and slowing them down to an uninteresting and excruciating reveal. i had to press the fast forward button a lot. The political stuff holds absolutely no interest for me so i just tried to skip those sections. The basic world building, such as the surroundings create lovely imagery. The characters are pretty likeable even though they're kind of dumb sometimes, and i like the protagonist girl's differences that isolate her and give her pain but also make her special. Definitely a big dependence on lack of communication as a major source of tension between the two MCs, which can be frustrating. Overall, a book worth trying out because it is set in a unique world.

Sexy!

Loved it! So sad to see these characters go. Can't wait for the next one!

Good, but not The Nightwalker Series

It was good, but it just took a little while to get into the story. It didn't capture your attention immediately the way the Nightwalkers did. I would have probably liked it better if I had not already listented to the Nightwalker Series. The narrator left a little to be desired after the awesome narration of Xe Sands in the Nightwalkers.

All in all it was pretty good.

Jacquelyn Frank is a must for your library!

After reading the entire Nightwalker Series I was needing more Jacquelyn Frank. She is honestly a genious ! I highly recommend both series-though one is not a pre-requisite for the other. Narrators are also chosen perfectly ! You will not be disapointed, and if you are, you may want to check your pulse....

To much to follow

There was to many characters to follow. It got confused at times. There should be both male and female narrators be able to follow better.

Not as good as the Nightwalkers by a long shot

I had high expectations for this book/series after listening to the Nightwalker series and literally becoming a super fan after chapter one of book one! So, bummed out is an understatement for what I felt when I began Ecstasy and it took well over several weeks for me to get through it, because I was bored and a little confused initially. It was like, all the words were so....WORDY :) and I was several chapters in before it became interesting. Trace and Ashla have some hot intense love scenes, and overall the book offers the usual mix of characters drawn together despite differences and tragic pasts, but something just wasn't interesting enough to make this a "highly recommend" for me. All that said, I think Jacquelyn Frank is a great author and I'm a Kirsten Potter fan for sure, so I'm not deterred from the series, just not that impressed with this first story.

Shadowdwellers Ecstasy

Shadowdwellers Ecstasy bk 1 wasn't what I thought it was going to be. This trilogy is about a race/species that lives in different realms but can't enter the light. I actually thought this would be a more action packed story, but IMO focuses more on the politics of a community and the well being of a race more than a paranormal fantasy story.

Just didn't grab me the way it did some of my other audio listeners.

Loved this storyline!

This was a great story line. It grabbed me from the first chapter and delivered throughout the book. The characters were a delight. Great fun to learn about this new race, the world they lived in and the rules they lived by which were unique. The love story developed in a believable way with just enough angst so not to be annoying. The interaction between the characters given this new world and its rules were captivating. Although this follows the romance genre formula it was just different enough to make you believe it was not the typical romance genre formula. Despite all of the above, the plot was predictable, but like you would wish for an old friend, I was happy to see things work out as I had hoped.

I'm a huge JF fan

I originally started my JF journey with Drink of Me. That was a total revelation. Then I started this series with Rapture. After Rapture I got engrossed in Jacob and so on. I'm not sure how I never read this one. And...brace yourself....Gideon has a cameo in this one. Squeeeeaaaallllllll. Anyhooooo, I enjoyed reading Trace's backstory. This book actually adds some depth to Rapture for me, because it really gets into the betrayal Magnus suffered. I'm a Magnus groupie. The writing is superb, the characters are so true to themselves and vivid. This story will pull you right in to the Shadowdweller world. Enjoy the ride.