Slaying the Shadow Prince

By: Helen Scheuerer

Narrated by: Islay Jacobs, Chase T. Walker

Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

In a realm on the brink of destruction, evil forces snatch innocents to suffer fates worse than death. Only a monster hunter and her monstrous enemy can stop them.

Drue Emmerson, noblewoman-turned-ranger, wants one thing: vengeance. With her family slain by the vicious shadow wraiths, she’s determined to defend her fallen kingdom. And that means carving out the hearts of every dark creature she can find.

Talemir Starling, celebrated warrior of the realms, has a dangerous secret: he's a half-wraith, kin to the creatures wreaking devastation on the world. He’ll do anything to keep his true nature under control…especially around the woman who’s vowed to destroy him.

When someone Drue cares about disappears, all signs point to Talemir’s kind. But he’s determined to prove he’s no monster and to seek answers of his own. Begrudgingly, the pair must join forces to uncover the deadly truth.

But in a world of chaos and carnage, where danger lurks at every turn, deadlier still is their attraction to one another—the one thing that might just spell the end of them both. Will Talemir win Drue’s heart? Or will she carve his out before the end?

Slaying the Shadow Prince is a standalone instalment of the heart-pounding fantasy-romance series Mortal Enemies to Monster Lovers. If you like fiery heroines and tortured heroes, as well as forced proximity, found family, and touch-her-and-you-die vibes, you will devour this sexy, addictive fantasy romance.

©2023 Helen Scheuerer (P)2023 Dreamscape Media

The perfect amount of everything you need for a romantasy.

I went into this series blind and I'll say, it is amazing. It is a perfect blend of all the things that make a good romantasy. I couldn't put these down. They fed my soul in a way only a few books have.

Prequel for Blood and Steel

I was kind of surprised when I read this book because I did not know beforehand that it was- well, I'm guessing it is - a prequel to Ms. Scheuerer's new series - Blood & Steel The Legends of Thezmarr. Luckily, I had been awarded the ARC for that first book (B&S) and had already read it (it was really good) I was REALLY surprised to see some of the same characters in this book. But, the events in this book occur BEFORE Blood and Steel (hence prequel...sorry, my brain just caught up....) anyway, it does explain some things.

While I REALLY liked the first book (B&S), this book felt like it was missing a lot of the depth that we get in Blood and Steel with the world building and the character development of the MC's and the secondary characters. At first, for some reason, I thought it was a novella or short story, but it wasn't. But, with that being said, there was a lot of info that wasn't really necessary and could have been cut out to make a more streamlined story so maybe it should have been a novella.

Anyway, this book tells the story of two of the War Swords of Thezmarr, but the focus is on the couple Drue and Talemir. The situation with Talemir is unusual and for some reason Drue is drawn to him. We get to find out WHY Talemir is not there for B&S and it definitely helps with the back story.

All in all it was helpful - but out of all of the books I have read from Ms. Scheuerer, this is probably the weakest. Still good- just not as good as I have come to expect.

Love this Book

I had previously read the book. Listening to it adds a new level of love for the storyline.

Great narration.

A good start to the series

I liked the story, overall, but it became clear towards the end that this was just a glimpse into a much bigger world. Would have liked to know/see that a bit more here. Clearly, there a bigger fight with other characters to come.