Shadows of London Boxed Set

Books 1-3

De: Ariana Nash

Narrado por: Cornell Collins

Twisted Pretty Things: In the glitzy underground world of illegal auctions, fast cars, and stolen magical artifacts, John "Dom" Domenici knows he's out of his depth. But he needs the job at Kempthorne & Co. So when his boss, Alexander Kempthorne, wants him on a special case to track down an illegal artifact dealer, Dom can't say no.

It shouldn't matter that the billionaire is sexy as sin, and it really shouldn't matter that there's an American agent stalking Dom, an agent who knows more than he should about Dom's case.

Tide of Tricks: Forced to lie for Kempthorne, the unthinkable happens: Dom fails the latent competency test. One more strike and the life he's come to love at Kempthorne & Co will be over. If that weren't bad enough, someone is stalking him, taunting him. Someone who knows what Dom did all those years ago.

Trial by Fire: Time is running out for Dom. Outmaneuvered at every turn by the figure known as "M", only Kempthorne can free Dom, but juggling the horrors of his own past, containing a rising preternatural threat, and the twisted machinations of "M" might just be too much, even for Kempthorne. Can Kage Mitchell be trusted to help?

Contains mature themes.

©2021, 2022 Ariana Nash (P)2024 Tantor

Good for background listening

The story is adequate with occasional bits of entertainment. Not the best out there for gay M/M urban fantasy, but not the worst either. While the plot runs into some issues of contrivance during the second and third books, the most perplexing element is the main character’s barely recognized or examined attraction to toxic relationships. The introduction of multiple suitors is a welcome change of pace, but it feels strange that one lover can betray his trust and merely be reprimanded while another lover’s betrayal makes him persona non grata. What could be a fascinating look at a complicated character wrestling with Stockholm syndrome instead relinquishes itself to accept abuse because the abuser is “hot”.

The Narator was the WRONG choice.

I bought the boxed set, and had high hopes for a good story.. I really tried, but the MC sounds like a stuffy old butler and does not match the character at all. It could be a good story, but I cannot listen to it.. quit after an hour.

An Excellent story!

A different world, an interesting take, good guys, bad guys, people you care about... excellent!

Really Wanted to Like it...

I liked the first book even though I was a bit confused as to how an ex special forces man with lantent abilities couldn't seem to ever win a single one-on-one fight, I didn't mind the characters themselves. Book 2 is where the story lost me, I just can't sympathize with Dom, he's whinning and complaining about Alex keeping secrets (secrets that seem to be very much based in a long history that you wouldn't just tell anyone) whilst withhold information from everyone that is actively threatening to them? And the general hatred for latents to the point where it seems like no one who isn't a latent cares about latents at all and even then, only "crazy" latents seem to be fighting while harming more latents... it is just... hard to take seriously, like the entirety of the world just does not care that human beings are being senseless targetted for an ability they are born with that can affect anyone even if they don't have latents in their family????
I'm not sure if I'll finish it... but it's in my library now, I guess. :/

Story path

Stayed fresh. Narration gave feeling that I was included in the action and strategy for all sides of the story.

Derivative, aimless, and vanilla…until books 4 & 5

If you loved the X-Men’s series plot of mutant hate/discrimination, and enjoy Bond plots with spies, but felt they were missing MM sex, then this is the series for you. Of course, you’ll have to settle for a more limited variety of supernaturals. Here the mutants are called Latents and they’re all white people who can activate objects of power or do things with their mind. No beasts, wings, purple skin or even different races … just white folks with magical powers. If only card-bomb throwing, street rat and special Ops guy Dom had the personality of Gambit … but no, for a supposed former agent with skills he was remarkably incompetent and never executed any military moves.

If you’re into MM romance, you should also be okay with a glacially slow love triangle where Dom has sex with one guy while lusting over another. Personally, I can’t respect an MC who has sex with multiple partners during the courtship phase. In a true romance book/series, the MC should be single and only have sex with the one chosen. Instead, think of Dom as a bumbling James Bond, who sleeps around. It meant low chemistry in the 2-3 sex scenes per book, but it also made the urban fantasy conspiracy mystery easier to like.

If you’re looking for a complete book, know that this collection of “books” 1-3 make up 3/5ths of a story arc. Frankly, it feels like a con, pretending to offer value when in reality this is a trilogy divided at random into five books; just decide if it’s worth three credits and know going in that this will be slow moving.
I bought 1-5 on sale and they passed the time (4 and 5 were pretty good), but these aren’t characters that will stick with me and the story is a one and done listen for me.

Mr. Collins seemed to be phoning it in a bit, especially in book 3, when Alex’s POV was added, giving two male leads, but the voicing was inconsistent and it was hard to tell who was on.