A Game of Shadows

The Hands of Time, Book 4

De: Irina Shapiro

Narrado por: Fiona Small

It’s 1624, and the Whitfields finally arrive in England. Eager to spend time with Louisa and Kit, their visit is not the happy reunion they’d hoped for.

In the meantime, in 1777, Abbie and Finn go behind enemy lines to spy for the revolution, putting themselves in grave danger. The slightest mistake can mean the difference between life and death, tearing them apart forever. Even Finn’s knowledge of what’s to come is not enough to keep them safe from their own carelessness.

Unexpected revelations, long-buried secrets, and unforeseen reunions threaten to destroy everything the Whitfields and Sheridans hold dear, throwing their lives into turmoil once again.

©2020 Merlin Press LLC (P)2020 Irina Shapiro

Good story mixed in with dome historical events

Good story with some historical events mixed in with love, treachery, rescues, family, suspense, lust.

Intrigue and complex situations to snatch the attention!

As always Irina Shapiro grabs your attention from the first paragraph and won’t let go until you complete the story. She continues to weave the intricate tales of families in two time periods, intertwining the relationships and ties that holds everyone together. This story does a great job of giving you a peek into the complexities of the royal court of England and the revolutionary war in the colonies. Highly recommend. Not as fond of the particular narrator of the story as I am of others, but it does not diminish the story

Can’t get enough 🎉😘😍🎧

I started with book one and each book gets better. It has been a while since I have found something this good. Anna

Difficulties for all

This book brings to like many of the challenges and difficulties that people in the 16th century had to face. Arrests for treason, unsanctioned pregnancies, murders and deaths of loved ones. To top it all off another plate is having creating more loss. Although much tragedy occurs this is a great book.

Couldn’t stop listening!

This by far is my favorite one of the series. I couldn’t stop listening! Ms Shapiro has out done herself on this one.

Addicted!

I can’t wait for the next book! Love this series! It’s riveting and keeps me coming back for more!

my New Favorite

I Loved this series! I want more and more! captivating funny so interesting time travel adventures

Love the storyline

The only thing that could make this series better would be a different narrator. It doesn’t change my opinion of the book however.

Messy love and messy lives

For the most part I enjoyed this installment of the Whitfield and Sheridan‘s time traveling historical romance. (See trigger warning below) Like the other books in the series, this story is told from multiple points of view. But unlike the other books in the series, it does not focus on one couple but rather four couples - Valerie and Alec, Louisa and Kit, Finn and Abbie, and (younger) Louisa and Theo. There is a lot going on with these couples between the 17th and 18th century including personal and political machinations, unexpected surprises, missteps, gut wrenching choices, war, espionage, murder, and danger. Interwoven with the couples story arcs there is social and religious commentary which adds interesting layers to the storyline. The story was well written and included three dimensional characters and an engaging storyline as shown through mystery, sweet moments, spice, laughs, messy families, painful pasts, surprises, danger, plot twists, fate, and love. I am looking forward to reading more in the series.

Trigger warning - there are multiple dubcon/noncon scenes instigated by a secondary character in this book. I would have preferred to know this in advance so I could have made a choice whether to skip this installment of the series. I am not a fan of these situations. This part of the story lowered my enjoyment and decreased my rating.

Fiona Small did a wonderful job narrating the story and characters into life with enough change of inflection, tone and cadence to voice multiple characters quite convincingly.

Who is writing these reviews?

I started this series after finishing all the other Shapiro titles available. Some are better than others, and some are really enjoyable. Her books are easy reads with typically good story lines, character, and plot development. This series has none of that. The stories are rushed and feel like first drafts that never quite made it through the editing process. The characters don’t feel fully developed or 3 dimensional. I don’t care about any of them. The plot holes are innumerable and she seems to be borrowing too heavily on other better known time travel epics, with much poorer results. The narrator is downright BAD- who cast her? She lacks the ability to differentiate her characters trough any type of voice acting and doesn’t have any form of passable English accent. The sound editing is awful, with sentences edited too closely together but chapter breaks so long you think your decide has stopped working.
But for me the killer of the series is when one of the main characters forces non-consensual anal on his partner after she clearly says “no”. No means no even in marriage, but Shapiro writes it with the wife left quivering in ecstasy after she’s basically abused by her husband. Just… no.
Returned the book, and won’t be wasting my money in anymore. Sometimes boredom is better than being made more stupid by our entertainment.