Illuminate the Shadows

Shatterproof Bond, Book 2

By: Isobel Starling

Narrated by: Gary Furlong

Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

The thrilling, funny sequel to As You Wish.

"A Scotsman and an Englishman fall in love...after the most amazing week of his life, at Dunloch Castle on the banks of Loch Ness, in Scotland. The charming, mysterious Samuel Aiken has turned Declan Ramsay's life upside down. Declan has experienced a remarkable change. He has come to terms with the fact he is bisexual, and he has fallen head-over-heels in love with his boss's son Sam.

However, falling for his boss's son was never going to be an easy path to happiness, mainly because the boss in question is multi-millionaire property tycoon and former MI5 operative, Sir James Aiken.

Sir James is repulsed by his son's homosexuality, and so discovering that his employee Declan Ramsay - the man he installed to run his luxury property rental empire - is in a relationship with Sam, does not go down well.

The lovers cannot hide from the looming presence of Sir James Aiken for long! Soon enough James makes his move, and Declan finds out what he will have to endure to stay with Sam, and what he will have to give to feel worthy of Sam's love."

©2016 Isobel Starling (P)2017 Isobel Starling

Excellent Sequel!

Illuminate the Shadows is an excellent sequel to As You Wish, it might possibly be even better than the first book!
It is sweet to see the relationship develop more between Sam and Declan, with quite a lot of very steamy sex scenes.
Declan's reaction to the interrogation techniques implemented by Sir James Aiken and A.L.L. is intriguing and makes me wonder if there is going to be more information and a plot twist in a later book.
We get a lot more character growth and development in this book so you can get to know them better, which makes the blossoming relationship even sweeter.
Gary Furlong did an awesome job on the narration, the accents and character voices are great.
I received a copy of this audiobook at my request and am providing this honest unbiased review.

so good....

Illuminate the Shadows is the second book in the Shatterproof Bond series by Isobel Starling. This book continues the journey of Sam and Declan. Kidnapping, interrogation, drug infused hallucinations, proving your worth.... there is a lot going on here. Plus there is humor, heat and some parts sweet. I cant wait to read more.

Gary Furlong does a fantastic job narrating this story and giving the characters' a voice full of personality. Loved it.

OMG!! 😱😱 That Ending!! Just Divine!!

I’ve never, never, finished a book that ended quite like this one!!! To tell you how and where would totally spoil the surprise!!

It literally made me laugh out loud while yelling, “WTF?!” I loved it! 💕💕💕 Now I wonder if the third one picks up EXACTLY where this one stops...because not to do so would be brutally unfair!! 😉

This second book (audiobook) in the series picks up where the first one dropped off. Think of these as serial novels and you’ll realize that the ending of one book is simply TBC in the next. Just something to keep you wanting, and hungering for more!

The beginning of this one took a dark turn which surprised the heck out of me. Soon, though, things settled back into the delicious back and forth play between Sam and Declan. These two are scorching HOT 🔥🔥 together and Gary Furlong’s narration makes my toes curl. To be honest, my toes aren’t the only thing that are affected when he purrs out Declan’s delectable Scottish accent. His “Declan” voice is worth the price of this audiobook alone!!

Back to the plot...Sam and Declan start working together for James. Sam and Declan have loads of sex. Spy-like things happen. Family things happen: some good, some bad.
The two keep up their “Princess Bride” jokes. The two keep having hot sex. And the two continue to be funny, sweet and hot as hell.

I’ll leave you with with my two favorite frases of the book:

“Black fishnet mesh underwear.” (I won’t tell you who’s wearing them!)

Declan—“Have ye....ever edged with a lover?” (And what a scene this led to!!! 😱😱)

Sexy, funny and hot...you’ve got to meet these guys!!! ❤️❤️❤️

Full disclosure: I received a copy of this audiobook from the author In exchange for an honest review.

Superb narration of a fantastic story!

It’s fantastic having Sam and Declan finally together here. They feel so comfortable with each other, only to be tested when Declan is taken away. But everything they go through-especially Declan with his “interview” for A.L.L.-just shows how loyal and committed they’ve become to each other even in just a short period of time. If I had to choose a word that explains the theme of this installment of the series, I’d choose “devotion”.

Thanks to the A.L.L. interview and some other incidents, Declan is made to feel unsure about himself and about Sam, and he thinks he’s unable to protect and take care of Sam like Sam can do for him. But thanks to Sam’s dad (James)-the same man who is so thoroughly disappointed in Sam’s sexual orientation and that he’s in a relationship with Declan-we find Declan’s character growing and evolving after he gets to learn more about his new role with A.L.L.

To be honest, other than Declan’s tortuous interview-where we get to find out some interesting tidbits about Declan’s past that even he wasn’t aware of-there’s really not a lot of drama in this story. This one is more about getting more background and further cementing the bond between Declan and Sam…which is pretty darn successful since I can’t ever imagine the two of them not being together. There’s some hints of irregular things happening that involve the bartender across the street from the home they share, but we don’t get much information on that so I’m hoping this is setting the stage for upcoming entries in the series.

The sex is still blazingly hot (just wait until you get to the last scene…), and everything between Declan and Sam continues to deepen and pull you further in to their story. I plan on following them through every book because the author has me fully entranced with their romance, I’m just hoping we get to see more excitement and suspense as the series progresses.

4.5 stars for Illuminate the Shadows, recommended for M/M romance/suspense fans 18+ only due to adult language and explicit M/M sexual content (which is positively delicious!). My interest is also piqued to see what sort of interesting undergarments Sam comes up with next…you’ll see what I mean ;-)

The narration: What is it about a Scottish accent that makes everything that much hotter? Gary Furlong nails it again here in Illuminate the Shadows, with voices that are spot-on, consistent and really made this story come to life for me. His narration is actually so good that I enjoyed the story even more as an audiobook, which has me upping my rating for the story itself to 4.5 stars from the original 4 stars I gave it when I first read the book; the narration is another 5 stars… I’m really looking forward to hearing more!

A Great Couple & Gary Furlong is Spectacular!

These two are so hot together... and dayum the dirty talk! As much as I enjoyed the first Shatterproof Bond story, Illuminate the Shadows is even better. I love the connection Sam and Declan make, it's a perfect opposites attract romance.

Isobel Starling is just getting started with the depth of the plot I know is coming - intrigue, double-crossing, and tons of sex and romance.

Gary Furlong is perfection, as always. His voices are spectacular, and the emotion he adds to every performance enhances my enjoyment to the n'th degree :)

the inquisition

James is the gift you can't return, no matter how hard you try. He has Dec captured and run through an interrogation process, then sends him away for training!!! Oliver (Dec's brother) was a huge disappointment to me. I loved the tenacity and commitment of these two lovers and the spy role play was hot. Great narration.

Inconceivably better than the first one

Would you consider the audio edition of Illuminate the Shadows to be better than the print version?

I have only listened to the book on audio but I am sure it is better than just reading, the narrator has a very good accent, knows when and how to pitch his voice and adds emotion when the story needs it.

What other book might you compare Illuminate the Shadows to and why?

This book is unique, so I can't compare it to anything specific. I can say that performance wise, this book is at the top of my list along the Temptation series by Ella Frank, Annabeth Albert's Out of Uniform books and Lucy Lennox's Made Marin books.

Have you listened to any of Gary Furlong’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

its one of his best! i loved him in the first book, and in Cat Sebastian's books as well, he is a master actor and narrator. This book is so sexy though, that it really just blew my mind.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

when Declan came back from training, i felt like he is really finding his place in his own skin for the first time.

Any additional comments?

This book have it all! It was so suspenseful and exciting, I was at the edge of my seat all the time and was still surprised by it. The relationship between Declan and Sam is so interesting and sexy, I was amazed at how well the kinks were incorporated into the story, something I don’t usually like so much. I LOVED the inside joke and reference to The Prince's Bride that continued throughout the book. It was such a cute and romantic touch but also something very specific to THEM and I loved how it adds to the dimension and characters being so well developed. These books are a mystery, one I am both anxious and fearful of solving- because it means I will get to the end of them. It left me literally begging for more, and I already have the next one lined up. Gary Furlong is a fantastic narrator that makes this book shine even more! His silky sexy voice will fill your head and heart with longing.

A big hit

Narration = 5 stars. This is my second time hearing this narrator and he is amazing. Every characters voices we distinct. He made an already great story even better.
Story = 5 stars. Excellent writing. I love the way this story is woven..just can't get enough of Declan and Sam.. they are hot, sexy, exciting, dirty and fun.. simply perfect.
Overall.. a thoroughly enjoyable and engrossing story that leaves you wanting more. This is book 2 -- you will need to read book one first.. this story is so wonderfully addictive.
Charo

Narrator was superb storyline good but short of

Was highly impressed with.the narrator ability to change voice, manner and accent to bring each character alive even when they are even in a group. The storyline was good but a bit short of great there was what I called missed opportunity to make it better. For example the 3 month period between book 1 and book 2 the author did make an attempt but fell real short and another the 6 weeks when the main characters were separated in. other incidents the author could wove in a little more about. what the characters were doing or not. The kidnapping and the events that occurred was told well but could been a bit more in detail what was occurring. The appearance of his younger self and parents was well done.
I enjoyed the book and look forward to listening the third and final book

Great Continuing Series

This is a continuing series following Declan and Sam so they need to be read/listened to in order, It's a fun and exciting listen, keeping you on the edge of your seat to see what happens next and who is really behind it all. Furlong does a great job making it easy to know who is speaking even with all the different "personalities"