From the New York Times bestselling author of the Gabriel trilogy comes the hotly anticipated follow-up to The Raven, a sensual novel set in Florence featuring the dangerously intoxicating coupling of Raven and William…
Raven Wood’s vampyre prince has returned, pledging his love and promising justice for every wrong done to her. In the wake of their reunion, Raven is faced with a terrible decision—allow the Prince to wreak vengeance against the demons of her past, or persuade him to stay his hand. But there is far more at stake than Raven’s heart…
A shadow has fallen over the city of Florence. Ispettor Batelli will not rest until he uncovers Raven’s connection to the theft of the priceless art from the Uffizi Gallery. And while the Prince hunts a traitor who sabotages him at every turn, he finds himself the target of the vampyres’ mortal enemy.
As he wages a war on two fronts, he will need to keep his love for Raven secret, or risk exposing his greatest weakness…
MICHELLE’S REVIEW
Sylvain Reynard. Lovers. I cannot put into to words how much I love this writing. I am not really a big paranormal reader but this FLORENTINE series has me HOOKED.
Now as a note- you need to read THE RAVEN before reading THE SHADOW. In fact, you should read THE PRINCE first. No. Wait. You should read GABRIEL’S INFERNO series - then just start on this and you’ll be hooked on all of Sylvain Reynard’s books and your life will be complete.
This second installment is full of intrigue and mystery and of course the love and heat between Raven and William. As we dive deeper into the underworld of The Prince, we learn that the unrest of his people is growing and that William has to sniff that traitor out before it is too late. And while he battles that, he is doing everything he can to protect and make Raven happy. His gift to her backfires greatly as she ends up losing contact with her sister through much of the book which is of course heartbreaking for her.
If that’s not enough- she finds out that the man that saved her and her sister- Father Kavanaugh- is part of the group that wants to rid the world of Vampires and who thinks William has Raven under his spell.
Raven is ultimately torn between what she knows is real love for William and the little bit of doubt and loyalty she has to Father Kavanaugh. When Raven becomes a pawn in saving William’s people at the hands of the Curia, he is truly put to the test.
If you are a fan of Sylvain Reynard’s writing, you will not be disappointed. THE SHADOW continues on in Sylvain’s one of a kind lyrical prose. His style of writing transports you to this world of vampires and love and Florence in a way that only he can do. You feel as if you have been transported to another world.
The book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger as we find that The Prince must confront his maker and ultimately win Raven forever while somehow preserving his Kingdom. I cannot wait to see how this all comes to a close in the third book. My bets are on the title being The Roman- but we will see!
THE PRINCE - BOOK #0.5 (Novella)
The unveiling of a set of priceless illustrations of Dante’s Divine Comedy at the Uffizi Gallery exposes the unsuspecting Professor Gabriel Emerson and his beloved wife, Julianne, to a mysterious and dangerous enemy.
Unbeknownst to the Professor, the illustrations he secretly acquired years ago were stolen a century earlier from the ruler of Florence’s underworld. Now one of the most dangerous beings in Italy is determined to reclaim his prized artwork and exact revenge on the Emersons, but not before he uncovers something disturbing about Julianne …
Set in the city of Florence, “The Prince” is a prequel novella to “The Raven,” which is the first book in the new Florentine Series Trilogy by Sylvain Reynard.
“The Prince” can be read as a standalone but readers of The Gabriel Series may be curious about the connection between The Professor’s world and the dark, secret underworld of “The Prince.”
PURCHASE LINKS: AMAZON / AMAZON UK / AMAZON CANADA / B&N / iTUNES
THE RAVEN - BOOK #1
From the New York Times bestselling author of the Gabriel Series comes a dark, sensual tale of romance in a city shrouded in mystery…
Raven Wood spends her days at Florence’s Uffizi Gallery restoring fine works of Renaissance art. But an innocent walk home after an evening with friends changes her life forever. When she intervenes in the senseless beating of a homeless man, his attackers turn on her, dragging her into an alley. Raven is only semi-conscious when their assault is interrupted by a cacophony of growls followed by her attacker’s screams. Mercifully, she blacks out, but not before catching a glimpse of a shadowy figure who whispers to her…
Cassita vulneratus.
When Raven awakes, she is inexplicably changed. She returns to the Uffizi, but no one recognizes her and more disturbingly, she discovers that she’s been absent an entire week. With no recollection of the events leading up to her disappearance, Raven also learns that her absence coincides with one of the largest robberies in Uffizi history – the theft of a set of priceless Botticelli illustrations. When the baffled police force identifies her as its prime suspect, Raven is desperate to clear her name. She seeks out one of Florence’s wealthiest and elusive men in an attempt to uncover the truth about her disappearance. Their encounter leads Raven to a dark underworld whose inhabitants kill to keep their secrets…
PURCHASE LINKS: AMAZON / AMAZON CANADA / B&N / iTUNES
MICHELLE’S REVIEW OF THE RAVEN
I am so excited about this new series from Sylvain Reynard. He’s easily one of my top 5 favorite authors and GABRIEL’S INFERNO remains one of my top two book series off all time.
THE RAVEN is an epic story of intrigue and mystery coupled with the added element of the supernatural. Raven (also known as Jane) is a unsuspecting young woman just trying to find her slice of happiness after a sad childhood. She is working her dream job at the Uffuzi Gallery in Italy. She’s what we would call homely- no one notices her, she has a limp from her childhood tragedy and she often goes unnoticed. But she is a kind and loving person. When she steps in to help a homeless man being attacked, the attackers turn their hate on her. A shadow in the dark comes to her aid but she has no real recollection of it.
A week goes by as Raven recovers and when she wakes up- she has no memory of what happened in that week and she suddenly is seen as outwardly beautiful to those that previously never recognized her. So much so that they don’t realize that this Raven is the same Jane they always knew. What’s worse is the donated paintings from Professor Gabriel Emerson (did I mention our favorite professor made appearances in this series?!?!) have disappeared and Raven is a prime suspect.
This sends Raven to the mysterious William York. And this is when her life changes forever. William is beyond handsome. And he wants Raven. It’s something she cannot comprehend. But William is not what he seems to be and soon, Raven is being introduced to a world that includes powerful Vampires and a whole underworld she did not know existed.
THE RAVEN ends not on a huge cliffhanger but with things hanging a bit in the balance. It is unclear of William will be able to give Raven everything she needs.
Can’t wait to see what happens in THE SHADOW.
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