Kresley Cole - Shadow's Claim

#1 New York Times bestseller Kresley Cole introduces The Dacians: Realm of Blood and Mist, a new paranormal series following the royal bloodline of Dacia, a vampire kingdom hidden within the Lore of the Immortals After Dark.
Shadow’s Claim features Prince Trehan, a ruthless master assassin who will do anything to possess Bettina, his beautiful sorceress mate, even compete for her hand in a blood-sport tournament -- to the death.
Trehan Daciano, known as the Prince of Shadows, has spent his life serving his people -- striking in the night, quietly executing any threat to their realm. The coldly disciplined swordsman has never desired anything for himself -- until he beholds Bettina, the sheltered ward of two of the Lore’s most fearsome villains.
Desperate to earn her guardians’ approval after a life-shattering mistake, young Bettina has no choice but to marry whichever suitor prevails -- even though she’s lost her heart to another. Yet one lethal competitor, a mysterious cloaked swordsman, invades her dreams, tempting her with forbidden pleasure.
Even if Trehan can survive the punishing contests to claim her as his wife, the true battle for Bettina’s heart is yet to come. And unleashing a millennium’s worth of savage need will either frighten his Bride away -- or stoke Bettina’s own desires to a fever pitch. . . . 

Comment: This is the first book in the spin off series of Immortals After Dark, called The Dacians. The Dacians are a vampire race, hidden in the mist and no one knows where to find them. Lothaire is their new king, as we've seen in Lothaire's book. This first book is about Trehan, he met his Bride and fights in a competition to win her.

Trehan travels to Abanddon to find a demon who run away from Dacia with their secrets. In there he finds Bethina, a half sorceress, half demon and realizes she's his Bride. However, Bettina is in love with someone else although she responds to her vampire. Trehan accepts to participate in a competition in order to gain Bettina's hand and to do that he has to prove his skills and intelligence.

Bettina thinks she's been in love with her demon friend but after meeting Trehan she starts to understand true love is something completely different.

I loved this book. I think it was full of adventure and fun moments, pretty much like the first books in the paranormal series by this author. The romance was also well done, the two main characters had a lot of chemistry and there was sexual tension making the story believable.

I liked Trehan's character and how he gave up on several things to just pursue Bettina not knowing if she would reciprocate his feelings. Some scenes made me feel a bit sad because it made me think about people out there who try their everything for love or other reason and if they can't be successful, than they've lost so much...I guess it's a certain kind of bravery too and I liked Trehan a lot for that. Plus, he's a sexy character.

Bettina is a half sorceress, half demoness and she doesn't know exactly which side of hers is better, she believes she's in love and has doubts but after meeting Trehan she starts to see things differently.

I likes the story because it reminded me of all the good books in this world, the action scenes, the huge amount of different types of characters, it's a great paranormal world with lots or romance. I had a great time reading it and it has a HEA I felt was perfect.

I think the author has done a great job and I will certainly keep reading this spin off.