Kresley Cole - Shadow's Heart

A FALLEN PRINCESS . . .
Sheltered Kosmina Daciano has always yearned for adventure. But her first trip to the mortal world turns dark when a foe curses her with bloodlust—ensuring her exile in the sinister dimension of Nightside.
AN OUTLAW SORCERER . . .
For millennia, Silt Harea has flouted the laws of the Lore with all the arrogance of a king, remaining one step ahead of ruination. Yet then a mysterious bounty hunter schemes to capture him, dispatching him straight to hell.
FIGHT TO ESCAPE A DYING REALM . . .
Within Nightside, Silt clashes with the hunter’s sister, also condemned. Never imagining that she might be the key to his escape—and his future—he vows revenge against her. But Mina is no easy quarry.
Can two doomed immortals survive long enough to salvage a nightmare, turning hatred into love and vengeance into bliss?

Comment: This is the 19th installment in the Immortals After Dark series by author Kresley Cole. Or, instead, the 3rd in the spin-off series, The Dacians. Either way, it's the most recent full length release, after Munro in 2022. I knew this would be an easy book to read, thus why I've went for it now instead of later.

In this story we focus on Kosmina, the sister of Mirceo from book #16 and niece of Lothaire, protagonist in book #11. Mina, as she is called, is a very sheltered vampire, one of the few female vampires who hasn't gone crazy, and when this story begins, her uncle Lothaire has just given her a mission. While in the middle of things, she becomes infected by a plague and is sent to Nightside, a Realm where only doomed souls live but she pairs up with Silt Harea, a sorcerer who lost everything and who was sent to the realm by Kosmina's brother! While exchanging barbs all the way while trying to find a way to escape, Silt and Mina still found each other but is there hope for them if they leave the realm alive?

The books in this series are, as often happens to long series, supposedly accessible to a new reader, in the sense the plot has a continuity that allows things to be understandable. However, truly, these books are only meaningful if readers had read the previous books too, or most of them. Otherwise, there are so many little things that get lost or don't seem to matter but to a fan, it means a lot more than the obvious.

This story might seem a bit random, but as always there's more to it and it should be said these books are happening in a period of time in which the events have a goal. The Accession is this big event/battle of some kind in which good and evil fight and throughout all these books we have been getting stories of characters who align themselves in the "good" side and the idea is they all will unite efforts to help Nix, the Soothsayer, to win the big final battle. I am assuming Nix, a beloved but crazy character, will likely only have her HEA at the very end (will it ever happen that is the question...).

This is why Kosmina and Silt meet now, seemingly in a random way but, of course, the readers know all is somehow connected. Silt will recover his powers and it is a given he will help his new family through Mina and Nix too. Anyway, Mina and Silt have a funny relationship, a sort of opposites attract, and it was cute to read about their banter as they go on through the realm battling enemies and overcoming challenges. At the same time, of course, they learn to trust one another step by step, leading them to slowly fall in love.

In terms of plot development, there isn't much to this story, in fact. Mina and Silt are traveling and learning about each other until they find a castle where it seems they will have some time to rest. It becomes obvious that the castle and the sorcerer who controls it, are there as a test, and we do wonder if Mina and Silt fall into the trap of letting themselves be at ease and believe the lies which hide the vices that can entrap them. Since Silt has been in a similar situation in the past, the question if more related to him: will he be able to ignore the temptations and follow Mina?

I think the "moral lesson" of this story is achieved as well as it can, and the romance between the protagonists show us a side of them that made me believe their relationship would endure. Yes, I'd change some details but I think that in the big scheme of things, this was a good story. As expected too, the end is sweet and positive and I had a good time remembering the experience of reading the earlier installments of the series, with similar types of plots. The very final chapter is a teaser of what's to come, so.... more waiting to see what happens next...

Grade: 7/10