His town.
Susanna Duchamps came to New Orleans to settle a debt and to temporarily escape the controlled constraints of her life among the Chosen. What she finds is an opportunity to make miraculous strides with her research into Shifter genetics . . . and an unexpected, but never forgotten, man from her complicated past.
Her rules.
Shifter club owner Jacques LaRoche is fiercely protective of his freedom. Stripped of his memories of a former life, he longs for the mate he lost . . . until the enticingly familiar presence of a mysterious stranger from the north ignites a primal, nearly uncontrollable need to release the untamed beast inside him.
Their last chance.
Susanna dares not tell Jacques it was she who sacrificed his past and her future years ago, to protect him and the secret she carried. But her arrival in New Orleans comes with consequences. When a bloody confrontation erupts between their enemy clans, will she betray her lover once again—or throw her own life on the line so they can finish what they started?
.
Susanna knows exactly what she gave up when she turned her lover in years ago and her society made him “disappear”. She also knows it was for the best because a future for them was a bleak one. Never knowing what came of him other than he was alive was enough for her to attempt to move on. When she gets a call to return a favor in New Orleans she never expects to run right into him, let alone have to work so close she can smell him. The greater good prevails her sense of self-preservation but soon she is feeling those urges only he can make her feel. Can she finally take a chance with the one man she’s ever loved?
Living without a past is just part of the bad hand Jacques seems to have been dealt. Though he has picked himself up and is now a successful bar owner for the areas shifters. Things are looking up until Susanna walks into his life. Even if his mind can’t comprehend, his body is telling him another story entirely. Maybe it’s time he finally let the murky past go and embrace the future. A mate he doesn’t know shouldn’t still haunt his soul. Something about Susanna is calling to him on a primal level and even though he tries to deny it, the mind can only take so much before the body takes over .
.
Seeker Of Shadows is the sixth installment in Nancy Gideon’s Moonlight series. Up till the last book the series had pretty much only focused on the relationship between bodyguard turned millionaire Max and his human, cop girlfriend, Cee Cee. The last book, Hunter Of Shadows introduced two brand new characters, Nica and Silas. While some people enjoyed that story, I along with a lot of other readers really resisted the branch off from the main characters. I really didn’t get into that book nearly as much as I had when it was solely Cee Cee and Max. I even said in that review I hoped that if the series continued on, we’d get more of the original characters. In a way I’m glad Nancy didn’t listen to the outcries of some of the readers because I was happy with the mix I got when I opened Seeker Of Shadows.
In Hunter of Shadows I couldn’t connect with either Silas or Nica but I am happy to report I had no such issues with Susanna or Jacques. Even though Susanna is an extremely reserved character due to her upbringing and the society she lives within, I instantly saw a fire in her. Regardless of the emotional void those of her society functioned with, Susanna wasn’t like them. She fought for the people she cared about with a ferocity that I admired. Even when having to make the toughest choices she’s ever faced she did so with only the thoughts of those she cared for.
I enjoyed that the prologue shed light on Susanna and Jacques past without truly giving much away. Readers are left to wonder what would make Susanna turn on her lover and have him stripped of his memories of the past and dumped in New Orleans, so far from their Chicago home. Operating with the hunch that her contact can help the unique growing situation in New Orleans, Nica calls Susanna, a highly respected scientist, for help. Unknowingly Susanna walks right back into the life of Jacques, who has no memory of the mate he left behind along with the rest of his memories. The primal call to Susanna confuses him and he continually lashes out at her because of that.
As these two are thrown together and unwillingly have to work together for the greater good, the heat starts to rise between them to the point where it’s all they can do to keep their hands off each other. Susanna has to think of her daughter, who is sick, and what would be best for her and so she keeps the girls existence a secret from most everyone. The “mate” she left to take care of her daughter back in Chicago is anything but supportive of her mysterious trip to New Orleans and she is slowly starting to regret leaving her daughter with him. She’s also dealing with the uber sensitive knowledge she learns about Cee Cee’s health and she isn’t sure who can can trust with it. Though a breakthrough in the science surrounding Cee cee’s health is exactly what may save her own daughter.
One thing I’m starting to see as a trend in the paranormal romance realm is shifters that don’t shift. While I find that this leaves more room for actual story in a book, I do miss it. I admit, I like the savagery of it all when shifters become animal. I find I tend not to care as much when they shift and that just means some long nails or something.
Seeker Of Shadows is a sexy and smoldering paranormal romance that, while a diversion from the main characters, solidly stands on its own and is a great read! I enjoyed every minute of this one. Even the snippets we get of the overall bigger picture that still has Max and Cee Cee dead center.
I give Seek Of Shadows by Nancy Gideon 4 stars!
