ARC Review--Shadowed Steel by Chloe Neill

 

In the third installment in the Heirs of Chicagoland series, the vampires in Elisa Sullivan's world are out for blood.

Elisa Sullivan is the only vampire ever born, and she bears a heavy legacy. After a sojourn with the North American Central Pack of shifters in the wilderness--where she turned a young woman into a vampire to save her life--Elisa returns to Chicago.

But no good deed goes unpunished. The ruling body of vampires, the Assembly of American Masters, is furious that Elisa turned someone without their permission, and they're out for her blood. When an AAM vampire is found dead, Elisa is the prime suspect. Someone else is stalking Chicago--and Elisa. She'll need to keep a clear head, and a sharp blade, to survive all the supernatural strife.

 

 

 

 

I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. I was in no way compensated for this review.

 

Chloe Neill returns to the streets of Chicago with Shadowed Steel as the adventures with Elisa Sullivan—daughter of our favorite vampire couple—continues to find her place in the city that she loves. But what would a story be without trouble afoot and this book was chockful of it! Elisa finds herself in trouble with the AAM, aka vampire council, for turning a human and if that wasn’t trouble enough, a killer has set sights on her.

You can enter any Chloe Neill novel and expect to have a magical time! I love returning to Chicago with her books, be they with Merit or Elisa! Elisa is very much like her parents in all the best ways possible! She’s a fierce heroine with a sense of humor and her mother’s appetite. Setting aside the vamprisim, she’s a character you can relate to. When she gets called out by the AAM for turning a human without permission she finds herself in hot water. Not only will she have to suffer punishment but she will be forced to choose a House and to be Tested—something her parents worked hard to prevent, since she is the first vampire child ever.

But that’s only the beginning of her problems, suddenly one of the AAM members is murdered and Elisa is the prime suspect. It’s not long until a mysterious stalker turns up in Elisa’s life claiming to have done what was necessary to protect her. It gets pretty creepy after that. Now Elisa and Connor have to work double time to find the stalker/murderer and to figure out a way to get the AAM off her back.

I am loving this new generation of Chicagoland! Seriously, these characters are the greatest! I love Elisa and Connor, Lulu and Alexei…who I might add have the best chemistry ever! They may only appear on the pages some of the time, but I love that these two bicker like teenagers, yet each have softer sides to them. Seriously, I am wanting more of that story and hopefully Chloe delivers on their part throughout Elisa’s story! Which thankfully, we know that there’s at least one more book to be had!

The pacing of this one was an easy flow! The action was constantly in motion, though not always focused on the mystery solving. It’s a nice blend of plot points and all those little moments that come in between…such as the growing relationship between Elisa and Connor. I love how easy going their relationship has become. Their past friendship is still there too, as it’s not all lovey-dovey moments and I love how they have that balance with one another. There are still common issues to be had, but they are not problems, at least not for now.

The ending was exciting as well. Perhaps part of it was a bit rushed, I feel like Elisa makes this same comment too and does in her own way, but there were still more resolutions to come and in the end, everything is nicely settled. I am enjoying that Chloe continues to end these novels with a conclusion, I think it’s more due to an unknown length of series, but I have to say it is so relieving not to suffer through cliffhangers. I personally never want to go through one like Hard Bitten again! Lol.

Shadowed Steel was a most entertaining read and pays homage to the classic days of Urban Fantasy! This is a series all vampire fans should read because it’s a nice easy going read coupled with well-paced action, romance, humor, and mystery…it’s a series that has it all!

 

Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars

 

 

Shadowed Steel releases May 4, 2021