Really enjoyed. I have not read the Darkyn series yet (I will after finishing this series) but it is not necessary. You get enough of the history to understand what is going on. Lots of action - this book could be classed as an action romance. I liked the main character - Jessa had already rebuilt her life once and was now being faced with doing it again. The only thing I would have like more closure on is what happened to the emplyees of the business she built. Jessa had helped them all out of bad situations and I would have liked to have known a little more about their end of the situation. ( )

I really couldn't finish the book and I rarely have that problem. The characters were one dimensional and I could not connect with them on any level. the only bright part of the book that I did read was a scene between Lucan and Sam two characters from the Darkyn series. ( )

I loved the original series, the Darkyn, but this one, not so much. This book just seemed to drag, and I had no interest in the main couple. I was more interested in a secondary character. Hopefully, as the secondary character takes center stage in the next book, the series will pick up. ( )

With just one touch, Jessa Bellamy can see anyone-s darkest secrets, thanks to whoever tampered with her genes. What she doesn-t know is that a biotech company has discovered her talent and intends to kill her and harvest her priceless DNA.Gaven Matthias is forced to abduct Jessa himself so he can protect her, but Jessa has a hard time believing the one man whose secrets she can-t read. As a monstrous assassin closes in and forces them to run, Jessa will have to find another way to discover if Matthias is her greatest ally-or her deadliest enemy. This is the first in a series that will be mainly about the Kyndred and not the Darkyn. It was a good story with lots of tension, danger and just a touch of romance. An evil corporation determined to capture the Kyndred for their genetics is the enemy in this book. ( )

In Shadowlight, the first novel of the Kyndred series, Lynn Viehl gives an edge-of-the-seat tale with trouble at every turn and people who learn that everything they thought true just isn't. Oh, and along with this, she gives characters that are three-dimensional to the extreme so you can simultaneously see the story from more than one angle, and understand and sympathize with all the heroes, even when some of them think others are the villains. Lynn doesn't deny you a true villain though. The Kyndred have forces arrayed against them that offer both immediate danger and hint at a greater scenario that will become clear as the series develops.

Shadowlight focuses on a group of people gifted with special strengths. They were mentioned in the Darkyn series, were somewhat crucial to it, but this is not just a continuation of Lynn's take on the vampire legends. Where those books focused on an ancient war between Darkyn and their enemies at the same time as exploring the strife within the Darkyn population, Shadowlight starts out in a place of isolation. The Kyndred are not some secret society that both supports and fights among itself. The Kyndred are an experiment gone wrong and scattered to the winds only to recreate faulty memories bit by bit.

And that's not the only difference. There is no ancient evil here. If this book is characteristic of the new series, the dangers are much more immediate and driven by modern aims rather than only inherited hatred. Here you have kidnappings, corporate espionage, and the FBI rather than grudges held over the centuries. It's a fresh start in a known world for Darkyn fans, with some familiar faces making appearances. For newcomers, though, Lynn weaves in the necessary details so that this series can act as a standalone as long as readers come in with an open mind. Things in Lynn's world, though they cross over with the traditional, are unique enough that suspension of disbelief is crucial, and giving her that leeway pays back threefold. New readers are likely to discover a world, a series, and an author to delight them for years to come.

Lynn spares no words in tossing us headlong into the novel with not one but two prologues, one that introduces a mysterious scroll from ancient Rome and the other that brings us into the life of a character only to kill her off at the end of the scene. Though neither prologue's impact is immediately clear, there is no doubt as to their relevance. They raise enough story questions to keep you going even if the first chapter didn't draw you immediately into the delicate balance of living as Kyndred in a human world.

Right up front we meet Jessa and learn she's not what the others think her to be. She has the hidden ability to absorb the experiences of those she touches. Then both Genaro and Bradford Lawson are introduced in the beginning of the second chapter, the antagonists of this particular story, and there is no question of their roles in the unfolding drama. We even meet a third crucial character, Matthias, but not in a way that we're confident of where he fits until a bit later.

Lynn's talent shows right from the start, tossing in so many characters, so many different circumstances, even a dip into the heads of the cleaning ladies, and yet never once was I lost or confused. I could see the pieces come together, each scene building on what came before or hinting at the slot the new character or event would fill. Shadowlight is a complex layering of characters all with different goals and beliefs that reads as easily as any novel there for pure entertainment but sticks with you afterwards. Whether it's Jessa trying so hard to do the right thing even as she knows she's risking everything, Matthias whose approach is foreign enough to keep everyone guessing, or Lawson's belief in what's due him, there's never any question about depth.

Powerful, absorbing, and compelling.

I'm a long-time reader of Lynn Viehl's novels, and each one seems to push the envelope just a little more with an end product that is exceptional. Though Shadowlight is listed as a dark fantasy, it reads with the rush of an action thriller, a touch of romance, and of course, paranormal, with a dash of science fiction. I can't wait to see what she does next with this world and this new cast of characters.

P.S. FTC disclosure: I was given the E-Arc by Lynn Viehl to use as a review copy. My hardcopy has already been preordered. ( )