Dragons, Celtic mythology, and romance woven into an intriguing, original story
The Shadow Path
Shadowlands
Adult, New Adult, Fantasy Romance, Dragon & Celtic Mythology Adventure
Recurve Press LLC
April 29, 2024
Kindle, Paperback, Hardcover
420
Carys Morgan is torn between two worlds. One bright. The other shadow. One familiar. The other filled with magic. In one life, Carys is an assistant mythology professor in Northern California. In the Shadowlands, she's a dragon rider with close ties to royals, fae, and powerful magic wielders. It's not just differing worlds that Carys must navigate, but the love of two very different men who wear the same beloved face. When the Anglian king dies, Carys returns to the Shadowlands where a brittle peace accord is threatening to crumble. As war looms and old gods begin to wake, Carys will have to choose between the two men vying for her heart, and the two worlds that promise very different destinies.
“…peace always came with a price.”
Elizabeth Hunter does not disappoint with her second installment of the Shadowlands series, The Shadow Path. In the first book, Mythology and Literature professor Carys Morgan never imagined she would discover an alternate realm, the Shadowlands. When she traveled to Scotland in search of her Scottish boyfriend, Lachlan, who abruptly disappeared she learned of a magical and mythical realm across the veil that in many ways mirrors her life in “the Brightlands”. This also includes that fact that her boyfriend has a “twin”, Duncan Murray, and that Lachlan was in love with Carys’ “twin” who was murdered. Seren’s death and Carys’ arrival in the Shadowlands subsequently bonded Carys to Seren’s dragon, making her a Cymric dragon lord and inspired her to seek justice for Seren. In The Shadow Path Carys is still trying to sort out her feelings for Lachlan and Duncan, when she is summoned back to the Shadowlands for the coronation of a new human king. But that is not the only change happening in this mystic land as the fragile peace between the human and magical beings is being disturbed. Ancient beings, instigated by The Morrigan, are vying for control which thrusts Carys, Duncan, the dragon Cadell, and Carys’ best friend Laura into an escalating conflict. They must figure out a way to head this off before bloodshed takes over the Shadowlands and spills into the Brightlands.
While the Shadowlands series has many of the elements present in other books that are currently popular, it is patently unique in its world building, take on dragons, and incorporation of Celtic mythology. There is no doubt that EH knows how to write a story that keeps a reader engaged from beginning to end and this series is no different. I will admit that I’m a sucker for anything Scottish and love a good dragon shifter but those facets were just one aspect of The Shadow Path which has a great plot, action and intrigue, and of course romance!
“It was possible to love two people at the same time, but was it possible to love them in the same way? The love she’d felt for Lachlan felt so rooted in her heart that it made her cross a world to find him. And the love she felt for Duncan was a bright, burning, wild thing that couldn’t be tamed.”
I almost don’t care what genre EH writes in because her innate skill of developing characters and captivating relationships makes every story fantastic. The progression of Carys’ feelings towards the “twins” as she tries to sort out who she is really in love with builds with the perfect crescendo. The part I most appreciate is that once EH decides they are now a team they work together the rest of the book. I get so frustrated with on-again-off-again or constant misunderstandings/drama being the source of tension in the book. I would rather there be romantic friction/spice and leave the tension for the external conflicts they have to deal with. EH nailed it in that respect which solidified The Shadow Path as another Elizabeth Hunter five star story for me. Just a heads up, Carys’ and her Shadowlands story does not end with The Shadow Path as Broken Veil is scheduled for release Winter of 2025.
Tanya’s love for books has been a lifelong passion that she likes sharing with others. Reading is also the thing that relaxes her after a day of juggling the many responsibilities that come with being being wife to an amazing man, mother to four great kids spread around the world, business manager, and farm hand on their place in southwest Missouri; home to Akaushi cattle and a menagerie of pygmy goats, horses, chickens, dogs and cats.
