Having read the first two books in Ms Arthur’s Nikki & Michael series and really enjoying them, I swiftly moved on to book three of the vampire romance series!
So here’s my candid review of this paranormal romance book by Keri Arthur.
Chasing the Shadows
Keri Arthur
Nikki James is in San Francisco at the request of her partner and best friend, Jake. The wife of Jake’s old friend is missing, and Jake intends to find her—whatever the cost. While the authorities believe the kidnappings are the work of a sick mind, Nikki knows it is something much worse. Vampires. Six of them. And they know who she is, and why she’s there.
Michael Kelly has just returned from a vampire hunting expedition in his homeland and wants to spend some much-needed relaxation time with Nikki. But when he discovers she’s gone to San Francisco to pursue the vampire gang currently terrorizing the city, he has no choice except to follow. Not only to keep her safe from the gang, but because he fears the psychic talents she’s beginning to develop. Abilities she should not have and cannot control.
The chase takes them through the sewers and tunnels of San Francisco. As the body count begins to rise, so, too, does the danger. Michael isn’t the only one aware of Nikki’s new abilities, and she becomes a target. But Nikki has no intention of obeying Michael’s demands that she leave. She’s tired of playing it safe and wants him to realize it’s all or nothing. She’s either a full partner in his life, or she’s out.
But nothing prepares her for the price she has to pay for her stubbornness—the life of someone she loves.
Review
Nikki and Michael are back in book three of Keri Arthur’s Nikki and Michael series. Nikki, a telepath and telekinetic, has had enough of playing house and waiting for Michael’s return from a mission. Things have been going well for the duo, but their relationship is still strained by Michael’s old-world ways sometimes. It’s nice to have a little tension in the relationship as it grows, but sometimes I felt it was overdone. The story this time takes us to San Francisco, and back to Jake, Nikki’s partner in crime-fighting from her days at the private investigation company. I was glad of the change of scenery as the first two books in the series both featured plenty of time spent in caves, and we often get numerous repetitions about what happened to Nikki in a cave in the first book (won’t say what happened as it might spoil things for people). However, we did end up spending plenty of time underground again, this time in the sewers, but I could deal with that as it’s still a change from caves and vampires have got to hide somewhere during the day.
Michael returns from his mission with a yearning to see Nikki at his remote cabin and a present in his pocket that isn’t something sensual. A certain token for his love. The trouble is, she’s headed out to the same mission he’s just been assigned to, and now he’s chasing her across the country rather than enjoying a nice lazy reunion full of lovemaking. When he eventually catches up with his wayward love, she’s neck deep in trouble again. Together they go through various highs and lows with plenty of suspense tossed in to keep me flipping pages, and the odd scuffle between the lovers to keep things interesting, although sometimes it goes too far. Nikki becomes a little irritating in this one as she clearly doesn’t know when she’s on to a good thing and seems fairly determined to force Michael out of her life or get him killed. Personally, if a great guy like him wanted to coddle me a little and protect me from the uber-dangerous aspects of his life, whilst letting me in to the rest of it, I wouldn’t moan like Nikki does. She came off as a bit petulant and childish in places. Nikki’s powers are growing in this one, and it seems they’re affecting Michael too, which makes it quite interesting, but they didn’t grow enough to be particularly exciting. Nikki has also picked up some pyrokinetic abilities from book two as well.
I really enjoyed this story, but it started to feel a bit repetitive having read the first two. The author has stock phrases that she uses around twenty times per book each and it did start to grate on my nerves a little. The editing in this book sucked too. Lots of mistakes that really leapt out at me, and some times when the writing was really below par. I wanted this book to be as great as the first two, but it fell short due to the editing and repetition, and playing on Michael being over-protective, and also had a fairly predictable sad moment that didn’t actually gain much emotional reaction from me because I didn’t feel the person who died was emotionally involved or close enough to Nikki to actually warrant such a strong reaction from her. There was nothing in this book or the previous ones that made out they were very close. I still enjoyed Michael and it’s nice seeing him battling his darkness to keep control around Nikki, although sometimes I wished he’d let a little of that darkness out to play. I do enjoy a good biting scene. It might have bumped this one up to a four in spite of the bad editing and repetition. If you’ve read the previous two, then do continue, but be warned that there are some nasty editing errors ahead.
Read reviews of Chasing the Shadows by Keri Arthur on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6076367-chasing-the-shadows
