Shadow Flight
Shadow Riders, Book #5
By Christine Feehan
ISBN: 9780593099797
Author Website: christinefeehan(.)com
Possible Spoilers!
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Caro
Review:
When we first meet Nicoletta in Shadow Rider, she had been rescued by the Ferraro brothers from her abusive step-uncles in New York. Even though she was broken and didn’t trust anyone, Nicoletta let Amo and Lucia, a couple mourning the loss of their son, take care of her in Chicago where Ferraro’s home is located. Ever since, Nicoletta had been somewhat rebellious and difficult to handle, especially under Taviano’s watchful eye.
Now older, Nicoletta is trying to move on from her past and give the concept of friends an opportunity. This leads Nicoletta to invite some friends to California for a concert to which they have VIP tickets, hotel reservations and a private plane all thanks to her connections to the Ferraros. Taviano accompanies the girls on their trip, but Nicoletta and him can’t deny the tension and sparks between them anymore. At the concert, Nicoletta and her friends are having fun when men from Nicoletta’s past see her and immediately alert Benito Valdez, the man her step-uncles were going to give her to, chasing them and in the process taking one of the girls. Nicoletta’s past has finally caught up to her and Taviano won’t let anyone take her away from him.
I have been waiting for their story for so long! Feehan has been building up their chemistry for the past four books in the series and we finally get to know more about Nicoletta’s background as a potential elite shadow rider, due to her family ancestry, and Taviano’s years of training abroad. We do learn that she has Archambault blood and that that family is the only one allowed to kill other riders that break the rules, which gives her the potential of being a first class shadow rider if she trains properly :).
Nicoletta has to face her past when Benito Valdez finds out she’s alive and in Chicago making him think he can finally have her for himself, but he is unaware that she is under the protection of the Ferraro family. Benito is the leader of the Demons, New York’s bloodiest gang, and has sent his brothers and men to get Nicoletta back. As a rule, a shadow rider can’t tell anyone of their existence unless they are a spouse, which takes Taviano and Nicoletta to marry in order to fully protect her and show her his world.
Nicoletta is still worried about how her past can affect her relationship with Taviano, but at the same time Taviano has secrets of his own that may strain his relationship not only with her but with his family as well. It was interesting to see how these two navigated their new life together, trusted and helped each other overcome traumatic events from their past. Unlike Taviano, Nicoletta had help from people that cared for her which in return made her understand and know what to do to help him.
There is new information shared by the matriarch of the Ferraro family that may change the riders way of life which I hope we go more into in the next book. It’ll be interesting to see how this affects Nicoletta’s training and the new riders. I am also very excited and curious about the next book. Next up is Emmanuelle, the youngest of the Ferraro riders with her Romeo and Juliet love story. This is another book I’ve been waiting for since Shadow Rider 🙂
The death count in this book was pretty high. I’m trying to remember if there’s another book with so many dead bodies. I keep forgetting this series isn’t just romance.
With Benito Valdez out of the way, new information about the riders and shadows, I’m curious to know in which direction Feehan will take her shadow riders. So many new characters have been introduced, amongst them a whole family, the California branch of the Ferraros, and a possible connection to another of Feehan’s book series! I need to catch up on some of her books, but meanwhile, if you’re a fan of Feehan, I recommend you read Shadow Flight and join me in the waiting for Emme’s culminating story.
