Shadows

If you are looking for a decadent treat for yourself, look no further than Irene Pascoe’s Shadows.

Set first in the New Orleans of 1887 the reader stands beside Tori and Leanza as they begin a new life in Sacramento, California. A half a continent away, the danger and deceptions Tori first encountered in New Orleans with the death of her brother and finance find her again. New Orleans of the later nineteenth century is not very kind of Tori and Leanza. Despite the fact that neither had anything to do with the scandal that culminated in the murder of their loved ones, both are treated as outcasts. While Tori could easily live in isolation and sit with her grief, young and impetuous Leanza will not stand for it. While Leanza has her sights on more exciting locales, Tori follows her brother’s dictates and they go west to their guardian Daniel McAllister’s home in Sacramento, California. From the beginning, Leanza has nothing but complaints about the trip west, the location and their elderly guardian Daniel while at the same time this fifteen year old miss does not let an opportunity to pursue Daniel’s son, Morgan McAllister.

Dark and brooding Morgan strives to find a balance between his family duties and the life he wants for himself. Unable to help himself and despite Leanza’s blatant advances, Morgan falls in love with Tori. Obstacles abound in the guise of his Aunt Rachel who would dearly love to see him wed to his childhood friend Catherine, in Leanza’s attempts at coquetry, his cousin Zane’s own pursuit of Tori and an unknown person who at first merely threatens Tori with the ultimate goal of killing her.

It takes a tremendous amount of talent and creativity to write a truly good Gothic and Ms. Pascoe has that ability in spades. This reviewer has yet to read one of Ms. Pascoe’s books that is not a completely absorbing page turner. While they are perfect for reading on a dark and rainy night when you are home alone…just for the scare-yourself factor…they are also just the read for anytime or any place. Her characters are true to life and so memorable they will remain with the reader long after the last page is read.

Shadows evoked a myriad of emotions for this reviewer. From Tori’s heart wrenching sadness of a lost love to Morgan’s devastation at his father’s death to the mean-spirited self-centeredness of Leanza the reader feels each sensation drawn from the author’s own deep pool of emotion.

There is a palpable connection between Tori and Morgan as well as between Tori and Zane. She is all that is goodness, yet some sinister force follows her, dogging her steps and this talented author has the reader looking over his or her own shoulder with each attack.

In her dedication Ms. Pascoe expresses her gratitude to her brother-in-law for his introduction to Sacramento, California. She takes that gratitude and transports the reader to the lushly beautiful locale. One feels the warmth of the summer day as it cools with a summer shower. Ms. Pascoe tickles the imagination with her description of the pits left behind by the miners as they dug their treasures during the ‘49er gold rush. Each scene goes beyond a visual delight to engage the reader’s full senses.

While some gothic romance can tend to over dramatization, Ms. Pascoe tells a brilliantly laid out story. Each emotion is real, leaving the reader hungry for more.

It was purely by accident this reviewer “discovered” Ms. Pascoe when picking up Shadow Over Bright Star as a relaxation read. It quickly became a favorite, to be read again and again, as Shadows has also become. No matter what genre a reader may hold as his or her favorite, if they do not pick up a Pascoe, they are missing some of the best reading offered today.

Shadows is a do not miss read.

September 2006