#Review - Shadow's Bane by Karen Chance #Urban Fantasy

Series: Dorina Basarab (#4)
Format: Paperback, 624 pages
Release Date:  July 31, 2018
Publisher: Berkeley
Source: Publisher
Genre: Urban Fantasy / Vampires / Paranormal

Half-human, half-vampire Dorina Basarab is back—and facing her biggest challenge yet in the next urban fantasy in the New York Times bestselling series.

Dorina Basarab is a dhampir—half-human, half-vampire. As one of the Vampire Senate’s newest members, Dory already has a lot on her plate. But then a relative of one of Dory’s fey friends goes missing. They fear he’s been sold to a slaver who arranges fights—sometimes to the death—between different types of fey.

As Dory investigates, she and her friends learn the slavers are into something much bigger than a fight club. With the Vampire Senate gearing up for war with Faerie, it’ll take everything she has to defeat the slavers—and deal with the entirely too attractive master vampire Louis-Cesare….

Story Locale: Alternate New York City

Series Overview: The New York Times bestselling urban fantasy series featuring half-vampire, half-human Dorina Basarab in a world of vampires, mages, werewolves, and fae.

Shadow's Bane is the fourth installment in author Karen Chance's Dorina Basarab series. This is a story that kicks into high gear almost immediately with a flashback to 1458 Venice with Mircea and a much younger Dorina. Readers who have gotten this far in the series know that Mircea is not the best father in the world. In fact, he's kind of an ass, truth be told. I think he actually loves Dorina, but he kinda played God, and now the two parts of Dorina are at war with each other. Also, please do not just skip over these parts of the story as they are definitely part of the larger picture.

As we get to alternative New York City, where the story mainly takes place, Dory is part of a group that deals with slave traders, and ends up deep into one conflict after another. Dory, who's vampire side has found a seat on the Vampire Senate, has found a home with her best friend Claire, who also has a unique blend of some interesting bloodlines. I especially love how strong she's gotten, and one not to be taken lightly by any means. Dory is also experiencing painful memories via Dorina, her alter-ego, and the strongest of the two of them. 

Dorina is close to the surface and able to do some interesting things. Dory believes that it's only a matter of time before she loses her self to Dorina's will power and is gone forever. Dory's allies include Olga, a troll who wants to find the traders who caused her so much pain and suffering. Then there is the romance between Dory and Louis-Cesare, a master vampire and member of the Vampire Senate who has dealt with Dory's craziness for sometime now. There is a lot of ups and downs emotionally between the couple, but hopefully they will be able to move forward after everything that happens.

I am going off script a bit due to the fact that 1) it has been 6 years since the previous Dorina book (Fury's Kiss) was published, and 2) it seems that somehow I bought the third book, but never got around to actually reading it, and 3) there is a novella that was also released between books 3 & 4 that I also haven't read #EpicFail, and 4) you should really read Shadow's Bane and Cassie Palmer's Ride the Storm back to back since they are tied together.

*Per the publisher & author, the Cassie Palmer series and Dorina Basarab novels are interconnected, with characters from both making appearances in each series, and this story picks up after Ride the Storm left off, making it a must read for fans of Karen’s Cassie Palmer series. The author has a chart that readers can follow to know what books to read and when. More times than not, the books pick up where Cassie's left off, or vice versa.

This story is filled with humor, romance, alternating timelines, plenty of action, suspense, and mysteries. I do hope it doesn't take the author another 4-6 years to come out with the next Dorina book. Hey, I'm getting up there in age, I don't know if I can keep going at this pace of reading 200-300 books a year. I do have one or two minor negatives, mostly dealing with how much time Dory spends hurt, or passed out. I don't mind the fight scenes. They are the best part of the story. I never learned who the Blonde and Purple villains were that were supposed to assassinate Dory. Did anyone else? At 600+ pages, this book is a monster. I think the author could have edited out a few hundred pages and still had an enjoyable story. 

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