#Review - The Scarlet Veil by Shelby Mahurin #Fantasy #Romance #Vampires

Series: The Scarlet Veil # 1
Format: Hardcover, 640 pages
Release Date: September 26, 2023
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Vampires

Célie Tremblay has always been a good girl: kind and beautiful, a daughter of whom every parent would be proud. She surprises the entire kingdom when she defies tradition to become the first huntswoman—including her new captain and fiancé, Jean Luc, who rules the huntsmen with an iron fist. He isn’t the only one concerned for Célie’s safety, however. Though her friends try to protect her from the horrors of her past, mysterious whispers still haunt her, and a new evil is rising in Belterra—leaving bodies in its wake, each one drained of blood.

Determined to prove herself in her new role, Célie tracks the killer to the lair of Les Éternels—ancient creatures only spoken about in nursery rhymes—and catches the attention of their king, a monster who hides his plans for her behind beautiful words and sharp smiles. Now Célie has new reason to fear the dark because the closer he gets, the more tempted she feels to give in to his dark hunger—and her own.

The Scarlet Veil is the first installment in author Shelby Mahurin's The Scarlet Veil duology. It is a spin-off from the author's Serpent and Dove series with most of the same characters, adding a few new ones like Michal, Mikail, Odessa, and Mila. Centered on Célie Tremblay—a character once relegated to the sidelines as the pious, heartbroken ex-fiancée of Jean Luc in the original trilogy—this spin-off transforms her into a fierce, complex heroine navigating a dark and bloody mystery. 

The story unfolds six months after the events of Gods & Monsters, with Célie having defied tradition to become the first female Chasseur—a holy huntswoman tasked with protecting Belterra from supernatural threats. Her fiancé, Jean Luc, now captain of the Chasseurs, hovers over her with suffocating protectiveness, a dynamic that chafes against Célie’s determination to prove herself. When a string of murders rocks Cesarine—victims drained of blood with twin puncture wounds on their necks—Célie seizes the chance to investigate, only to be kidnapped by Les Éternels, ancient vampires long dismissed as nursery-rhyme bogeymen. 

Her journey leads her to Requiem, a hidden island ruled by the enigmatic vampire king Michal Vasiliev, where she must unravel the killings while confronting her own buried trauma and an undeniable pull toward her captor. Cesarine’s fog-choked streets and Requiem’s shadowy, candlelit halls evoke the eerie elegance of Dracula or Interview with the Vampire, while the vampires themselves—silver-averse, sun-shunning, and unapologetically bloodthirsty—pay homage to classic lore without feeling derivative. 

While the mystery is at the heart of the plot—who’s behind the murders and why—unfurls with tantalizing twists, keeping readers guessing until the final, jaw-dropping reveal, Célie’s transformation is the soul of the book. Once a prim, rule-following foil to Lou’s wildness, she emerges as a woman wrestling with grief, self-doubt, and a steely resolve to redefine her strength. Her arc is raw and relatable—haunted by the horrors of Gods & Monsters, she battles panic attacks and the lingering whispers of guilt over her sister's death yet refuses to be coddled. The romance between Célie and Michal is a slow burn steeped in enemies-to-lovers tension. 

With his brooding charisma and morally gray complexity, Michal is a perfect counterpoint to Célie’s earnestness. The supporting cast breathes life into Requiem’s eerie halls. Dimitri and Odessa, a sibling duo of vampires, along with Mila, Michal's ghost sister, brings playful banter and warmth, while familiar faces like Louise, Cosette, Beau, and Reid weave in threads of nostalgia without stealing the spotlight. Jean Luc remains a thornier figure; his overbearing control veers into unlikeable territory, making Célie’s frustration with him all too palpable. 

Newcomers to the Serpent & Dove world might feel adrift amid references to past events, though the story stands well enough on its own. And while the cliffhanger ending is a brutal gut-punch—setting up The Shadow Bride with merciless precision—it leaves some threads dangling too abruptly, testing the patience of readers who crave closure. The Scarlet Veil is a love letter to vampire lore, wrapped in a mystery that’s as gripping as it is gruesome. 

Note: If you click on any of the links, you will see that this book is currently selling for $1.99. With the book being 640 pages, this is an absolute bargain for those who love paranormal romance novels. 

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#Review - Gods & Monsters by Shelby Mahurin #YA #Fantasy

Series: Serpent & Dove # 3
Format: Hardcover, 624 pages
Release Date: July 27, 2021
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy

After a heartbreaking loss, Lou, Reid, Beau, and Coco are bent on vengeance more than ever before—and none more so than Lou.

But this is no longer the Lou they thought they knew. No longer the Lou that captured a chasseur’s heart. A darkness has settled over her, and this time it will take more than love to drive it out.

Evil always seeks a foothold. We must not give it one.

The spellbinding conclusion to the New York Times and IndieBound bestselling trilogy Serpent & Dove. This stunning fantasy take on French witches and forbidden love is perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas.

Gods & Monsters, by author Shelby Mahurin, is the third and final installment in the authors Serpent & Dove trilogy. Deeply rooted in French folklore and the witch trials of the seventeenth century, the characters and setting of the story build a rich, exquisitely detailed world steeped in historical atmosphere and bolstered by elements of magic and intrigue. After the heart shattering ending to Blood & Honey, none of the main core characters are what they used to be. 

Louise le Blanc not only lost her best friend, but is now possessed by a dangerous entity that has no intention of allowing Louise to regain her body. Reid Diggory, once the youngest Chasseur in history, is now a wanted man along with Cosette, Beau, and Lou. This time around, they are joined by Celia Tremblay. Lou's ragtag group is quite aware of the odds against them, and the fact that most of their plan ends up being completely ruined, sending everything to hell, does not help, but they hold onto each other and they help each other to continue the journey because they know that this is the right path. 

After a trip to the mermaid realm, Reid becomes the righteous witch hunter once again, and this makes for a fun read since Lou loves to taunt Reid like no one's business. Curiously enough, Jean Luc, who is Reid's replacement, actually finds that he has a heart, and isn't a soulless murderer and he'd do anything for Celia. Reid and Lou’s playful, sultry, and at times contentious romance is back in all its glory—but as the stakes get higher, they are forced to make sacrifices that will have readers on the edge of their seat and aching for a happy ending.  

This book is constantly in motion, and there's always a complication or two, or three. Very little goes to plan, and it always falls apart in a masterful way. And just when you think one challenge has been overcome it gets turned on its head once again. In this book, readers will get to know a plethora of magical creatures, including mermaids, joining with an already deep cast that includes a dragon, witches, and werewolves. Only with a united front can the magical members of Lou’s society defeat the malevolent Morgane who is obsessed with murdering her own daughter for the great good. 

The ending is both sad, and happy. Things have gone wrong for Louise for way too long, and the only way out is to stop her own mother before she ends up sacrificed. How can one find happiness after all the hurt, and pain, and suffering this woman has had to deal with since she decided to walk away from her sisters? Thankfully, she has Coco who has stood by her through thick and thin. She has Beau who considers her to be family, and she even makes friends with Celia of all people, and doesn't immediately want to kill Jean Luc when he finally finds a heart. And, of course, there's Reid who has some major ups and downs in this story before finally regaining his consciousness.

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#Review - Blood & Honey by Shelby Mahurin #YA #Fantasy

Series: Serpent & Dove# 2
Format: Hardcover, 544 pages
Release Date: September 1, 2020
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy / 
Wizards & Witches

After narrowly escaping death at the hands of the Dames Blanches, Lou, Reid, Coco, and Ansel are on the run from coven, kingdom, and church—fugitives with nowhere to hide.

To elude the scores of witches and throngs of chasseurs at their heels, Lou and Reid need allies. Strong ones. But protection comes at a price, and the group is forced to embark on separate quests to build their forces. As Lou and Reid try to close the widening rift between them, the dastardly Morgane baits them in a lethal game of cat and mouse that threatens to destroy something worth more than any coven.

Blood and Honey, by author Shelby Mahurin, is the second installment in the authors Serpent and Dove series which essentially went from a duology to a trilogy. Picking up where the first novel left off, our heroes and heroines Louise Le Blanc, Reid Diggory, Cosette Monvoison, Helene LaBelle, Ansel Diggory and Beauregard Lynn are reeling from what happened at the Chateau after Reid performed magic and saved Lou's life; killing the Archbishop and revealing that men could be witches in the process. Lou and Reid's faces are plastered on wanted posters all over the land.

Lou as a witch is wanted dead of alive; Reid has been charged with murder and conspiracy but wanted alive. They continue to hide from the villain of the story, Morgane aka La Dame des Sorcières who uses the trees as spies, Reid's former Chasseurs under Jean Luc who have nearly caught them several times, King Auguste who wants all witches to burn quickly and painfully, while also waiting for word from Cosette's aunt whether her blood coven will help them or not. Meanwhile, Lou is on the verge of becoming crazy with magic like her mom and Reid is hell-bent on not embracing his magical side at all. 

As Reid fights with his inner demons about magic and its usage, Lou may be descending into a place that she can't return from. These "problems" are a huge part of story and really bring these two to a whole new level character wise. As someone who was raised to hunt witches, Reid's newfound magic isn't an easy piece of his identity to come to terms with—plus discovering his true parentage, and therefore spending time with Madame LaBelle and Beau. There’s a lot of back and forth between Lou and Reid where they are dealing with their own stress and emotions and rather than coming together they remain two stubborn fools while the world whispers in their ear how much better things would be if they gave up on each other. 

The most interesting parts of this story is when the group tries to put together a coalition of the willing bring in Cosette's witches under Josephine Monvoisin, werewolves under the beast of Gevaudan who Reid once hunted, plus the mysterious Claud Deveraux and his mysterious troupe of performers, and a brief appearance by mermaids. Some of the new secondary characters are cute (Gabby), some of them are questionable (Josephine), and some of them are downright strange (Nicholine). But each and every new character brought something fun and unique to the story which leads to a bizarre fight scene under ground and an even more brutal cliffhanger ending that bridges the final book in this series.

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#Review - Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin #YALit #Fantasy

Series: Serpent & Dove #1
Format: Hardcover, 528 pages
Release Date: September 3, 2019
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy / 
Wizards & Witches

Bound as one, to love, honor, or burn. Book one of a stunning fantasy duology, this tale of witchcraft and forbidden love is perfect for fans of Kendare Blake and Sara Holland.

Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.

As a huntsman of the Church, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. But when Lou pulls a wicked stunt, the two are forced into an impossible situation—marriage. Lou, unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, must make a choice. And love makes fools of us all.

Set in a world of powerful women, dark magic, and off-the-charts romance, book one of this stunning fantasy duology will leave readers burning for more.

 

Serpent and Dove is the first part of a two part duology by author Shelby Mahurin. The story is set in a kingdom called Belterra, which is essentially a fantasy version of historical France. Witches are being hunted by Chasseurs, a special brand of police enforcement sworn to the Church who dedicate their lives to hunting witches. Two years ago, Louise "Lou" Le Blanc, a Dames Blanches, fled her life of witchery to not only save lives, but to hide from her own coven. She ended up in Cesarine where she becomes a thief along with her best friend Cosette (Coco). 

After an extremely public and compromising incident, Louise finds herself in the most constricting of all unions: marriage to a Chasseur. Reid Diggory is a Chasseur, a witch-hunter. He swore an oath that, above all, he will not allow a witch to live. This life is all he has known since the Archbishop took him in as a child and he excels at it. He's quickly made his way to the top as Captain and not even his first love will stand in between him an his true purpose. Reid sees the world in black and white, good and evil, witches and the rest of the mortals, even though the rumor is that everyone once lived in harmony. 

Reid has no clue that the woman he is forced to marry is also his enemy. For a witch who renounced magic, Lou finds herself entangled with an awful lot of magic time and time again. Deeply rooted in French folklore and the witch trials of the seventeenth century, the characters and setting of the story build a rich, exquisitely detailed world steeped in historical atmosphere and bolstered by elements of magic and intrigue. This book follows the impossible romance between these two and all the consequences that follow it. 

The city of Cesarine may be guarded by its huntsmen, but the true power of this story lies with the women: powerful bonds of sisterhood and covens, sacred magic, and feminine strength build a world where men may appear to have control, but where women truly reign. Lou takes girl power to a new level with her fiery wit and fierce independence.

Whether she’s conning the village baker out of cinnamon rolls or embarrassing Reid with a rendition of the local pub song, Lou’s unbridled spirit makes her a perfect example of a strong female protagonist. Reid and Lou’s slow burn romance is full of tension, humor, and playfulness. Lou’s irreverent attitude pairs with Reid’s honorable upbringing for a chemistry hotter than the flames of a stake. 

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