Shadowflame by Dianne Sylvan

 #2 in the Shadow World Series
Published in 2011 by Ace
4 Stars

Goodreads Review
Spread throughout the dark corners of our world lies the Shadow World, a society of vampires who feed off the living. In Austin, Texas, one woman must find her place within that world, before she loses everything...

It's been three months since musician Miranda Grey became a vampire and married David Solomon, Prime of the South. As Queen, Miranda must quickly come to terms with her new role and learn how to negotiate the treacherous waters of Signet politics, inevitably making dangerous enemies along the way.

As if complicated vampire politics and a rising music career weren't enough, an enigmatic but powerful force from David's past appears, leaving a wake of chaos and uncertainty for the Pair's fledgling relationship. Miranda begins to realize how little she really knows about her husband. But when an assassin begins targeting her friends and allies, the Pair must track down the killer, even as their lives hang in the balance...

Review:  Shadowflame is an exciting second installation that introduces us to the politics of the shadow world and some of the history behind this society.  It also focuses on sexuality and how it is not so cut and dry and that there are many shades of grey when discussing lust verses love.

I want to talk about all of the things I loved about this book.  First is Sylvan's writing style.  Once again she delivers a book that is full of snappy dialogue and sarcastic humor as well as some really awesome nerdy references tossed in.  She writes with true ease and skill that makes reading anything she writes a complete joy.

I also really identified with David in this book.  I have been in a very similar situation as him and I thought Sylvan captured the sense of desperation and guilt very well.  I found it totally believable and relateable.  I really liked the overall theme of having sexual attraction to both sexes and being able to be in love with more than one person at the same time.  I think that love and sexuality cannot be penned into a heterosexual and monogamous box that so many people try to stuff themselves into, and I really appreciated Sylvan tackling this rather taboo issues with realistic honesty.

I also really loved the murder mystery aspect of this book.  There was no major info dump, clues and facts were revealed at a good pace that kept me guessing without frustrating me with lack of information or overwhelming me with too much. The action sequences were very well done and I really liked reading about the technology and David and Miranda's psychic powers that were used to try and solve the mystery.

The only aspect that I didn't like was that David's sexual past seemed to come out of the blue.  I don't care what Kat says, but I never once picked up on his "swishy" nature in the first book.  I found his past relationships a bit difficult to believe because it seemed rather random to me.  I think if it has been alluded to more in the first book I would have been a lot more accepting of the events that took place in Shadowflame.

Overall Shadowflame is a great second book that begins to introduce the extensive pasts of the characters and vampire society and how it affects their present.  Traditional roles for both men and women are challenged as the characters struggle to come to terms with their pasts.