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    Nightshade
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    Nightshade
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    Nightshade
    Ebook460 pages8 hours

    Nightshade

    By Shea Godfrey

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    In a land torn by war for generations, Princess Jessa is sent as a peace offering to the country of Arravan, understanding all too well that she is being sacrificed upon the altar of her father’s ambitions—and condemned to an uncertain and possibly short-lived future, if the machinations of her own family are any indication.

    But what she finds at Blackstone Keep is not what she expects, and for a daughter of royal blood who has known little of freedom and even less of love, the members of the Durand family are proving to be a very pleasant riddle to be solved—the youngest daughter, Darrius Durand, is the most surprising of all. A captain in the King’s elite guard, Darry’s considerable charms pull Jessa rather happily into an unexpected friendship that quickly becomes something more, promising passion and the fulfillment of her deepest desires.

    Jessa and Darry’s relationship threatens the fragile peace, and the future of two countries might very well hang in the balance. When family secrets and hidden agendas begin to surface, as well as an ancient majik that Jessa has been preparing to use since the day she was born, a prophecy is set in motion that will thrust both lands into a bloody war of revenge and retribution—a war that love alone will not be able to stop.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBold Strokes Books
    Release dateJul 1, 2014
    ISBN9781602824324
    Unavailable
    Nightshade
    Author

    Shea Godfrey

    Shea Godfrey is an artist and writer working and living in the Midwest. While her formal education is in journalism and photography, she has spent most of her career thus far in 3D Animation and Design.

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    Reviews for Nightshade

    4/5

    22 ratings5 reviews

    What did you think?

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    • 4/5
      I went back and forth about whether to give this book 3 stars, or 4, but towards the end I found myself near to tears, and that was the deal breaker.

      FYI, I can't help but look at romance in a practical, realist sense. I prefer the nitty gritty, the hard truths, and the tales that skim the Earth's soil, not Heaven's clouds. That's just something to keep in mind whilst reading this review. That shouldn't alarm you. This is the second lesbian fiction novel that I've read, and I greatly enjoyed it. Still, I'd like to be honest with this review...

      So for the "bad" points first:

      There were a few things about the book that had me rolling my eyes. For instance, the physical perfection of the protagonists. Even when they're disheveled, they're beautiful. EVERYbody either recognizes their beauty, or desires them. This book's cast consists of royalty and those who serve them, so maybe this was to be expected. The rich are commonly made to appear handsome and stunning in fiction. Steamy romance novels especially do all this, I know, but there's a reason I don't read those all that much anymore. Second, the constant high energy of desire between Darry and Jessa got to be a bit much here and there. Later they try to explain a reason for this, but even so, I half expected them to orgasm just from hearing the other sneeze. To see them resist their desires for so long had me thinking that the art of resisting temptation ought to be a damn Olympic sport! The song "Jizz In My Pants" comes to mind... I also got a little tired of hearing about Jessa's curves or Darry's dimple.

      Moving away from the depiction of Jessa and Darry's growing love, I wanted the concepts of "majik" explored in more detail, and was disappointed when it wasn't given a bigger role, save to further their relationship. I wanted the antagonists to have a stronger presence throughout the story. Despite the political games going on, the real conflict seemed to rest between just Jessa and Darry finally coming together. That moment was certainly the climax, and the last 30% of the book (which I can say with some precision as I'd read a Kindle version) was all just falling action. There was no real dénouement, in my opinion, given all that was still left unresolved at the end.

      And now for the good:

      All of the above points were small irritations that pricked at first before being entirely ignored in the face of all else. I was just enjoying the story too much, and things like puffed up idealism became a humorous thing versus an unbearable trait of the story. The dialogue in Nightshade was great, even when Jessa and Darry started to get sappy with one another. Shea Godfrey has clear wit and insight, and more than once her beautiful depictions of the characters had me floored. They were people you couldn't help but love, couldn't help but pity, and some, could do nothing else but hate. She also knows how to set up a scene, lighting the characters environment in your mind so vividly as to make you think you were watching it at the theaters. Initially I wasn't impressed with her setting, because the world of Nightshade (while solid) was clearly taken from our world and just given a twist and new names. But further reading showed me greater depth as to the natures of Lyoness and Arravan culture, and it was very interesting (and perhaps why I was so disappointed that things like majik, or the world beyond the palaces, or the complex social games were playing second to the constant longing of the protagonists.)

      Given the ending of Nightshade, I'm guessing that Shea Godfrey intends to continue the story. For all that I have said above, I cannot wait to read its sequel.
    • 4/5
      A good story, well written and quite engaging.
    • 4/5
      I mostly enjoyed this, although the writing felt a bit amateurish at times. It suffers from the overly dramatic style of description that seems to plague many/most romance novels. But I thought the characterization was decent and the narrative compelled me enough to keep reading. The Queen's characterization was done well, as was Jessa's. Darrius seemed like a spoiled brat in many ways....I'm not sure if this was intentional or not on the part of the author. But she was interesting to read about. Oh, and the lesbian sex was hot, that probably earned it a half star there. ;)I hold out hope that the writing style improves a bit in the next one; if so, it'd be a solid series.
    • 5/5
      Wow, this book starts off kind of sluggish but man does it get good. I lost myself in the story that left me wanting more. It a good thing the sequel is coming out in August. I read this story a couple of years ago and reread it now. I remembered why I lived it so much
    • 1/5
      The book was engaging when I got past the casual racism that we're all supposed to accept and when I ignore that the last part of the book devolved into ridiculous sex scenes that were unnecessary.

      On one hand it was super great to have a protagonist of colour! On the other hand, the culture that she comes from is so horribly dealt with that I could vomit. The brown persons are quite all literally disgusting. I could maybe give you a society that overall treats women as lesser, but when you make this society the PoC and then the white society is somehow the only place that love exists, then you can step away. We don't even get one MoC who's remotely kinda decent. Yes, the white society had problems with women and their "place" as well, but there are tons of characters in that society who are sympathetic if not lovable. The PoC were made to be as close to some bastardization of South Asian Muslims and then they were made to be the most disgusting human in the entire world. It was so frustrating to see that portrayal.

      And then there's the part later on when it devolves into just loads of unnecessary sex. I mean, for some people that maybe a thing that they like, but it just felt so ridiculous to me that so many of the pages were dedicated to it (and I won't get into the strange language that is used to describe sex). And the word erotica is nowhere in sight in the genres on this site. It's kind of hilarious since the entire book is basically the main characters lusting after each other.

      This book could have definitely gotten a few more stars if it's treatment of PoC wasn't as gross, but it was so yeah.