Lady Sabrina Douglas is a novice learning how to become a bandraoi priestess. Her skills as a Healer are growing by leaps and bounds, but her focus is unsure. She is preoccupied by the stain on her family's name, the murder of her father seven years ago, and the continued exile of her brother. Dark forces are at work here, and Sabrina must decide whom to trust when the sea spits out an injured man who forces her to remember things she never knew, places she's never been, and a love like none other.

Lazarus is a creature of the darkness, enslaved by the mage who reanimated him using the darkest of magicks. He is deposited upon the island when the boat in which he travels is pulled off course in a vicious storm. His only way of salvation is to swim for his life, and follow the eerie call of the woman who stirs memories inside him that are best forgotten. He washes up on land and is renamed Daigh MacLir by the woman who saved his life and healed him. This woman is the woman from his dreams, but in saving him, she's also saved the demon within him. To make matters worse, he finds himself irrevocably drawn to her, and finds an answering passion in her. Is there any hope for them?

Lord of Shadows is a veritable buffet of genres all wrapped up in one book. There is a lot happening here, from political intrigues and maneuverings, to paranormal activity, to whisperings of characters from Arthurian legend coming to life, to powerful magical spells. This book had a bit of an identity crisis; it couldn't decide what it wanted to be, so it just became everything. While well-written as far as interesting characters and a great concept, I felt that the multi-genre choices overwhelmed this story. Daigh's predicament is utterly fascinating; to pit someone's inner character against demonic forces was genius. Sabrina is a powerful and passionate match for Daigh, and her core of steel comes through with a vengeance throughout this story. While, in my opinion, a bit of a mishmash in the area of plotting (there was simply too much happening), this story was somewhat redeemed by the strength and passion the two lead characters exhibited. Four Angels.

Reviewed by: Michelle B.