Shadowed Steel by Chloe Neill – a Review

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Description:
Elisa Sullivan is the only vampire ever born, and she bears a heavy legacy. After a sojourn with the North American Central Pack of shifters in the wilderness—where she turned a young woman into a vampire to save her life—Elisa returns to Chicago.

But no good deed goes unpunished. The ruling body of vampires, the Assembly of American Masters, is furious that Elisa turned someone without their permission, and they’re out for her blood. When an AAM vampire is found dead, Elisa is the prime suspect. Someone else is stalking Chicago—and Elisa. She’ll need to keep a clear head, and a sharp blade, to survive all the supernatural strife.

Review:

Shadowed Steel by Chloe Neill is the 3rd book in her wonderful Heirs of Chicagoland series.   I really enjoyed the first two books in this series, and happy to say Shadowed Steel was equally as good.  I cannot wait to read more of this great series, as I love Elisa, who had become one of my favorite heroines.  Refresher:  Elisa Sullivan, our heroine, is the only vampire child ever born, and her parents (Ethan & Merit) are the powerful leaders of the vampires that lead Chicagoland.  Connor Keen, our hero, is a werewolf and the heir apparent to the North American Central Pack Apex (Alpha); in the last book, Connor and Elisa found their friendship becoming more romantic as they were falling for each other, and the chemistry between them is sizzling.

In the last book, Elisa saved the life of a dying young lady, making her a vampire.  Weeks have passed, and now out of nowhere, the AAM (new ruling body of vampires) has come to her threatening her to either bond with a house or she will be arrested.  Elisa refuses, with Connor and friends supporting her, which ignites one of the leaders (Clive) into a major fight to get her and force her to do what they ask.  Elisa, Connor and friends manage to win the battle, with the AAM saying they will be back. Turns out there is also a stalker, who is willing to hurt others to protect her, including hurting Connor.  Elisa needs to find out who is the stalker, as well as find a way out of the AAM threats.

I love Elisa and Connor together, even knowing that she is a vampire and he is a werewolf, and the chemistry between them was amazing.  I also loved the friends (LuLu, Alexei, Theo and of course the devil cat, Eleanor of Aquitaine,etc)  who supported Elisa, who were also great characters created by Neill.  

What follows is an exciting action filled adventure, especially in the last half of the book as the danger escalates, with threats coming from all over. It was great to see her parents show up to help her.

I thought Elisa was a wonderful heroine; strong, smart, sensible and truly likeable. She does have a secret that Connor knows about (he saw the change in her when an episode happened when they were children); she feels the monster inside of her, but when she is in danger, her monster is what will help her fight like a berserker, and she struggles to control it. It was nice to see her accept her other part, and slowly begin to work with it.  I look forward when she will be able to use this more when needed. Connor was very supportive, telling Elisa to use the power from the monster to help her fight.

Chloe Neill gives us another great story, with a wonderful couple, great secondary characters.  Shadowed Steel was an exciting, tense, nonstop action filled addition to this wonderful series that is very well written by Chloe Neill. I can’t wait for the next book in this series.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher