Review // Shadow and Ice by Gena Showalter

"I'm going to touch you," he told her, announcing his intent, hoping to prepare her. No surprise, no ice-cold reaction. Probably.
"Why?" she croaked, even as she trembled. With anticipation?
"Because I want to." Because I must. Because I can't not.

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Shadow and Ice by Gena Showalter

Standalone - Gods of War #1
Rating -
Release - October 23, 2018
Genre - Paranormal Romance / forced proximity
POV - Dual 3rd person
Heat - descriptive
Source - ebook from the library
Length - 480 pages

Knox of Iviland, the most ruthless warrior in All War history, has spent his life fighting others to the death, winning new realms for his king. Now the stakes are higher than ever. If he prevails in the battle for Earth, his slave bands will be removed. Victory is his sole focus…until he meets her.

On an arctic getaway with her foster sister, street tough but vulnerable Vale London is shocked to stumble upon a cave filled with ancient gods waging epic combat. When she is inadvertently drawn into their war, she is forced to team up with an unlikely ally—the sexy god who makes her burn with desire.

Though Vale is his enemy, Knox is consumed with lust and a fierce need to protect her. But only one combatant can triumph, and he will have to choose: live for freedom, or die for love.

It's the All War and each participant is prepared to eliminate every one of their opponents... until a human enters the fray and freezes them all for many, many years. When the thaw starts to happen, another human stumbles upon the combatants and might be the very change that most of them have been looking for.

Vale wasn't prepared for all that her future had in store, but she seemed to be enjoying every moment of it. That probably had a lot to do with Knox. This male was so scrumptious. Who doesn't love a grumpy warrior who is only weak for his female? He was determined to win, at all costs, but winning meant ending Vale's life and he slowly started to recognize that he wasn't willing to do that.

Only now, in this moment, did he understand and accept that he'd lost the war the second they'd met. The All War, yes, but also the war within himself, and even his private war with Ansel. In order to grab hold of Vale and keep her safe, Knox had to let go of his vengeance.
He chose her. He would always choose her.

There was so much to this story and there seems to be so much more to come. Who is Vale's sister's intended? Will it be a 'why choose' kind of story? Will Vale and Knox be the answer to end all All Wars?

He exuded enough power to crush... anyone. And he was heart-stoppingly gorgeous. The kind of gorgeous that stole your breath and your thoughts and incinerated your panties. One look at him and she was certain she'd ovulated.

I swear, every time I pick up a book from this author, I'm amazed. It's thrills and chills, action and suspense, steaminess and some weird sort of symmetry in the sensuality of the characters, and so much more. I'm still pretty new to the Showalter worlds, but I'm definitely a fan.

Gena Showalter is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of a multitude of sub-genres within romance: paranormal, Fantasy, contemporary, and young adult. She’s also written standalone novels, novellas and anthologies, as well as co-authored a nonfiction guide about how to write a book in a year.

Gena lives in Oklahoma with her husband, two adult children who grew up way too fast, and menagerie of dogs and cats who enjoy farting while she works, walking across her keyboard during pivotal scenes and demanding pets at all hours of the day and night. Her novels have appeared in Cosmopolitan’s Red Hot Reads and Seventeen magazine. She’s been interviewed on Nightline and mentioned on Orange is the New Black—the very moment her family decided she might be a real writer after all.

Chances are good she’s hard at work on her next novel. Chances are even better that the book is a twisted tale featuring an alpha male with a dark side and the strong woman who (lovingly…sometimes) kneecaps him.

Visit https://genashowalter.com for more information.