Shadow and Ice (Gods of War) by Gena Showalter 
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Knox of Iviland has spent his life competing in the All Wars, where vicious warriors with supernatural powers fight to the death to claim new realms. One winner takes everything—and all losers die. Enslaved as a child for his ability to control shadows, the most ruthless champion in history will stop at nothing to kill his king. But first he must win the battle for Earth. When a fearsome weapon imprisons every combatant in ice, centuries pass without progress…until she walks in.
Vale London craves a fun arctic getaway with her foster sister before settling down to open a bakery. Street-tough but vulnerable, she is unprepared to find ancient gods escaping a frozen cave—merciless beings who target her when she inadvertently enters their war.
Though Vale is now his enemy, Knox is consumed with lust and a fierce need to protect her. But only one combatant can prove victorious, and he will have to choose: live for freedom, or die for love.
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REVIEW: I couldn’t wait to read this new series by Gena.
It sounded like a really good read. So I eagerly sat and opened my kindle …..
I have to say, I was a little disappointed, the world was described in Gena’s usual style (you could easily imagine the ice caves) but the characters lacked their usual luster.
But I persevered and I love the concept, I’m just hoping the next book is an improvement.
Knox is an unbeatable warrior, and knowing he could win his freedom, he is determined that NOTHING will get in his way. He is arrogant, over confident and his kings “greatest asset”, rings and tattoos bind him to his “king” not loyalty and not love, in fact when Knox gets free he is going to kill the king, and we also find out why Knox is the way he is, he hides a vulnerable heart that broke and has never healed.
Vale can only be described as “street wise”but there hides a soft heart, she doesn’t like most people, but she adores her foster sister Nola, who is poorly, so Vale does all she can to makes her sisters life fun and full of adventure.
They find the tourist attraction (a cave full of gorgeous looking statues frozen in ice) and congratulate each other on surviving the cold, and hope to be rescued. But things take a different turn of events …… one of the ice covered statues breaks free…. and he’s not a statue 😮
And after killing an ancient, she is now “defending” earth. And it’s not as easy as you think.
The hate/love relationship between Knox and Vale, certainly kept it interesting. The copious amount of sex, I did think a little O.T.T, and the violence and gore won’t be to everyone’s liking. But the new world we are entering is unlike anything I’ve read so far. And i can’t wait to read more.
The secondary characters (and there are a few) are great, well rounded and most are welcome (but keeping track, I needed pen and paper)
I think we already have a clue as to who will feature in the next book.
The first meeting between the two main characters is interesting to say the least.
Their interaction does consist of fighting then sex 😝
They can’t work together, they both need to kill each other, but as there is a certain attraction between them, it’s going to cause a problem.
So, I’m hoping book 2 will be better, I will continue with the series and hope that it improves, the first book is sometimes the hardest, as you have to set the scene for a new world and new characters, but maybe next time, a few less characters and more world building.
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