Shadow Lover by Anne Stuart

Narrated by Michael Pauley

Caz listens to a contemporary! Hold the Front Page! Er… well, perhaps that’s going a bit too far, but as is obvious, I don’t tend to stray much outside my historical comfort zone and it takes something a bit special to tempt me out of it. But Shadow Lover is a superb combination of mystery and romance that hooked me in from the start and didn’t let me go until I’d finished it. The hero is almost indecently sexy, the heroine won’t take any crap and goes toe-to-toe with him all the way, and while the sex scenes are probably quite tame by today’s standards, they’re nonetheless hot as hell. I read the book last year for a reading challenge and absolutely loved it – I’m a sucker for an Anne Stuart bad-boy, no matter the time-frame – so when I saw it had come out in audio format, I had to listen to it, even though I’m unfamiliar with the narrator.

An orphan, Carolyn Smith was fostered at the age of two by the incredibly wealthy Sally MacDowell. While she was brought up amid the amazing luxury enjoyed by the quintessentially “old money” family, Carolyn has always been an outsider, viewed by some of the family members as little more than a useless hanger-on. In spite of that, however, Carolyn has always been loyal to the MacDowells – to Sally especially – and has, in many ways, formed herself in their image, becoming a very proper, self-controlled and somewhat aloof young woman. When Carolyn learns that Sally is terminally ill, she immediately quits her job and travels back to Vermont, putting her own life on hold to be with her in her last months.

Sally’s ex-husband is dead, her only son, Alexander, disappeared eighteen years ago, and her closest relatives are her brother, her sister and her sister’s children, all of whom are shallow, self-centred and looking forward to receiving a sizeable inheritance when Sally dies. Even though her son is presumed dead, he has never been declared so legally and Sally has never altered her will, which stipulates that half her immense fortune will go to him and the other half will be divided between her siblings. But money isn’t something that concerns Carolyn – she is there for Sally, not for financial gain.

Carolyn has been back in Vermont for about eight months when she gets the shock of her life. A stunningly gorgeous man claiming to be Alex MacDowell arrives out of the blue – and even though he certainly could be Alex – he’s the right age, bears a striking resemblance to the younger Alex and knows everything Alex would have known – Carolyn knows it can’t be him. Yet whoever he is, he has clearly done his homework, and quickly wins over everyone in the house, convincing them that he is who he claims to be. While Carolyn knows the re-appearance of her long-lost “son” is providing great comfort to Sally in her last days, she refuses to stand idly by and see an imposter cheat a sick, elderly woman out of a great deal of money. She challenges Alex at every opportunity, something which seems to amuse rather than alarm him, and all the while is trying desperately to fight off the old feelings of attraction she had thought long buried.

At thirteen, Carolyn had nursed a massive crush on the seventeen-year-old hellion. Handsome, charming, feckless, heartless – Alex had been the light and the bane of Carolyn’s existence back then, tormenting her one minute and showing her a generous act of kindness the next. And now, his re-appearance (if it IS him) has unsettled her all over again. Alex knows this, and is ruthlessly prepared to take advantage of Carolyn’s conflicted feelings towards him, knowing she’s drawn to him but is trying to keep her distance. She’s the one person in the entire household he absolutely HAS to convince of his identity – and she’s the one person who views him with hostility.

The mystery plot is strongly crafted with a twist or two along the way I certainly didn’t see coming. Ms Stuart keeps listeners guessing as to the identity of the man claiming to be Alex MacDowell, making me believe he was Alex and then causing me to change my mind several times. And she does this masterfully, not by planting clues (which would probably have driven me nuts!) but by cleverly keeping things vague – but plausible – until she was ready to let me in on the secret. But while this aspect of the novel is certainly intriguing, the big draw is the relationship between Carolyn and Alex, which is brilliantly drawn and crackles with sexual tension so palpable that when it explodes, it EXPLODES.

Alex is a one of those deliciously dangerous heroes for which this author is famous; handsome, charming and clever with an acerbic wit and a nice line in innuendo, he’s also calculating, ruthless and doesn’t give a damn – unless it’s about Carolyn. He realises she has walled herself off emotionally, so he pushes and prods her to get her to break out of her comfort zone of the good, dutiful “daughter”; and it’s only with him that she is able to really let go, say what she thinks and be less than perfect.

Although this is the first time I have listened to him, Michael Pauley is a very experienced narrator with well over one hundred titles to his credit at Audible – and having now heard him, I’m not at all surprised at his popularity. His interpretation of Alex was going to be key to the success of this audiobook, given that he’s the driving force of the story – and as soon as he spoke as Alex, I was convinced I was in for a great listen. His portrayal is superb – he really captures the essence of the character, his confidence, his authoritativeness and his sensuality. When it comes to the love scenes… well, he gets right into the swing of things, so you might need a cool cloth with which to mop your fevered brow! Mr Pauley performs the narrative expressively and at a good pace, and differentiates expertly between characters. He does use the same register for most of them, but adopts a slight difference in timbre and lightening of tone for the women which is very effective, making them recognisably female without resorting to falsetto. He also does a great job in conveying Carolyn’s repressed nature, how tightly wound she is, and how hard she fights against the strength and depth of the attraction she feels for Alex. His acting choices are all spot-on, and he also fleshes out the secondary characters extremely well, using deep, clipped tones for Sally’s brother, Warren, and a more laid-back, lazy drawl for her self-indulgent sister.

I enjoyed re-acquainting myself with Shadow Lover very much and would certainly recommend it to fans of this author or to anyone looking to listen to a strongly plotted and characterised romantic thriller. The story has some minor weaknesses, but they weren’t enough to spoil my enjoyment of it, and Michael Pauley’s excellent performance adds greatly to the overall listening experience.

Caz

Narration: A-

Book Content: A-

Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in

Violence Rating: Minimal

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Publisher: BelleBooks Inc [jwl-utmce-widget id=32435]