Fun finish. Janet has to rescue Mick from an evil witch who is collecting powers. There is still her sister, Nash, her grandmother and her friends, Coyote to contend with. She will have to decide just how much she is willing to pay for Mick’s love. ( )

Another great installment of the Stormwalker series — in this book, Mick is enslaved to a witch, and Janet has to figure out how to stop the witch from carrying out her evil plans, while also fighting off Mick and yet not killing him.

I absolutely loved this book. Mick has so far been a sort of invincible character in the series, but now he’s given some vulnerability, and because of that, Janet’s a lot more vulnerable, since she doesn’t have her dragon bodyguard to make sure everything’s okay. She grew so much as a character in this book because she had to stand on her own and fight for Mick’s life. This was action from start to finish, and I read this quickly (too quickly!), because it is such a page-turner. Besides Janet maturing as a character, however, her relationships also mature, since she has to rely on other people aside from Mick to help her. We see a lot more of Cassandra and Janet’s grandmother (my personal favorite all-time character), and even learn more about some of the workers in Janet’s hotel. I love that they are fleshed out more and more with each book and because of that, each book continues to be interesting and exciting.

We get a little more mythology in this one — more background on witches and how their magic works. The idea of a Shadow Walker — a witch who steals others’ magic to keep herself powerful and young — was super interesting. I like that we got more history of Flat Mesa and of why Janet’s hotel seems to be such a hotbed of magical activity. It seemed like this book was going in a whole bunch of different directions, and I worried that things would be confusing and scattered, but everything tied together in the end, which was nice. I’m definitely going to work on getting my hands on the fourth book. I can’t recommend this series enough!

Also posted on Purple People Readers. ( )

4.5 stars It all started with a giant sinkhole, some skeleton hands and a cold touch.

Loved it ! There is Native American Shamans, Vampires, Dragon Shifters, Witches, Demons and many other mythical beasties, all together loving, fighting and spelling each other. This edition to the series whirled at super speed, with non-stop heart racing magical madness. Oh and did I mention the sexy hot dragon shifter, he is smoking literally. Wait, This is not a romance, this is urban fantasy with a touch of romance in just the right levels for my taste.

The hotel has been inspected by the new guy in town and failed. Something is off considering they just replaced everything that is now shown to be rotten. Mick the Dragon shifter is acting strange and the magic mirror is screaming "
shadows" Janet the Stormwalker's Navajo grandmother shows up and sneaks talks with Coyote. Yes, Coyote is back, and he's just the way he should be. (i love the trickster). Janet's evil sister shows up along with a blond two legged bundle of trouble. Magic is everywhere, old spells, mysteries and cave drawings. It gets complicated and intense to solve a mystery that will save somebody Janet loves.I can't say more without giving away too much.
Read the series, you'll love it. ( )

This review is also published at http://thebookaholiccat.com

Shadow Walker is the third installment in the Stormwalker series by Allyson James.

Sheriff Nash Jones is on Janet Begay’s tail for speeding at an interstate road when suddenly a sinkhole opens in the middle of the road and both motorcycle (Janet’s) and police car nosedive through the sinkhole 200ft deep. Janet miraculously is not seriously injured but Nash is another story, he is unconscious inside his patrol car. Janet is trying to help him when some rock carvings in form of skeletal hands attack her. She is saved by the timely arrival of Mick and the police rescue.
Janet knows there is something not normal with the petroglyphs. Mick decided to go back to the sinkhole to investigate while Janet is recovering at her hotel. But when Mick returns to the hotel hours later, he is not the same man/dragon he was. His aura is cover with shadows and he is very aggressive with Janet, something he has never done before. Also the magic mirror is afraid of him and starts screaming every time Mick gets close to it.
This awkward behavior continues until Mick disappears couple of days later after telling Janet to leave him alone and do not look for him. Janet cannot leave this alone. Mick is the man she loves and she would do anything in her power to help him. Thanks to her grandmother Janet learns that Mick has been enslaved by a witch. Janet knows that a witch strong enough to enslave a dragon Lord has to be a powerful one, but this doesn’t deter her; Mick is the love of her life and she has friends and family that would help her to come to Mick rescue. But some of this friends and family may have their own agenda in this situation. And as always things are not as they are supposed to be, making everything more complicated for Janet.

I love Janet, with her storm walker and Beneath magic she is a kick ass heroine. She is caring, a good friend and a hard worker gal. I loved that she is usually a strong woman but when she is with Mick she allows herself to be fragile. In Shadow Walker things are harder for her, she is used to have Mick always at her back, but now she cannot count on him. It’s heartbreaking that Mick being the man she loves over everything is considering her his enemy. He has tried to hurt her and even kill her.

Mick is still the same super alpha male, dragon shifter. In the beginning of the book we see the protective male in love, he has always been. But saddening some chapters into all his mighty self is reduced to be a minion for an evil witch.

My final though: I loved Shadow Walker, I think is a great addition to this amazing series. I loved janet and Mick, they are the perfect hero/heroine combination, they have great chemistry together and there is no other option than to love them and cheer for them to be happily together. The secondary characters in this book are all very different and very entertaining; from the strong Native American grandmother to the “equal opportunity” magic mirror, or the overly serious Sheriff Nash Jones and his Latina girlfriend. And of course the evil half-sister Gabrielle cannot be left behind. There are more interesting character, but it will be to much to mention them all, let’s just say there is not a bad character in this series.
I recommend this book and this series to all urban fantasy and paranormal lovers. Shadow Walker can be read as a stand alone, but there is so much history behind that if you do that you will miss half the joy this series provide.
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This book isn't quite as good as the first two in the series. ( )