From Goodreads: The last thing Dawson Black expected was Bethany Williams. As a Luxen, an alien life form on Earth, human girls are…well, fun. But since the Luxen have to keep their true identities a secret, falling for one would be insane.

Dangerous. Tempting. Undeniable.

Bethany can’t deny the immediate connection between her and Dawson. And even though boys aren’t a complication she wants, she can’t stay away from him. Still, whenever they lock eyes, she’s drawn in.

Captivated. Lured. Loved.

Dawson is keeping a secret that will change her existence…and put her life in jeopardy. But even he can’t stop risking everything for one human girl. Or from a fate that is as unavoidable as love itself.

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I picked up this novella after reading Obsidian, because Shadows is the prequel and I was curious to know more about Dawson and Bethany’s ill-fated relationship. I have to say, had I known there was a prequel available before reading Obsidian, I would have read it first, but as things turned out, I ended up reading the first full novel prior to reading this prequel.  That being said, I already knew the outcome going in, and yet, I almost feel like reading these stories backwards made me care even more about the characters than had I read them in the correct order.  Would I recommend reading Shadows after Obsidian?  Well, yes, I think I would, because even though I knew the ending going in, I had a healthy respect for all the characters and knew so much about them that I already loved the story before I even started reading.

And just like Obsidian, Shadows is an extremely well written novella.  Armentrout ties the novella and novel together seamlessly, giving the characters I loved, like Daemon and Dee face time, even though this isn’t their novella.  She also gives readers more background information about the Thompson triplets, characters readers tentatively meet in Obsidian, but don’t obtain much information about them as they’re extremely minute.

I will say that knowing the ending of Shadows was hard, especially as I’d gone and fell in love with the characters right away.  It killed me to know bad things were going to happen to them, and yet, I also feel like there is a light at the end of the tunnel here.  Based on the wording that Armentrout uses at the very end of this novella, I’m not 100% sold on the idea that what the DOD said happened really happened, so I do have hope as I go into Onyx, book two in the series.  Likewise, I’m very curious about this bond that seems to keep happening between the aliens and their human lovers… having seen what happens to Dawson and Bethany, I am worried for our characters Daemon and Katy as they seem to be in a similar situation at the end of Obsidian.  Which is another reason I’m not 100% sold on the end of Dawson and Bethany…

To be quite honest, it doesn’t really matter what order your read these two books in—Obsidian before Shadows, or Shadows before Obsidian… they’re both beautifully written and captivating, and you should read them both.  Four stars.

I purchased this novella from Amazon:

Kindle | Nook