One sassy pyromaniac thief, three sexy-as-sin monsters, and a paranormal conspiracy of epic proportions.
It was an ordinary job. Another night, another asshole collector of the supernatural. I free some poor little beasties from their cages, pocket a few trinkets to pay my bills, and burn the place down on my way out. Just call me the Robin Hood of monster emancipation.
I didn’t count on three manly monsters following me home like lost puppies. Stunningly hot lost puppies, but still. Now I’ve got a seductively cheeky incubus, a sweetly enthusiastic demon, and a grimly stoic angel camped out in my kitchen. They’re determined to repay me for my help, and they won’t get out of my apartment until they’re satisfied we’re even.
To be fair, they’ve got no place else to go. A covert band of hunters captured their boss, and the trail is ice-cold. I’ll lend a hand if it means I can send them packing… and when it looks like we’re up against the same creeps who murdered the person I loved most, you’d better believe I’m all in.
Track down the baddies. Steal back the boss. Don’t get killed along the way. Oh, and maybe hook up with a monstrous hottie or two. Piece of cake.
I’m so going to regret this.
*Shadow Thief is the first book in a new reverse harem urban fantasy series. If you love kickass heroines with sass to spare, drool-worthy monsters with their own sense of morality, and steamy romances where there'll be no choosing required, dive in now!*
Eva Chase lives in Canada with her family. She loves stories both swoony and supernatural, and strong women and the men who appreciate them. You can visit her online at www.evachase.com.
This book is free on Amazon (Canada) today (02/26/2025). 🙂
✅🆗 Characters ✅🆗 Smut 🆗 Pace 🆗 Plot and intrigue 🆗 Action
DNF at 40% 😔
I know I asked for an easy, funny, and mindless read, but I was still expecting a plot that would grab my attention (you know, a silly series like The Curse of the Gods series or the Heart Hassle series. This book is not bad, but I don’t feel compelled to continue reading it, I’m not hooked on the intrigue, and I don’t really care about what happens next.
There are some sexy moments, but they feel forced and are the result of an incubus needing to feed on sexual energy rather than real sexual tension and heat between the characters. Overall this book is more about Sorsha’s trying to deal with three Shadow creatures invading her apartment after she freed them while making inquiries to help them find their missing leader. There is potential for action, complex intrigue, and funny moments with one of the characters being new to the human world and completely clueless about everything around him, but overall it was just an okay read, and what I read felt superficial. No deep feelings or real connections.
The characters are not too bad. I like Sorsha, she is strong and independent and is an interesting character. It is also nice to have an older character, it changes from the 18-year-old MC taking on the world. The three men are nice, but some fall into the cliché of most reverse-harem I read: Thorn, the strong and gruff warrior, and Ruse, the smooth and sensual easy-going guy. The novelty in the dynamic was Snap, the Shadow creature who has been newly introduced to the human world and is like an eager puppy. He is funny and sweet, but sadly it wasn’t enough to get me interested in this story. The characters seem to have an interesting backstory, but we are just given a little information in bits and pieces, and it was not enough to make me more curious about them.
The writing is not bad, and the plot isn’t either, but overall I feel that nothing of significance happened so far. It started well with Sorcha freeing over a dozen of Shadow creatures and burning down their captor’s mansion, and then it just became dull. The world-building with the whole Shadow creatures traveling through shadows could also have been better developed I think.
I see a lot of good reviews though, and objectively, I can see the potential in the book even though it’s boring me so far so I am going to DNF it for now.
The following ratings are out of 5: Narration: 🎙🎙🎙🎙 Romance: 💙💚🖤💜 Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥 Story/Plot: 📕📗📘📙📔 World building: 🌎🌍🌏🌎🌍 Character development: 😳😬🤩🤓🥺
The heroine:Sorsha - she lives on her own and is sort of a thief. She pays her bills by breaking in to the homes of wealthy “collectors” and free’s any shadow creatures in their collections, while doing that, she picks up a few things from the collection that she can easily pawn and then sets the collection room ablaze as she is leaving.
The Heroes:Ruse, Snap and Thorn - The guys are all higher shadowkind. Ruse is an incubus who feeds off of sexual energy, he is very weak after Sorsha frees them from not feeding in a while. Snap has a forked tongue and can taste things and sense impressions of the history of that object and emotions attached to them, he can see the people in his mind that held those objects. Thorn is a warrior and is like a man from a past age, very formal and protective.
The Story: Sorsha is involved in “The Fund” which advocates for shadow kind. Though even The Fund is secret to most of humankind. When Sorsha was three her parents were killed, they were working for The Fund. She thinks that the group of hunters who killed her parents for interfering with their plans might be the same people who captured Ruse, Snap and Thorn’s boss, Omen whom they are trying to find. So the four of them work together to find him.
The book was narrated by Aiden Snow and Vanessa Moyen. Many of the chapters were told from Sorsha’s POV and I liked Vanessa Moyen’s voice but she doesn’t do a very good job at doing male voices, she basically just whispers deeply. I found myself wishing that this was done more like a play with both male and female narrators within each chapter. I love Aiden Snow as a narrator, he has a nice deep voice for the Heroes.
The book was an interesting take on the paranormal. I always like paranormal books that take place in the normal world where regular mortals are in the dark, so to speak about the supernatural. There were definitely some steamy scenes, especial with an incubus in the mix. All the characters were likable and each of the guys had their own quirky ways that made it easy to see why Sorsha was enamored with them.
The story was intriguing and I liked the fact that the characters were working like paranormal private investigators while looking for Omen, using the different powers each of the guys had in different ways to find more clues to bring them further in their investigation. All the while, the group they were chasing after, were trying to find and capture them as well.
It was my first time really enjoying a Chase story from the very first book and I’m totally glad the second comes out in a few days.
Not only I feel like Chase’s writing and storytelling keep improving, Sorscha was also the kind of heroine the genre needs; she was more mature than the usual RH protagonists, both emotionally and sexually and I really loved seeing her not shy away but also take the lead of whatever is happening between her and her monsters.
Sorsha Blaze is our Shadow Thief in this book by Eva Chase that many have categorized as a “reverse harem fantasy.” Blaze’s world is our world in much the same way as someone like Aaronovitch or Butcher has taken our urban life and populated it with spirits and monsters that only some are aware of.
Blaze spends much of her time (does she have a “regular job”?) plotting to liberate shadows that have been captured by “hunters” and are going to be either sold to collectors or to vivisectionists. She has a reason for being involved that goes back to her childhood. And, she has found a group of like-minded humans who meet regularly to share information and plan “activities.”
The yarn opens with an escapade for Sorsha that results in a successful liberation of many “shadows” and some unintended consequences. The result is that, because of her actions, several “shadows” (of different “species”) feel an obligation to protect her. This comes under the heading of “meeting cute.” Each shadow has his own (yes, each is male) skill set and body type. Part of Sorsha’s running commentary is about her discoveries concerning the three: Thorn, Snap and Ruse.
"I suspected the only reason Thorn had agreed to my coming along at all, yesterday’s apologies about misjudging my commitment aside, was because he’d be more worried leaving me on my own than having me where he could keep an eye on me. As annoying as his own commitment could be, he did take the whole protection racket very seriously."
Another element is their mutual agreement that she will help them locate the leader of their team, Omen, who has likely been captured by the bad guys.
The plot is fairly conventional for this genre but Chase shows some inventive ideas in the skills of each shadow and less skill, particularly with Snap, of providing a consistent and viable voice. Sexual involvement is all part of the plot and doesn’t vary much from the following example.
"I grinned. My heart was still thumping double-time, but it definitely wasn’t in fear. His musky, smoky smell had coiled around me, and every word that fell from his lips in that tone like low thunder was stirring heat in my core. The jolt of desire that’d rushed through me in the parking lot definitely couldn’t be blamed on just adrenaline. My hand drifted from his wing to rest on his bulging bicep. “Haven’t you figured out yet that I’m not your average mortal?”
And,
"I found the wherewithal to jerk the zipper of his pants down and discovered Thorn wasn’t the only one for whom dressing didn’t come automatically. Snap hadn’t bothered with any kind of underwear. He probably hadn’t realized they were a standard part of a mortal outfit. How would a shadowkind know, after all, if no one had happened to mention it? It wasn’t as if he’d had to consider clothes at all where he’d come from."
What a fun start to the series! This was a great read, it did a good job of introducing the characters and the world without weighing the story down. It had good pacing and the ending had me wanting more without a cliffhanger.
I liked the main character Sorsha. She has a crazy past that made her sympathetic to Shadow people and is a secret vigilante pyro. She does everything she can to help Thorn, Snap, and Ruse, even when it costs her her home and possessions. I also like how the romances started, there were a couple steamy scenes but it's also building up and not just jumping into a relationship.
I'm excited to see what the second book brings and will jump into it soon!
Umm.... I only read about 50% of the book before I just stopped reading it all together. The book didn’t really grab my attention, or even kept it. This book wasn’t for me in my opinion.
Shadow Thief is book one in the Flirting with Monsters series by Eva Chase.
It’s a Reverse Harem storyline.
Sorsha is our heroine. She lives on her own and is a thief making her living by freeing shadow creatures from the wealthy and picking up a few things form their collection to pawn.
Ruse, Snap and Thorn are our hero’s. The men are all higher shadow kind monsters. Ruse is an incubus who feeds off sexual energy. Snap can taste and sense impressions of historical objects and emotions with his forked tongue. Thorn is a warrior. He’s like a man from a past age. Very formal and protective.
Sorsha goal is to find the group who killed her parents. She feels the same people who captured these monsters and their leader Omen are one and the same. All four of them work together to find Omen and in the process try not to be captured again.
The book has an interesting take on paranormals. There are some steamy scenes. The characters are likable and each of the guys have their own quirks. You can see why Sorsha likes them. I like that the characters in a way worked together like paranormal private investigators to find Omen.
3.5 stars, RH with a monster twist. Interesting premise and world building. The author handles each "love" interest pretty well actually, except for Ruse which I thought was pretty fast.
Spoilers: I had a few questions- did she not have a job? I remember the thieving at the beginning, was that really money for rent? Why did her "friends" not know her apartment had burned? How was she so good at finding the Collectors and break in to free the Shadows, but finding this secret swords facility needed Snap and Co. to help her. I didn't see her sleuthing skills in action.
And another kindle glitch, only 1 highlight was captured: Pickle leapt into the air with a clumsy flap of his wings and landed on my shoulder. He hooked his claws—gently, after a couple of years of trial and error—into the fabric of my shirt and nudged my jaw with his flared nose. Sometimes it was hard to tell whether he saw me more as a helpful companion or a steed.
It has potentiel but I kind of feel like it's not going to last, it worked for a first book/introduction to this world but the characters were a bit boring and lacked chemistry.
This was a good start to the series. I’m curious to see what’s next for Sorsha and her Shadow ‘friends.’ Shes a fun take no shit MC who also moonlights as a monster vigilante of sorts. She also has a small dragon which just makes her awesome for that alone lol. After rescuing the guys her world gets turned upside down and she joins them on the search for their friend. The relationships are pretty slow going so far. Only one of her men even knows what sex is so I can’t wait to see her destroy their purity lol. Sorsha’s lost everything (including her apartment) in her search for their stolen friend Omen and I really hope the guys continue to work with her and keep her safe. Looking forward to what’s next for them all.
This was a good story, but I had a hard time connecting to it - not sure why. All the right elements are there, but something felt rushed.
Regardless, it’s still decent and I’ll continue the series - I want to see what happens with Omen! We spent the entire book looking for him, and when they find him? Oh boy.... that is going to be a mess of epic proportions.
And there has to be something in her past, her present is a little too tied up with the shadowkind to be strictly human.
Perspective First Person, Multiple POV
Ending Type Cliffhanger
Rating R
Romantic Dynamic MMMMF
Character Age Range Adult
My Final Verdict on Shadow Thief A new world with new rules, some of them interesting, some not so much - yet it all melds in a unique way that taunts a fuller backstory that we got here. Overall, it's a decent story that is sure to capture quite a few imaginations.
Pleasantly surprised by this. There’s a lot to like here, a strong female lead, original (-ish) premise, and some nice build up with the guys. I liked the mix of Fast and medium among the characters, though i wish there was more...something. I can’t put my finger on what. But this book is missing the special sauce that gets my heart racing, invests me in the characters, and has me cheering. All in all a good start and an entertaining Premise. The not-so-surprising will be dealt with next book.
Did I only start reading this book because of a quote I saw on tt? Yes. Do I regret that decision? Definitely not. This is a good start to the series. I loved Snap, Ruse, and Thorn. And I’m excited to see how Omen will fit in. Sorsha is okay, but I am not buying that she is just a mortal. Ms girls got some kind of abilities, I just know it.
First, I was reading the shadowblood series. I got 50% through the second book when I felt I was missing a back story. It reminded me of the reviews I read, and that made me want to know more. So here I am reading this series and knowing it was the right call. I just know this adding to the world I stumbled into before.
Great first book. It opens up straight into a hush, hush moment. Instantly, you are along for a task and need to concentrate as you become aware of what the character is aware of. Strong world building and the characters, well I do like them. Snap, my innocent devourer is so sweetly sexy and my favourite so far! Even though I feel like I have seen a lot in the first book. I just know this is a drop in what is to come, and I am hooked!! Oh, and the smut is envious. Steamy but also filled with bits of vulnerability that makes it more sexy. I do love how she convinces herself that this is nothing but a fling. But we can see how they are all falling, and I can't wait till they get caught in the smutty love net 4.2 stars
I liked it. Bit of a mystery and Sorsha is open enough but still keeps to herself. Strong but vulnerable when it comes to her past. Although I liked Sorsha, the main part of the book I liked was the guys and how the shadowkind move around. Favourite character was Snap with his innocent curiosity and then stealing the stage. Next book is gonna be interesting.
El libro no está mal, pero tengo la sensación de que los personajes son prácticamente iguales que en Gang of Ghouls y me he terminado aburriendo mucho.
3.5 ⭐️ Audible was the way to go for this. I loved this story. Sexy shadow daddies, adventure, fighting, less sex than I thought but still great. Now onto Twilight Crook!
Couldn't finish. I will say there seems to be a study pace of story telling, yet I was still bored to tears! I made it to 54% and decided this book wasn't for me. Our fmc is hard to understand, she has a big heart to shadowkind and it's explained how one has pretty much raised her and how she rescues them, yet she has such a big mistrust for them? It's really confusing and making me think, well who are the bad guys here? These collectors? Hunters? Or the shadowkind? Because the way she goes out of her way to not trust these beings she makes no sense? And it drags this read on while blurring the lines on who we shouldn't trust in this read. The sex with ruse pretty much was my breaking point, beside her being in a group that she herself doesn't even relay on?! Scratching head! Anyways! He reads some of her thoughts an tells her right away, he's sorry about it and our fmc pretty much grasp her pearls in outrage! For being sympathetic to who and what these beings are, she jumps right away at being kinda of an a*** about it. I'm just really confused on this whole entire read.
I wasn’t impressed with the blurb but since it was a complete series I decided to check it out. Then I really liked the plot of a mortal rescuing shadow kind. Even a secret society of mortals whose goal is to help shadow kind. But then the delivery was so monotonous and boring. One of the “monsters” she brings home is an incubus. She doesn’t want them around and wants to get “Unadopted” but the same day decides she wants to have sex with him. Yeah no. I couldn’t even read further.
An okay first book. Enough to make me want to proceed to book 2 but the jury is still out on whether I like the FMC. One thing that grinds my gears is when a female says I know it's wrong but I can't stop myself 😠 UGH! Writers, please come up with a better reason. And her habit of butchering 80s songs is down right childish. Hopefully there is some growth on her part in book 2.
This author tends to be hit or miss with me and luckily this series ended up being a hit. Strong female mc, semi-original plot, interesting guys, and I'm always down to read a book where the love interests are monsters/demons. The relationship buildups were different speeds for all the guys and they are all so different, so this was great. Truly, really enjoyed this series and it looks like I'll continue reading more series by this author.