Grim Shadows by Jenn Bennet

Grim Shadows by Jenn Bennett
Narrator: Amy Landon
Series: Roaring Twenties #2
Published by Tantor Audio on June 3, 2014
Source: Purchased
Genres: Historical Romance, Paranormal Romance
Length: 10 hours 55 minutes
Format: Audiobook
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Archaeologist Lowe Magnusson is packing something everyone wants. The djed amulet, a priceless Egyptian artifact, will fetch Lowe a hefty paycheck from one of San Francisco's wealthiest. But when the handsome Swede runs into his patron's uptight daughter, what he once considered easy money becomes maddeningly complicated.

Cursed with deadly spirits as her constant companions, curator Hadley Bacall must keep calm to hold her dangerous specters at bay and prevent them from lashing out at anything--or anyone. Trouble is, Lowe is driving her crazy, but her father needs the artifact he's transporting. While Hadley can feel the amulet's power, she can't fathom the destruction--or the desire--it's about to stir up.

I have to admit that at first I was a bit annoyed with the male lead, Lowe Magnusson. When he first meets Hadley Bacall, he just keeps going on and on about her rear-end. Thankfully he eventually moved on to noticing her as a person. And they are a good match.

Lowe is a con-artist, liar and a thief, but he has a truly good heart. Who doesn’t love that type of bad boy, the kind that’s just bad enough to be interesting but isn’t going to intentionally hurt the people he cares about? Hadley has spent her life proving she’s worthy and trying to keep her spirits at bay. Because they do want to kill someone, they’re just waiting for her to get angry enough to let them. And she comes close – Lowe is quite good at pushing people’s buttons.

While this is a romance, Lowe and Hadley are also on a mission. They need to collect the pieces of an artifact, but someone is shadowing their moves, someone who has more than a bit of magic at his disposal. I like the Egyptian theme, I love archeologists as characters, I’m not sure why I don’t read more books featuring them.

I thought the narrator did a good job. I actually kind of forgot about her, just got lost in the story. She did the first in the series too. I think she differentiates the voices well, and never makes the story overly melodramatic or cheesy.

It’s a fun adventure/romance. While I didn’t necessarily buy into the sparks between Lowe and Hadley at first I think in the end they make a good couple. I do think that Bennett used the same formula in this as she did in the first in the series. Sexy hero has some deformity, in this case he’s has a finger that’s been cut off, and is afraid that no woman can love him because of it – she will be disgusted by his touch. Heroine has a paranormal ability that sets her apart and is an independent woman. I don’t know that that’s necessarily a complaint, because it worked both times, I just hope for a little variation in the third, when the Magnusson sister gets her chance at love.