In His Shadow

Tangled Ivy, Book 1

By: Tiffany Snow

Narrated by: Karen Peakes

Ivy Mason is hiding - from her past, from herself, and from anyone who could love her. The only kind of love she’s ever known hurts, leaving scars on her body and soul. Now, her world may be boring and predictable, but that’s exactly what she wants. Until Devon Clay walks into her life.

A lonely man in a deadly profession, Devon works as an agent for an underground British agency known only as the Shadow. Nothing about him is safe or ordinary. The danger that consumes his life turns into an addiction Ivy can’t resist... even if it proves fatal.

As Ivy’s past begins to catch up with her, she wonders if love really is the twisted thing she’s always thought it was. Maybe it could be more with this man, who’s shown her that she doesn’t need to protect herself from everyone. Is what she feels for Devon worth the risk? He may save her heart or break it, if she manages to stay alive.

©2014 Tiffany Snow (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Well done

Easy listen.
Interesting characters and storyline. Twists and turns kept my attention.
Will be looking for more from this narrator.

Good until….

I was really enjoying the book until… she started doing stupid sh_t. 🤬
I mean stuff akin to going into the dark forest alone when you know you’re in a horror film.
I kept saying…Why would she do that?
It ended on a mild cliffhanger. But I knew that going in. Unfortunately I was so irritated by the time the book was over that I really don’t care what happens next. I might look for something else by this author…I like her writing style.
Narration was good.

Perfect!!!

Excellent storyline. Gifted narrator. Great range of love, sex and danger. This is another Tiffany Snow book that you just can't put down until finished. Then you start all over again and again.

3.5 Stars Mixed Feelings

My overall impression of this first book in the new Tangled Ivy Trilogy is it's going to get better. For me, In His Shadow was a slow start, setting the scene for the following books and lacked the “wow factor.”

As an victim of abuse, Ivy has built a wall around her life to protect herself. Her best friend Logan introduces her to suitable guys to date, but she prefers to remain single and unattached. She's living her life as she sees fit and enjoys a lifestyle comparable with young women her age, whilst hanging out with friends that she trusts and make her feel safe. So with this in mind, I didn't comprehend why Ivy was attracted to Devon; the mysterious customer from the bank she works at.

Devon Clay is an enigmatic guy, who plays his cards close to his chest. He has an eye for the ladies' but only long enough to satisfy his needs. He is a man of few words, at least in the beginning, so I didn't feel any chemistry between him and Ivy. For me, actions didn't speak louder than words on this occasion. Towards the end, Devon begins to open up more about his feelings, so only then did I see a glimpse of mutual attraction.

I thought I would really love this book and although I finished it because I wanted to find out what happened, there was just a lot I did not like about it. The story was engrossing enough, but a lot of it seemed a bit too "cliche". I found myself thinking "Oh, come on. Seriously?" far too often at some plot twist or umpteenth time the heroine was rescued. Ivy's relationship with her roommate and long time friend made me crazy. Can she honestly not see how he feels?

Towards the end of the book, the plot picks up pace and we finally begin to see the brilliance of Ms Snow's writing, hopefully a launch pad for better things to come in books two and three. Whilst I'm not completely sold on this first book in The Tangled Ivy Trilogy, I firmly believe what will follow will be worth taking the time to listen too.

Karen Peakes was good with the delivery of the story.

Romance and James Bond

Got this on $4.95 sale, as I loved the Kathleen Turner series, one I re listen as that one is author’s best. Make no mistake these are romance first and light mystery second.
Our hero is right out of James Bond, and our heroine is made of stern moral stuff.
New reader on this story, and because of reader Angela Dawe, my now best fave, I am cautious on my reader review for this author. I am going to try one more, book #2 on this series as well as another reader for this author’s newest series.
Make no mistake, this author has a spin on her heroine’s that you must get a bit use too. Hence my 2nd re listen in order of the Kathleen Turner series. I love the two brothers in that series. It doesn’t get any better than there relationship and the author tells it very well. The series may be in my top 10 and I have over 800 Romances’s, many are classics.
Were my comments helpful?

Intrigued

I've read one other series by this author and realized she likes love triangles. While that isn't a trope I would normally read, I found that last series to be very good despite it. I really like her writing and I find her characters to be enough of a draw that I want to read more. I did find that to still be the case in this first book of the Tangled Ivy trilogy. The intrigue in these series is pretty fun to follow along with. I didn't love Ivy as much as I loved China in the Corrupted Hearts series, but China was a pretty unique character. I think Devon will be more of a draw in this series for me. He's a dangerous but cool character, and I liked getting that glimpse of vulnerability from him towards Ivy. Agent Lane, while a character I like, I do feel will get his heart broken in the end. I could be wrong and Agent Lane ends up the winner of Ivy's heart. I will be reading the next book to find out.

SLOW START BUT WELL WORTH THE WAIT !!

As other reviewers have stated, the first few chapters are excrutiatingly slow going and painfully uneventful, but I toughed it out and am so very glad. This was just the beginning of a trilogy of amazing intrigue, suspense, romance, and on-the-edge of your seat mystery. This author did a wonderful job with this book and Karen Peakes has an astounding ability with English and Scottish accents, southern drawl and the voices of the different characters (all different) throughout this book. The combination of these two women is a great one and hope their partnership in audio presentations of future books remains solid.

Good story line but...

Way to many sex scenes for my taste. Got to the point where I fast forwarding through them. By no means am I a prude, but just got to the point where it seemed to take away from story. Was going to listen to the next one, but moved on to something else.

AN ADDICTIVE LISTEN THAT PACKS SO MUCH IN

There's only one thing better than stumbling across the start of a brilliant trilogy.... and that's to have all three parts available right now - no waiting impatiently, no forgetting the plot-line and the da da of a cliffhanger becomes a mere bump in the road. However, I am getting a little tired of books being split into trilogies when so many, not so greedy Authors/Publishers, manage to write and deliver WHOLE books that only cost ONE credit (ok rant over!).

This is a mystery thriller with suspense, tingles and shivers as Ivy slowly reveals her past (spoiler - child abuse) to the one man who should never have been affected by it..... Devon the ice-cold, mysterious, handsome, sexy, charismatic Spy. Because his heart is cold, he's no good for Ivy, but their mutual attraction can't keep him away and can't stop Ivy from saying yes.... yes to the passion-filled sex, yes to falling for him and yes for hoping for more.

Lots of secrets, lies, intrigue, twists, regrets, betrayal and revelations. It's got sex, emotional highs and lows and lots of action-packed drama and, while the plot slowly unfurls, the characters develop, feelings deepen and the storyline takes them into murky and dangerous waters. Told from Ivy's POV except the bloody and brutal Epilogue where Devon kept his promise. The narration was okay.

Worth a credit? It would have been well worth a credit but, at under $8, I just bought it and saved my credit for a costlier book - but it may not be as enjoyable as this.

Heavy Subject Matter with Good Suspense

The subplot of the story is a very weighty topic. The story itself has teeth as well. This is not my usual Genre of books to read however I wanted to give something new a shot. It was very steamy and it had some great fantasy chick lit aspects with superb character development. The backstory bothered me greatly however which is why I didn't give it as high of a rating. Overall it keeps you hooked until the end if you're into thrillers!