(Cover picture courtesy of Cynthia Luhrs’ site.)

A GHOST GIVEN A SECOND CHANCE…
Hamish Campbell committed so many sins he’d lost track of them all. The worst? Murdering his brother in a fit of rage. Granted another chance by the god of Shadow, Lord Campbell joins the Shadow Walker brotherhood.

A WOMAN FULL OF LIGHT…
Anna Duncan is goodness personified, casting warmth on everyone she encounters. A chance encounter throws everything she knows upside down when she meets a man with haunted eyes. When a murderer sets his sights on Anna, she realizes the line between good and evil isn’t black and white but made up of varying shades of gray.

OUT OF DARKNESS, HOPE RISES
Though death draws them together, Hamish has too many secrets. If he’s not careful those secrets may spell the ruin of humanity and cost him the only woman he’s ever truly loved.

[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook from the author in exchange for an honest review.]

I honestly didn’t expect to like Hamish.  His actions make him an evil, cheating, lying, brother-killing traitor so why on earth would he be brought back from the dead 400 years later to be one of the good guys?  And yet Hamish seems to have changed.  He really does regret all the actions and events leading up to his murder of Colin.  His horrible childhood really doesn’t excuse his actions toward his own brother, but I am definitely more sympathetic toward him than I was before.  I feel like I can understand what led to his jealousy of Colin and his affair with Abigail.

The characters in this one were wonderful.  Hamish goes through a very powerful personal journey of forgiveness, proving that with a little help no one is beyond redemption.  Anna is a little naive and sweet but her refusal to see the bad things in the world reminds me of a friend of mine.  Yes, she’s rather naive, but it’s realistically so and her views on humanity do change slightly the more she’s with Hamish.  Even if the rest of the novel was awful, Cynthia Luhrs’ characters would be enough reason to read it.

The rest of the novel is not awful, thankfully.  I found the plot was much more fast-paced than the previous books in part because of the rising tensions between Shadow Walkers and Day Walkers are reaching the boiling point.  Dayne and Thorne are at each others’ throats and we really learn the importance of Draken being introduced in Desired by Shadow.  There’s actually a greater, overarching plan for the series rather than just a bunch of vaguely connected romances that end with each book.  Cynthia Luhrs ends this one on such a cliffhanger that I can’t wait for Embraced by Shadow.

I love how she also expanded on the world of Shadow Walkers and Day Walkers.  We learn a little more about Draken and Fury as well as the fae.  It was interesting to see things from Thorne’s point of view as he’s tormented by the apparition he believes is the long-lost love he killed in a jealous rage.  I don’t fully understand his reasons for bringing Hamish back but it seems they’ll be fully revealed in the next novel.  For now the explanation presented in Reborn in Shadow is satisfying.

If you’ve loved the series so far, you’ll love Reborn in Shadow as well.  Hamish will surprise you, I guarantee!

I give this book 5/5 stars.

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