Shady Lady

I have to give a fairly high rating to a book that involves a woman who largely saves herself from multiple assassins (natural and supernatural) sent by the head of a drug cartel. There are sexy men in her life (three, in fact), but she's definitely the heroine here, not a clinging vine. That's a refreshing approach.

To be honest I don't think this book should be shelved with paranormal romances at all. It deserves to be called urban fantasy, or something along those lines, because relationships are not the main focus of the plot.

Corine has changed a great deal from the beginning of the series, and we learn much more about her background in this volume, explaining some of her behavior. The exposition is never tiresome or without reason — it's worked into the plot very nicely. I enjoy seeing character development, and getting more of the “why” helps the reader make sense of her decisions.

This volume feels like the end of the series, but it was a nice little trilogy and well worth reading.