Review: Phantom Shadow – Dianne Duvall

Dr. Melanie Lipton is no stranger to the supernatural.
She knows immortals better than they know themselves, right down to their stubborn little genes. So although a handsome rogue immortal seems suspicious to her colleagues, Sebastien Newcombe intrigues Melanie. His history is checkered, his scars are impressive, and his ideas are daring. But it’s not his ideas that have Melanie fighting off surges of desire . . .

Bastien is used to being the bad guy. In fact, he can’t remember the last time he had an ally he could trust. But Melanie is different – and under her calm, professional exterior he senses a passion beyond anything in his centuries of experience. Giving in to temptation is out of the question – he can’t put her in danger. But she isn’t asking him . . .

Series:  Immortal Guardians #3
Release Date:  October 2, 2012
Publisher:  Zebra
Source:  Provided by Publisher
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Reviewer’s Thoughts:

I have truly enjoy the Immortal Guardian series.  Dianne Duvall has created such a fabulous world where Gift Ones, lead by Seth and David,  fight to save humans from the evil clutches of vampires and those that would use them as weapons to gain world domination.  Each story demonstrates how living hundreds of years could put a slant on how a Gift One would view the world and the job they do to save it, until they find the one person who makes them whole.

Given Bastien’s confusion over who he was and his role in the vampires being used as a weapon, I was truly looking forward to his and Melanie’s story.  And while Bastien lived up to my expectation as far as how he was fitting in (or not) with the other Gift Ones and their seconds or how he worked tirelessly with Melanie to save Joe and Curtis, the storyline involving Emrys, his plot to create Super Soldiers and the Immortal Guardians efforts to take him down seemed rushed,at times jumped around and then suddenly, it was over.  I wanted to know if Ami got her revenge or if Seth, David or Marcus did it for her.  But instead that part of the book jumped ahead one month to a completely different storyline.  It left me wanting more (more blood, more body parts…I don’t know, but just more).

Back to Bastien.  I really, really liked him.  No matter how he ended up where he was, in his heart he was doing what he thought was right.  Even when he thought he was a vampire, he took a higher road and in his warped sense of justice had his vampires taking out criminals rather than stalking innocent humans.  He really was a man with a huge heart who needed a woman who could see past his misguided deeds to who he fundamentally was.  Melanie saw that from the very beginning and was able to draw Bastien out of his shell and be the fun loving person he probably would have been had things not gone wrong hundreds of years before.

Overall, a solid installment in the Guardian series.  I’m looking forward to see what the newest development with Ami and Marcus will mean for the Guardians and who exactly will be there next foe.