Prisoner of Steel and Shadow: The Forsaken, Book 1

Talk about lovely suspense that you come to both love and hate! This book is exactly that and so much more. I love following Ronan’s adventure to Empyria as he searches for Reyna, his true love. The entire journey is mesmerizing, magical and momentous. It is one of those rare stories that feels more like a movie playing out and would indeed be fun to watch onscreen. I love the world of The Chosen that Meg Anne has created as well as the unique characters that we always find there. My favorite side character here is Sebastian, known as Bast for short. He is entertaining, colorful, funny and sometimes helpful as he guides Ronan and explains the ins and outs of the city Glimmermere and more importantly, the High Lord Erebos who rules it and holds a deadly contest. Ronan soon meets the beautiful Shadow and their chemistry is both immediate and scorching hot. He joins the contest just so that he can spend time with her. His connection to her is intense and familiar, and he will do everything he can to make her his own. Shadow is reluctant to give in to her attraction because her life is at stake if the High Lord finds out - he also happens to think that she belongs to him. The competition in the games takes places alongside the competition for Shadow’s heart and it is thrilling! The “hate” part of this suspenseful, action-packed tale is the incredible cliffhanger at the end. I will be waiting very impatiently to see what happens next!I listened to the audiobook and was completely drawn in by the voice acting of Shane East as Ronan, Stella Hunter as Shadow and James Joseph as Bast. I’ve always been a fan of Shane’s growly whisper, but James gives just as good as he gets when they have a whisper off. It’s the best and should not be missed! Shane pulls us into the longing and sadness that Ronan feels over losing Reyna as well as his hope over the connection he feels with Shadow. He puts his growl and those amazing whispers to work more than once and it’s so very hot! Stella is perfect, as always. She portrays Shadow’s strength and vulnerability as she navigates the uncertainty of her feelings and her future. Her accents are simply fantastic! James is amazing at Bast, bringing out his flair for the dramatic, his flirtatiousness and his moments of rare seriousness. His French is wonderfully fun as he helps make Bast the lovable lothario and supportive sidekick that you hope will someday get a story of his own. The audio is incredible and it’s the best way to experience this exciting, non-stop adventure!

If you're just trying out this world, no worries,you can ABSOLUTELY read from right here! However, if you're a long-time fan of The Chosen world, there are Easter eggs you'll love, and it picks up five years after Keeper's Vow, where Reyna was taken.Trust me, it's delicious! SO👏MANY👏YUMMY👏ELEMENTS!👏I freaking DEVOURED it so fast!!!🙌😍💜Alright, so Reyna/Shadow's and Ronan's story. Think a nod to the Princess Bride, but Shadow's the missing Queen of Assassins and her memory is wiped by the uber-patient & devious god of death. She's brought low and made subservient, but even in an impossible situation, she HAS HER HOPE! There's a touch of the Bachelor, except it's ASSASINS all wanting to be the High Lord's champion. Oh, and the lovely Witcher vibes? Yes, and they positively made me snort-laugh! Ronan and Bast are so Geralt & Jaskier, and Ronan is NOT wanting any of it. 🤣 Bast is one of my newest favorite sidekicks, by the way, such a charming degenerate, lol There's a particular chapter that had me in stitches, so much so hubs asked what was so funny.There are curl your toes sumptuous whispers from Ronan to Shadow, giving me all the shivery feels, though with most situations, Shadow has a blade aimed at him!🤣But, Shadow IS his five-year lost love, and he wants her back and will face whatever she throws at him. (And that superhot🥵 forespice, whew!🥵)Now after devouring this, I bet you'll want to go check out the previous books, before the next in The Forsaken Trilogy comes out! If so, start with Mother of Shadows!)Pour this fabulous writing into the fabulous hands of Shane East, Stella Hunter & featured James Joseph as Bast (absolutely the BEST kind of charismatic deviant) and you have absolute 👩‍🍳💋🤌!!I read AND listened to this fantastic story, and let me tell you, you need to run and grab a version, or two, of this right now!Trust me, this is one you don't want to miss!

I am just in love with this world. Reyna and Ronan's story is beautiful and heartbreaking. I cannot wait to read more. That cliffy was brutal

Prisoner of Steel and Shadow is the start of another fantastic series!I loved revisiting old friends like Vonn, Helena and the rest of the Circle plus Effie and Lucien. They band together to send off Ronan to find Reyna. So many interesting moments throughout this book. Erevos playing the long game with his plans for the future. Ronan and Shadow's connection and her fighting that connection, well, for a time anyway. Ronan's lightbulb moment when he meets Shadow and Erevos for the first time.Sweet and fun moments like the flirting in Chapter 18 when they're in the tavern. When he tells her, "you might not meow, but I bet I could make you purr." Oh my! Ronan pulls out ALL the stops! I love all of the characters, even the evil conniving ones.Of course then there's stuff like the whisper-off in the tavern between Bast and Ronan. Both James Joseph and Shane East really go for it in that scene. Wow! Stella Hunter is so good at portraying the kick butt character of Shadow/Reyna. Honestly, between the three of them and this entire story, I did not want the book to end! Like, I NEED to know what happens next! Eep!

This is quite simply my all-time FAVOURITE book by Meg Anne, who is fast becoming my kindred spirit of a favourite author! It is one of those books which just transports you to another world you desperately never want to leave but all too soon it ends and with one of her trademark brutal cliffhangers.I loved everything about this book. It continues on from where we left off in the Keepers Trilogy so you get a glimpse of the after happy evers of our favourite characters in this universe, Helena/Von and her circle and Effie and Lucian. However, this book starts the trilogy of Ronan, a fan favourite but he's a very different man in the wake of losing Reyna the one he loves and embarking on a quest to another realm to try and save her.This is where Meg Anne's truly amazing talent as a writer comes into play, she is able to beautifully portray Ronan's dark despair and grief at the beginning but balance that with her wonderful light and humour throughout the book as he sets off on his journey and encounters some delightful new characters, my favourite of which being Bast aka an adorable cheeky foppish French lothario and bon vivant who worms his way into being Ronan's new sidekick.But then mixed in with this is the drama and tension of a realm which is ruled by a surprisingly familiar "heroic" ruler who is about to launch a series of brutal trials and competitions to find the best warrior to be his champion. Chief among the contestants, the current champion the beautiful but deadly Shadow who is trying to escape from being the ruler's wife. Shadow is the most badass heroine I've read in a long time, she is a highly skilled assassin who can take down anyone but isn't expecting our beloved Ronan. It's a sensual enemies to lovers fantasy romance which is off the charts fantastic!This book reminded me of elements of Sarah J Maas epic Throne of Glass but a much more tailored down version with much needed lightness and humour added into the mix. Its a thrilling, intense and engulfing read and I have just fallen in love with this new world already. I am salivating for the next book....patience was never one of my strong suits.Once again, Meg Anne has gifted us with the truly incredible voice acting geniuses of Shane East, Stella Hunter and James Joseph and I was in audio heaven listening to them. I am in serious danger of needing these three to read EVERYTHING to me they are scarily amazing. This book is an extra treat because it is basically catnip for those of us who like accents ;) Chapter 1 has a wonderful scene which I like to dub #cockneyoff and Shane East and James Joseph battle it out to seduce you with their shiver inducing whispers. This seriously has everything, booming alpha warrior Shane, sultry and seductive Stella, tantalising and swoon-worthy James....oh and did I mention the accents? Travel around the world in this one, American, French, Russian, Cockney, Newcastle, Australian. It is clear Meg Anne loves her audio readers!