Forged Of Shadows
Jessa Slade
Signet, Jun 1 2010, $6.99
ISBN: 9780451229779

In Chicago, Jilly Chan is stunned when she loses her job working with street kids as the cause in her mind is not apparent. She is even more shocked with the Ascendant of a penitence demon seeking atonement who possesses her to fight evil.

Liam Niall informs the feisty Jilly that she has been asked to join a team of warriors also possessed by demons. However, he also rejects their apparent psychic bond. Meanwhile club owner Bella hangs around Liam while Jilly's allies are dying as a new form of malevolence has surfaced. Liam begins to question whether Lilly is the evil or the other half of his Mated-Talyn Bonds.

This is an exciting urban fantasy starring two likable individuals who lost half their souls during a demon Ascendant although a century and a half apart as he came from Ireland during the Irish Famine of the mid nineteenth century. The story line is fast-paced with a strong cast making the two realms (human and demon) and the separating veil seem real. Although Liam's guilt and doubts seem off kilter and unnecessarily forced, fans will relish his dilemma mindful of Frank Stockton's The Lady or the Tiger as he considers trusting in the love soul mating bonding or killing his love.

Harriet Klausner