The Shadow by Shelley Munro

I am soooo behind in my reading it's not funny. But I'm hoping to clear a number of books off my tbr pile in the coming weeks. I got off to a good start with Shelley Munro's The Shadow. Before I tell you about the book, I have to tell you how it came into my possession.

Full disclosure: Shelley is a friend of mine and at the recent RWNZ Conference, I was the facilitator for her workshop ie. I did the intro and made sure no one got too rowdy (*g*). Now Shelley had a copy of The Shadow to give away and before the attendees arrived, she threw out a few ideas as to how best to pick a winner. One of them was: "The person with the birthday closest to Shelley's". I told her that was the *best* idea out of all the ones she'd brainstormed.

Um, guess who had the birthday closest to Shelley? Yep, it was me. I'm sure everyone thought it was rigged. But it wasn't, promise! Neither of us had a clue that our birthdays were so close. I can hear those sniggers of disbelief. Shush!

Okay, onto the book. In my opinion, the backcover copy (pasted below) has quite a light feel, despite the actual things it talks about. Honestly speaking, I wouldn't have picked it up in a store based on that blurb because I don't really like 'light' (I'm more into meaty and emotional). However that would've been my loss, because The Shadow, while lighter than my usual fare, is also an emotionally engaging book.

The heroine, Lady Katherine Fawkner is a trainee cat burglar. How cool is that?! That's not an occupation you see everyday. And she isn't a pretend cat burglar, she's a real one. It's the family business. I liked Kate a lot - she was smart and funny.

The hero, Kahu Williams, is a cop. He's definitely a "hottie" as one of Kate's elderly chaperones says. The book is from the point of view of Kate, so you don't get to see inside Kahu's head, but the outside package is very nice indeed. While the book is set in England, the sexy Kahu is from New Zealand and there are touches of NZ throughout the book.

Sensuality wise, I'd say it's warm. No full love scenes but lots of great sexual tension. Overall, I found this a fast, fun read with hidden emotional depths. I was hooked enough to put down other things I should've been doing in order to get to the end, so a thumbs up to The Shadow from me.

Backcover Blurb

Occupations often run in families, and mine is no exception. I’m Lady Katherine Fawkner, cat burglar in training. Under duress, I might add, but someone has to keep the family safe. Father’s gambling has escalated into debts, and with that debt comes outrageous interest charges and goons threatening bodily harm if overdue money isn’t paid. So, here I am, attending a society ball, researching the rich and their jewels for my first heist.

Wouldn’t you know it? I’m looking for rubies and find a man instead. Not just any man, but a cop. A cat burglar and a cop? No future there. But I can’t stop thinking about Inspector Kahu Williams.

To make matters worse, now there’s been a murder. And if that’s not bad enough, my past has returned to haunt me. I’ve stumbled across a photo of a child who is the mirror image of my precious daughter. In my hands I hold a clue to reveal the identity of my child’s father – the man who drugged me six years ago. So I’m hot on the trail of my revenge for date rape while Inspector Williams searches for a killer. But we keep running into each other and … no, this is not going to work ...

Excerpt available on Shelley's site.