Ricco has been protecting his family since tragic events that happened in Japan. Mariko was sent to kill him to save her brother and applies to be his rope bondage model to get closer to him. Ricco knows she's it for him, even when he knows she was sent to kill him. He pins his hope on being able to seduce her into living the rest of her life with him. She grew up abused and believing herself ugly. She finds beauty and strength in Ricco's Shibari, all the while dealing with the assassination attempts. High paced, lots of layers to the story. The BDSM is almost entirely around rope bondage.
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I enjoyed this read and found some of the description of the Shibari quite erotic but the interaction outside of this didn't feel quite as fleshed out and almost rushed. while reading it kept me interested but I was left wanting more.

I didn't really get to know Ricco Ferraro or what he does apart from him being a stubborn eejit when it comes to his health and I can't really imagine any of the other characters. I don't have any impulse to follow this series but I wouldn't reject it if I found more and was bored ( )

I learned about Shibari, so something new. It was an interesting storyline. I'd have liked to have had Nicoletta's part a little more clear. I imagine that she's being setup for her own storyline. Not clear which unmarried brother will become her mate. It's better than the Dark series. I have enjoyed the Game series, but its starting to feel rote like the Dark one. ( )

I gave it 3.5 stars

I absolutely loved SHADOW RIDER and couldn't wait to get my hands on SHADOW REAPER. Although book two didn't blow me away, I still enjoyed jumping back into the Shadow world and revisiting some of my favorite characters from book one.

I really liked both Ricco and Mariko as characters and they worked well together as allies and a couple, but their relationship didn't seem to resonate as deeply with me as Stefano and Francesca from book one did. I don't know why, I just felt like their romance was missing that all consuming connection that I was looking for. On top of that, I wasn't really into the Shibari aspect of their relationship so those moments bored me more than pulled me in. Their back stories however pulled me in like their relationship didn't. Both of their stories were very interesting and heartbreaking at times.

The pace in SHADOW REAPER was on the slower side, but I really loved all the action scenes. I really enjoyed the fact that Mariko was bad-ass on her own and was able to completely and fully protect herself and those around her and although Ricco wanted to protect her, he LET her protect herself.

Although SHADOW REAPER wasn't the home run that SHADOW RIDER was for me, it was still a great addition to the shadow world. I learned a lot more about the world and the characters and it made me love all the characters even more than I did before. I will be stalking Goodreads until book three goes up so I can add it to my wishlist.

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. ( )