Shades of Gray
by LM Pruitt
Published by Red Hot Publishing
Publish Date: August 2011
Genre: Paranormal Romance/ Urban Fantasy
Series: Jude Magdalyn Series book 1
Source: E-book provided for review
My Rating (4.5 of 5 stars):
Blurb from Goodreads:
Jude Magdalyn Henries lives what many would call an unconventional life.Orphaned at birth, raised by nuns, a teenage runaway living on the streets… she now earns a living at odd jobs, including one as a fake tarot card reader. Very little about Jude’s life appears normal, by any scale. When she accepts a gig to do a private reading, unconventional takes on an entirely new meaning.
Life as she knows it ends when she’s thrust into a world she never knew existed—one filled with magic, vampires, and her beloved New Orleans on the verge of an underground war. To make matters worse, she’s got two men in her life vying for attention, Williams and Theo. Both call to a different part of her, but one scares her just a little bit. Can she step up to the challenges set before her and make the right choices for the greater, which may or not be the greater good?
My Review:
I really, really enjoyed Shades of Gray. Jude Magdalyn is a tough, independent heroine who adapts well to new situations. She is smart, quick, and in no way a damsel in distress (well, at least most of the time). Jude had a tough upbringing, as an orphan raised by nuns, and forced to live on the streets for awhile. However, Jude was not completely hardened by her background, she is still capable of caring for other people, and she is fiercely loyal. Judy is suddenly thrown into a new life situation, given responsibilities and expectations. She handles all of her changes pretty well, even with her sarcastic nature. I was laughing at her mouth, her sarcastic personality is very entertaining and funny too.
Jude has more than one romantic interest, she has two! Both men are hot, powerful, and different. Williams is a vampire, and the attraction between him and Jude is intense. Theo is the more constant interest, he is part of the covenant, has magic similar to Jude’s, and he is dependable. The pseudo love-triangle is very intriguing, and I can’t help but wonder what will happen next for Jude.
Jude is cast into a new world and a new role in Shades of Gray. She learns about the covenant, an group of magically inclined people, and becomes an integral part of a war between the covenant and vampires. The magic in Shades of Gray is pretty cool, and based on elements and spells. Mixing the politics of the covenant and the danger from the vampires, the plot is exciting and fast paced.
With excellent characters, especially the unique and hilarious Jude, enticing and complicated romances, and a story teeming with magic, Shades of Gray is an exceptional urban fantasy, paranormal romance read. I highly recommend this book to fans of urban fantasy and paranormal romance.
Amazon Link-Only 99 cents!
August 21, 2011 at 10:42 am
This is so funny – I bought this book yesterday and so I have not completely read your review LOL, only checked out the bottom line. I am so glad my instincts were on when I clicked buy:) Thanks for sharing today.
August 21, 2011 at 1:30 pm
This was one of the surprise favorite reads this year, so happy that the author revamped the cover and re-issued the book!
One of the best perks of blog tours with TBSP is the book choices have been good and this one was superb!
August 31, 2011 at 2:02 am
[...] you want to know a little bit more about this book, you can READ MY REVIEW, Shades of Gray by LM Pruitt. For today’s stop on the Shades of Gray Blog Tour Jude [...]