A Shade of Vampire 27: A Web of Lies

Captivating as always!!
Bella never fails to exceed my expectations and book 27 is no exception!
We learn more about new and quickly beloved characters and more questions about unknown pasts are raised and the plot thickens! Book 27 takes off and keep moving right up until the last page. Do NOT start it at bedtime if you plan to sleep, you won't be able to put it down til you've read all the way through! Can't wait for the next story!!

Title: A Web of Lies
Series: A Shade of Vampire
Designation: Book Twenty Seven of a Multi-Novel Serial, NOT a Standalone Read, Contains Cliffhanger
Author: Bella Forrest
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal Romance
Reading Platform: Kindle Unlimited
My Rating: FIVE CAPTIVATING STARS *****
A Web of Lies by Bella Forrest is the twenty-seventh release in the spellbinding A Shade of Vampire Series and has totally left me breathless - again! Like thousands of my fellow Shaddicts around the world, I've been hooked since the first book of the series and now eagerly await each new release. And it's no surprise that Bella has delivered another riveting adventure that curls our toes, makes our hearts pound and keeps us begging for more! This is a beautifully written young adult supernatural/fantasy/adventure saga unlike anything I've ever read. The story is well crafted, imaginative, thrilling, fast paced, action packed, suspenseful, sweet, romantic and at times, also dark and mysterious. Whew, what a mouthful, but these are only a few of the words that come to mind after reading this incredible chronicle of the Shade, its inhabitants and their enemies. The narrative is exceptionally well written in the first person with multiple points of view. Each chapter is told by one of the primary characters (and there are many), which I believe gives more depth, intensity and perspective to the story adding vital insight into their thoughts, fears and motivations. The dialogue is smart, well executed and flows effortlessly. Although the premise and plot for the series is intriguing as well as compelling, it's truly the magnificent cast of larger than life characters that makes the biggest impact. They are well developed, fascinating, captivating, engaging, endearing and quite literally, out of this world! They explode from the pages, grab your imagination, capture your heart and hold you completely and totally enthralled from beginning to end. Forrest skillfully combines all of these elements to craft a beautifully written paranormal romance filled to the brim with danger, action, adventure, fantasy, mystery, suspense, magic, supernatural beings, loyalty, heartbreak, betrayal, angst, hope, passion, love and plot twists that will blow your mind. After twenty-six books in a series, some might think the story has grown old and stale, but nothing could be farther from the truth. After reading all the books of the series, there are two things I've learned beyond a shadow of a doubt. First, when reading anything written by Bella Forrest, always expect the unexpected and two, absolutely nothing is ever impossible as we've all witnessed time and time again. In each book Forrest writes, she takes her readers on an emotional and thrilling roller coaster ride unlike any other, one that keeps us on the edge of our seat and riveted to each page while screaming, "OMG - that didn't just happen!" And the icing on the cake, Forrest's books are always well edited, professionally formatted and have gorgeous covers! I'm not a professional reviewer but I know what I like, what I love and what I don't and I love this series! I've never experienced anything like it. After reading A Bridge of Stars, the conclusion of Ben and River's story, I could not stop myself from wondering, where Forrest will take her readers next and how will she surpass her last book. But never fear, my friends, Forrest has once again exhibited her exceptional talent, skill and imagination by giving us yet another riveting new adventure featuring an entirely new generation of heroes as well as our beloved favorites from earlier books.

Premise:
Almost twenty years have passed since former vampire and now fae Ben Novak, Prince of The Shade, married the beautiful half blood River Giovanni, in a multiple wedding ceremony hosted by the dragons in The Hearthlands. And much has changed in those years. The King and Queen of The Shade, Derek and Sophia Novak, are now proud grandparents, thrice over and many of the other residents are also proud parents. Wow! Time really flies, doesn't it? Ben and River Novak have one seventeen year old half fae daughter, Grace. Caleb and Rose Achilles have two human children, Hazel, age fifteen, and Benedict, age twelve. Kiev and Mona Novalic have one seventeen year old son named Brock who is half warlock. Witches Ibrahim and Corrine have been blessed with a lovely seventeen year old full blooded witch daughter named Arwen. Claudia and Yuri have an eighteen year old human daughter, Ruby. Even the dragon residents of The Shade are flourishing. Dragon shifter Jeriad and his human wife Sylvia now have a son, handsome strapping nineteen year old half dragon Heath who can't shift but can breath fire. And there have many other happy unions among the residents. Aiden and Kailyn have been married for almost twenty years. Abby and Erik also took the plunge along with Micah and Kira, Eli and Shayla and the two Jinn, Aisha and Horatio. And not surprisingly, ice dragon Lethe also has a human bride and now resides inside the protective boundaries of The Shade. Even Lucas Novak is a thriving resident of The Shade community as well as a productive member of the family and he and Derek have been able to form a close, rewarding familial relationship. And of course, we all remember the birth of Xavier and Vivienne's beautiful daughter, Victoria Vaughn near the end of Ben and River's Story. But as much as things have changed, there are still many things that have remained the same including The Shade's many enemies. A team of warriors has been carefully chosen from the residents of The Shade to fight those enemies and dubbed as The Shadow League or TSL with Ben Novak as Commander and Derek Novak as Commander in Chief. They've been granted an arsenal of technologically advanced weapons along with authority from the government to fight the Bloodless and other malevolent supernaturals who have invaded the human realm. Unfortunately, the Hunters organization has grown as well. They are now known as the International Bureau for Supernatural Investigations aka IBSI and supposedly, also working as a representative of the government to fight the Bloodless and rogue supernaturals in the human realm with their authority surpassing that of even the FBI and CIA. But as always, the Hunters aka IBSI still seem to have a hidden agenda and as in the past, still pose a serious threat to not only the residents of The Shade, but to all supernaturals in every realm. Oh my! The man at the root of it all is Bradley Thornton of the IBSI and not surprisingly, he and his organization of Hunters still seem to hate the residents of The Shade and take advantage of every opportunity to covertly eliminate them.

In Book 25, A Clan of Novaks, Forrest sets the stage for the beginning of a new adventure with an entirely new generation of heroes and heroines. We find beautiful and still very human nineteen year old Victoria Vaughn as one of only two human members of The Shadow League. Victoria is a newly inducted member along with four of her friends, Arwen, Brock, Heath and Grace. They have finally been allowed to accompany the team on a mission resulting in a dangerous showdown with the IBSI, one which almost cost the lives of several members of their team. Derek realizes that something is very wrong and determined to discover what other dastardly deeds Thornton is planning. The Shadow League embarks on an unauthorized fact-finding mission and attempts to infiltrate an IBSI facility. Arwen and Victoria discover a mysterious portal to another realm just outside the facility along with a large cage holding a badly beaten and battered but still very handsome young man who is obviously more than just human. Victoria insists that Arwen use her magic to free the young man who surprisingly admits to being a werewolf. But how is that even possible? It's nighttime and werewolves are forced to transition into their animal forms at sundown but he's still in his human body. Unfortunately, freeing him sets off an alarm resulting in the arrival of ISBI guards and their deadly trained mutant fighters. Victoria is injured and nearly captured but rescued just in the nick of time by the enigmatic former prisoner/werewolf she and Arwen had just freed. Now, a very human Victoria finds herself in The Woodlands realm at the mercy of her mysterious rescuer with her survival now totally dependent upon the handsome werewolf.
Prince Bastien Blackhall is a werewolf and an anomaly. He was born not as a human baby but as a wolf pup and spent the first fifteen wolf years of his life in his wolf form, not being able to shift. But once he finally managed his first shift into a human, he could then transform at will and never forced into wolf form each and every night like his brethren. His father had been the leader of The Woodlands Realm Blackhall Tribe until recently when Bastien was forced to witness the murder of his entire family at the hands of The Hunters aka IBSI. Inexplicably, Bastien was not killed but captured, beaten and forced into a cage with no hope of escape - until an unknown and very lovely young human woman appears, seemingly determined to rescue him. When the young woman is injured and nearly captured herself, he knows he must help her. And it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that she's very beautiful and also smells absolutely delicious. Oh my! A new romance is born and here we go again!

In Book 26, A World of New, our story resumes directly after the Hunters'(aka IBSI) attack on The Woodlands Realm which has led Bastien to believe that Victoria may be the traitor who led the enemy to their door just as his Aunt Brucella charged. Bastien is reluctant to believe the accusations against the young woman who rescued him and for whom he has now grown to deeply care for, but he must focus his attention on escaping not only the deadly Hunters but staying out of the clutches of his aunt and her unwelcome attempts of forcing him to marry her daughter Rona. Victoria, having been rescued by her family during the Hunters' attack, finds herself back at The Shade, alone and miserable without Bastien. She somehow must convince her family to return to The Woodlands, discover Bastien's fate and hopefully rescue him before it's too late. Fortunately, Derek has a plan to return The Woodlands and liberate the entire realm. And that's only the first step of his strategy to completely eliminate the threat posed by the Hunters. But during the attack on the Hunter base of operations, a prisoner is discovered by The Shadow League. The lone survivor is a young man who appears to be paralyzed and near death with no memories of his life or identity. They rescue him and take him to The Shade to heal and recover. The lovely half fae Grace Novak is charged with his care but all is not as it seems. The young man appears to be a half blood who was not only held captive by the Hunters but also used as an experimental test subject. Unfortunately, the witches nor the Jinn can identify the cause of his illness and are unable to heal him. To make matters worse, for some inexplicable reason, the hunters are determined to recover their missing prisoner, no matter the cost. And the lovely seventeen year old Grace seems to be developing a very strong attachment to the young man with no name. Another mystery is afoot and possibly another blossoming romance! Oh my! Is this unknown young man friend or foe? Will Grace be able to help him remember who he is and how he came to be a prisoner? And will The Shadow League find Bastien in time and free the The Woodlands realm from the Hunters? We'll see!

In book twenty-seven, A Web of Lies, the adventure continues after Derek and The Shadow League liberate The Woodlands Realm from the hunters/IBSI and rescue Bastien from the Trunchlands, the Ogre realm and transported to the hospital at The Shade for treatment. Despite Brucella's attempts to keep them apart, Bastien and Victoria are finally reunited but their separation has forced the young couple to realize their true feelings for each other. Unfortunately, Bastein's Aunt Brucella is not so easily deterred and refuses to submit to her husband's wishes. She is still determined to force Bastien into a marriage with her daughter, Rona, no matter the cost, and with Brucella's new plan, that cost could be great indeed. The identity of the mysterious young man rescued earlier from the IBSI/hunter facility in The Woodlands has finally been discovered. A man by the name of Atticus Conway, claiming to be the young man's father, arrives at The Shade with an army of hunters pleading for the release of his son so that he may receive treatment from the IBSA, also revealing that without this treatment that only the hunters can provide, his son will die. Josh, now known to be Lawrence Conway, is surrendered to his father, Atticus and the IBSA. But now that Lawrence aka Josh is back in the hands of the hunters/IBSA, Grace is forced to admit that her interest in the handsome young man has evolved into something far greater than only the professional regard of a caregiver. Unfortunately, Grace's instincts are also telling her that all is not as it seems and that Atticus Conway has not been entirely truthful in his claims. Grace finds herself with quite the quandary but is more determined than ever to uncover the truth regarding Lawrence Conway aka Josh and the mystery surrounding him. Lies are exposed, shocking secrets revealed, new enemies uncloaked while old enemies still lurk at every turn. Oh my!
Two beautiful, brave heroines-check! A handsome werewolf prince-check! A mysterious young man with no memory-check! A magnificent cast of characters including a new generation of heroes-check! A plethora of supernatural beings including mutants, vampires, werewolves, witches, dragons, ogres, jinn, fae and even a hellhound-you bet! Danger, drama, adventure, suspense, betrayal and malevolent enemies-check! Two sweet budding romances-maybe! That and a whole lot more! Buckle up my lovelies for another exciting new adventure with all our favorite residents of The Shade including a brand new generation of heroes, all working together to battle old enemies along with a few new ones as well. I love it! Fabulous entertainment and an awesome read!

This is yet another great read into the residents new generation of The Shade.
The plot thickens and new twists appear and there is that character you still want to have their fate delivered to them in the epic way Anorra met hers.
I can't wait to see what is yet to be delivered.
The beauty of that first love and how those feelings unravel is captured well and the anxiety of one looking for answers on another and biting off more they can chew without the support of experienced help is keeping you on the edge of your seat.

Book 27: A Web of Lies
The book continues on where we left off. We are in the midst of Grace and Victoria's stories where they find themselves caught in an exponential amount of lies and betrayal that go deeper than they could have ever thought possible. Brucella shows us the depths of her darkness and willingness to destroy the one thing she holds dear. And Grace finds herself digging deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole that holds Lawrence's life in the balance. Get lost in this new generation of Shade dwellers.

Another amazing episode into the life of the novaks although this one felt a tad shorter( or I read faster lol) for those of you that haven't read these yet...you are really missing out! Highly entertaining with characters that come to life. Easy to read and seriously hard to put down.every good series needs to keep you interested and this one truly does keep that hook tight!

When Lawrence is returned to his father atticus, Grace has a feeling that something isn't right. As she looks into atticus story she finds it to be lies so she is on the search for Lawrence. Victoria is back with bastien and they are both falling for each other. Bastien knows he has to return to his realm to check on his people. All the while brucella is out to get Victoria and have bastien mate her daughter . Great read can't wait to read the next installment.

Straight in from book 26 we continue with Brucella’s determination to visit the Mortclaws. We follow Grace as she seeks to find out more about Lawrence, and Victoria as she nurses Bastian back to health. Then of course there’s the Shade’s mission to the ogre’s realm, new characters etc etc etc! It’s exciting, it’s intriguing and it’s Bella at her best!

I originally started this series not even knowing what it was about. It showed up on my social media and I decided to check it. I am so glad I did. This series is by far one of my favorites. If your wanting something different, mysterious, exhilarating, and completely captivating this is it. With each new book I'm roped further into the shade. Great job Bella Forrest.

I love this series. It's interesting to learn about all the kids and how they are caring on the Novak name. It's not a hard read and you don't get lost in the words. I would start from the very first book in the series. You will be lost if you don't. I enjoy how it doesn't take forever for the author to write and release another book. Good read.

I because obsessed with the shade of vampire books within the first chapter of the very first book. They never get old to me. I like that the grandkids of Derek and Sofia are fining their own trouble now. I would recommend these books to anyone who likes vampires, werewolves or any other supernatural.

Spoilers ahead::: The way Bella ended this book was very clever perfect cliffhanger. We learned about Bastien's lineage, who Lawrence's father really is, and apparently the IBSI is up to something. Bella gives you just enough to keep you engaged and wanting to read more. I'll see you guys in The Shade June 4th.

I absolutely love Bella Forrest! She keeps you engaged and also doesn't leave you hanging very long! I honestly believe this series needs to be turned into a television show! I love this series and once I start reading it, I cannot put it down!

A lot of action, with 3 story lines running through out the book! We have Bastian & Victoria, then Grace trying to discern what is up with Lawrence (Josh) and then of course, the one no one is rooting for ..... Brucella!

This was a cliff hanger as always! Bella Forrest has continued her amazing gift of writing another page turner! Can't wait for the next book! It always seems like forever waiting on the next release! Thanks again Bella!