A Shade of Vampire 28: A Touch of Truth

Title: A Touch of Truth
Series: A Shade of Vampire
Designation: Book Twenty-Eight 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 Touch of Truth by Bella Forrest is the twenty-eighth 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-eight 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 27, A Web of Lies, the adventure continues after Derek and The Shadow League liberate The Woodlands Realm from the hunters/IBSI. They rescue Bastien from the Trunchlands, the Ogre realm and transport him 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 IBSI, 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 IBSI. But now that Lawrence aka Josh is back in the hands of the hunters/IBSI, 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!

In Book twenty-eight, A Touch of Truth, our story continues on Murther Island where Brucella sets into motion her deceitful plan to manipulate the imprisoned Mortclaws, coercing them into aiding in her quest to destroy Victoria with the promise of their freedom, and also demanding an alliance between the Mortclaws and Northstones to be insured by the marriage of her daughter Rona to Bastien Blackhall (Mortclaw???). Bastien has now become the leader of the Blackhall Clan of Werewolves and is working tirelessly to negotiate alliances with the other clans of The Woodlands, but his heart and thoughts are focused on the lovely Victoria who has returned to The Shade. But Brucella may have bitten off more than she can chew, quite literally. While searching for information on the mysterious FOEBA and the location of her former patient and new friend Lawrence Conway, Grace is captured by the IBSI in Hawaii and transported to Chicago. But again, all is not as it seems. Danger abounds and more mystery is afoot. What is FOEBA and what is the nefarious IBSI up to this time? Did Lawrencec survive and if so, will Grace be able to find him? Will she find a way to escape? Or has her luck finally run out? And exactly who is Atticus Conway and what is his real connection to the IBSI? Will The Shadow League finally discover the purpose of FOEBA? Will they somehow manage to stop the power hungry machinations of the IBSI before it's too late? We'll see! Oh my! This just gets better and better!
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!

as always bella forrest is an amazing author book 28 amazing..i like that i can read her books within a day time frame as they are that interesting this books continues from 27 and yes grace is rescued but she still had a problem in the end which i can not reveal to those who have not read this book yet...bastians real mother visits him i am sure we will read more about her...this book dealt alot with grace and her trying to get out of hunters territory and the friends she made and how they are keeping secrets ....i am anxious to see how the hunters are going to fair in this storyas their technology is so much greater than when aiden was there, the first stories of sofia and derek. i still find it weird that we are reaading about their grand children now ...these stories are growing so fast and yet once you start reading them you can not set them aside and that is what makes bella forrest a great author her books are not boring and many of her books teaches lessons even in this story we read about abstinence and how bastian is respecting victoria even though he would rather not as he wants to make her his mate...i think when people read these stories you will find that they will morals about them and that is why it is safe for a younger person to read this author books

Our beloved cliffhanger queen didn't leave us with one but two, count them TWO cliffhangers in this book! Two jaw dropping cliffhangers that have made me crave more. I NEED to know what is going on and what is happening. I am so thankful Bella is a beast at writing so that we don't have to wait a long time to discover the secrets and questions the books plagues us with. If we had to wait months or even a year in between the books I would loose my mind.
A Touch or Truth was brilliant and consuming. We learn so much more about Grace and her little predicament. I really liked how much detail Bella went into with this book so we got a better picture of what was going on. You are able to really visualize what is going on as if you are actually living it yourself.
I can guarantee that your mouth will fall open with the ending of this book. I know mine did! Congrats on another beautifully written book Bella. Bring on book 29!

Another fantastic action packed book from Bella Forrest! I couldn't wait to find out what was happening after book 27, Bella always ends with a massive cliffhanger and the wait for answers always drives me insane (in a good way!). Grace found herself in an impossible situation and it's a good job she's a Novak because anyone else would've been killed right at the start of her journey. The hunters have a lot to answer for and I'm sure they are going to regret messing with King Derek and the rest of the Shade’s inhabitants! Then there's Brucella, I'm really hoping that Bella ends her sooner rather than later because she is one of the most annoying women on the planet! I’m really looking forward to finding out what happens next because you never know where Bella is going to take the story, it's impossible to predict what will happen and that makes it all the more exciting. Thanks for another amazing book Bella!

I love Bella Forrests vampire series, I've been reading them for two years now. One thing I would like to common on is the author doesn't have to marry these characters so quickly . I understand that she does it to continue the stories, but it isn't necessary . I also think Bella can be more free in the aspect of letting the characters sleep together befoe the marriage. It's the 21st century . Besides teens these days have sex by the age of 16. So feel free to be more risky please. :)

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.

Totally love and have read all of this series and the related books of all characters. Can't wait for the next book but also sad to know it's got to come to an end soon. I just wish the audiobooks were not all done separately as there is just too many books to purchase in this way. They should have broke it down to 3-4 long books for each series. I would have bought them all.

Highly recommend to readers!!

I was totally shocked and filled with anticipation during the entirety of the book. And it ended very much the same with questions and theories of what was to come of the characters you enjoy reading about so much. I just have to say Bella Forrest did an awesome job with the book and gave the Shade series a second wind per se. You will understand what I mean after reading it. Two thumbs up Bella Forrest!!!! Keep up the great work and putting my imagination in overdrive.

This series is amazing and this book definitely didn't disappoint. I love all of the twists, turns, and dangers lurking around every corner! Bella is amazing at keeping you on the edge of your seat and devouring these books as fast as you can. If you haven't started this series yet you really need to. It will take you away to a place you didn't know your heart and soul needed but once you start you'll be a Shaddick for life!

AI love these series of A Shade of Vampire books! They keep me interested I can't hardly stay away so I can't get anything done because I want to see what else is going to happen! This writer has a huge imagination and it show in her stories and how she introduces new character and weave them all together. I can't wait till the next book comes out!

Books 28 is complex to follow. The continuous story line is surprising in some ways, but you really have to remember who the children belong to in order to follow the story. All of the books are suspenseful and make you read the next one. It nice the way each child is matched to who their parents are in the beginning of the book for a reminder.

Awesome book, another fabulous chapter to the residents of The Shade.
I know these books are now more focused on the next generation but you'll still find the previous characters that you have grown to love from the very first introduction still intertwined.

You'll find some unexpected twists in this one that you would not have been prepared for and some shockers. I love how we're now delving a little deeper into the many layers and secrets of the hunters, but only a little and it's a start.

If you have been reading from the beginning, which I advise to know the characters and the story behind them, then you'll be pleased to finally see or be digging in some more.

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!

More adventure and more trouble for the new generation of Novacs. I did however have to just skip much of the book due to to much over detail for me, I know that others enjoy it so just because it's lost on me does not mean others will not like it.

Bella has delivered yet again!! My mind is a mess thinking of what will come next!!
On a not so good note, I never thought I could hate a Character as much as I do Brucella!! I hope Bella gives her a long drawn out death!! Ugh!

Right from the first page the story grips you, as it becomes clearer what Brucella is scheming. Then it’s off on a race for life across hostile bloodless and gang infested Chicago for Grace and her ‘rescuers’. A search and rescue mission is launched from the Shade, but will it be in time? Bastien and Victoria get parental guidance and Bastien has cause to worry.
Another great read from Bella, but be aware this is part of a series not a standalone book. That said, I highly recommend this series!

Awww, Bella is back in true form, nail bitting action packed narrating. Book 27 was a tad slow for me but still good. I am chuckling as 40 books later I decided to get Kindle unlimited, hope Bella has another 40 in her