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The Four-Sided Pentacle #1
The Flame and the Shadow
A sizzling new fantasy series from a hot new talent. Some are drawn to the light. Some are drawn to the dark. Some desire both Grayson of Concordia, known on countless worlds as the Duke of Ombra, is a mercenary, a sorcerer of shadowsa man whose soul is consumed by darkness. For Gray, the bleak savagery in his heart is manifest in an entity he calls Shad. He has long resisted Shads enticements, but when he is hired to kidnap a fire witch, he seizes the chance to restore his soulno matter the cost. Cendas heart is ash. Since the death of her precious baby daughter, life has lost all meaning for the fire witch. Slowly, she has worked to master her powers and go on living. But when she encounters Gray, her will is no match for her desire. But her love may not survive the terrible discovery of Grays betrayal
400 pages, ebook
First published October 30, 2008
4 people are currently reading
570 people want to read
About the author
Denise Rossetti
24 books222 followersWhen I was very small, I had an aunt who would tell me the most wonderful fairy tales - all original. I grew up, as little girls do, but the magic of story still dazzles and enthralls me. On the good days, I like to think of myself as Scheherazade's sister. On the bad days - not so much.
I remain an incurable romantic who loves happy endings, heart-pounding adventure and the eventual triumph of good over evil. All hail the guys in the white hats - unless the ones wearing black are more...um...interesting?
I live in a comfortable, messy old house in the Australian suburbs. I'm small, noisy and tend to wave my hands around a lot, which can be unfortunate if the tale I'm telling happens to have explosions in it.
I remain an incurable romantic who loves happy endings, heart-pounding adventure and the eventual triumph of good over evil. All hail the guys in the white hats - unless the ones wearing black are more...um...interesting?
I live in a comfortable, messy old house in the Australian suburbs. I'm small, noisy and tend to wave my hands around a lot, which can be unfortunate if the tale I'm telling happens to have explosions in it.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
June 15, 2009
Erotica about a man, his shadow and the woman who loves them both. *cue music* Dun dun DUN!
October 20, 2009
4 1/2 STARS!!
Grayson of Concordia, the Duke of Ombra, is a man driven by pain and self-hatred. A sorcerer of shadows, Gray was condemned by his once loving family as an abomination. He escaped their cruel betrayal only to have his innocence torn brutally from him soon after. Now years later, Gray has developed into a man of pure distrust of all others, even of himself. Despising what he must do, Gray has stooped to the promise of delivering an innocent to her doom in order to gain the chance to rid himself of the evil within his soul. But anything is better than the life he's living. To have peace within his mind and his heart is a dream that's a bare inch from reality. All he must do is procure and deliver a fire witch and his shadow, the evil abomination that haunts his every step, will be eradicated.
Cenda, having lost her heart with the death of her young daughter, has ceased to truly live. Locking herself away with her desolation and grief, Cenda finds eventual solace with the never-ending burn of the fire in her hut. Thinking herself mad when tiny salamanders come crawling tentatively from the glowing embers to scramble up her body to curl about her wrists and perch in her hair, Cenda discovers a new gift. Somehow the burning fever that had raged through her and ultimately killed her baby, gifted Cenda with the element of fire. The writhing flames don't burn her and her new found fiery friends offer her much needed comfort and strength. Now, where she'd once been clumsy and the controller of minute Magick, Cenda has the potential to exert immeasurable power. If she can learn to control it.
Traveling with the Unearthly Opera from Concordia, Grayson arrives at Sybaris the Pleasure Planet, nick-named after its gaming hells and brothels, with every intention of seducing the fire witch and taking her forcefully, if necessary, back to Concordia and to his promise of salvation. But from the first glance, he's in an agonizing war over his decision and his all consuming need to finally be free.
Cenda isn't necessarily beautiful. Her tall body is gaunt, flesh stretched tight over bones, hollowed cheeks with dark smudges beneath her golden brown eyes but her graceful movements and waist-length ebony hair are hypnotizing. Soon the seducer is seduced when shy kisses turn to raging lust. Cenda's obvious innocence entrances Gray's soul while her pain filled eyes cry out to the primitive part of him that recognizes the need to protect and cherish making his eventual betrayal all the more agonizing.
Cenda was enthralled the moment she spotted the Duke of Ombra hidden within the shadows of the stage at The Treasure. His haunting talent with the harp and heartbreaking tenor awakens her soul, stripping free her self imposed incarceration and filling her with life and hunger. When he comes to her after his performance, she has much to be suspicious of for she's not beautiful and the gorgeous man before her can obviously have his pick but his skilled kisses has lust surging to the surface and all she can think about is easing the painful ache of need and desire that has culminated alarmingly within her. Wary of the Duke's attention, but in desperate need of what his body promises, Cenda rationalizes that he'll be leaving soon with his troupe and dives head first into a night of unrestrained passion. Gray's insistence that she see him again is met in the affirmative but what Cenda is hoping is merely a fling, turns into uncontrolled love and a race to stay alive.
To Gray's horror, he's not the only one looking to capture the fire witch. The Technomage, a group of scientists that selfishly horde their knowledge from the peoples of Magick, have dispatched, in addition to Gray, a man of indescribable evil to capture Cenda. Apparently the Technomage Primus believed a back up plan was in order. Gray can only cringe at the thought of the horrible experiments that will undoubtedly be inflicted upon her and the man that he has made delivery arrangements with will surely lead Cenda down the same path, but Gray is much more merciful than the horror that tracks her now. Convincing himself that he's the lesser of two evils, Gray continues on with his plan of seduction and extraction.
When events and circumstances force Cenda to use her fire Magick, the once clumsy witch learns great control over the infinite power within her grasp. But with that power comes a price, one that Cenda despairs having paid for. With each new use discovered, Cenda begins to understand the desire of the factions scrambling to capture her for she can easily be molded into a weapon of untold destruction.
To Gray's eternal amazement, once Cenda discovers that his shadow is separate from him, but also intrinsically a part of him, she's not scared but rather entranced. Before his stunned eyes, she embraces that terrible side of him, holds him close and gives herself up at the same time. No one has ever embraced Gray so fully, so wondrously and without reservations or judgement. While his mind is still jealous and abhorred by the abomination of his shadow, he's slowly coming to accept that maybe he can be complete with Cenda and his shadow. But before he can make a decision on what do with his fire witch and his delivery promise they are suddenly betrayed and Cenda and Gray are captured by the Technomages.
The sterility of the labs and the twisted fascination of the scientists is nauseating. They want to learn about Cenda's power, how its triggered and if its reproducible. But worst of all, Gray's plan of betrayal is unveiled. Helpless and knowing that mere words won't make right his once plan to betray Cenda, Gray decides that the least he can do is bust them both from their sterile prison and take his fire witch, the woman he has come to love, some where safe even if it costs him his life.
THE FLAME AND THE SHADOW is an intense and epic journey of two people learning about themselves and bridging the canyons of despair that have been dug ruthlessly over time. Whether those canyons were created by self-loathing or the agonizing pain of loss, Gray and Cenda both come to terms with who they are and how to once again be free to love. Its a story filled with betrayal, flaring passion, corroding deceit with the end of the day being saved by the truest form of love.
Cenda, although a woman of forty-one years, really undergoes a coming of age journey in THE FLAME AND THE SHADOW. She's lived a life of carefree innocence. Even the loss of her child couldn't shake her naivete. She's the perfect inhabitant for the gift of fire for no amount of evil stains her soul, nor will it ever. Cenda also embodies the unfailing ability of acceptance and this is especially significant in Gray's case. He's a man that has been rejected so horribly by the ones he loved that his self worth is less than zero. To have Cenda accept all the crevices of his soul allowed him to open his heart for the first time since childhood.
Gray encompasses nearly all my favorite hero attributes. He's dark and dangerous. Skillful and passionate and when the right woman finally comes along, he'll risk his very life to see her happy. Sigh... His story is more than tragic and my heart wept when his past is fully uncovered. They way Rossetti wrote the unveiling of his dark past was incredible. She instilled excruciating build up and dropped the axe quickly with an echoing finality that leaves you breathless. I even had to walk away from the story for the evening after that.
The worldbuilding isn't anywhere near overwhelming. Instead of a monologue of the world and its inhabitants (which is so common and tedious), the elements of Rossetti's Four-Sided Pentacle universe are conveyed mostly via language. Within the opening chapter, Cenda's thoughts and expressions whisk you immediately to another world without question. Then slowly, as circumstances permit, you become immersed in an incredibly beautiful and fascinating land. In my mind's eye, I saw a colorful world of rainbow lakes offset by stark sterility that is then breached by raging volcanoes and feather forests. Rossetti also shed light on the fact that no environment is safe from the presence of mankind whether they be founded in Magick or science.
Despite all my love for THE FLAME AND THE SHADOW, there was one scene that made me sneer a bit at the heroine. Although her anger over Gray's revealed betrayal was justified, I thought she stooped a bit low with one cutting remark that I can't forget. I would have been fine with her anger, but I couldn't forget what she said to Gray and I thought he deserved a better apology given what she knew of him and his self-loathing. I never thought her cruel until that moment and it made me hesitate, enough so that I couldn't give the book an A grade. It might sound silly, but that was just my feeling. But otherwise it was an exhilarating and passionate read, one that I most definitely recommend especially if you like your romance on the steamy side.
Grayson of Concordia, the Duke of Ombra, is a man driven by pain and self-hatred. A sorcerer of shadows, Gray was condemned by his once loving family as an abomination. He escaped their cruel betrayal only to have his innocence torn brutally from him soon after. Now years later, Gray has developed into a man of pure distrust of all others, even of himself. Despising what he must do, Gray has stooped to the promise of delivering an innocent to her doom in order to gain the chance to rid himself of the evil within his soul. But anything is better than the life he's living. To have peace within his mind and his heart is a dream that's a bare inch from reality. All he must do is procure and deliver a fire witch and his shadow, the evil abomination that haunts his every step, will be eradicated.
Cenda, having lost her heart with the death of her young daughter, has ceased to truly live. Locking herself away with her desolation and grief, Cenda finds eventual solace with the never-ending burn of the fire in her hut. Thinking herself mad when tiny salamanders come crawling tentatively from the glowing embers to scramble up her body to curl about her wrists and perch in her hair, Cenda discovers a new gift. Somehow the burning fever that had raged through her and ultimately killed her baby, gifted Cenda with the element of fire. The writhing flames don't burn her and her new found fiery friends offer her much needed comfort and strength. Now, where she'd once been clumsy and the controller of minute Magick, Cenda has the potential to exert immeasurable power. If she can learn to control it.
Traveling with the Unearthly Opera from Concordia, Grayson arrives at Sybaris the Pleasure Planet, nick-named after its gaming hells and brothels, with every intention of seducing the fire witch and taking her forcefully, if necessary, back to Concordia and to his promise of salvation. But from the first glance, he's in an agonizing war over his decision and his all consuming need to finally be free.
Cenda isn't necessarily beautiful. Her tall body is gaunt, flesh stretched tight over bones, hollowed cheeks with dark smudges beneath her golden brown eyes but her graceful movements and waist-length ebony hair are hypnotizing. Soon the seducer is seduced when shy kisses turn to raging lust. Cenda's obvious innocence entrances Gray's soul while her pain filled eyes cry out to the primitive part of him that recognizes the need to protect and cherish making his eventual betrayal all the more agonizing.
Cenda was enthralled the moment she spotted the Duke of Ombra hidden within the shadows of the stage at The Treasure. His haunting talent with the harp and heartbreaking tenor awakens her soul, stripping free her self imposed incarceration and filling her with life and hunger. When he comes to her after his performance, she has much to be suspicious of for she's not beautiful and the gorgeous man before her can obviously have his pick but his skilled kisses has lust surging to the surface and all she can think about is easing the painful ache of need and desire that has culminated alarmingly within her. Wary of the Duke's attention, but in desperate need of what his body promises, Cenda rationalizes that he'll be leaving soon with his troupe and dives head first into a night of unrestrained passion. Gray's insistence that she see him again is met in the affirmative but what Cenda is hoping is merely a fling, turns into uncontrolled love and a race to stay alive.
To Gray's horror, he's not the only one looking to capture the fire witch. The Technomage, a group of scientists that selfishly horde their knowledge from the peoples of Magick, have dispatched, in addition to Gray, a man of indescribable evil to capture Cenda. Apparently the Technomage Primus believed a back up plan was in order. Gray can only cringe at the thought of the horrible experiments that will undoubtedly be inflicted upon her and the man that he has made delivery arrangements with will surely lead Cenda down the same path, but Gray is much more merciful than the horror that tracks her now. Convincing himself that he's the lesser of two evils, Gray continues on with his plan of seduction and extraction.
When events and circumstances force Cenda to use her fire Magick, the once clumsy witch learns great control over the infinite power within her grasp. But with that power comes a price, one that Cenda despairs having paid for. With each new use discovered, Cenda begins to understand the desire of the factions scrambling to capture her for she can easily be molded into a weapon of untold destruction.
To Gray's eternal amazement, once Cenda discovers that his shadow is separate from him, but also intrinsically a part of him, she's not scared but rather entranced. Before his stunned eyes, she embraces that terrible side of him, holds him close and gives herself up at the same time. No one has ever embraced Gray so fully, so wondrously and without reservations or judgement. While his mind is still jealous and abhorred by the abomination of his shadow, he's slowly coming to accept that maybe he can be complete with Cenda and his shadow. But before he can make a decision on what do with his fire witch and his delivery promise they are suddenly betrayed and Cenda and Gray are captured by the Technomages.
The sterility of the labs and the twisted fascination of the scientists is nauseating. They want to learn about Cenda's power, how its triggered and if its reproducible. But worst of all, Gray's plan of betrayal is unveiled. Helpless and knowing that mere words won't make right his once plan to betray Cenda, Gray decides that the least he can do is bust them both from their sterile prison and take his fire witch, the woman he has come to love, some where safe even if it costs him his life.
THE FLAME AND THE SHADOW is an intense and epic journey of two people learning about themselves and bridging the canyons of despair that have been dug ruthlessly over time. Whether those canyons were created by self-loathing or the agonizing pain of loss, Gray and Cenda both come to terms with who they are and how to once again be free to love. Its a story filled with betrayal, flaring passion, corroding deceit with the end of the day being saved by the truest form of love.
Cenda, although a woman of forty-one years, really undergoes a coming of age journey in THE FLAME AND THE SHADOW. She's lived a life of carefree innocence. Even the loss of her child couldn't shake her naivete. She's the perfect inhabitant for the gift of fire for no amount of evil stains her soul, nor will it ever. Cenda also embodies the unfailing ability of acceptance and this is especially significant in Gray's case. He's a man that has been rejected so horribly by the ones he loved that his self worth is less than zero. To have Cenda accept all the crevices of his soul allowed him to open his heart for the first time since childhood.
Gray encompasses nearly all my favorite hero attributes. He's dark and dangerous. Skillful and passionate and when the right woman finally comes along, he'll risk his very life to see her happy. Sigh... His story is more than tragic and my heart wept when his past is fully uncovered. They way Rossetti wrote the unveiling of his dark past was incredible. She instilled excruciating build up and dropped the axe quickly with an echoing finality that leaves you breathless. I even had to walk away from the story for the evening after that.
The worldbuilding isn't anywhere near overwhelming. Instead of a monologue of the world and its inhabitants (which is so common and tedious), the elements of Rossetti's Four-Sided Pentacle universe are conveyed mostly via language. Within the opening chapter, Cenda's thoughts and expressions whisk you immediately to another world without question. Then slowly, as circumstances permit, you become immersed in an incredibly beautiful and fascinating land. In my mind's eye, I saw a colorful world of rainbow lakes offset by stark sterility that is then breached by raging volcanoes and feather forests. Rossetti also shed light on the fact that no environment is safe from the presence of mankind whether they be founded in Magick or science.
Despite all my love for THE FLAME AND THE SHADOW, there was one scene that made me sneer a bit at the heroine. Although her anger over Gray's revealed betrayal was justified, I thought she stooped a bit low with one cutting remark that I can't forget. I would have been fine with her anger, but I couldn't forget what she said to Gray and I thought he deserved a better apology given what she knew of him and his self-loathing. I never thought her cruel until that moment and it made me hesitate, enough so that I couldn't give the book an A grade. It might sound silly, but that was just my feeling. But otherwise it was an exhilarating and passionate read, one that I most definitely recommend especially if you like your romance on the steamy side.
September 16, 2013
Book 1 of the Four Sided Pentacle series
Cenda is a Fire Witch who starts coming into her powers after the death of her baby daughter.
Grayson is a musician with the Unearthly Opera. He's also taken a commission to deliver Cenda to a Mage in return for freeing him from his sentinent shadow. He believes that Shad is everything dark about himself & that he needs to be free of him in order to save his soul. But delivering Cenda will cost him his honor.
Lots of action. And the most unusual menage I have ever read about. Very hot read.
Cenda is a Fire Witch who starts coming into her powers after the death of her baby daughter.
Grayson is a musician with the Unearthly Opera. He's also taken a commission to deliver Cenda to a Mage in return for freeing him from his sentinent shadow. He believes that Shad is everything dark about himself & that he needs to be free of him in order to save his soul. But delivering Cenda will cost him his honor.
Lots of action. And the most unusual menage I have ever read about. Very hot read.
March 21, 2013
Very good world building and strong female lead. Ms. Rossetti crafts her characters and worlds with complexity and care that allows the reader much to think about after reading. For me it is what is the next book in the series. Not only are the main characters interesting and very real in their actions and motivations, but the other characters that inhabit this world have depths and draws the reader to wonder about their story as well. My own time is limited and valuable, so The Flame and the Shadow was well worth the time invested.
January 23, 2013
This fantasy/erotic romance was much more than I expected. The setting is a fantasy world which mirrors our own medieval period, except it is spiced with real magic. The adventures are breath-catching, and the romance truly sets "flames" to the pages. The dark hero is a troubled soul, or should I say souls? The heroine is "tastily" and "wickedly" innocent. A very intriguing match to say the least! A really fun and stimulating read!
March 14, 2009
I loved this book
November 12, 2009
I am in awe
February 14, 2012
I loved this but then I love all her books. As I've said in previous reviews. Her world building and story telling is fabulous. Definitely one of my top 5 romance authors. Don't miss her
January 6, 2013
A man, his shadow and the woman they love. Great story filled with magic, adventure and romance.
March 29, 2019
My exaggeration - - for every 3 pages of really good writing there is 5 pages of porn. Loved the actual story ... skipped the porn which I felt that it didn’t add to the story.
July 12, 2023
4 Stars
Was the pacing of this book insanely all over the place? Yes. Was the rest of the book so good I didn’t care? Also, yes.
Was the pacing of this book insanely all over the place? Yes. Was the rest of the book so good I didn’t care? Also, yes.
August 10, 2009
I was actually a bit disappointed in this book.
First let me say that I love the hero. I love the concept of the shadow, the reason he hated a part of himself, his background, all of that I really liked.
I could not stand the heroine. I find that a common problem with me and some romance novels. I'm not sure why in this case. I understand the character is supposed to be dealing with grief at the loss of her child. However the only real modes she has during the first half of the book are: sobbing about loss of child and being sexed up by the hero. And even though she'd had a child, she was still woefully innocent sexually. I can't stand the innocent, pure heroine who turns out to be a vixen in bed when paired with the hero. Just can't abide it.
And then there is the sex. I'm certainly no prude, but come on, this book is 70% sex scenes with a little bit of plot thrown in. And personally I do not find phrases like "lips of her sex" and her "cute little anal pucker" sexy or appealing. Plus, I did not buy the characters falling in love. All they did was have sex! Sex doesn't equal love!
My other complaint is that the world building is off. We get something of an idea about the heroine growing up in some weird magical enclave. We know she was partnered with another wizard to have her child. But that's it. (Other than the loss of her child, there is NOTHING else to the heroine. It's her only defining characteristic.) The role of magic in the society, even though it's ruled by technomages was never really made clear to me at all.
Lastly, I was made a bit uncomfortable by something very small. Right before the heroine's betrayer is revealed, we get the hero's POV when he meets said betrayer and what he notices is that she's plump. There are several comments about the betrayer being fat. Oh but the heroine, who's oh so good and wonderful is extremely thin. It's emphasized over and over how thin the heroine is. It's supposed to be because she's self-conscious about her body, and the hero loves her even though she's not voluptuous, but when confronted with the way the betraying best friend is set up? It made me very uncomfortable.
(I'm not even going to get into the whole 'knowledge is evil' 'emotion is good' theme running throughout the novel.)
I'll close by saying that I'm probably not the target audience for this book. By reading the other reviews certainly other people found the sex scenes hot and interesting. It just really wasn't my cup of tea at all.
First let me say that I love the hero. I love the concept of the shadow, the reason he hated a part of himself, his background, all of that I really liked.
I could not stand the heroine. I find that a common problem with me and some romance novels. I'm not sure why in this case. I understand the character is supposed to be dealing with grief at the loss of her child. However the only real modes she has during the first half of the book are: sobbing about loss of child and being sexed up by the hero. And even though she'd had a child, she was still woefully innocent sexually. I can't stand the innocent, pure heroine who turns out to be a vixen in bed when paired with the hero. Just can't abide it.
And then there is the sex. I'm certainly no prude, but come on, this book is 70% sex scenes with a little bit of plot thrown in. And personally I do not find phrases like "lips of her sex" and her "cute little anal pucker" sexy or appealing. Plus, I did not buy the characters falling in love. All they did was have sex! Sex doesn't equal love!
My other complaint is that the world building is off. We get something of an idea about the heroine growing up in some weird magical enclave. We know she was partnered with another wizard to have her child. But that's it. (Other than the loss of her child, there is NOTHING else to the heroine. It's her only defining characteristic.) The role of magic in the society, even though it's ruled by technomages was never really made clear to me at all.
Lastly, I was made a bit uncomfortable by something very small. Right before the heroine's betrayer is revealed, we get the hero's POV when he meets said betrayer and what he notices is that she's plump. There are several comments about the betrayer being fat. Oh but the heroine, who's oh so good and wonderful is extremely thin. It's emphasized over and over how thin the heroine is. It's supposed to be because she's self-conscious about her body, and the hero loves her even though she's not voluptuous, but when confronted with the way the betraying best friend is set up? It made me very uncomfortable.
(I'm not even going to get into the whole 'knowledge is evil' 'emotion is good' theme running throughout the novel.)
I'll close by saying that I'm probably not the target audience for this book. By reading the other reviews certainly other people found the sex scenes hot and interesting. It just really wasn't my cup of tea at all.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 7, 2009
The Flame and the Shadow is an erotic romance where the shadow gets the same amount of loving just like his human counterparts. The shadow even has a name, called Shad, given to him by Grayson, the Duke of Ombra. Grayson is a very tortured hero and blames all his woes on Shad. If not for Shad, Gray would still be welcome at home, but since his shadow is thought to be a demon, and Gray possessed by it, Gray was disowned and ran away. But Shad loves Gray and shows him how much by giving Gray a helping hand when it comes to self love:
“Gray grabbed for his shadow’s wrist, even as a slick palm cradled his scrotum and a knowing thumb rasped over the sweet spot under the head of his cock… Shad pumped, exquisitely deft, milking and squeezing exactly the way he liked.”
Gray thinks Shad is an abomination and finally has a way to rids himself of his shadow. All Gray has to do is kidnap Cenda, a fire witch, and bring her to the magician that can help him. Cenda is recovering from a sickness that almost killed her, but ended the life of her baby daughter, Elke. Cenda is inconsolable over the loss of her daughter, even though through this tragedy, her magic has grown, where now she can make fire at will.
Gray and Cenda meet, and Gray is able to seduce Cenda because he is quite talented in bed. At first, Gray only thinks of Cenda as a means to an end, but as he gets to know her better, he begins to feel for her pain. He helps her to feel, mainly through sex, that she is worthy of love and is beautiful. As Gray becomes more emotionally attached to Cenda, so does Shad. But instead of Cenda running away in fear from Shad, she welcomes him to join Gray and she when they have sex. Whenever Cenda is too overcome with emotion, she can’t control her fire power and can burn Gray. But with Shad joining both of them while they make love, he balances the heat, since he is cool. That is where the ménage a trios comes into play. And when Shad joins with Gray and Cenda, anything goes. Gray hates that Shad makes him feel so good, but even though his mind is saying, no, is body is telling him the opposite. Plus, Cenda becomes a bit more aggressive and open to new things with Gray if Shad plays along with them.
If you can open your mind to some interesting and out of this world sex that Denise Rossetti has come up with, than I would recommend The Flame and the Shadow. I am just wondering what else will be up for grabs in the books I read, now that a person’s shadow can have some love also.
The song, Me and My Shadow now has a whole new meaning.
“Gray grabbed for his shadow’s wrist, even as a slick palm cradled his scrotum and a knowing thumb rasped over the sweet spot under the head of his cock… Shad pumped, exquisitely deft, milking and squeezing exactly the way he liked.”
Gray thinks Shad is an abomination and finally has a way to rids himself of his shadow. All Gray has to do is kidnap Cenda, a fire witch, and bring her to the magician that can help him. Cenda is recovering from a sickness that almost killed her, but ended the life of her baby daughter, Elke. Cenda is inconsolable over the loss of her daughter, even though through this tragedy, her magic has grown, where now she can make fire at will.
Gray and Cenda meet, and Gray is able to seduce Cenda because he is quite talented in bed. At first, Gray only thinks of Cenda as a means to an end, but as he gets to know her better, he begins to feel for her pain. He helps her to feel, mainly through sex, that she is worthy of love and is beautiful. As Gray becomes more emotionally attached to Cenda, so does Shad. But instead of Cenda running away in fear from Shad, she welcomes him to join Gray and she when they have sex. Whenever Cenda is too overcome with emotion, she can’t control her fire power and can burn Gray. But with Shad joining both of them while they make love, he balances the heat, since he is cool. That is where the ménage a trios comes into play. And when Shad joins with Gray and Cenda, anything goes. Gray hates that Shad makes him feel so good, but even though his mind is saying, no, is body is telling him the opposite. Plus, Cenda becomes a bit more aggressive and open to new things with Gray if Shad plays along with them.
If you can open your mind to some interesting and out of this world sex that Denise Rossetti has come up with, than I would recommend The Flame and the Shadow. I am just wondering what else will be up for grabs in the books I read, now that a person’s shadow can have some love also.
The song, Me and My Shadow now has a whole new meaning.
August 5, 2025
Grayson has lived his life in torment. Growing up in a deeply religious family and possessing a demonic shadow man who will not leave him alone, Gray will do anything to be rid of this thing. Even kidnapping an innocent woman. And that’s what he’s planning to do. This woman, a fire witch, is kept locked up tight behind many walls of obvious and secret security but what Gray is best of all is a charmer. He knows the best way to get her to trust him is if she falls in love with him.
Cenda is mourning the loss of her baby daughter and is stuck in the darkness of knowing this ‘gift’ as everyone calls it, is a sad and unwanted trade for her loved one’s life. She can’t even control the fire gift the monks want to use her for. She spends her time locked away in her room with only the fire salamanders for company. Until Gray… She is swept away by this man so full of life and love, enough to believe everything he says.
Somewhere along the line, the game became real and instead of making Cenda fall in love with him, Gray fell in love with her. It’s her sweat nature and her ability to show him the shadow man he thought to be curse is really a part of him, the other half of his soul. And now he’s trying to make up for the lies. So, he doesn’t lose the one woman who accepts him and loves him as he is.
I understand this book and realize that it does fit into a certain genre. It’s very sci-fi/futuristic/erotic and while this wasn’t a poorly written book, it just wasn’t for me. It was very erotic, tons of sex scenes between Cenda/Shad and Gray and despite being an avid romance novel reader, it might surprise you to know that the sex scenes are something I usually skip over. I’m in for the emotional dynamic between characters. This story had good characters and an interesting plot (a bit boring) I just didn’t love it.
Cenda is mourning the loss of her baby daughter and is stuck in the darkness of knowing this ‘gift’ as everyone calls it, is a sad and unwanted trade for her loved one’s life. She can’t even control the fire gift the monks want to use her for. She spends her time locked away in her room with only the fire salamanders for company. Until Gray… She is swept away by this man so full of life and love, enough to believe everything he says.
Somewhere along the line, the game became real and instead of making Cenda fall in love with him, Gray fell in love with her. It’s her sweat nature and her ability to show him the shadow man he thought to be curse is really a part of him, the other half of his soul. And now he’s trying to make up for the lies. So, he doesn’t lose the one woman who accepts him and loves him as he is.
I understand this book and realize that it does fit into a certain genre. It’s very sci-fi/futuristic/erotic and while this wasn’t a poorly written book, it just wasn’t for me. It was very erotic, tons of sex scenes between Cenda/Shad and Gray and despite being an avid romance novel reader, it might surprise you to know that the sex scenes are something I usually skip over. I’m in for the emotional dynamic between characters. This story had good characters and an interesting plot (a bit boring) I just didn’t love it.
July 3, 2009
Not at all what I expected but in a good way!
There's quite a few love scenes in this (so if they bother you, beware) but they don't detract from the overall story (As a Romantica fan, I thought they added to it).
As for the characters... Despite seeming a bit naive for a 40 year old, I liked the heroine right from the beginning --without even knowing her, you feel her pain, and can't help but want her to have a happy ending.
And The Hero... there were a few times where he annoyed me, other times where you couldn't help but feel for him, though as we learned more and more of his story, I’d have loved to see some anger turned towards his family/world. Also I’d have liked his title as Duke to be explained more as it didn’t really seem to serve a purpose.
The story was an interesting one, having the Hero’s shadow as one of the main characters was a twist I hadn’t come across before, but DR made it work… and the world she created makes me even more excited to read the next book in the Four-Sided Pentacle series!
There's quite a few love scenes in this (so if they bother you, beware) but they don't detract from the overall story (As a Romantica fan, I thought they added to it).
As for the characters... Despite seeming a bit naive for a 40 year old, I liked the heroine right from the beginning --without even knowing her, you feel her pain, and can't help but want her to have a happy ending.
And The Hero... there were a few times where he annoyed me, other times where you couldn't help but feel for him, though as we learned more and more of his story, I’d have loved to see some anger turned towards his family/world. Also I’d have liked his title as Duke to be explained more as it didn’t really seem to serve a purpose.
The story was an interesting one, having the Hero’s shadow as one of the main characters was a twist I hadn’t come across before, but DR made it work… and the world she created makes me even more excited to read the next book in the Four-Sided Pentacle series!
April 16, 2011
Much more heavy romance in this one than I expected. Characters so far likable though two-dimensional. Plot interesting, but the plot thread that gets set up for the rest of the series doesn't appear until the last couple of chapters, making the set up rather obvious and disjointed from the rest of the book. This will be one I finish and forget. I won't be picking up the others in the series, either.
I would like to see more world-building involved - there are magicians, wizards and witches, but also interplanetary travel and "technomages" who are, I suppose, scientists and engineers who make the interstellar travel work ... the author tantalizingly mentions a slingshot mechanism that operates through the stars, and then ignores this "technology"... Through the memories of Gray, one of the protagonists, we learn about a very different agricultural planet with a Puritan-esque society, but this is limited to certain scenes from his past.
I would like to see more world-building involved - there are magicians, wizards and witches, but also interplanetary travel and "technomages" who are, I suppose, scientists and engineers who make the interstellar travel work ... the author tantalizingly mentions a slingshot mechanism that operates through the stars, and then ignores this "technology"... Through the memories of Gray, one of the protagonists, we learn about a very different agricultural planet with a Puritan-esque society, but this is limited to certain scenes from his past.
February 3, 2010
This book worked for me on many levels. I adored the heroine, a mature woman who had lost a child, and who had basically checked out of life. So different from the usual paranormal romance heroine. Rossetti made me feel her sorrow, but didn't overwhelm me with it as I had feared (I have a kid, I'm a little sensitive about bad things happening to kids). The story was interesting and seemed unique. I liked the author's writing style. The erotica was fun, if a bit much at times for someone who isn't into M/M action.
What I can't figure out is why it didn't grip me. I never felt compelled to keep reading, always found it easy to set down at the least interruption. I'm tempted to read it again to analyze why it didn't hold my attention. Maybe it's just the phase of the moon and I'm in a flaky state of mind.
What I can't figure out is why it didn't grip me. I never felt compelled to keep reading, always found it easy to set down at the least interruption. I'm tempted to read it again to analyze why it didn't hold my attention. Maybe it's just the phase of the moon and I'm in a flaky state of mind.
June 19, 2016
I was surprised at the erotic nature of this book as I was certainly not expecting it. This book is classed as a paranormal romance but it's much more than that. It's set on an alien planet where interplanetary relationships occur. It's set in a fantasy world with witches, warlocks and evil technomages (scientists/magicians). There's even a M/M angle where "me and my shadow" has new connotations.
Regardless, I enjoyed the story though it was more about sex than plot and the "series angle" wasn't even explored until the final quarter of the book setting up future installments. I will be reading the next book hoping that more of the "four-sided pentacle" theme is explained and the sex is cut back to a reasonable level.
Regardless, I enjoyed the story though it was more about sex than plot and the "series angle" wasn't even explored until the final quarter of the book setting up future installments. I will be reading the next book hoping that more of the "four-sided pentacle" theme is explained and the sex is cut back to a reasonable level.
September 19, 2010
I gave up after 5 chapters of this book and a bit of skimming forward to the middle. It just doesn't hold my interest. I don't know how to classify this book. Definately fantasy, but a blend of futuristic for part of society, and historical for other parts, and there's some interplanetary travel mixed in, too. Technology is a form of magic, and some people are born with elemental magic. I don't know what else to say. I didn't like it, but the setup has promise, if you happen to like this blend of sub-genres. I don't recommend it to urban fantasy fans.
May 20, 2010
Well balanced with a good blend of plot and explicit sex scenarios. Cenda is recovering from the death of her beloved daughter and only beginning to come to terms with her newfound fire powers. On an evening out she is introduced to the Duke of Ombria, a man with his own tortured past, who is determined to ensnare her so he can be separated from his "demon half." Attracted to one another, each brings out a passion in the other that only unleashes the magic part of themselves that they seek to deny. One warning: if you are creeped out by multiple partner sex, then this book is not for you.
December 29, 2009
Three stars for a couple reasons. Yes, I liked it. If I didn't, I wouldn't finish it and I did. However, the language was blunter and cruder than I'm used to. Thirdly, she was essentially having sex with two guys even though the second guy was the first guy's shadow, which made me feel uncomfortable in that I was both curious and creeped out at the same time. Would I read the subsquent books? Probably. Would I read this one again? More than likely not.
March 8, 2010
I was torn between 3 and 4 stars on this one. But the concept is just so intriguing that I leaned closer to 4. I loved the concept of a man and his shadow as separate entities. And the fire Salamanders were adorable. I want one! I'll be looking into the next in this series. Eric sounds like a promising hero.
May 8, 2012
The fact of the matter is, I don't read erotic fiction for the story, not really. I read it for the "encounters" between characters, and Rossetti is a brilliant writer of those. Although she has more plot than most erotic novels, the plot is unfortunately disjointed and weak. However, if you want a good, steamy, drive you wild menage scene, I definitely recommend this one.
October 12, 2014
I didn't make it very far in this one, the story was just to preposterous for me and confusing. The man was there but so was his shadow. He starts to self service himself, but the shadow takes over, he hates it, but yet likes the shadows touch better than his own. This one just wasn't for me.
March 8, 2014
Many sex scenes to veil a thin and boring plot? I´m impressed..not!
January 24, 2010
Woman falls in love with a man and his soul. threesomes ensue.
So,it wasn't awful, but I did stop in the middle to read another book, and that only happens if my interest isn't being held.
So,it wasn't awful, but I did stop in the middle to read another book, and that only happens if my interest isn't being held.
March 12, 2011
Two men sharing one body sharing a woman who isn't too concerned about living since her daughter died. Yeah, I don't remember anything about this story except for the smexy scenes between the three.
August 20, 2017
Picked this up on the "fly." Was a surprisingly good paranormal romance read with a touch of darkness.
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January 9, 2010Amazon preorder,Amazon received
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