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Shadowbride: A Gothic Werewolf Romance
KILL THEM.
How do you forgive those who have tried to erase you?
Lord Darren is the last in his line of werewolves, his parents having been killed by a rival werewolf family twenty years ago. Now, Darren is summoned to a tribunal to explain his recent behaviour in protecting the woman he wants to name as his bride. Will his family let him keep Maedlynn as his mate or will the shadows of grief that have plagued him for the last twenty years make a terrific return?
"The sequel has blown my expectations out of water and is a fitting (and beautiful) end. I even sniffled at the end...My heart is warm and joyous." ~ Joyce Chng, Hugo Award Winner
How do you forgive those who have tried to erase you?
Lord Darren is the last in his line of werewolves, his parents having been killed by a rival werewolf family twenty years ago. Now, Darren is summoned to a tribunal to explain his recent behaviour in protecting the woman he wants to name as his bride. Will his family let him keep Maedlynn as his mate or will the shadows of grief that have plagued him for the last twenty years make a terrific return?
"The sequel has blown my expectations out of water and is a fitting (and beautiful) end. I even sniffled at the end...My heart is warm and joyous." ~ Joyce Chng, Hugo Award Winner
- GenresFantasy
307 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 30, 2026
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April 27, 2026When Darren, a cursed werewolf, plans to take Maedlynn, a lowly human as a bride, oh the drama this brings to a werewolf in love who is afraid a sweet little human lady will say him nay.
My full review will post at my Instagram account, @sophiarose1816
My full review will post at my Instagram account, @sophiarose1816
April 30, 2026
Thank you very much, Michelle, for the ARC!
It took Michelle's arrival in our lives to make me read romance. Go on, search my "Read" shelf if you don't believe me.
This sequel to Shadow Beast has everything I loved about the first novel, and more: tea, cake, fantasy, estates with books and loveable monsters. And, of course, AGATHA! My spiritual godmother. While I always love a gothic story, this is my second proper fantasy romance book (only to Shadow Beast!).
In Bride, our favourite inter-species couple is tangled in family feuds that leave no one unscathed: Darren and Maedlynn face adversity on a harrowing trip to cousin Sophia's estate. As was the case of the first novel, found family is paramount. I really enjoyed the adventure part, notably the quaint village they encounter on the way.
Now, all we need is a spin-off with Agatha and Mr. Hatley. PRETTY PLEASE.
Sit down in a comfortable chair, grab a posset and let yourself be swept away by this whirlwind of a tale.
It took Michelle's arrival in our lives to make me read romance. Go on, search my "Read" shelf if you don't believe me.
This sequel to Shadow Beast has everything I loved about the first novel, and more: tea, cake, fantasy, estates with books and loveable monsters. And, of course, AGATHA! My spiritual godmother. While I always love a gothic story, this is my second proper fantasy romance book (only to Shadow Beast!).
In Bride, our favourite inter-species couple is tangled in family feuds that leave no one unscathed: Darren and Maedlynn face adversity on a harrowing trip to cousin Sophia's estate. As was the case of the first novel, found family is paramount. I really enjoyed the adventure part, notably the quaint village they encounter on the way.
Now, all we need is a spin-off with Agatha and Mr. Hatley. PRETTY PLEASE.
Sit down in a comfortable chair, grab a posset and let yourself be swept away by this whirlwind of a tale.
May 28, 2026
With Darren's shadows mostly held at bay, he can finally rejoin his own household. While he is absolutely delighted by this it is made all the more sweeter because he has Maedlynn by his side. As the farm prepares for winter and Agatha and Searle hound their master for a wedding date, the world could not be more perfect for the people in Darren's life. Which is of course when his mother's family rears it's ugly head. An "invitation" (read as: demand) that he appear at the ancestral home deep in the mountains to welcome him back to the world is received. Everyone knows it's a trap but Darren would much rather go to them then have them come to the farm and destroy everyone's peace. Plus he can then declare Maedlynn as his bride and have her officially recognized. With little choice he and Maedlynn set off only to discover that his family's treachery is far worse than he could have possibly imagined.
Omigoodness this was everything I hoped it was going to be and so much more!! I don't even know where to start because I just loved everything about it!
Our characters are of course just as amazing as they were in Shadow Beast. Except we get a lot more interaction with Darren who is just too precious for words. Maedlynn is of course still this amazingly fierce little thing whose calm headed nature is genuinely soothing. Searle is still my favorite (and yes, he does go all Sebastian in this one absolutely amazing fight scene towards the endish of this), Agatha is the same lovable nurturer that she was in book one, and Mr. Hatley is still the giant protector of the estate. I simply cannot stress enough how the first few pages of this book was like walking into your own home after being gone for a while. Just the love that gushes from these characters is enough to brighten anyone's day. I usually say a warm hug, but it's more like being stuck under a pile of puppies.
We also get to meet some new characters Josephine, who is a "deformed" (Josephine is absolutely beautiful) wolf and has been forced (she may not see it that way but I do) to work as a servant to Aunt Sophia (Iris's mom so you know she's a hateful witch, more on her soon I promise), and Uncle Lorcan who is so very amazing and I like to think a little bit of the father Darren lost. I need a book three simply to spend more time with Lorcan and Josephine. I mean to be fair we could have three and four so we get equal time with both of them. This is in no way a subtle hint; it is very loud.
Much of this takes place at the ancestral home with Darren's truly horrific maternal family. Gods they are all just selfish, greedy, jerks and honestly I would not blame Darren in the least if he finally decided to just kill them all and be done with it. However, Aunt Sophia is the absolute worst of them all. She is just a truly horrible person. She hates humans, she hates poor humans even more, she is obsessed with appearances, basically she's just every awful noble ever all rolled into one. However, as the story goes on we learn that she has done some truly heinous stuff including forcing poor Josephine to work for her simply because she is not physically attractive in her wolf or her human form. Which as far as I can tell Josephine's appearance is the result of a birth defect which makes Sophia even more freaking evil for somehow blaming Josephine for something she has zero control over. Even worse though who freaking cares what she looks like she is such a truly kind soul and she must be protected at all costs especially from Aunt Sophie, who I do not see just rolling over and accepting what she is forced to accept at the end of this. I know this whole paragraph is just kind of a rambling mess but that is simply just a reflection of how much I despise this wretched woman.
An interesting side effect of all of this though, is that Darren's shadows seem to change a little here, at least where Maedlynn is concerned. There is a point where they warn her of coming danger and I don't recall them doing that in the first book. They are still kind of on a murderous rampage (I cannot really blame them here though) but it doesn't feel the same as the scary thing that had invaded Darren in book 1. Oddly I have kind of come to view them as I view Crona's weapon in Soul Eater, something that is inherently bad but can learn to be good.
Now, besides the whole "this book feels like being stuck in the center of a pile of puppies" where this truly shines is the world building. I know this world was magical because we have werewolves and whatever Mr. Hatley is but omg it is so much more than that. It is so beautiful! To get to the estate Darren takes the long way through a mountain pass to a beautiful town called Wulverton that I could not help but to compare it to Leavenworth here in Washington. Leavenworth all on it's own it just a magical German town settled in the mountains. Picturesque is a word that falls short in describing it. For me, Michelle recreated that town here with Wulverton, but it is so much more. There are all sorts of magical creatures that we encounter here from Rock Sprites to gnomes. Thanks to her absolutely wonderful descriptions it feels like you are truly there with Darren and Maedlynn, walking through town and delighted at every new discovery with them. A huge part of why you get so drawn in here is Maedlynn's insistence that Darren describe how everything appears to him with his wolf senses, which encompasses so much more than regular human senses, he doesn't just see everything, he smells everything, he tastes the world and you just get wrapped up in his view of everything. It's truly one of my favorite parts of this book. Seeing things through not just his eyes but his whole array of heightened senses gives the reader a new and wonderful layer of this world to explore and just live in. Once they arrive at the ancestral home we get to see the exact opposite of this too. Where in Wulverton there was so much to explore through him, here there is nothing. It is not a dead thing, it is a void, a place where all of the sights, sounds, and smells should exist but do not. Somehow, that is actually worse than it being dead. Even if the wolves of his mother's family are horrible, they are still very much alive, how they can exist in this castle that is filled with nothingness, I think, is a testament to how detached they have become from reality, how their greed and their obsession with class and appearances have left them with nothing but their own vain ambitions. I oddly enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed Wulverton, for different reasons, obviously, but even before you meet them the castle's atmosphere is all you need to know about these people. There is nothing in them.
The ending was, of course, perfect, and I will not subtly say I do hope that Michelle continues this series. Of course, that is completely up to her, but this family (because that is what they are) has simply been a joy to read.
Omigoodness this was everything I hoped it was going to be and so much more!! I don't even know where to start because I just loved everything about it!
Our characters are of course just as amazing as they were in Shadow Beast. Except we get a lot more interaction with Darren who is just too precious for words. Maedlynn is of course still this amazingly fierce little thing whose calm headed nature is genuinely soothing. Searle is still my favorite (and yes, he does go all Sebastian in this one absolutely amazing fight scene towards the endish of this), Agatha is the same lovable nurturer that she was in book one, and Mr. Hatley is still the giant protector of the estate. I simply cannot stress enough how the first few pages of this book was like walking into your own home after being gone for a while. Just the love that gushes from these characters is enough to brighten anyone's day. I usually say a warm hug, but it's more like being stuck under a pile of puppies.
We also get to meet some new characters Josephine, who is a "deformed" (Josephine is absolutely beautiful) wolf and has been forced (she may not see it that way but I do) to work as a servant to Aunt Sophia (Iris's mom so you know she's a hateful witch, more on her soon I promise), and Uncle Lorcan who is so very amazing and I like to think a little bit of the father Darren lost. I need a book three simply to spend more time with Lorcan and Josephine. I mean to be fair we could have three and four so we get equal time with both of them. This is in no way a subtle hint; it is very loud.
Much of this takes place at the ancestral home with Darren's truly horrific maternal family. Gods they are all just selfish, greedy, jerks and honestly I would not blame Darren in the least if he finally decided to just kill them all and be done with it. However, Aunt Sophia is the absolute worst of them all. She is just a truly horrible person. She hates humans, she hates poor humans even more, she is obsessed with appearances, basically she's just every awful noble ever all rolled into one. However, as the story goes on we learn that she has done some truly heinous stuff including forcing poor Josephine to work for her simply because she is not physically attractive in her wolf or her human form. Which as far as I can tell Josephine's appearance is the result of a birth defect which makes Sophia even more freaking evil for somehow blaming Josephine for something she has zero control over. Even worse though who freaking cares what she looks like she is such a truly kind soul and she must be protected at all costs especially from Aunt Sophie, who I do not see just rolling over and accepting what she is forced to accept at the end of this. I know this whole paragraph is just kind of a rambling mess but that is simply just a reflection of how much I despise this wretched woman.
An interesting side effect of all of this though, is that Darren's shadows seem to change a little here, at least where Maedlynn is concerned. There is a point where they warn her of coming danger and I don't recall them doing that in the first book. They are still kind of on a murderous rampage (I cannot really blame them here though) but it doesn't feel the same as the scary thing that had invaded Darren in book 1. Oddly I have kind of come to view them as I view Crona's weapon in Soul Eater, something that is inherently bad but can learn to be good.
Now, besides the whole "this book feels like being stuck in the center of a pile of puppies" where this truly shines is the world building. I know this world was magical because we have werewolves and whatever Mr. Hatley is but omg it is so much more than that. It is so beautiful! To get to the estate Darren takes the long way through a mountain pass to a beautiful town called Wulverton that I could not help but to compare it to Leavenworth here in Washington. Leavenworth all on it's own it just a magical German town settled in the mountains. Picturesque is a word that falls short in describing it. For me, Michelle recreated that town here with Wulverton, but it is so much more. There are all sorts of magical creatures that we encounter here from Rock Sprites to gnomes. Thanks to her absolutely wonderful descriptions it feels like you are truly there with Darren and Maedlynn, walking through town and delighted at every new discovery with them. A huge part of why you get so drawn in here is Maedlynn's insistence that Darren describe how everything appears to him with his wolf senses, which encompasses so much more than regular human senses, he doesn't just see everything, he smells everything, he tastes the world and you just get wrapped up in his view of everything. It's truly one of my favorite parts of this book. Seeing things through not just his eyes but his whole array of heightened senses gives the reader a new and wonderful layer of this world to explore and just live in. Once they arrive at the ancestral home we get to see the exact opposite of this too. Where in Wulverton there was so much to explore through him, here there is nothing. It is not a dead thing, it is a void, a place where all of the sights, sounds, and smells should exist but do not. Somehow, that is actually worse than it being dead. Even if the wolves of his mother's family are horrible, they are still very much alive, how they can exist in this castle that is filled with nothingness, I think, is a testament to how detached they have become from reality, how their greed and their obsession with class and appearances have left them with nothing but their own vain ambitions. I oddly enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed Wulverton, for different reasons, obviously, but even before you meet them the castle's atmosphere is all you need to know about these people. There is nothing in them.
The ending was, of course, perfect, and I will not subtly say I do hope that Michelle continues this series. Of course, that is completely up to her, but this family (because that is what they are) has simply been a joy to read.
Review of advance copy received from Author
A touching and thrlling sequel to Shadowbeast. The bond between Maedlynn and Darren is put to the test as they are swept into the dangers of werewolf family politics. This is as endearing a cast of characters as anyone could hope for.
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