The Black Spirit: A Mountain Shadows Novel

by Laurie Rawlinson Evans

High Ambassador Akira Muro has shielded herself from personal connections her whole life. Due to her immense power, her own people feared her. Now, she is a dynamic warrior and diplomat on her final mission. Akira must face the deadly Mors, also known as the Black Death, and to do so, she is willing to risk everything. Her mission takes Akira and her team to the mountain pass guarded by the Protectorate of Mountain Shadows. There, she encounters the man who abandoned her for the protectorate: Kilronan. Akira has always guarded her heart as desperately as she guards the elemental forces she commands. Kilronan threatens her self-made shields. In order to protect her country, Akira accepts an alliance with Kilronan. Together, they will fight the dark invaders. First, Akira must learn to fight together with a new breed of warrior, and she must also learn to trust. As the Black Death nears, will Akira choose duty or the emotional, human life she has always denie

650 pages, Paperback

First published November 19, 2014

Reviews

[SALLY WHITE · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Goodreads for sending me this book. I did enjoy this book, but found it rather daunting to start with. The main character, Akirq is a strong woman/warrior who sacrifices a lot to protect her own country. We travel with her as she meets and combats different characters and problems. The huge array iof different characters are difficult t remember, and several times I had to turn back a few pages to retrace and catch up on names.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this was a little long winded having some 624 pages, I did quite enjoy reading it. High Ambassador Akira Muro takes on her final mission to face the Mors and prevent them taking over the lands and killing her people. Team Kilronan are assigned the task of helping Akira to defeat the Mors and have to undergo extensive training to give them their best chance of success. Having been emotionally involved with Kilronan in the past, Akira intends to resign after the mission with the intention of settling down with Kilronan who she believed had abandoned her for the protectorate. Will Akira be successful or will the challenge be too great even for her great powers? One criticism is that the author flits from using the main characters first and last names throughout the novel so one minute she talks about Akira, then calls her Muro and the same with Kilronan whose first name is Aiden. This caused me some confusion when i started reading this book.
That said, if you enjoy romantic/adventure stories, I am sure you will like this book.

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this novel in a goodreads drawing.

There's an unstoppable force invading the empire. A powerful psychic is the only hope. Her long lost love, a powerful warrior comes into her life, and the two struggle reconciling love and duty.

A bit too romantic for me.