3.5 Wine Glass #Review of Phantom Embrace by Dianne Duvall

Title: Phantom Embrace
Series: Immortal Guardians #5.5
Author: Dianne Duvall
Format: eBook
Published: June 28th 2016 (First published in ON THE August 25th 2015 by Zebra)
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N 

Source: Publisher/NetGalley

Reviewer: Crystal

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Wine Glasses

Across dimensions . . .
A gifted one, Yuri Sokolov was born with the ability to see spirits, but he knows better than to make contact with them. Yet he’s never seen one as lovely as Cat Seddon, the woman who haunts his home and his dreams. But amid their star-crossed love, a new danger may have Yuri facing a different kind of eternity.

Previously published in On The Hunt.

Crystal's Thoughts:
With a story time-line parallel to Night Unbound in the Immortal Guardians series, Phantom Shadows explores the insurmountable love between the living and the dead.

Yuri Sokolov can see the dead, but he learned early on to never interact with them. Until he sees the deceased sister of a fellow Immortal Guardian. She wonders the halls of David's home and the streets of North Carolina. She enchants Yuri with her endless curiosity, and mystifies him with her melancholy. Cat Seddon fills her endless, lonely days living on the peripheral of the living. Watching over her brother and glimpsing into the comradery of his new family. All that changes though when the handsome Immortal, Yuri, decides to speak to her...

You may be wondering how exactly this story could play out, even as a long-time Immortal Guardians fan I did, but I'll tell you how - beautifully! Phantom Embrace is a bittersweet tale of an impossible love. After all, how could two people form any kind of romantic relationship when they can't even touch one another? Dianne Duvall tackles this insurmountable challenge with flair and precision though, while guiding reader's through a speculum of Night Unbound, and engaging us further into the courage and heart of Yuri. Elocutionist of the series already know that Yuri ultimately meets a mournful end, but that end suddenly has meaning in this novella. Though I cannot say that this story was a favorite of mine from the series as I never quite connected with Yuri as well as I did with some of the other Immortals, I am happy that it was told.

Phantom Shadows is a tale of passion, romance, suspense, and heart-ache. One that alternately had me smiling to myself and gripping the pages. And one that I recommend to any fan of the Immortal Guardians series to try.

NOTE: I read this novella as part of the On the Hunt anthology.



Suggested Reading Order:
BOOK 1 Darkness Dawns
BOOK 2 Night Reigns
BOOK 3 Phantom Shadows
BOOK 3.5 In Still Darkness
BOOK 4 Darkness Rises
BOOK 5 Night Unbound
BOOK 5.5 Phantom Embrace
BOOK 6 Shadows Strike
BOOK 7 Blade of Darkness
BOOK 8 Awaken the Darkness - coming July 10, 2018