Within the shadows by T.L. Mahrt

Release: August 28th 2020
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Independently published
Source: Rachel’s Random Resources
Find it at: Amazon, Kindle

Emma Andrews’ last memory of her mother is seeing her bleeding to death on the bathroom floor. Several years later, the same monster that killed her mother, kidnaps Emma also and compelled to face the monster. Quickly, Emma—a daydreamer with an inventive personality—must learn to separate her fantasies from reality in order to differentiate friend or foe.

As secrets unfold and the shadows emerge, Emma wonders if she can endure reliving the trauma of her past. One thing she does know for certain—she can’t do it alone.

Will Emma escape from this monster alive? Will Chance still love her after she reveals her past? Or, will someone new teach Emma the true strength hiding within her?

About the Author:

T. L. Mahrt is a former business owner, where she utilized her education in cosmetology, barbering and massage therapy for several years. She was raised on and is currently living on a farm in Nebraska, where you can find her running barefoot in the country side with her loving husband and inspiring children and massive dogs.

After having her son, who was born with Cerebral Palsy, she made the life altering decision to stay home to care for her two children and pursue her love for writing. She has a love for romance and poetry where, her overactive imagination, along with her adventures and up beat lifestyle drives her inspiration for her writing. .

Within the shadows Review:

I was not even aware that this was second book in a series, yet the book was entertaining as a standalone.

The author makes the story exciting right from page one, where Jarrett kidnaps Emma. However, the characters stand out in the story, particularly Emma. Emma goes through a lot, and it was interesting to see how she connects with others. Moreover, I loved her story with Andy and thought they had amazing chemistry. But, I felt she had chemistry with the others too. Although Emma encounters some traumatic situations, I was thinking how lucky she is to have so many men chasing her. While I do not know the entire back story (because I didn’t read the first book), it was entertaining to see how Rick, Chance and Andy want to protect her and are jealous of each other.

Moreover, I found the side story of Rick’s death interesting and mysterious. I loved Jarrett as the villain. He made the story exciting and unpredictable. He is creepy and dangerous, and you don’t know when he will strike next.

However, there are scenes which I felt could have been better. At times, it felt like the the author gave preference to Emma’s love life, instead of the plot. While I enjoyed this, I wish there were more twists and turns. Also, I didn’t really get to know some of the characters like Rick and Elaine because there is not sufficient background of them, and they are not prominent in the story-line.

Having said that, this was a entertaining and made me pick up the first book to see how it all started. Overall, “Within the Shadows” was an intriguing romance.