Laura Kinsale

From nationally acclaimed bestselling author Laura Kinsale comes a boldly original, breathlessly unforgettable tale of honour, adventure and undying love. The Shadow is wealthy, powerful and majestically handsome, he is a man of dark secrets - a master of the ancient martial arts of an exotic distant land. Scarred by a childhood of shocking degradation, he has sworn to love chastely ... but burns with the fires of unfulfilled passion. The Star is lovely, innocent and nearly destitute, and drawn to him by a fevered yearning she could never deny - following her enigmatic ′shadow warrior′ into a dangerous world of desire and righteous retribution.

The Shadow and the Star

Saayan

I can tell Laura Kinsale put a lot of research into this book. It was pretty impressive how she grasped the subtle nuances of Japanese and Hawaiian culture and dialogue and incorporated them in the story. Some aspects are problematic in terms of cultural appropriation and dubious consent, but I know sensibilities were different in the 90's when this book was written, so I knew what to expect going in.

I have personal ties to Hawaii and Japan so I really wanted to love this book but it didn't quite live up to my own expectations. I think it's more of a "It's not you, it's me" situation here because like all other Laura Kinsale books I've read so far, it's beautifully written.

The narrator also did a pretty impressive job with most of his Japanese pronunciation. Also, not many can go from a British accent to American ones so fluidly. It sometimes felt like the hero's American accent was stiff but listening to the book at 1.2x speed helped make it sound more natural. ;)

I actually loved the heroine much more than the hero in this. The hero had an interesting backstory but I wish he showed more love (not just lust) towards the heroine who definitely deserved it!

The Shadow and the Star

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