A completely different new world from Ms Showalter! Enjoyable. Perhaps not her best, I think this book just suffered from introducing the new setting and characters and it felt a bit overwhelming as times.

I'm a big fan of Showalter's earlier books but this one was hard for me to get into. I think it’s a case of me and not you-I just may be growing out of paranormal romances. I did not finish it unfortunately. I didn't want to give the book a negative rating so I won't be posting a review.

Well written and creative new world for the start of this new series by Showalter. Both the main characters are gruff and prickly, but in different ways that mesh well together. Lots of action and fast paced scenes moved the story along. Looking forward to #2.

A paranormal romance that gives us a new world for fans of Gena Showalter. Lots of action, romance and fantasy.

I used to love Gena Showalter, but this is not her greatest work. It felt repetitive of older titles I like more.

After two attempts to get into this book,I finally give in. I gotta say when I say that I used to love paranormal romance. Gena Showalter has written some compelling stuff, but this one fell short on me. The period of adjustment to knowing the world-building for this book took longer than I expected. There were a lot of new terms introduced at the same time and was difficult to follow through.

The characters has pretty good chemistry, I gotta say that. But the instant attraction was on another level. Maybe I was missing out on PNR romance for too long to actually get used to it. But it was just weird and cheeky. The characters dealt with their newfound attraction by denying their own feelings and it sort of irked me.

But I have to say that the writing is still great. I like it and I don't expect anything less for the author. I might try her other books but we'll see what happens. But overall, this book just didn't do it for me.

It was a hard one to get through. It is well written and at points engaging but I just couldn't connect to Vale and Knox. The feel was more First Act to the rest of the play. I am looking forward to the other's to be written so there's that.

An ardent fan of Ms. Showalter, this new series fell flat for me. It took me several months for me to finish this book. I kept having to start and stop it because I would lose interest. The concept of this story is very good. And I like Ms. Showalter's writing style, character creation and world building. I am perplexed as to why this one just did not catch my attention.

This new world is designed as a glorified gladiator hunger games using planets as collateral. It is quite ruthless and the gladiators fighting are mostly pressed into this fight with blackmail or threats. When the new games begin on Earth, something different happens. Earth resists and fights back. This causes a delay in the game for centuries. When two innocent backpackers come upon the fighters, the suspended games begin. This concept is intriguing and I yet it left me unmoved.
From a writing perspective, this story flows well. The world building is well done. The plot is straight forward and easy to follow. The characters are perhaps the reason why this story didn’t work for me. Knox is an antihero who has zero honour. He is focused on only one thing, vengeance and winning. Vale is a too stupid to live female with some hidden powers. The two of them clash constantly and I did not buy into anything Vale did. She annoyed me to no end. After thinking this more through, I believe the answer is that the main female character did nothing for me and was unbelievable. Why Knox falls for her, I'm not sure because she is everything I would drop kick off a cliff and be over with. Harsh, perhaps, but still how I felt about her.

This paranormal romance is recommended to readers who like clueless female leads bumbling into powers whose illogical and emotional characteristics seduces an alpha male.

Unfortunately this was a “did not finish” for me. Showalter has been going down in quality in recent years, or else my tastes have simply changed. I’ve been unable to engage with her recent contributions.

Enjoying The Gods of the Underworld series by this fabulous author I'm not surprised that book 1 of her new unputdownable Gods of War series is my new passion. With all the concise worldbuilding, fabulous characters and non stop action it's a win for every uf/pr fan!

Gena Showalter has always been gifted in creating paranormal worlds combined with a modern setting. Her new Gods of War series has a very similar feel to Lords of the Underworld series. The immortals were larger than life and locked in a centuries long battle with the victor claiming Earth. The heroine, Vale, accidentally unlocks the immortal warriors from their frozen cage and gets pulled into the middle of this battle. She and one of the warriors, Knox, are forced to depend on each other as she navigates the War and he learns about the modern world. It took me a while to warm up to Knox and Vale as a couple. Their relationship grew through the trials of the war but it took them a long time to trust each other. I think this book suffered from first book series as Gena tried to set up a new world and introduce new characters. But at the same time, it felt very similar to Lords of the Underworld and I kept expecting William the Ever Randy to show up. I’m still looking forward to the next book and I’m hopefully Gena will sort out the kinks of this new world.

I'm a big fan of Showalter's earlier book but this one just wasn't working for me. I really disliked the hero to the point I felt like he was abusive. I didn't want to give the book a negative rating so I won't be posting a review.

Vale and her sister Nola have embarked on an arctic vacation before starting a bakery business together. Some difficult circumstances lead them to a snow cave where warriors and gods of old are encased in ice - but not for long.

How would you react if you were suddenly in the middle of a thousands year old battle to the death and the prize was your planet? Vale is one tough cookie and following her on this adventure was a spectacular ride! We get to meet alphas a plenty and drop into this reality that is fantastic in every sense. If any of these aspects are attractive to you - you need to read this one!

Be prepared to be immersed in a world that is ours... but not. Ms. Showalter excels at completely fabricating a world that feels so similar to ours you can't help but believe the extraordinary items, happenings and situations. Such fun to read!

Gena Showalter is a master in creating addicting paranormal romance series ever. And she has created another addicting series that everyone will need to start before the rest comes. The new series is Gods of War and it is best thrilling paranormal romance story so far. I cannot wait for more.
Shadow and Ice start off the Gods of War series. Reader get a preview of future characters in the series but we get to know more about Knox of Iviland and Vale London. Know of Iviland is hard man to understand. But he had a rough life that he trusts no one in the All Wars. The All Wars is where all realm send their best fighter or warrior to face each other. And there is only one winner. And Know of Iviland is the best of the best. He fights ruthless. He is not to be made underestimated at all. However, everything changes when a moral enter the All Wars that made them freeze in time. Years past, and they get release in the 21st century. Knox of Iviland gets to Vale London.
Vale London is strong independent woman. She takes a little vacay with her sister. They definitely did not expected to meet past warriors from past time and get caught up in the All Wars. And she unexpectedly ends up with Knox of Iviland. She is definitely out of her element but she knows she got to survive in this All Wars. And the most unexpected happens but she can roll with it. She has the determination and the skills to make the All Wars.
Knox and Vale definitely have a love/hate relationship at first. Their sassy conversation makes the read so much liver. They remade insults for each other that you know that it is going to be instant chemistry between them. It will build and it will be the most enjoyable to read. Knox and Vale are the cutest thing when they come together. I just love them. And I cannot wait to see their story build when the second one comes out.
Shadow and Ice will bring out the fierce emotions as you read about Knox and Vale journey together. Five Stars.

I really enjoyed this book. It is my first read by Gena Showalter. She knows how to write a Saga. I was sucked right into the action of the All War and can't wait for the next book. The ending will leave you wanting more Knox and Vale, but the next book is about a different couple. It's a saga, so the books will need to be read in order. Starting with this one, Shadow and Ice.
The writing is great and the story is engaging. Told in both Knox and Vale's POV.

First book by Gena Showalter that I could not and did not want to finish. There was so much in the beginning that I was bored and it didn't seem to get any better. I made it to 27%

I think this is my first DNF of 2018. Not too shabby if I do say so.
DNF @ 24 % because reasons. The heroine was awful completely unlikeable and the Hero wasn't much better. I am so disappointed by this book usually the author is really good.

Le. Sigh.

This is a first. I adore all things Gena Showalter and have loved practically her entire backlist. I was so excited for a brand new series from the PNR queen. And while I'm curious enough about this series to want to read the next books, I couldn't connect with this one for the life of me.

If Thor, Hunger Games, and Vikings had an extremely confused baby, this book would be it. There's so much that's happening here, that I still couldn't wrap my mind around anything halfway through. There's way too many characters, too much happening, too many details, and none of it comes together. Or if it did, it went right over my head.

The main characters were interesting individually, but together, they just didn't do it for me. I didn't feel their chemistry and I didn't buy into their connection. Everything felt like it was moving at a glacial pace (no pun intended) and between the over informative and confusing world building and the inner monologue, I found the story dragging. I typically love Gena's style of sassy inner monologue, but it was simply too much here. The "I want her, I can't have her, desire her so, must kill everyone" on repeat, it got old after a while. Then there was the graphic and gory deaths of basically everyone in the book before I could even understand who they were or how they tied in, and color me over it.

I wanted so much to love this book, but sadly after forcing myself for over half and still not connecting with any of it, it was time to exit stage left. When you get to a point where you just don't care what happens to the characters at the end, you quit while you're ahead. Hopefully the next book will be more my speed. I took a glance at the end, and I'm definitely intrigued for these two characters. And as for this book, I tend to run on the side of picky, so give it a shot and judge for yourself. I may be the lone wolf with my opinion here.

There’s a new PNR series in town and it’s a hot one by Gena Showalter! If you’re like me and have been reading books when PNR was a hot topic, then you’ve probably noticed that good PNR series are rare these days. That was why I was very excited to see Gena Showalter coming out with a new PNR series.

The concept of this series is unique. It has a bit of an IAD feel to it because it involves these war gods competing against each other. So you can expect a lot of alpha males and females duking it out in a free for all. There’s a lot of trash talking, both within the competitors and actually even between the hero and heroine.

I thoroughly enjoyed the hero and the paranormal aspect of this series. It brought back those feelings that I have missed dearly in the recent years. And I am hoping that the series continues to stick to the PNR route and become better.

Showalter’s trademark humor is very much present within these pages. I like how much personality she brings to her characters, especially the heroine. However, I do think that it can be a double-edged sword at times. What makes these books so fun can also bog down the pacing and that was a little of the case here. But since I was just so excited about a new PNR series, I felt like I could excuse it. Keeping this in mind though, I wonder how my opinion will shift as the series goes on.

If you’ve been on the lookout for a new PNR to sink your teeth into, Gena Showalter’s SHADOW AND ICE will certainly appeal to you. She’s got a great new bunch of heroes and heroines and I can’t wait to read about them all!

So sorry for the late review! It's past due, so I'm not sure how much use it'll be to Ms Showalter, but I just read this book last night (like, literally - I stayed up ALL. NIGHT) and wanted to let you know how awesome it was. I love when new series start, and this was ONE HELL of a start!! I fell in love with Foxy Knoxie, because Gena writes a broody, damaged Alpha man like nobody's business - but also with Vale and that never happens. There's a fine line that authors walk when writing sassy heroines, too MUCH sass and they're bitchy, unrelatable, and you're left thinking the hero could do better. Not enough sass and you're left rolling your eyes at the "helpless little lady" act. Ms Showalter absolutely nailed it. They're a power couple with soft squishy spots for each other only, with emotional back stories and genuine feelings. I loved it. The other characters as well - I'm on the edge of my seat to figure out whats up with Nola/Zion/Bane? Action, intrigue, sex and myth... all of my favourite things. Yum. Thanks so much for the chance to read! My eyes are peeled for the next in series. Thanks you!