seriously romantic: lady of silver by shona husk

this paranormal romance introduces us to the race of supernatural beings known as the albah. they've always walked among us, silver-haired and pointy-eared, passing for human as much as possible. because there are those out there who hunt them. because the albah have some impressive supernatural powers, though it varies by individual, but all of them have the power to become albanex, or, as us regular old humans like to say, vampires.

lady of silver is the first of a series, so by necessity must spend some time world-building, which wouldn't be a problem, except for the fact that i think the relationship between detective dale morgan and psychic saba venn gets a little short-changed in the process. dale is investigating a series of murders that smack of vampirism. the cops pretty much know exactly who did it, they just don't have any evidence that would prove it. so dale comes to saba hoping that she can see the victims' last moments, hoping that something in saba's visions will provide the missing links between their suspect and the victims.

dale starts off as a nonbeliever, but the more time he spends with saba opens his eyes to the fact that there is clearly magic at work. eventually saba must explain the truth behind her heritage, and the fact that their suspect is clearly a former albah, one who is unfortunately connected to saba given the fact that when she used blood magic, there was still some of the victim's blood in the albanex's system.

this paranormal thriller with strong romantic elements is totally enjoyable. even if the way the albanex situation is ultimately resolved seems a bit sudden. at the very least there is some good groundwork setting up the characters to the sequel story, about saba's little sister and the albah she's been waiting to meet on a train. given the glimpse we get at the end of this one, i'll definitely want to check it out.

**lady of silver will publish on february 21, 2017. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/kensington books (lyrical press) in exchange for my honest review.