Marshall’s Shadow1.Sheppard2.Dean3.Oakley4.Rodney5.Heath6.TrentonHarrison Parker had no family and no ties. She was invisible to be traced. Her job with the government was top secret. So secret that she only reported to two people. Now, she was the target and she had to figure out who wanted her dead. Hurt, and laying low, she reached out to the only man she trusted, an old man she had befriended … trusted, an old man she had befriended in the cemetery, Sheppard Marshall.
Sheppard Marshall had been grieving the loss of his Millie for the last fifteen years. He would sit by her grave every day. He was an old man of ninety, and he looked forward to the visits he received from the sassy woman, Harrison Parker. Over time he had grown very fond of her, and when he received the message that she needed his help, Sheppard would help her or die trying.
His grandson, Sheppard or Shep, wasn’t letting the old man go alone. If he got hurt, Shep wouldn’t be able to live with himself. Even though the Marshall men were jaguars, that didn’t mean the old man couldn’t get into a situation that got him hurt or possibly killed.
The bullet had gone clear through, but the poison it had been laced with left Harrison with a high fever and near death. Shep didn’t know what this woman was into, but he knew two things—she was dangerous, and she was his mate. What kind of mess had the old man gotten him into now?
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His wife had died fifteen years ago and Shephard has spent every day of those years sitting by her grave talking to the woman he loved. That’s how he met Harrison. Her visits were never planned and he knew she was in some type of military position but he didn’t know much else about the woman except she was blatantly outspoken and he had become attached to her. Then the day came when she told him she needed to leave and once again, had no idea if she would make it back but if she did she wanted Shephard to start living his life again or she would have no choice but to dig a hole next to his wife and bury him beside her. This first book in the “Marshall’s Shadow” series is the beginning story of Sheppard Marshall and his family, specifically his six grandsons, beginning with the oldest who is also named Sheppard but goes by Shep. There are several things I love about Kathi S. Barton’s books. There is always an intriguing story with an intricate plot wove that keeps my interest peaked. Because the characters are all shifters of some kind of a vampire here or there, that comes with a fated mate, heated chemistry, and love and loyalty that is unmatched. I fell in love with these Jaguar Shifters and I’m sure yáll will too.
Harrison Parker is pretty much a ghost in her line of work. She is only known to those that she works for. However, she has made a “friend”(if you could call him that) when she goes out for her daily runs. On her last mission she’s injured and being hunted, with nobody to call for help but Sheppard, her friend she sees in the cemetery on her daily runs.
Sheppard Marshall, or Shep as he goes by, has recently left his job on an oil rig and has returned home after his mother’s death. When his grandfather is called upon to help a woman he barely knows, Shep isn’t going to let him go by himself in case he’s injured. What Shep wasn’t expecting was the woman they are going to help turning out to be his mate.. Now he’s just got to figure who trying to kill her as well as a way to keep his father from coming around and hurting him, his brothers, or grandfather.
I had a few different issues with this book. First, I think my biggest issue was how the grandfather, Sheppard was suppose to be the grandkids father’s father. Yet when he start talking and the way he reminiscences with the First Lady, you would think he was the friends father (the mother to the grandkids). My second issue was unlike some of Kathi’s other books, I didn’t feel the connection between Shep and Harrison. It seemed more of a forced connection and relationship and that just makes me feel uncomfortable and not like I’m actually getting to see the character fall in love.
**I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book**