Book Review: Shades Of Gray

Author: L.M. Pruitt
Title: Shades Of Gray
Publisher: Red Hot Publishing
Publish Date: August 13, 2011
Review Copy Provided By: The Bookish Snob Promotions and the author
Buy: Amazon

Book Blurb: Orphaned at birth, raised by nuns, a teenage runaway living on the streets… she now earns a living at odd jobs, including one as a fake tarot card reader. Very little about Jude’s life appears normal, by any scale. When she accepts a gig to do a private reading, unconventional takes on an entirely new meaning. 

Life as she knows it ends when she’s thrust into a world she never knew existed—one filled with magic, vampires, and her beloved New Orleans on the verge of an underground war. To make matters worse, she's got two men in her life vying for attention, Williams and Theo. Both call to a different part of her, but one scares her just a little bit. Can she step up to the challenges set before her and make the right choices for the greater, which may or not be the greater good?

Review:This type of book isn't usually my thing, but the book blurb called to me and I had to read it. I really wasn't disappointed. Jude is the type of heroine that most women are totally excited to see. She's a no nonsense, kick ass kind of girl. She's really a refreshing character, plus she's not super rich, which is another thing that scores points with me.


When I started reading this the setting and the vampires and the witches reminded me a bit of True Blood. The characters all share that same "we take no shit" attitude. I really liked that, even though this isn't the usual type of story I reach for.

Pruitt combines magic, paranormal with an interesting family and weaves a killer story. Getting to know Jude's family history as the book goes on really pulled me in. I felt more inclined to care about Jude once we discovered more about her ancestry. (I don't want to give anything away with the plot).

I also liked the toned down relationship between Jude and Williams and Theo.  The feelings and relationships between these characters could have become really hot and heavy, but sex took a back burner in this story, and as much as I love me some smokin' sex in my books, it wouldn't have worked well in this story. Shades of Gray is too action packed with other things to have the sex take center stage.

This book was a definite challenge for me to read. Not because of the writing, but because urban fantasy is out of my comfort zone, but I'm really glad I read this one, and I hope to be able to read the next Jude Magdalyn book.

Rating: 4 flowers