The Shadow Bride

By Shelby Mahurin

Reviewed by Alison McCaffrey

Celie was just a girl. Then she was a Bride of Death. Now she has died and come back. Michal, king of the vampires, couldn’t watch Celie die. Instead he made her what she most despised, left her fighting to control the urge to drink the blood of her friends after twice sacrificing her life trying to keep them safe. Because he brought her back and then he left her.

As well as being haunted by a thirst she can’t control, Celie is haunted by her undead sister, Filippa – one of many Revenants suddenly roaming the earth seeking revenge against those who killed them the first time. With the balance between life and death teetering on a knife edge, something bigger and badder has broken through the veil; in search of his Bride and a new throne. Celie is faced with decisions that seem to have no right choice – can she embrace herself as the thing she hates and fears and desires? Can she save her sister and her friends? Can she sacrifice what is required if she has the power to sway the balance?

The Shadow Bride is the stunning finale to the Scarlet Veil duology by American author Shelby Mahurin. Her elegant language paints a stunning picture of the world Celie, Michal and their friends and families live in, while keeping readers on the edge of their seats as that world is subjected to innumerable threats and challenges. Dealing with love and betrayal, truth and lies, and the murkiness between, Mahurin weaves a stunning tapestry where the illusion of heroes and villains becomes almost indecipherable.

A dark romantasy where the enemies-to-lovers are never sure where they actually began or where they’ll end up. And with so many twists and turns through the isle of Requiem, readers are sure to be lost in the depth of Celie’s heartbreak over and over again.

With moderate to graphic sexual content for the YA audience, I recommend both books in this series for readers 16 years and over. I also recommend reading The Scarlet Veil first to get the full scope of the story.

Farshore Fiction GB 2025

Shelby Mahurin