Title: Between Shadows (Assassins #1)
Author: Chanel Cleeton
Release Date: January 19, 2016
Publisher: Chanel Cleeton
Pages: 271
Source: eARC provided by author
Add to Goodreads | Amazon.ca | Kobo | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Google Play

Overall: 5 STARS

SUMMARY

A sexy new thriller about love and revenge from the author of the Capital Confessions and International School series…

X lives by three rules: Show no weakness. Trust no one. Don’t get caught. She lives by the rules they gave her.

The Academy—set in London, shrouded in secrecy—it trains spies, computer experts, and assassins. Their mission? Dispensing justice and altering the course of world politics. Or so they think. In a world where secrets are weapons and some kills are impossible to forget, everything X thought she knew about her life is about to change.

They taught her to fight. To blend into the shadows like a ghost, to operate on the fringes of society, to change her identity with ease. They taught her to kill.

She’ll need every skill they taught her, to stay alive. 

MY THOUGHTS
In the heart of London, a covert organization known as the Academy trains young assassins, spies, and hackers until they're ready for their assignments abroad. X is comfortable operating in the shadows, meting out justice when the law fails, even if that means taking a life. Now nineteen, X will soon receive her first official posting and leave the Academy's doors, but it's also a day she secretly fears, for it means leaving behind her younger sister, Grace.

X likes to think of herself as Death's apprentice, a trained asset that's only skilled at killing, but Grace still retains her innocent, warm heart. X would do anything to protect her sister; she just doesn't know how, not when the Academy controls everything in their lives. When X's former friend and fiercest competitor suddenly returns to the Academy, she is forced to question everything she once knew. The Academy taught them to trust no one, form no attachments, and show no weaknesses. Maybe it's time to start breaking all the rules... 

The sexual tension between X and Luke is crazy hot. Unresolved feelings linger in the air when they're together, but their shared history is complicated and not immediately clear, adding further strain to their tense relationship in the present. And while there is romance in Between Shadows, it doesn't detract from X's growth as a character. X is a badass young woman, more than capable of protecting herself physically, but there's a vulnerable side she desperately conceals. She pretends to be detached, cold, and cynical, but deep in her heart, she's compassionate and longs to be more than an assassin.

I loved everything about this NA romantic thriller—from its characters fighting for a life outside the Academy to the heart-racing action of the storyline. The only aspect I might've liked to be stronger was the ending. It felt a little rushed, and events seemed to fall into place rather simply. I guess I was waiting for even more setbacks? But that being said, I also can't deny that I absolutely enjoyed the way everything worked out. The fast pacing created an exhilarating rush I didn't want to end!

With suspense at every turn, international locales, danger and intrigue, I highly recommend adding Chanel Cleeton's Between Shadows to the top of your TBR! And now I'm seriously hoping there's a sequel. I need more of X and Luke. Like right now.