"A Kingdom of Shadow" by Clara C. Johnson

This was the story of Ellyn, a young woman struggling to help keep herself, her mother, and her brother alive. They lived in a small cabin in the woods and it has been a very harsh winter They don't have much food, Ellyn’s brother has been ill for a long time, and their mother has been nearly catatonic since the death of her husband. Ellyn has been doing everything she can to keep her family alive and to try and bring her mother back to herself while taking care of the three of them.

Barely succeeding in keeping the three of them fed and finding ways to afford her brother’s medication, things become much more difficult when a man stumbles across her in the woods while he is being hunted by a very large, black wolf. He was gravely injured and clearly needed help. After managing to kill the beast hunting him, which then dissolved into a black smoke, Ellyn carries the unconscious man to her home where she and her mother stitch him up and nurse him back to health.

Shortly thereafter, more of these mysterious, demonic wolves arrive to attack their home. Ellyn’s brother is killed in the attack, though the other 3 of them survive. Knowing more of these creatures will soon return, Jared convinces the two women to go with him to his world and he opens a portal through which he takes them. But the demonic wolves that had been hunting him were originally from his world, so while they may be safe for the moment, there are numerous other challenges ahead of them.

It turns out that Jared is a king who cares a great deal for his people and their welfare. Ellyn and her mother are given a home in Jared's castle, and seem to be starting to rebuild a life in their new home. However the Darkness seems to be more prevalent here, even if most people seem to believe it is nothing more than a legend or a part of history that no longer exists in their world. Can Ellyn and her mother really build a new life here? What will become of them in this other world where they don't really know what is going on or how to stop it.

This was the first book in this series, and I really enjoyed the plot and the story it told. I do, however, really wish the author had given it another round of editing and proofreading. While her spelling was consistently correct, there were a number or instances where the word used was clearly not the one intended as well as there being a number of other typos and errors. Despite these issues, I do want to read the next book in the series, as I really want to know what will happen next, (and I will be keeping my eyes open for when book two is available), but I do hope the author takes the time to find someone to help her with the editing, as doing so will only make her books even more enjoyable to read.