Jen Jiang is busted. No stranger to death, she can speak to the recently deceased, which makes being an embedded journalist in war zones even more dangerous than usual. Doing a small favor for a newly dead woman exposes her secret to a death cult, determined to use her powers for their own twisted ends. The last thing she needs is a fire mage with a hero complex intent on rescuing her. Theron is …
Theron is shocked when he realizes Jen is a seer. She could be the key advantage in the battle against an impending demon invasion. With the death cult in close pursuit, he’ll do anything to keep her safe. Even if that means rescuing her against her will.
As Theron drags her on a dangerous journey from Baghdad to Damascus to try and reach a portal to safety, she tries to find a way out. Letting anyone, even a considerate, sexy man, control her life is out of the question. She’s seen too much to believe anyone is going to look out for her. But as they fight to survive in the world’s most dangerous place, sparks fly, and barriers fall. Cooperation turns to lust, but with an interdimensional battle looming, survival may come at the expense of her heart.
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This is the second book in the Elemental Mages series a well written story and I hope Xander gets his own story. There is suspense, drama, danger, demons, fire mage, a death cult, a seer, and romance. I enjoyed reading. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This was the first book I’ve read by Rose O’Brien and it will not be my last!!! She is an awesome author. She makes the book come alive with her story building and use of words. Theron and Jen are great characters with hot and steamy chemistry. If you love paranormal hot and steamy action packed and drama suspense then this is a must read for you!!! It’s the second book in the series and to get the full benefit you should start from the beginning a read Air of Darkness first. I will definitely be reading all of Rose O’Brien’s books!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Love this series so far! The world building is phenomena, and the overall backstory that you are taken on has clearly been well plotted out for what I’m guessing is a 4 or 5 book series. I’m quite impressed that this is a new author. You should definitely read the first book Air of Darkness first otherwise it might be a bit challenging to grasp the family dynamics and the overall background.
That being said I was nervous that this book would be somewhat of a carbon copy of the first, but was very solely surprised of the difference in the character dynamic and the general feel of the book. Me O’Brien writes strong women who hold their own and w/great partners as well. Good HEA, my only complaint would be that I want more Epilogue, but given how interwoven the timeline s will be i can see how you might want to keep some of the details for the next books.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving, but will purchase my own as well! a review.
Y’all know I’ve struggled with PNR lately. But this book is the follow-up to the author’s absolutely FABULOUS debut novel, Air of Darkness, so I made grabby hands at it until it was on my Kindle. I have no shame.
Plot overview: Powerful fire mage, Theron, sets out to protect Jen, journalist and seer (she sees dead people, y’all) from the paranormal hordes who would use her powers against her and the rest of the world. Romance and action and smexy times ensue. This is slow-burn, action-packed, PNR.
The heroine:
First of all, this could’ve gone horribly awry for me because I have a super-low tolerance for about 99% of female reporters in romance novels. I’ve found that, for the most part, they are an annoying bunch of women who run head-long into danger to get their story and further their careers without giving any real thought to their own safety (or anyone else’s, for that matter).
And then they have a tendency to get ouchy when anyone tries to help or protect them, sometimes going so far as to stomp their pretty little feet and insist they can take care of themselves. Except they can’t. But Jen wasn’t AT ALL like that. She wasn’t some nincompoop who wandered into the Middle East as a naive reporter to make a name for herself. She was genuinely there to help people and overcome a little of her own emotional baggage along the way.
And not only was she good at her job, but she’d taken the time to learn the terrain, the language, and how to protect herself. She was truly a kick-ass heroine, even though her super powers weren’t as active as Alayna’s (the heroine in Air of Darkness). Long-story-short? Jen was tough, smart, and NEVER TSTL. She was all kinds of awesome.
The hero:
Second of all, Theron is a great hero, even though he ended up maybe being a little less fabulous than Jen. But hey, I don’t blame him, because honestly, it’s really hard for book boyfriends to hold up when compared to a truly kick-ass woman like Jen. And even if he wasn’t quite as phenomenal as Jen, he was consistently respectful of her and treated her well throughout the story, and he was never threatened by her skills or intelligence. Couldn’t really ask for more than that from a PNR hero, now could I?
Everything else:
The other thing I really enjoyed about this story, and this series so far, is the world-building. It’s intricate and interesting, but not so complex that it’s hard to follow. You could read Inside the Flame without having read Air of Darkness and you wouldn’t be lost. The books stand alone nicely. Although, I don’t know why you wouldn’t read Air of Darkness first. Was I not clear when I said it was fantastic?
Cliffhanger-ish:
I will say that even though it stands alone nicely, the ending doesn’t offer as much…closure as some of you might like. I’m OK with a few things being left up in the air a little, because hey, it’s a series. It’s not like you can tie up EVERY loose end by book 2 in the series. But I still felt the need to point it out for those of you who are intent on reading “and-they-lived-happily-ever-after” type epilogues in your romance novels. You won’t get that here. Now, that said, am I satisfied as a reader that Theron and Jen are going to work everything out and be happy together? Yep. I sure am.
All in all, this was a really fun PNR read that I’d highly recommend to fans of the category. In fact, fans of urban fantasy would probably really enjoy this one, too.
Full disclosure: We received an ARC from the author free of charge.
And don’t forget to check out the Romance Rehab blog for more rants, raves, book lists and other fun romance-y stuff: http://www.romancerehab.com/
Emotionally wounded by her last job, Jen up stakes and with a big change of plans, moves to troubled war zones as a reporter for various editorals. However when a bomb goes off and she is seen by an Theron talking to a ghost, she is recognized as a Seer. Someone who can turn the tides in a war being fought not in this dimension. However Jen has other plans, she wants nothing to do with any of this and even after a fight and being talked down by Theron, she has her escape plans ready. however the further they travel together, it seems like maybe there may be something worth fighting for.
My first read by this author, but very intriguing and interesting storyline.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.