Review: Fireborn by Keri Arthur

July 22, 2014 4.5 stars, Book Review, Giveaway 16 ★★★★½

Review: Fireborn by Keri ArthurFireborn by Keri Arthur
Series: Souls of Fire #1
Published by Signet Select on July 1, 2014
Genres: Adult SFF, Paranormal, Romance, Urban Fantasy
Pages: 370
Source: Publisher
Goodreads

*This book was provided by the Publisher for review. No compensation was provided and all opinions are strictly my own.

From New York Times bestselling author Keri Arthur comes a brand new series featuring heroine Emberly Pearson—a phoenix capable of taking on human form, and cursed with the ability to foresee death…

Emberly has spent a good number of her many lives trying to save humans. So when her prophetic dreams reveal the death of Sam, a man she once loved, she does everything in her power to prevent that from happening. But in saving his life, she gets more than she bargained for.

Sam is working undercover for the Paranormal Investigations Team, and those who are trying to murder him are actually humans infected by a plague-like virus, the Crimson Death—a by-product of a failed government experiment that attempted to identify the enzymes that make vampires immortal. Now, all those infected must be eliminated.

But when Emberly’s boss is murdered and his irreplaceable research stolen, she needs to find the guilty party before she goes down in flames…

four-half-stars

In Fireborn, Keri Arthur gives us glimpse into the life of a relatively unexplored being… the phoenix. Her take is fascinating and in-depth. It makes me wish that this series had come sooner into my life. I have read books upon books of Fae, Vampires, Shifters… but a phoenix is something special.

Fireborn is the story of Emberly and Rory, a pair of phoenixes who are mated for eternity but cursed to never be in love. They have an intense “friends with benefits” relationship that dooms their other romantic connections during each lifetime they live. Phoenixes are reborn as long as one of the 2 survive, and they live a 100 year lifespan unless something happens to end their lives sooner. Emberly is the only POV, and her observations and life are pretty exciting and truly racy. She meets a fire fae, and their affair lives up to their fiery natures and my high expectations.

Plot wise, this book is a great set-up to a long series. The battles Emberly, Jackson, Sam & Rory have to fight against the red cloaks (a virus that affects humans, vampire and possibly other beings making them crazy and vicious) should be action packed and dangerous. The love interest, her ex-flame Sam who she refers to as the “love of this lifetime” and her more carnal and banal flings with Rory and Jackson the Fire Fae are an interesting story.

I think that Keri Arthur has a real winner with this series. The cover art is beautiful, the world and plot solid as well as interesting. I love love love the phoenixes and I hope we run into more. It’s suspenseful, sensual and well thought through. The dialogue is fantastic. I will recommend this to my female friends! If you are getting tired of the same old shifter-vampire-human worlds, this is a refreshing change.  4.5 stars instead of 5 stars for me, because I would not recommend it to any male friend, unless I knew that they enjoyed the female POV for intimacy scenes.    =)

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Maggie

Maggie

When not taking care of my two children, husband and mini doxy, rushing here and there on the go, I can always be found reading. Fantasy of course being my favorite genre, but not the only I'll read. Oh yes, and I throw bad books.
Maggie

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16 Responses to “Review: Fireborn by Keri Arthur”

  7. Danya @ Fine Print

    I’ve been hearing lots of good things about this recently! Not sure how sold I am on the doomed love angle though. I have to agree with you Maggie – this is a beautiful cover, and a definite improvement over Keri Arthur’s previous covers imo.
    Danya @ Fine Print recently posted…Graphic Novels, Tough Chicks: Vol. 3My Profile

  10. Jessica @ Rabid Reads

    I’m so glad you liked this one, Maggie. I loved the first Keri Arthur series I read (it was years ago, so I don’t remember the name of it, but it was about a hybrid named Riley), but the other new one . . . I was kind of bored. I had high hopes for this one though. It will be nice to read a book about a lesser known supe, and I’ll definitely find a way to cram this one into my reading schedule.
    Jessica @ Rabid Reads recently posted…Review: Half a King by Joe AbercrombieMy Profile

  11. Valerie

    I definitely WOULD LOVE TO READ THIS. Though truthfully the blurb kind of confuses me, but PHOENIXES! Such an unexplored topic 😀

    Plus, it’s exciting to know this was actually a really good book, rather than poorly executed. I hate finding books that interest me, and then it actually isn’t what it seems.
    Valerie recently posted…Review: The Iron DaughterMy Profile