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| cover from Goodreads |
Title: Cursed by Fire (Blood & Magic #1)
Author: Danielle Annett
Release Date: January 28, 2015
Genre: Urban Fantasy/ Paranormal
Buy: Amazon
It has been six years since the Awakening and peace in Spokane, Washington is still tenuous at best. The vampires and shifters are all vying for control of the city and the humans seem to be the ones suffering the consequences, or so it seems.
Aria Naveed has spent the last two years of her life fighting to make the many wrongs of the world right, but soon finds out that the humans aren’t as weak as they appear and may be a more terrifying foe than any of the other races combined.
When a stranger rolls into town with trouble on his heels, Aria finds herself trapped in the middle of a battle that could cost her more than she has bargained for as a fight for justice turns into an unexpected fight for her life.
I was contacted by the author to participate in the blog tour. I've been into fantasy lately, so I was really excited when she e-mailed me. She gave me a free copy in exchange for an honest review. :)
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Plot
Cursed by Fire is a short yet entertaining read. While vampires and shifters (wereanimals) are old news, the incorporation of psykers, or humans with psychokinetic abilities, brought an interesting play to the story. While other paranormal creatures were mentioned, the book focuses more on those three.
The story started with a case Aria, our protagonist, is working on. Aria is a psyker who can control fire. She works as a mercenary and uses her ability plus her intelligence to take on cases involving paranormals. But what started as a murder case may be something more. Something bigger. And Aria will have to make sure that whatever it is, it won't happen.
Cursed by Fire is the first book in the Blood & Magic series, so it's a one big introduction to the world of Aria after the Awakening, the time when paranormal creatures came to earth. Conflicts were given but no resolutions yet. I still have questions about certain plot threads but since it's the first book, I'm pretty sure my questions will be answered in the next ones.
Characters
Aria is a brave and intelligent one. I liked that she is independent, strong and sassy. However, she can be a little arrogant and condescending (?) at times. I think her character is a bit cliché but nevertheless, I'm still interested to see her character development. There's more to know about her especially after one of the revelations in the book.
James is one of the shifters and works with Aria on this specific case. He's been friends with Aria for two years, I think. I can feel that James may be feeling more, but I'm not so sure. I don't want to ship people yet, afraid for my heart to be broken. Haha!
Then there's Inarus. He's a psyker, like Aria, but has telekinetic abilities. He's still a mystery and his motives are not yet fully known. I think he is also feeling something for Aria? But then again, I am not sure. Haha!
Yep! I can smell love triangle, which I am definitely not a fan of. But let's see how things will turn out.
Other characters are yet to be known as well, so I can't say much about them. I'm looking forward to knowing them though, and finding out their roles in Aria's quest in bringing justice and maintaining peace.
Writing
The story was told in Aria's perspective and in a first person voice. Reading Aria's thoughts can be a bit dragging but her sense of humor redeemed the dragging part.
In general, Cursed by Fire was easy to read and the events easy to follow. However, I expected more action and some resolutions to the conflict. But nevertheless, I did enjoy my reading.
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Would I read the next book? Yes! I still want to follow Aria's adventure and see how things will play out. If you're up for an entertaining urban fantasy/ paranormal read, then Cursed by Fire is for you! :)
Danielle is also hosting a giveaway so be sure to participate! :)
Danielle Annett is a reader, writer, photographer and the blogger behind Coffee and Characters. Born in the SF Bay area, she now resides in Spokane, WA, the primary location for her Blood & Magic series.
Addicted to coffee at an early age, she spends her restless nights putting pen to paper as she tries to get all of the stories out of her head before the dogs wake up the rest of the house and vye for her attention.