A Shadow in the Ember (Flesh and Fire, 1)

Wow! There are no words to describe my absolute and utter love for this book. Right from the moment that Jen told me she was planning on writing Nyktos’ story and that it would be loosely based on the Hades and Persephone myth, I knew this would possibly be my favourite book of hers. I am such a sucker for anything mythology and God based, so this book was practically made for me. I just knew I would love every moment of it and even though I went into this with the highest of expectations, Jen smashed every single one of them. This book is nothing short of a masterpiece. A Shadow in the Ember follows the story of Sera, a maiden chosen by the Gods to be the consort of the God of Death. She is trained as an assassin with one goal: make the God of Death fall in love with you… and kill him. But nothing is ever as simple as it seems, especially not when emotions get involved. I absolutely adore Sera! She is just such a phenomenally flawed character and such a joy to read about and experience her emotive and complex journey. I have been a huge JLA fan for a decade now but I am completely serious when I say Sera may just be my favourite of all of her heroines. She is so snarky and just absolutely everything I love in a heroine. And Nyktos? Dude, don’t even get me started because we will be here for a loooooooong time. He is just so sweet and swoonworthy… even if he is the God of Death and can kill you with one look. I absolutely adore him. Seriously, Casteel who? …..He even rivals my love of Aiden and Zayne… and if you know me, you know that is huge and saying a lot! A Shadow in the Ember is just perfection. Right from the start I was completely obsessed with this world, which is familiar to us… but also not. I loved seeing how different everything is from the world we know in the Blood and Ash series. It was so awesome to see how thing fit together… and how so much more makes sense now. However, Blood and Ash fans I will warn you… you may get answers, but you’re gonna be left with a whole lot more questions. My mind was left reeling wondering how everything is going to fit together. I cannot wait to re-read this when both series are finished and see how it all fits together. This book has the perfect balance of action and romance. Everyone who knows me knows while I love romance in a book, I do not read pure romance because I get bored. I need some action to keep me interested… this book was a fantastic balance of that. Swoon worthy romance, steamy scenes and the best fast-paced plot! I was constantly left mouth agape, shocked by what was happening. It is filled to the brim with twists and turns and you won’t know what the hell is happening…. in the best possible way! I just loved every single moment of this fantastic book. I am actually more excited for the second Flesh and Fire book than I am for the next Blood and Ash bo...

Book 1 in the prequel series to From Blood & Ash, A Shadow in the Ember follows Sera (Seraphena) as the Chosen consort to Nyktos, the Primal of Death. This book obviously takes place many years before FBAA, with different place names & characters... but I felt like I'd been thrust back into the same world. This book was simply *exceptional* It expanded a world we have already dipped our toes into, introduced characters we have heard of - & made us fall in love with them. Sera is the badass female we all wish for in our stories. But she's not without her flaws. I had so much empathy for her story as she was always treated as a means to an end and JLAs writing really was brilliant in bringing out her emotions when all was revealed towards the story's finale. It really was heart wrenching. Nyktos...Well. I never thought anyone would take over Casteel as my fabourite book boyfriend. Amazing. The subtle actions and words to show he truly cares for Sera are impeccable and melted my little heart. The chemistry & banter between them is unreal & the slowburn was just, *chefs kiss* If you enjoy a twisted retelling of Hades & Persephone, this is a perfect one for you. Honestly this book destroyed all my expectations, leaving me a puddle of book hangover mess that I don't know how I'll ever recover from. Well, I do... But it'll have to wait until March when TWOTQ comes out. Time for a reread already I think!

A Shadow in the Ember is the start of the prequel series to From Blood and Ash. Taking place many years before From Blood and Ash, A Shadow in the Ember follows Seraphena as she is the chosen consort to the Primal of Death. However, she has been trained her whole life to kill him to save her people. Reading this book made me feel like I was reading FBA again, in the way that I was so gripped and into this book. This was just an extraordinary book, as I knew it would be, that's set in a magical fantasy world. I was a little worried it might be to similar to FBA but even though it is set in the FBA world with similarities it's it own book, with its own characters. As always it was so well written, and I struggled to put it down. There's so many unexpected moments that you think you've worked out then BAM there's another twist and you were wrong. ASITE was teased as an Hades and Persephone retelling without the kidnapping which is one of my favourite retellings to read so I was extra excited. JLA did not disappoint! You had the elements of Hades and Persephone, but it wasn't the main story of the book. You have the widely loved 'I was supposed to kill you' trope which I loved and an epic slowburn romance. Sera has become one of my favourite heroine's. She's a badass character that has been given the task of saving her people, even if it wasn't her choice. Sera is a kickass and impulsive characters but she is also caring and wants what's best for her people. She's been trained her whole life in the art of killing and seduction to seduce and kill the Primal of Death and you can tell she excelled at that. She definitely has similarities to Poppy from FBA and the same stabby trait (which I loved) but she is also her own character. Her childhood and family made me so sad for her, she's been made invisible to everyone and shut out and I really felt for her. She wasn't treated like a daughter or a sister or even a friend but instead, a weapon and a means to an end, and made me want to get stabby for her. Enter the holy hotness that was the Primal of Death, Nyktos. He was just WOW. JLA just has the amazing talent of writing super hot, alpha males and I am in love. He's super mysterious from the beginning and very infuriating but so powerful you don't want to get on his bad side. There were also times makes he made my heart-strings melt, with his acts and words. From the minute Nyktos and Sera meet, you can feel the attraction, the pages practically steam. The snark between the both of them is hilarious. They both are hotheads and they make Poppy and Casteel look soft. Now this was definitely a slowburn and with the chemistry they both had once they finally gave into the tension there was fireworks. The spice was explosive, JLA defiantly amped it up for this book. As for the plot, you will learn so much more about this wor...

A Shadow In the Ember is I guess you could say a spinoff prequel to Jennifer Armentrout's widely successful From Blood and Ash series. It takes place in the same world, just a reeeeeally long time before the events in FB&A. In this we meet Seraphena(Sera) who has been chosen and trained for one thing and one thing only. Make the primal of death fall in love with her, then end him. Its the only way she knows how to save her kingdom. But When that time comes, things don't go as planned and now Sera has to face a new reality, Or so she thought. When the primal does come, he is like nothing she was expecting. The slow burn of Sera and Nyktos was one of the best ones I have read in a really long time. I thought no one could beat out Poppy and Casteel(from Blood and Ash) for my fav couple, but I'm telling you now, SERA & NYKTOS have surpassed them so much and this only the first book in this series! Sera is everything you want in a strong female lead. Cunning, smart, fierce, strong and yet, vulnerable and loyal. And Nyktos is...he's...well he's Nyktos. He's a Primal, THE Primal of death and gives of BDE(Big D Energy) BIG TIME! The book answers a few questions we may have from the Blood and Ash world, and tied in some key elements that we will need for the next book in the Blood and Ash world. It also left me with my pulse literally racing by the end and my mind blown. I have been a long time reader of Jennifer's and the way she wove this story into all the elements from the past and what I hope will come in later books is simply amazing. I feel like I say this with every book she puts out lately, but this book was amazing! I'm speechless at how much this world has grown and how it keeps growing! I can't wait for the next book!

My head is still reeling from this story! Jennifer Armentrout's writing abilities are just stupendous. Her characters are wonderful even when they are acting dumb you want them to succeed and grow and you feel a connection to them. This story was no different and I cannot wait to read more. We meet are getting the prequel of Blood and Ash in this new Shadow in the Ember. Let me tell you, you might think it's predictable but .. nope! It's page turning and it'll keep you guessing. Get ready for another book in spectacular series.