A Shadow in the Ember: Flesh and Fire, Book 1

A Shadow in the Ember by Jennifer L. Armentrout is the 1st book in her new Flesh and Fire series. I am such a big fan of Armentrout, as she always gives us fantastic fantasy stories, and wonderful lead characters. A Shadow of the Ember is a prequel to her wonderful Blood and Ash series, taking place thousands of years prior to that series.Seraphena (Sera) Mierel, our heroine, was born to be an assassin, fulfilling her part in a deal made by her ancestor (made by the Primal of Death) all those years before, as she has trained to be a powerful weapon, and help her country survive by weakening the current Primal, and killing him. When she comes face to face with becoming his consort, to her shock he refuses and leaves; her family treats her badly, blaming her for the failure to join with the Primal. Sera is lonely, and keeps herself private, continuing to train as a warrior. Along the way, she meets Ash, and a slow build romance begins, with both feeling the intense attraction to each other.When her evil brother takes over the throne, he is determined to destroy Sera, and it is Ash who comes to her rescue. The caveat, Ash is Nyktos, the Primal of Death, who originally (3 years ago) refused her to become his consort, which he felt he did not need. Nyktos saves her life, and he takes her to his home, to become his Consort. It is here where we meet all of Nyktos’s wonderful warriors that guard him, and when they get back home, we meet many more wonderful secondary characters.Nyktos was wonderful with Sera, patient, kind and their chemistry was off the wall; very steamy, as well as emotional. The longer she spends time with him, Sera realizes she is having strong feelings for him, worried that she would not be able to do what is expected of her, when the time came. I loved Nytos and Sera together, and prayed things would work out between them. Sera was a great heroine, totally outspoken, fierce, a warrior, and loyal; Nyktos was also great, and we couldn’t help fall in love with him; especially how he protects and takes care of all in his realm. Sera and Nyktos were so good together, with the banter and sexual tension between them. I also loved seeing more of the Drakens (Nektas and his two adorable tiny drakens), as well as the fabulous secondary characters that helped make this such a fantastic read.What follows is an exciting action filled adventure that had me holding my breaths so many times. The last third of the book was mind-blowing, with heart wrenching, emotional and many surprising twists; with me unable to put the book down.A Shadow in the Ember was another intriguing story, with wonderful world building, and lots of action, suspense, violence, betrayal, passion and fantastic characters. Jennifer L. Armentrout has once again written such an amazing high fantasy, with two wonderful heroes, destined to be together. From start to finish, Armentrout kept me glued to my kindle, with this wonderful world she has created. I cannot wait to see what Jennifer has in store for us. If you have not read the Blood and Ash series, you need to start with that, then read A Shadow in the Ember.

A Shadow in the Ember is book one of the Flesh and Fire series, which is a companion to the Blood and Ash series.This is the story of Nyktos, the Primal of Death, and Sera, his Consort.Nyktos and Sera have never had a choice. A deal made centuries ago has bound them together. Trained to become his weakness, Sera must get Nyktos to fall in love with her. But is the Primal of Death even capable of such an emotion?Nyktos is so much more than The Primal of Death, and there is a reason his people feel safe with him.He is protective and thoughtful. His sweetness to Sera, and his willingness to give her what she needs, without taking for himself, speaks volumes. And it also seems like the complete opposite of what one would assume the Primal of Death to actually be like. He has a conscience and understands what taking a life does to the soul.But he is also closed off and in need of more.Don't get me wrong. He is powerful and dangerous, and he can be eerily calm, detached, and downright scary. His power is unbelievable and unfathomable.It's interesting to see Nyktos here after meeting him in TCOGB. In TCOGB, he seems a little broken (for obvious reasons). Here, he is so young and humorous (at times), but he is also jaded and burdened by so many things. Seeing him open up to Sera is both beautiful and heartbreaking.Sera was born with a single purpose. End the Primal and restore life to her kingdom. She is fiery, unapologetic, and willful. She is also reckless and impulsive, and seems to have little regard for her own life. And I get it. She was raised to be a weapon with an expiration date.But Sera is also lonely underneath her bravado. A simple, kind gesture from Nyktos begins to unravel everything, and it places her between duty to a kingdom and loyalty to herself and her heart.I absolutely love the connection between Sera and Nyktos. And I can't get into the why of it without spoilers. They are so right together, but neither seems to trust easily - or even understand why they cannot seem to stay away.So many questions from the Blood and Ash series are answered through Nyktos and Sera's story. There are interesting twists, and I am a fan of the larger world building.We meet some fascinating characters in this story and learn about the politics of Iliseeum - where things aren't necessarily what they seem to be.I am very much looking forward to book two!

Él libro está increíble, valió cada centavo.

The first book in the series Flesh and Fire introduces Seraphena to a young woman who was created with only one purpose, to seduce Nyktos and kill him so that her kingdom can be saved. What I like about Jennifer's books is that she's in no rush to get the story started. I love big books, but I can't deny that while I was reading, I wondered if all that at the beginning of the book was necessary, but then it became clear that it was, I came to understand along the way that some plots were appearing that if she hadn't shown all the precarious reality of that realm, maybe we couldn't understand the true weight of Sera's actions as well as everything she discovers later. Sera reminded me a lot of Poppy, although I think the first one was even crazier and will definitely get more development, I already love her as well as Poppy. Nyktos is wonderful, a lot of people are saying that they prefer him to Casteel, but I honestly came to love them both on the same level (if that's possible). Like Poppy and Casteel, the couple in this book don't resolve their differences in the first book, there's a lot of DR out there, but I know that with the plot we were shown at the end of the story, this could end up resolving faster than looks. I think that's what I like best about this author, she's in no hurry to solve everything in one book, I think that's why she's the queen of the cliffhangers. I think of the authors I read And I'm a fan, Jennifer is one of the most creative when we talk about a plot twist, and not just one, her books are crammed with smaller plots and at the end of the book you practice freaked out with so much revelation. In addition to revealing a lot about their history, we came to understand more about Poppy's powers that I almost had a heart attack reading. I hope the second book doesn't take long to come out. Because you can't finish a book like that and make us wait another year to know the result. Looking forward to The war of the two queens.

Once again, I am at lost as how to start my review and this is often the case when it comes to Jennifer L. Armentrout’s books. I’m going to try and make this review as spoiler free as possible.I knew that I was going to love this new series from the Blood and Ash world, but I wasn’t expecting to be as enthralled as I was with the Blood and Ash series.A lot happens throughout this book and even if sometimes it doesn’t seem like a lot is happening, you still can’t put the book down knowing just how unpredictable Sera’s mind can go and you never know what she will do next (when you wish you didn't need to work, sleep, eat or that you always had energy to read).Which brings me to the two main characters…Once again, Jen has cooked up characters that are so interesting and entertaining. She always has some awesome sassy heroines and Sera isn’t the exception. I loved how she isn’t afraid to speak her mind even if it can get her in trouble; more often than not. She also has such a beautiful heart even if sometimes she tends to forget that. Often, she finds herself questioning everything and that reminded me so much of another book character *cough* Poppy *cough*.The Primal of Death is… Wow… He’s honestly such an intense character. I always felt like even if he will protect at all costs the people that he cares about, he has a lot of trouble demonstrating what he’s feeling probably due to everything that has happened to him and because of what he is. But he was such an interesting character to discover throughout this book and I cannot wait for the next book and see more of him.But Sera and him together were such an amazing duo. Honestly, their chemistry was off the chart bringing any arguments between them to another level. But like for a lot of characters Jen has written, she has a way to find characters that will both bring the best and the worse out of each other but who also fit so perfectly together somehow.A lot of characters come and go in this book and so many of them you will love, and others will leave you with the envy of slapping them across the face (I’m actually just being nice because let’s be real, I would have done more sometimes).Overall, this was such an amazing book and even if the ending leaves your mind blown and in need to have the next book in your hands; you can’t resist the pull of this book. I honestly loved it from the beginning to the end and there are so many things I can’t wait to discover along the characters and see where their journey will continue next.Also be prepared to go through an eruption of feels with this book as you are more than likely to invest yourself in these characters and what they are going through. You will be pulled from one to another to another and back to the first feel before you know it.

Ce livre est magnifique ! Il nous permet de rester dans l'ambiance du sang et la cendre.Si vous êtes français et vous voulez le lire en anglais, le niveau est assez ardu mais on s'en sort ! J'ai bcp aimé nyktos ! L'intrigue est bien amenée et le suspens nous maintient en éveil tout au long de l'histoire.Le gros plus à mon sens est le côté enquête de l'histoire.

Tyckte mycket om denna bok.