Ember by Kristen Callihan
Received from Netgalley
Release date: February 1, 2012
After a fire consumes the Ellis family fortune, the beautiful and resourceful Miranda finds herself faced with an impossible dilemma: enter a life of petty crime or watch her family succumb to poverty. But once her fiancé learns of her descent into danger—and of the strange, new powers she’s discovered—saving her family may come at the high price of her heart.
When Lord Benjamin Archer’s one chance for redemption is destroyed by corrupt London antiquarian Hector Ellis, he vows to take what Ellis values most—his daughter Miranda. Forced to hide his face behind masks, Archer travels the world hoping to escape the curse that plagues him so that he can finally claim his prize.
But once Archer returns home to London, will it be revenge he seeks? Or will the flame-haired beauty ignite new, undeniable desires?
AH’s Review – 3.5 stars – B+
Ember is being marketed as a prequel to Kristen Callihan’s debut novel Firelight. Ember doesn’t really feel like a prequel per se, instead it is more of a companion book that fills in some of the gaps in Firelight. As many reviewers have already said, Ember is more like the bonus and deleted scenes from Firelight.
How should you read this series? Ember first or Firelight first? I think I had a richer reading experience because I read Firelight first, then Ember. I was already familiar with the characters and a little of the background and I wanted more.
Ember gives the reader a lot of background information. It feels a little disjointed at times because it skips between 1879 and 1881 a lot. It works if you are already a fan and need to know more about Archer and Miranda.
And Archer… *swoon*…What a man. What a life. Archer’s story is expanded and the reader sees the lengths of his quest for a cure. Meanwhile Miranda is almost always in his dreams and some of those dreams are hot and steamy.
Miranda’s fire talent is also explored as well as her family’s descent into poverty. Ember also details her relationship with Martin. Throughout this short novella, Miranda can’t stop thinking about Archer.
The actual story portion of Ember is only 65 pages long. Included in Ember are teaser chapters for Firelight and Moonglow (August 1, 2012). Kristin Callihan is a talented writer and I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
Rating
See my review for Firelight http://badassbookreviews.com/arc-review-firelight-by-kristen-callihan/
Thank you to Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for a review copy of this book.
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AH
Hi all! Bonjour! I’m AH and I am obsessed with reading. I read all kinds of books, but my favorites are paranormal romance and urban fantasy. What is it about those vampires and shape-shifters? Lately, I seem to be reading a lot of dystopian books as well. Are zombies the new vampire? I hope not. I have 3 boys – all reluctant readers so I tend to read a lot of young adult books aimed at boys. I want them to catch the reading bug too! I’m looking forward to sharing my thoughts about books with you. Hope we can discover some great reads together.