Souls of Fire, Book 4

Synopsis: The clock is ticking as Emberly–a phoenix capable of taking human form–races to take revenge against the sadistic and mysterious Rinaldo. The elusive rebel leader threatens to keep killing until he is given all of the research about a plaguelike virus derived from vampire blood.

Forced to reach out to the Paranormal Investigations Team for help, Emberly and her partner, Jackson, must decide who to trust as they follow the trail of dead bodies. When classified information is leaked and their safe house is ambushed, Emberly’s suspicions are confirmed–someone at PIT has betrayed them.

A final battle looms and Emberly will need to command all her powers–or watch the world turn to ash….

Review: I always love all the novels by Keri Arthur and I was very curious to discover this third part of the adventures of our dear characters.

Always looking for the researches on the virus that everyone dreams of recovering, our heroes will once again face a lot of dangers. Rory resurrected, Emberly and Jackson have to go back to investigate before there are more murders. Yet, everyone is watching them and nothing is really that simple.

The enemies increase, others will become allies on a temporary basis and the allies may well reserve bad surprises. Indeed, it seems that the PIT has a mole who always manages to prevent Em and Jackson from getting a head start. Then, of course, there is also Sam … It is very difficult to decide in relation to this character whose nature is really changing but I confess that I am curious to see after the end of this novel how the story will evolve.

It was a nice novel to read and the author offers us new turns of situation that I did not expect. I confess that I am curious to see the consequences of all that was initiated here!

Souls of Fire, Tome 4

Résumé (traduction personnelle) : L’horloge avance tandis qu’Emberly – un phénix capable de prendre forme humaine- se dépêche pour se venger du sadique et mystérieux Rinaldo. Le leader rebelle menace de tuer jusqu’à ce qu’on lui fournisse les recherches du virus dérivé du sang de vampires.

Forcés de s’allier avec le Paranormal Investigations Team pour qu’il les aide, Emberly et son partenaire, Jackson, doivent décider à qui ils peuvent faire confiance alors qu’ils suivent la piste des corps. Quand des informations classifiées fuitent et leur maison est embusquée, les soupçons d’Emberly sont confirmés – quelqu’un de PIT les a trahis.

La bataille finale se profile et Emberly va devoir maîtriser tous ses pouvoirs – ou regarder le monde finir en cendres.

Avis : J’aime toujours beaucoup les romans de Keri Arthur et j’étais très  curieuse de découvrir ce troisième volet des aventures de nos chers personnages.

Toujours lancés à la recherche des études sur le virus que tout le monde rêve de récupérer, nos héros vont une fois de plus affronter un grand nombre de dangers. Rory ressuscité, Emberly et Jackson vont devoir repartir enquêter avant qu’il n’y ait plus de meurtres. Pourtant, tout le monde les surveille et rien n’est vraiment simple de ce fait.

Les ennemis augmentent, d’autres vont devenir des alliés de façon temporaire et les alliés pourraient bien réserver de mauvaises surprises. En effet, il semblerait que le PIT ait une taupe qui parvient toujours à empêcher Em et Jackson d’avoir un coup d’avance. Puis, bien sûr, il y a aussi Sam… C’est vraiment très difficile de statuer par rapport à ce personnage dont le caractère est vraiment changeant mais j’avoue que je suis curieuse de voir après la fin de ce roman, comment le récit va évoluer.

C’était un roman agréable à lire et l’auteure nous propose de nouveaux retournements de situation que nous n’attendions pas. J’avoue que je suis curieuse de voir les conséquences de tout ce qui a été initié ici !

Souls of Fire, Book 3

Synopsis: Emberly and her red hot partner, Jackson, have hit an impasse in their battle against the crazed humans infected by a plague-like virus derived from vampire blood. Their quest to unearth the leader of the group leads them into an ambush—and leaves Emberly at odds with her former lover, Sam, who’s pressuring her to join his Paranormal Investigations Team.

To make matters worse, three local witches have been kidnapped—and if their spells fall into the wrong hands, Emberly’s powers could end up smothered. With time ticking until the virus consumes the world, Emberly and Jackson must race to save the witches, find a cure, and smoke out their nemesis—or go down in a blaze of glory…

Review: I enjoyed the first two volumes of the series and it’s true that I was eager to discover this third book to learn more about our dear Phoenix! Indeed, Keri Arthur is an author that I like and few of her books have disappointed me so far. Yet it is true that I have struggled with this story …

We find, as usual, our dear Emberly, her brother Sam and Jackson and we are once again embarked on a new adventure in search of documents that everyone desire. Although I was carried away every time by the other books, I admit that I had a great difficulty in adhering to the story and even sometimes reluctant to continue. Yet all was not like that and I still had a good time regarding the novel. It was nice to find these characters to see how they lived and what they were willing to do. Our heroes will face a race against time, many parties trying to blackmail them to retrieve the information they could or would hold. The general idea is quite interesting to follow and certain events draw our attention but it’s true that nothing is really surprising or unexpected. I do not know, something was missing and I had it in the previous volumes. This time the story left me with a pretty empty feeling… It’s not that it’s not good for me but it was not up to the others. This will not prevent me from reading the others but I think that it was not a novel for me.

Finally a novel that will not necessarily leave a great memory, I’m not sure if it’s really necessary to read it to understand the full story, but it’s still interesting to find the characters.

Souls of Fire, Tome 3

Résumé (traduction personnelle) : Emberly et son partenaire sexy, Jackson, sont arrivés dans une impasse dans leur combat contre les humains fous, infectés par un virus – un dérivé du sang de vampires. Leur quête pour dénicher le leader du groupe les conduit dans une embuscade et place Emberly face à son ancien amant, Sam, qui essaie de la forcer à rejoindre son équipe Paranormal Investigations.

Pour aggraver les choses, trois sorcières locales ont été enlevées et si leurs sorts tombent dans de mauvaises mains, les pouvoirs d’Emberly pourraient finir étouffés. Avec un temps contre la montre et le virus consumant le monde, Emberly et Jackson doivent se dépêcher pour sauver les sorcières et trouver un remède…

Avis : J’ai beaucoup apprécié les deux premiers tomes de la série et c’est vrai que j’étais impatiente de découvrir ce troisième opus et d’en apprendre plus sur nos chers Phoenix ! En effet, Keri Arthur est une auteure que j’affectionne particulièrement et peu de ses livres m’ont déçue jusque-là. Pourtant c’est vrai que j’ai eu beaucoup de mal avec cette histoire-là…

On retrouve comme à notre habitude, notre chère Emberly, son frère, Sam et Jackson et nous nous retrouvons encore une fois embarqués dans une nouvelle aventure à la recherche des documents que tous semblent désirer. Même si j’ai été emportée à chaque fois par cette intrigue j’avoue que j’ai eu énormément de mal à adhérer à l’histoire et j’ai même parfois hésité à stopper la lecture. Pourtant, tout n’a pas été difficile et j’ai tout de même passé de bons moments dans les parties du roman où j’arrivais à m’immerger. C’était agréable de retrouver tous ces personnages, de voir comment ils évoluaient et ce qu’ils étaient prêts à faire. Nos héros vont être lancés dans une course contre la montre, de nombreuses parties essayant de les faire chanter pour récupérer les informations qu’ils pouvaient ou pourraient détenir. L’idée générale est assez intéressante à suivre et certains événements attirent notre attention mais c’est vrai que rien n’est vraiment surprenant ou inattendu. Je ne sais pas, il m’a manqué quelque chose que j’avais eu dans les tomes précédents et qui m’a laissée avec un sentiment assez vide pour celui-ci. Ce n’est pas qu’il n’est pas bon mais pour moi il n’était pas à la hauteur des autres. Cela ne m’empêchera pas de lire les autres mais je pense que ce n’était pas un roman pour moi.

Pour conclure un roman qui ne m’aura pas forcément laissé un grand souvenir, je ne suis pas sûre qu’il soit vraiment nécessaire à la suite de l’histoire, mais c’est quand même intéressant de retrouver les personnages.

Souls of Fire, Book 2

Synopsis: Crimson Death, the plague like virus spawned from a failed government experiment to isolate the enzymes that make vampires immortal, continues to spread. Emberly and her partner, Jackson Miller, are desperately seeking the stolen research for a cure before the virus becomes a pandemic.

But their mission is jeopardized by another threat uncovered in Emberly’s prophetic dreams. A creature of ash and shadow has been unleashed on a murdering spree. Now Emberly must summon all her gifts and investigative knowledge to put an end to this entity’s brutal rampage—even if it means placing herself in harm’s way….

Review: I loved the first book and it’s true that I waited impatiently for the second volume to see what the author had in store for us once again. I think that I was a little less carried away this time but I had again a great time with the story and the characters.

As in the first volume, a premonitory dream will launch our heroine, and Jackson, on a new investigation. Indeed, it seems that a strange creature is in town, leaving corpses in her way. As it was eating on freshly dead people, it seems that it now wants to turn to the living, and the youngest, the best. Then, it’s up to Emberly to understand what is happening and to stop the creature before it kills someone. But this quest will also lead her to cross the path of her ex, Sam, and thus to face all the feelings she is trying to bury deep within herself. Yet that’s not all … In fact, our characters will also face the consequences of the first volume, that is to say the becoming of the humans into something else because of the epidemic that is spreading elsewhere more and more. It also seems that many conspiracies are running over it all.

Many things are mixed in this novel, many events and it is quite important to remain attentive to the details not to get lost in the story. By cons, it is true that we learn a little more about the Jackson’s past, about the life of the phoenixes or even about the reason for the sudden change of attitude for Sam. I confess that I suspected about the revelation, as well as the identity of the villain of the story, but it’s true that it was interesting to learn more. By cons is true that I was really surprised by the new type of creature that Keri Arthur brought us here and the author reserves us many things about it.

Of course, the story between Sam and Emberly remains very tense and I wonder if one day the tensions will diminish a little bit so they could talk a little more about what they want both. This relationship makes me think of the one between Quinn and Riley from the Riley Jenson series and I wonder if the purpose will be the same.

In any case it was a good second book and I’m curious to see what the next book will present us.

Souls of Fire, Tome 2

Résumé (traduction personnelle) : Crimson Death, la peste engendrée d’une expérience du gouvernement pour isoler les enzymes qui font des vampires des immortels, continue de se propager. Emberly et son partenaire, Jackson Miller, cherchent désespérément les recherches volées d’un remède avant que le virus ne devienne une pandémie.

Mais leur mission est compromise par une autre menace découverte dans les rêves prophétiques d’Emberly. Une créature de cendres et de l’ombre a déclenché une frénésie de meurtres. Maintenant Emberly doit utiliser tous ses dons et connaissances d’enquête pour mettre fin à cette entité, même si cela signifie se mettre en danger par la même occasion….

Avis : J’avais adoré le premier tome et c’est vrai que j’attendais avec grande impatience de second tome pour voir ce que l’auteure nous réservait une fois de plus. Je pense avoir été un peu moins emportée cette fois-ci mais j’ai passé à nouveau un très bon moment avec l’histoire et les personnages.

Comme dans le premier tome, un rêve prémonitoire va lancer notre héroïne, de même que Jackson, sur une nouvelle enquête. En effet, il semble qu’une créature étrange soit en ville, semant des morts dans son sillage. Alors qu’elle se sustentait sur les personnes fraichement mortes, il semblerait qu’elle veuille maintenant se tourner vers les vivants, et plus jeunes ils sont, mieux c’est. C’est alors à Emberly de comprendre ce qu’il se passe et d’arrêter la créature avant qu’elle ne s’en prenne à quelqu’un. Mais cette quête va aussi la conduire à croiser la route de son ex Sam et donc aussi à faire face à tous les sentiments qu’elle essaie d’enfouir au plus profond d’elle-même. Pourtant ce n’est pas tout… En effet, nos personnages font aussi face aux conséquences du premier volume, c’est-à-dire aux humains devenus autre chose à cause de l’épidémie qui se répand d’ailleurs de plus en plus. Il semblerait d’ailleurs que de nombreux complots soient en marche par rapport à tout cela.

Beaucoup de choses se mélangent dans ce roman, beaucoup d’évènements et il est assez important de rester attentif aux détails pour ne pas se perdre dans l’histoire. Par contre, c’est vrai que l’on en apprend un peu plus sur le passé de Jackson, sur la vie finalement des phénix ou même sur la raison du changement si brutal qui est apparu pour Sam. J’avoue que je m’en doutais un peu, tout comme l’identité du méchant de l’histoire mais c’est vrai que c’était intéressant d’en apprendre plus. Par contre c’est vrai que j’ai été vraiment surprise par le nouveau type de créature que Keri Arthur nous introduit ici et l’auteure nous réserve beaucoup de choses à ce sujet.

Bien sur, l’histoire entre Sam et Emberly reste toujours très tendue et je me demande si un jour les tensions diminueront un peu pour qu’ils puissent discuter un peu plus de ce qu’ils désirent tous les deux. Cette relation me fait un peu penser à celle entre Quinn et Riley de la série Riley Jenson et je me demande si la finalité sera la même.

Dans tous les cas c’était un bon second tome et je suis curieuse de voir ce que la suite nous réservera une fois encore.

Souls of Fire, Book 1

Synopsis: 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…

Review: I love Keri Arthur and I gradually discover each of the books she has written throughout the years. But when the author returned with a new series and after seeing lot of positive reviews about this first volume, I was really curious to find out more about it. So I took the book as soon as I got the opportunity and I have to say I’m very glad about it.

Emberly is a phoenix … Yes a phoenix! This is not a creature we have an opportunity to meet a lot in novels and I was really curious to see how Keri Arthur was going to bring us this new species. So of course, we have a story around them, they can relive, they are able to take different forms and are capable of great power. Oh yes, I loved finding out more about them and it was fascinating to understand what they could achieve. But they are not the only in the story because many species are present too. Yes because we have some faes, vampires, werewolves and humans with extraordinary abilities. Many characters to discover and to enjoy.

Emberly has a vision at the beginning of the story, showing the man she loved and for whom she has feelings, being killed. She knows that intervening will place fate against her, but she can not let this man, Sam, dying. But by saving it, she will incur the wrath of a large number of characters who do not really have her welfare in mind. But besides that, the teacher she was attended is found murdered and everyone thinks she will help them to recover his researches. But while Sam is in charge of the investigation and that some creatures suffering from a strange virus appear everywhere, Emberly will have to team up with a young fae she meets, against the Sam’s advice and decisions. Oh yes, because the young woman is determined to not let him dictate her choices while he broke her heart in the past and if looking for answers by herself can help her, she will do that! But this does not change the wrath of Sam against her when she is in the middle of his way and he won’t hesitate to let her know that.

Strong tension between the two characters and some points made me think of the other series of the author but it was a pleasure to see all these ideas. Sam is a changed man since the last time that Emberly saw him and it’s true that I was very curious to find out what had happened to him and what he was hiding. I hope that we’ll get the chance soon afterwards to learn his secrets because I am sure that we will see him again, given the turn of the events. It’s pretty sad to see Emberly and her relationships in this novel. It is well known that Sam is the man she loves but her life is cursed and love is not easy for her species. We see that she suffers and it’s true that it made me quite sad. But other characters take place in our heart as Rory, the Emberly’s companion who is always there for her and who will do anything to help her or even the mysterious fae who is more than he seems to be and who’ll eventually becomes very important in the story.

It was in any case, as you guessed it, it’s a good discovery for me and I’m very curious to read the second book to see where the story is going.