ARC Review-- Fire Kissed by Erin Kellison

Fae Fire

It is Kaye Brand's power to wield. But outcast from her kind, she's been selling herself to the highest bidder—money for her survival in exchange for a magic glimpse into the flames of the future.

Angel Ice

One of the angelic Order, Jack Bastian has no use for a female like Kaye, as provocative and unexpected as her blazing beauty. Yet he has no choice but to hire her to uncover the secrets of his sworn enemy and her former fiancé, Ferrol Grey.

Magekind

War is inevitable between the defenders of the Order and the mage Houses who threaten to engulf the world in Shadow. For Jack, mage-born Kaye is off limits, no matter how hot the impossible attraction between them. But in the coming darkness, beset by danger and desire, everything is about to change...

I received this ARC from the author for review

Erin Kellison's Fire Kissed is another beautifully written novel in her Shadow series! I truly love love love this series! It's got Dark Fantasy written all over it! There is a good handful of fairy tale elements mixed in, you just have to know what to look for! And in this case, it's said for us, The Little Match Girl was a reoccurring theme in this one! It's been years since I read that one, but Erin so nicely sums it up for us as she writes the book as well.

Kaye has been an outsider for years. Ever since she was 15 and ran away from home, after refusing to marry some old guy and burning said house down with her powers, she's kept herself distanced from the mages. But she still uses her abilities to make some money and survive. With her talents with fire, she lets people see their futures, and it is up to them to change it if they do not like what they see.

She soon finds herself in a different kind of employ though. With the Order and one Jack Bastian. They want to her to "investigate" what her former fiance--the old guy, who apparently is magically young again somehow--is up to. Angels have been going missing, and they believe Ferrol Grey may be behind it all.

Ferrol is definitely a creepy dude. For one, he is much younger than he should be--and we learn how later--and plus he just reeks of creepiness! We do get some insight from him when the chapter goes to his perspective and he really is the dastardly villain of fairy tales, wanting "the fair maiden" for himself.

Now onto a much better subject, Bastian, as Kaye calls him. There's definitely a lot of tension between these two. Kaye wasn't really willing to work with him and the Order, but after they matched her price for her services, she decided to go ahead with the job. And thus the tension between the two begins. Which makes things even more complicated when she is trying to assert herself back into the mage world and take her rightful place with the council, in the Brand seat. And in order to do that, she must be willingly seduced by the enemy--her former fiance.

That is when the sexual tension gets really thick, Bastian--for I like using this name as well--starts to not like Grey for a multitude of reasons. The main one being that he is touching Kaye. And when the fire finally sparks between these two, it practically blazes!! It was no insta-love here, but once they realized their feelings for one another, the love just took off! And it was sweet, in the hot and heavy kind of way! ;)

Kaye soon realizes how deep she's in with the mages and all their dark secrets. Grey has a plan, a big plan and she has to do everything she can to stop him. Even if it means accepting a very binding offer.

Kaye is not without her own plan though. She is just as cunning and ruthless--when necessary--as Grey. She fights fire with, well fire! ;) Yes, a bad pun but I couldn't resist!

The ending was spectacular too! There's really no other way to describe it. It is possible that Kaye's story isn't quite finished, but it's finished enough. Most of Erin's books end on a light note, but you can almost feel the bigger storm brewing, it's on the horizon and it's coming. The Twilight world is ever affecting the real world which we live in. Wraiths are proof of that. Who knows what the next adventure in this thrilling series will take us or its characters! Fire Kissed was simply magical!

Overall rating 4.5/5 stars

Fire Kissed releases July 1, 2012