Title: Fire and Ash
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Synopsis:
To the humans employed at his beachfront resort, Florida real estate developer Asher Reid is known as a narcissistic womanizer and temperamental control freak.
To the secret, select group of immortals, he is the irrefutable enforcer of vampire law. Yet hidden beneath the charismatic façade lie the alpha’s true obsessions - adrenaline highs, nightshade and an enduring lust for depravity.
Running from a faithless ex-fiancé who won’t stop stalking her, Samara Porter hopes to find refuge working within the posh resort. But her tropical paradise houses an even bigger threat when she becomes the prime target for Asher’s unwholesome games.
Seduced by his deviant desires, Sami quickly finds herself caught up in a world where pain and pleasure coexist, testing the boundaries of how far she is willing to go to learn his corrupt secrets. And with her final test of loyalty comes a dark ultimatum - to kill for him…or face his lethal wrath.
Are you ready to go someplace dark?
Excerpt:
As if on cue, the dark sky above the ocean suddenly exploded in bursts of blue and red. The rowdy revelers along the beach cheered and applauded their approval.
Still on his knees, Ash maneuvered himself so he was directly behind her, one hand placed gently on her right shoulder while his soft breath tickled her neck.
His left hand reached stealthily around her. “Take the gun, Sami.”
She accepted it with shaking hands in the vain hope that he’d withdraw at the last second, tell her she didn’t have to do this, that it was all just a test of obedience and he’d never meant for her to actually shoot anyone. He couldn’t possibly be that warped, could he?
To ask her to murder someone in cold blood, in the midst of hundreds of witnesses - surely the man wasn’t that depraved.
His hushed voice was sensuous against her cheek. “Relax, baby. Just watch the fireworks. We’ll wait until they light the Thunder Kings. Some anonymous donor was thoughtful enough to contribute two hundred cartons of them. They have one hell of a report and the gunfire will blend right in.”
“Ash…”
Her anxious plea cracked helplessly and she found herself unable to vocalize anything further, all language forgotten as her mind raced desperately in search of an out. Refusal wasn’t an option with him. But it was possible, just possible, that the replacement magazine contained blanks as well…wasn’t it?
She clutched that thought to her like a security blanket.
“Shh…” His lips brushed her jaw, trailing feathery kisses down her neck that reawakened her intense longing for him despite her predicament.
“For me, sweet angel. Do this for me. Be perfect for me.”
He was practically purring against her skin, seducing her with his charisma in a way that only he could. When he turned on the charm there was nothing she could deny him - nothing.
Not even this.
His hands covered hers over the grip. “Suppose I help you aim…just in case you get the notion to deliberately miss.”
He forced her to lift the Ruger. “When I tell you to, I want you to unload the entire magazine. There’s a bullet in the chamber - you’re good to go. All you have to do is pull the trigger. Nothing to it, right?”
Nothing to it. Nothing at all.
All or nothing.
Her heart skipped a beat when the echoing reports filled the air, and the honey-sweet voice in her ear urged, “Go ahead, baby. Don’t fail me.”
She didn’t allow herself any hesitation, didn’t grant her conscience the time to form a protest, simply closed her eyes and mindlessly squeezed the trigger. Again and again and again, until the weapon in her hands produced nothing but empty clicks that sounded in their finality even more ominous than the shots themselves and she waited, waited with pounding heart…
There were no screams. No cries for help. The steady drone of voices from the beach went on as before, the fireworks continued to boom and crackle in the night sky, and reluctantly she opened her eyes.
Seated on the blanket beside Danielle, Laiken leaned forward to listen to something one of their group was saying, shaking his blond mane with a broad grin, oblivious to his brush with death.
Unharmed. Alive.
At her feet, the sugar-white sand was littered with empty shell casings.
And against her ear was his soft, velvety laugh.
My Review: 5 stars
This series kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading it. This book, Fire & Ash, was a masterful spinning of the possibilities of how dark and depraved a soul can get. Asher Reid is one jacked up individual. He's always thinking about himself and how he can take someone down enojoying their fall the entire time. Samara Porter starts this book as an independant, self-sufficient woman who has had some bad luck. Little does she know that by one encounter with Asher, her entire existence will change. And it does.
This was such a compelling read for me. I had to know what was going to happen to Julian and Eva (from Winter's Touch), as they're in this book as well. The lore that Allie created was quite interesting and almost worked entirely for me. There was one flaw, but I pushed past it because everything else was so interesting. The characters introduced were quite interesting in a variety of ways. But I can't really go into it without giving too much away. Suffice it to say, this is quite a read. Oh, and don't forget to pick up the first book. They're both rather interesting. I'm hoping there will be more in this series, because I'm hooked and I want more.
About the author:
A resident of sunny Florida, Allie Gail is the author of Unconventional Scars, Winter’s Touch: Immortal Touch Book One and Fire and Ash: Immortal Touch Book Two. Allie’s had an obsession with reading ever since the day she was issued her first Sally, Dick and Jane reader. (Never mind how long ago that was!) When she isn’t busy obsessing over the lexicon of her novels, she can usually be found with her nose in a book, a cat on her lap and music impairing her hearing from headphones turned up way too high. Or sometimes roaming about Azeroth as a night elf rogue. Yep, that’s right.
And yes, on occasion…at the beach
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