ARC Review: Fireborn by Keri Arthur

Emberly Pearson is a phoenix, a spirit reborn from ashes and flame. She can control fire and devour it. Her former love, policeman Sam Turner, called her a monster before he left. As she waits in the cold to save his life, she wonders if his opinion has changed. Death waits on the corner across from her. Who will get to Sam first? The creatures chasing Sam are evil and grotesque. Once she rescues him, he explains a virus is infecting people, called Crimson Death. Emberly is a lab assistant to Mark Baltimore. His work is top secret and linked to the disease. Sam has seen too much death, including his brother’s and still doesn’t trust Emberly. Her fire mate, Rory, helps her heal from a scratch by turning into fire. They live together, but they aren’t in love. Her relationship with Rory destroyed hers with Sam. Mark turns up dead and the last person to have his notebooks is Emberly. Now the police, the vampire syndicate, a gorgeous fire Fae, Jackson, and a competing research lab are after her. She doesn’t understand the research, she just types up the notes. No one cares as she’s harassed, kidnapped, drugged, and dumped alongside the road. They want the notebooks. The police have her followed, but she avoids them at every turn. She and Jackson decide to partner up and get much better acquainted. They make progress, trip over more dead bodies, and are close to the killers. Too close and some bodies refuse to stay dead.

Emberly’s name is a nice pun about her powers. She throws fire at people. They don’t burn right away, but they get the idea that it can all change at the flick of her wrist. She’s an immortal who has died many times. Her curse is to fall in love and lose him every time. A witch put a curse on the phoenixes centuries ago. Her relationship with Jackson is a good one. Too bad her love belongs to Sam, the most unworthy recipient.

Sam is the meanest character in the story. He crushes Emberly’s spirit every chance he gets. He calls her names and implies vicious things about her. It’s a toxic relationship for her. It adds drama to the story, but every time he appears, I knew it would be bad.

This is the first book of a continuing story. Many plot lines are opened, but none resolved.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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