ARC Review: Blazing Earth by Terri Brisbin

As the third book in the Stone Circles series by Terri Brisbin, this book takes off immediately after Raging Sea. I highly suggest reading the first two books in this series before reading this one. I think I would have been lost otherwise.

Tolan and his family have always had a way with the earth and having prosperous crops. The magic is a family secret that has been passed down for generations, and is accompanied with a responsibility to protect their lands. Tolan's son is almost at the age where he will discover if the magic is in him as well, and Tolan is hopeful to share the family legacy with him.

In the same village, Elethea is a local healer with a specialty as a midwife. Harshly ironic, Thea cannot have any children of her own. However, she does the best she can, and loves her independent life since the death of her late husband. Tolan and Thea have an ongoing involvement at the start of this book.

The ancient fire goddess is still trying to break free of her prison, and her next possible point of entry into the world is near Tolan and Thea. Together it becomes their responsibility to close the gate so that the evil sorceress will not be unleashed upon the world.

This book felt mostly like a place holder. The romance wasn't great because the main characters were already involved before the book began. (Don't be confused however. The heat level for this was high for me. The relationship just lacked substance). The fantasy mission felt like a repeat of books one and two until the end. Tolan seemed to be the only one with anything to do. Thea just seemed so useless. The book left me feeling really down. Not what I look for when reading romances.

Despite the fact that I didn't love this book, I still am impatiently waiting for the last one. I need to know how this ends! Also I believe a reoccurring character I like will be the female lead in the last book. For the overall arc plot of the series, this story had to be told. However, I think it's the worst of the series thus far.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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ARC Review: Raging Sea by Terri Brisbin

Raging Sea is the second book to Terri Brisbin's Stone Circles series. These books incorporate the mysterious Stone Circles found throughout Europe (a common one people recognize is Stonehenge). Brisbin created this premise of ancient Gods who worked together to protect humanity from one of their own who sought to destroy them. They had to trap her, because they could not kill her. Well now many years later, Chaela is trying to break free of her cage.

This particular book follows Ran and Soren who used to be lovers several years ago. Soren broke Ran's heart so she decided to leave her home and work on one of her father's ships. Two years after she left she comes back home for the first time. A week prior to her return, Soren lost his grandfather. He is very sad, but his grandfather left behind a lot of cryptic messages that he begins to pore over. Both Soren and Ran have some extraordinary experiences which leave them with knew unfamiliar powers.

Together the two must work to seal off the Stone Circle that Chaela is trying to escape through, and work through their past romantically because the two tasks are deeply connected. I really felt the chemistry between Soren and Ran. Brisbin was amazing with keeping Soren's secrets. She just lets you have a taste, then a little later a few more crumbs, and so on until you finally understand what Soren went through. The heat level is pretty high in my opinion, but it was done very well. Some experiences were a little odd in that the couple's powers took over and were described vaguely. The only thing I wished was for some more memories between the two of how they fell in love the first time.

I truly enjoyed this book much more than the first installment. I was on the edge of my seat wanting to know what would happen next. This historical is also a fantasy, so definitely be prepared for that. It is possible to read this book without reading the first one, but I wouldn't recommend it. I highly anticipate reading the next book Blazing Earth, but the end of Raging Sea got me dying to read about what happens in the fourth book. At least I think it will be covered in the fourth book. We will see!

**ARC provided by Author**

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