Early Review: A Shadow in the Ember (Flesh and Fire #1)

A Shadow in the Ember (Flesh and Fire #1)
By Jennifer L Armentrout

Published By: Blue Box Press
Publication Date: October 19, 2021
Date Read: September 21, 2021
Genre: Adult – Fantasy
Source: eARC from JLAnders Reviewers
Format: E-Book
Pages: 630

From Goodreads:
Born shrouded in the veil of the Primals, a Maiden as the Fates promised, Seraphena Mierel’s future has never been hers. Chosen before birth to uphold the desperate deal her ancestor struck to save his people, Sera must leave behind her life and offer herself to the Primal of Death as his Consort.

However, Sera’s real destiny is the most closely guarded secret in all of Lasania—she’s not the well protected Maiden but an assassin with one mission—one target. Make the Primal of Death fall in love, become his weakness, and then…end him. If she fails, she dooms her kingdom to a slow demise at the hands of the Rot.

Sera has always known what she is. Chosen. Consort. Assassin. Weapon. A specter never fully formed yet drenched in blood. A monster. Until him. Until the Primal of Death’s unexpected words and deeds chase away the darkness gathering inside her. And his seductive touch ignites a passion she’s never allowed herself to feel and cannot feel for him. But Sera has never had a choice. Either way, her life is forfeit—it always has been, as she has been forever touched by Life and Death.

“I would say that I have one decent, kind bone in my body when it comes to you, liessa.”

Wow! There are no words to describe my absolute and utter love for this book. Right from the moment that Jen told me she was planning on writing Nyktos’ story and that it would be loosely based on the Hades and Persephone myth, I knew this would possibly be my favourite book of hers. I am such a sucker for anything mythology and God based, so this book was practically made for me. I just knew I would love every moment of it and even though I went into this with the highest of expectations, Jen smashed every single one of them. This book is nothing short of a masterpiece.

A Shadow in the Ember follows the story of Sera, a maiden chosen by the Gods to be the consort of the God of Death. She is trained as an assassin with one goal: make the God of Death fall in love with you… and kill him. But nothing is ever as simple as it seems, especially not when emotions get involved.

I absolutely adore Sera! She is just such a phenomenally flawed character and such a joy to read about and experience her emotive and complex journey. I have been a huge JLA fan for a decade now but I am completely serious when I say Sera may just be my favourite of all of her heroines. She is so badass and snarky and just absolutely everything I love in a heroine. And Nyktos? Dude, don’t even get me started because we will be here for a loooooooong time. He is just so sweet and swoonworthy… even if he is the God of Death and can kill you with one look. I absolutely adore him. Seriously, Casteel who? …..He even rivals my love of Aiden and Zayne… and if you know me, you know that is huge and saying a lot!

A Shadow in the Ember is just perfection. Right from the start I was completely obsessed with this world, which is familiar to us… but also not. I loved seeing how different everything is from the world we know in the Blood and Ash series. It was so awesome to see how thing fit together… and how so much more makes sense now. However, Blood and Ash fans I will warn you… you may get answers, but you’re gonna be left with a whole lot more questions. My mind was left reeling wondering how everything is going to fit together. I cannot wait to re-read this when both series are finished and see how it all fits together.

This book has the perfect balance of action and romance. Everyone who knows me knows while I love romance in a book, I do not read pure romance because I get bored. I need some action to keep me interested… this book was a fantastic balance of that. Swoon worthy romance, steamy scenes and the best fast-paced plot! I was constantly left mouth agape, shocked by what was happening. It is filled to the brim with twists and turns and you won’t know what the hell is happening…. in the best possible way! I just loved every single moment of this fantastic book. I am actually more excited for the second Flesh and Fire book than I am for the next Blood and Ash book. I just loved this one so much more.

This was without a doubt my favourite JLA book to date. It had absolutely everything I love in a book. Action? Check! Romance? Check! DRAGONS!!!! CHECK! CHECK! CHECK! It’s like if I listed everything I love to read… this book has it all! It’s utterly perfect! A Shadow in the Ember is Jen’s best work yet. If you think From Blood and Ash was good… you’ve seen nothing yet. This book is perfection! A must-read for all fantasy fans everywhere!

“Love is the one thing that not even fate can contend with.”