Review: Jacquelyn Frank - Seduce Me in Flames

A Three Worlds Series:

Book 2:

Seduce Me in Flames: Rush “Ender” Blakely and Ambrea Vas Allay

 

Summary:

Ambrea is the rightful heir to the throne of Allay, but kept in exile most of her life, first by her father whos had her mother executed as a traitor, then her uncle and young brother who rose to the throne after her father’s death. The IM has decided to get involved and restore the right heir to the throne, if only they can keep her alive long enough. Rush “Ender” Blakely and the rest of his specialized elite team from the IM has been tasked with getting Ambrea out of her “prison” and restored to the throne, but it seems like everywhere they turn there is someone trying to take her out. While Rush is extracting Ambrea from her home country she notices something very strange about him, even though he was directly hit by fire he remained unscathed. Rush has not disclosed his secret to anyone since his village found out and tried to execute him yet this princess uncovered his secret within hours of meeting her and she didn’t run off screaming or try to set him on fire like his village did those many years ago. Her easy acceptance of his “gift” only helps in building the fiery attraction he felt before. After Ambrea finds our Rush’s secret she realizes even more that she needs this strong man by her side if she is to battle the evil that infiltrated her kingdoms court and remain alive.

Review:

So this book had the misfortune of my reading it almost immediately after I read the Dark Taste of Rapture by Gena Showalter. The concept of the two books are basically the same. A female fair above the man’s station in life and the man has a secret a “gift” of fire. I have to admit I enjoyed Dark Taste of Rapture a lot better, although Gena Showalter is one of my favorite authors. Hector was really scared of doing any damage to Noelle and that came out clearly. With Rush, it was like aw well I have these powers that could hurt you but I don’t want to hurt you but ok, I’ll just sit in water, that shouldn’t be too dangerous. That feeling of terror that Hector had was just not present in this book, it was a lot watered down, literally. J. Frank plopped his arse in some water and things were a lot better. Fire welders are not uncommon in the Paranormal/Urban Fantasy world, so if you are going to go this route you really have to go for it. I can think of at least 4 other fire welder characters that I have read in the last couple of months alone (Vlad - Night Huntress, Sienna - Psy-Changling, Blaine - Soulfire, and Hector - Alien Huntress) and with all of those characters it was more everything. Even the plots of the attempts on Ambrea’s life were kind of watered down. I wanted more from this book, and I didn’t really get it. I can’t say that there was really anything wrong with the book but it was kind of lukewarm when it should have been sizzling.

Rating:

3

Jacquelyn Frank - Seduce Me in Dreams

A Three Worlds Series:

Seduce Me in Dreams: Bronse Chapel and Ravenna

Summary:

Bronse is the commander of a specialized unit of the Interplanetary Militia; they take the jobs that no one else can do. They are sent into impossible situations, but lately it seems like the odds are even more against Bronse than usual. Missions that shouldn’t being going wrong, are… Recently his feeling of foreboding is getting stronger and stronger, and he even has started dreaming of a woman warning him that he cannot be separated from his crew; if they get separated all will perish. After the last mission gone wrong one of his crew found evidence that one of the admirals has been sending Bronse and his crew on suicide missions trying to get Bronse out of the way. After this news Bronse has one of his most intense dreams, the woman that has been warning him came to him again only this time they were able to talk and touch, she once again warned him and said soon they would meet.  Ravenna is the High Priestess of the Chosen Ones; she is able to look into the past, present and future of a person.  She has been captured to be “gifted” to a powerful Shiasha to be added to a large harem and to be used for her gifts. Ravenna knows she is in a bad position that she can get herself out of if she was willing to use her other gifts but she knows Bronse is getting closer and she knows she has to stay so he can rescue her. On another mission gone wrong Bronse and he crew abort the mission only for him to be sucked into the sand and finds himself in an underground tunnel, which leads him straight to Ravenna. The recognition is powerful and swift, all he knows is he has to get her and her brother out of this situation. Ravenna has been beaten terribly and caught a fever that is now racking her body. She needs Bronse to get her to her sister the healer and then get them all off planet. Bronse doesn’t know what to do, he knows his judgment is clouded but he can’t help himself. He allows Ravenna to talk him into saving her and her family of Chosen Ones, now he doesn’t know what to do with them or himself and there is always the threat of the admiral over his head…

Review:

As is usual with first books in a new series a lot of time is setting up the new world and characters. Sometimes I think the first books somewhat get the shaft since the author can’t always just dive right in.  Overall, I think J. Franks did an excellent job setting everything up, but at the same time keeping the excitement level high, we still see plenty of action. Bronse is your typical alpha, military man, and it never gets old: Strong, intelligent, dominating, leader, and honorable.  He is a man you can count on to keep you save and make you feel like the most protected woman, but if you let him he would completely dominate you. Ravenna is a warrior woman at heart! She is very powerful in her own right, she has a quiet strength about her, as the leader of the Chosen Ones which are other gifted individuals she has a lot on her hands but she knows how to be a leader. She has a backbone of steel. Bronse and Ravenna are both strong and passionate, and are a great match. He accepts her for all her power and lets her lead as she sees fit, and she does the same for him. They truly become partners. Overall, I highly enjoyed the book; however, there were two things that got to me. Each of Bronses crew essentially has three names: First, military nickname, and last. J. Franks will switch up which ones she will use referring to each character. Sometime by their first name, most of the time their military nickname and occasionally their last, usually I am good with details but I am terrible with names. If you are anything like me you will get confused as to which names belong to which person. I wish she has introduced the characters and than just stuck with a preferred name. And then there is the ending, don’t get me wrong it is a happy ending, but there was just this one thing that when I read it I was like: “NOOO! I want to know!”, I know why the decision (not giving it away) was made, but I’m basically selfish and I wanted to know!  It was kind of a letdown.

Rating:

4 moons out of 5