Fireborn (Souls of Fire #1) by Keri Arthur
Emberly is a phoenix and has spent several lifetimes living under their curse – to never know love and to have their heart broken each lifetime. She’s also seen no end of bad results come from her attempting to save lives
But when Sam, the lover who broke her life this incarnation, is imperiled she can’t help but act despite all the bitter memories.
Now she finds herself facing something new even after all her lifetimes – humans infected with a whole new condition due to unwise human tinkering into vampires. They’re dangerous, contagious and must be stopped. And they’re gunning for her.
This book ticks a lot of boxes – a rich original mythology. A protagonist who is clever, capable and determined as well as sexual without shame. Throw in a setting we don’t see often and a storyline that is nicely paced and full of fun and it’s definitely pulling me in.
One element that really intrigues me is romantic and sexual nature of the phoenixes. They are paired together, sexually. They must have sex with their soul-mate – but at the same time they’re cursed never to love that soul mate. Inherently, if they want any romantic connection, they must seek romance outside of their partnership while also continuing to have sex with their soul-mate. They are inherently polygamous beings – but there’s no shame or angst about that. They know what they are, they are happy in the sex lives they have and even when Sam accuses her of cheating she doesn’t feel slightly guilty; she’s clear that he only accuses her of that because he is utterly ignorant of her nature.
It’s nice to have a female protagonist who is sexual, has multiple partners and doesn’t even have a moment of angst about this.
I will say that her relationship with Jackson is distracting. I can get they find each other hot and love that she’s eager to explore that – but their timing is far too often ill-advised when they’re already neck deep in other things going on
The whole nature of phoenixes in this is quite original, I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it in any other book: the reincarnation, the many lives and lifetimes, the connected souls. It’s all very new – and that’s rare considering how much of the genre I’ve read.
This couples with things like the fae connected to their elements and a whole lot of creepy difference with some vampires that brings a lot of unique aspects to the story. I say again, I’ve read a lot in this genre which makes me really value the original. I love to read something completely new and this book definitely brought the new
