Review: Fire Kissed by Erin Kellison

Title: Fire Kissed (Shadow Kissed)
Series: Shadow, #4
Author: Erin Kellison
Published: July 3, 2012
Pages: 353
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Source: Publisher (Zebra)
Rating: B-
Reviewed by: Ellie

Favorite quote: “The wet night misted around her, like steam to her fire. She was doing her goddess thing, above it all, untouchable.”

summary from Goodreads
Fae Fire
It is Kaye Brand's power to wield. But outcast from her kind, she's been selling herself to the highest bidder—money for her survival in exchange for a magic glimpse into the flames of the future.

Angel Ice
One of the angelic Order, Jack Bastian has no use for a female like Kaye, as provocative and unexpected as her blazing beauty. Yet he has no choice but to hire her to uncover the secrets of his sworn enemy and her former fiancé, Ferrol Grey.

Magekind
War is inevitable between the defenders of the Order and the mage Houses who threaten to engulf the world in Shadow. For Jack, mage-born Kaye is off limits, no matter how hot the impossible attraction between them. But in the coming darkness, beset by danger and desire, everything is about to change...

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Ellie's thoughts:
When Kaye Brand was just fifteen years old she was supposed to marry Ferrol Grey, a mage from the most powerful house of the Mage Council and because she herself had no power yet she had no choice in the matter. All things changed after Kaye discovered “her” wedding gift to her fiance in her father’s basement and refused to go through with the marriage. Kaye’s firepower made itself known at this point and she burnt down her house while fighting off a wraith. Kaye has spent the last ten years on the run from other mages and selling her gift of firepower to earn a living but her skills are needed by a group who are actually mage’s enemies and without her help mankind is in for a dark age.

Jack Bastian is an angel and works for The Order, a group whose sole purpose is to bring down mages and their dark power. Jack does not trust Kaye or want her help but times have gotten worse in the war between the two groups and his superiors believe she is the only hope they have. Being an angel Jack hasn’t felt real feelings since he was a man over a thousand years ago but Kaye awakens something in him and soon she becomes more important than his mission or the Order.

With the blurb on the back cover and on Goodreads being very short and vague I wasn’t sure what to expect from Fire Kissed, especially since it’s the fourth book in a series and I had no idea what genre it was. I came to find out the it’s mostly urban fantasy, with some paranormal romance squeezed in and the story is amazing. I read this book of a flight from Denver to Chicago and was so enamored by it I couldn’t put it down the entire flight not even to ask for a beverage. The writing is amazing and will keep you hooked until the very last page.

Fire Kissed does not follow the normal romance rules which makes it so interesting. Kaye is out for revenge and even though she loves Jack she doesn’t let that love get in the way of what she has to do to bring down her former fiance. Kaye is a very strong character and she grows a lot in this book, all for the better. Her relationship with Jack is great but my only problem with the whole book is that on minute they have all this chemistry but jack refuses to even like Kaye and then the next minute he’s professing his love for her. I felt like I missed something important in their relationship and it bothered me a lot.

There are a lot of characters from the previous books but I had no trouble reading Fire Kissed as a stand alone. I really enjoyed the world that Mrs. Kellison created and am very interested to see what happens next. The mages and the Order have a long war ahead of them and I plan on being front row for all future battles and power plays.