A Shadow in the Ember

Flesh and Fire, Book 1

#1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout returns with book one of the compelling Flesh and Fire series - set in the beloved Blood and Ash world.

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.

©2021 by Jennifer L. Armentrout. (P)2021 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Loved Sera & Ash!!! 🔥🎧🔥🎧

I can see where Poppy gets her feisty attitude from. Loved the beginning of this story. I really hope in Sera & Poppy can meet in future blood & ash books. The narration was fantastic. The story was so engaging & I can’t wait for the next book.

The narrator is terrible

This is a great book. I’ve read it two times. I bought the audio version of the first and second book to listen to while driving cross country. I was hoping to get a recap on everything before the next book comes out…but this narrator is sooooo awful. Her voice for Sera isn’t so bad, but when she pretends to be Ash or any other male character for that matter she sounds like a decrepit old woman. It’s so hard to get past. I would recommend just buying the book they loading it to speechify so you can pick your narrator. The narrator almost ruined this book for me. I can’t believe the author was okay with this person narrating her books.

I needed this...

I needed this almost more than life. The origin story, the adventure, the love and fear, the bravery. I now know how Poppy is so brave and vicious. Thank you Jennifer! You are the best author ever! Also, Stina you do very well in these books. Thank you!

I want more Sera!

I started this series very confused but everything about this part of the story is so perfect it made the others in the series a bit meh...

eeeather!

Love the book! started with the FBAA series and this prequel was a welcome break before the war of two queens. That series has been great as well but the books have been dragging more and more with each installment. Transitioning to this was a great refresh and I cruised through it.

Loved the characters and loved the spice. I can't wait to continue on.

That all being said, I am a bit over Stina's narration. she has done well enough with the earlier books (still not my favorite but ok). with this one though I really just didn't like her take on Nyktos. The inflections just didn't seem right for the character and makes him sound way to pained/strained, especially with the spicy scenes. Those just sound way too over dramatic. Also, I started to notice that when she would pronounce "Eather" she wouldn't just say the word. It became a way more drawn out "eeeather". Which sounded a bit off and made me giggle when the word just kept coming up.