Consumed
J.R. Ward
Romantic Suspense
Releases Oct. 2
Anne Ashburn is a woman consumed…
By her bitter family legacy, by her scorched career as a firefighter, by her obsession with department bad-boy Danny McGuire, and by a new case that pits her against a fiery killer.
Strong-willed Anne was fearless and loved the thrill of fighting fires, pushing herself to be the best. But when one risky decision at a warehouse fire changes her life forever, Anne must reinvent not only her job, but her whole self.
Shattered and demoralized, Anne finds her new career as an arson investigator a pale substitute for the adrenaline-fueled life she left behind. She doesn’t believe she will ever feel that same all-consuming passion for her job again–until she encounters a string of suspicious fires setting her beloved city ablaze.
Danny McGuire is a premiere fireman, best in the county, but in the midst of a personal meltdown. Danny is taking risks like never before and seems to have a death wish until he teams up with Anne to find the fire starter. But Danny may be more than a distraction, and as Anne narrows in on her target, the arsonist begins to target her.
Uncaged Review: The last time I read a J.R. Ward book, was one of the wildly popular, Black Dagger Brotherhood series, which I used to devour. On that same note, I never could get into her Fallen Angels series, so when I was offered this to read, I wanted to give the author a chance to grab a hold of me with a new series.
J.R. Ward has an in-your-face, hits you in the gut, no holds barred style of writing and it transfers well into this band of firefighters. There are several subplots running along with the main characters that help you to get more deeply involved with this station. After a tragic accident, Anne has to leave firefighting behind, and the risks she took in her job in the past – transcends to her new position as an arson investigator, and will land her in a world of danger. I connected well with Anne, and of course, I love Soot.
Danny – one of the elite firefighters, has turned to self-destruction, and it’s painful to watch. Feeling strong guilt of what happened to Anne has pushed him into a path of rage and alcohol. It took a while for him to grow on me. But when he did, it was complete.
The only real issues I had was how much the book jumped around. From chapter to chapter, we jumped around the different characters and even subplots running, and it would toss me out of the story a bit. The suspense, romance and secondary characters are well developed. Did I like it as much as the Black Dagger Brotherhood? Probably not. But it’s definitely a good start to a series and well worth your time. The ending will blow you away, and I really wonder how many readers will guess this twist, I sure didn’t.
If you let yourself not be taken aback by this author’s style of writing who can get down and dirty with the best of them, you will be in for a good ride. I’ll be staying on J.R. Ward’s roller coaster for a bit longer. Reviewed by Cyrene
4 1/2 Stars
