Blaze by Joan Swan – a Review

Blaze by Joan Swan, is the second book in her Phoenix Rising series.  The first book in this series, as well as Swan’s debut book was Fever.  Fever was a very good book, but Swan has taken Blaze to another level.  From the start to finish, this book is a page burner, you cannot, and will not put this down until you finish this exciting story.  Blaze has everything..action..suspense..excitement..intensity..love..sex (hits the wow factor), and constant danger.

The heroine in Blaze is Keira O’Shay, and she is one of the best kick ass heroines I have seen, and I have seen quite a few good ones.  Luke is the hero in this story, and we remember him from Fever.  Until the end of Fever, we did not really like Luke.  But almost from the start, that changes and he is equally as great a character as Keira.  I loved them together, and loved Mateo, the young boy in this book, who added so much to the story.

One of the best things, besides Keira and Luke, is that we get to spend a lot of time with the team we got to know in Fever…..Teague, Alyssa, Mitch, Seth, and the remaining of the Firefighting team.  Joan Swan does such an excellent job of creating unforgettable characters, and also the villains, like Dargan, who is back in full force.

Keira, ran away from Luke and her friends, a few years ago, and became an agent.  When the story picks up, she is one of their best agents, and a sharpshooter also.  Keira, who is afraid of commitment and family (she distances herself so not be hurt again losing family), is the lead on an assignment, and discovers that her ex, Luke, working for another division (ATF), is also on the same assignment. Though the years have passed, they both have never gotten over their love for one another. 

The story immediately is filled with intense action, with Luke and Keira in the middle of it.  Keira finds Mateo, a young boy she saves during the mission, and for some reason, she is drawn to him. She must protect him from the experiments being done to him and others.  Which brings Keira back to the friends she tried to avoid, in order to help her keep Mateo safe.  

DARPA is the enemy, as we saw in Fever.  Dargan is the villainous leader, and she is the one organizing the experiments on children creating enhanced abilities, as well as trying to eliminate the Firefighter team, who also now have enhanced abilities.  Keira can hear thoughts and things far away.  Luke, whose powers, strengthen with Keira near him, can withstand fire, bullets, etc. We know Teague is a healer, and young Mateo, who is only 5 years old, also has a great ability, as do the rest of the team.

Blaze is filled with so much action; you cannot sit back and relax.  But the crux of the story is the wonderful romance between Luke and Keira.  You know how much each loves one another, and the flaw in Keira, who had a rough childhood, and is afraid of commitment, even if she loves Luke with all her heart.  As I noted earlier, there was this long hot steamy sex scene that was so well done by Swan.  Just when you think, finally they will make it  together, all hell breaks loose, and changes things again. 

I loved Blaze, and Joan Swan has outdone herself.  Phoenix Rising continues to get better, and I look forward to meeting all of these wonderful characters again, in the next installment of this series.  I am already anticipating who is going to be the next couple…so many to choose from.  Maybe Mitch, as he is a fun and great character. If you have not started this series, I suggest you do so. Kudos to Joan Swan for a wonderful second book

Lastly, I do not normally add quotes, but this one had me laughing for a bit. My choice for best quote of the year:
“She felt as if she’d fallen into an Indiana Jones movie or into an Elisabeth Naughton novel, in possession of a treasure everyone wanted, on a quest she didn’t understand, running a race for which she had no timetable, no map”

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Author

Blaze Purchase Links:

Amazon / Amazon Canada / Barnes & Noble / B-A-M / Book Depository
Chapters / IndieBound / Powell’s

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