Veena’s review of Possessed by Desire (Firebrand Series) by Elisabeth Naughton
Paranormal/Fantasy Romance published by Amazon Digital Services, Inc. 21 Jan 13
I’m a fan of this author’s Eternal Guardian series, but this new series is definitely not in the same class. However, it’s a quick, light read, though I have to say this concluding book is the weakest of the three.
A firebrand opal necklace, when placed around the neck of a human, summons a love slave to provide the wearer with untold ecstasy. In reality, these firebrand opals are being used by an evil sorceress to steal the soul of the summoner, using slaves who have been trained it the sexual arts. This series is about three djinn princes, brothers who have been imprisoned by the sorceress and forced to do her bidding, and how they each find love and freedom in a classic battle of good over evil.
Ashur is the youngest brother and has been fed a diet of hatred and abandonment by the sorceress and her trusted people as he’s been trained in the sexual arts. Unknown to him his oldest brother has found love and freedom from the sorceress and his middle brother, while not quite entirely free, has escaped from the hell where he was imprisoned, having found his own HEA. About the only thing Ashur cares for is killing his brothers for abandoning him and serving his mistress, when he is dispatched to the human realm to steal Clair.
Claire is a celestial being, a fallen angel who has been condemned to spend her days in the human world that she loved, at the expense of fulfilling her job of testing human souls. She is in search of a djinn to help her locate the firebrand opals that are in the djinn realm to rescue her brethren and as such needs to summon a djinn and tempt him into escorting her into his realm.
Ashur and Claire are both doomed to failure in their plans. When push comes to shove, Ashur finds that he can’t steal Claire’s soul and Claire wants to find a way to free Ashur without fulfilling her own plans. Will they be successful and find a way to have their cake and eat it too? You’ll have to read the book, because there are some unexpected twists in the story that I didn’t anticipate.
I find the story a bit cliche without the depth in the characters or relationships that you’ve come to expect from the author.
Grade: C
Summary:
Even desire comes at a price…
Imprisonment has taught Ashur, the youngest djinn prince enslaved by a power-hungry sorceress, one thing: life as a pleasure slave has its rewards…if you play by the rules. He’s been tortured. He’s nearly died protecting a tribe that’s forsaken him. But he’s also seen life on the other side as an obedient slave. For a shot at revenge against the brothers who abandoned him, he’s willing to serve his master, even if it means using passion to corrupt the souls she needs to fuel her immortality. His first assignment, however, turns out to be more than just a woman in need of a little pleasure. Claire is an angel, and angels have the ability to steal djinn powers. No amount of vengeance—not even a ravenous desire he can’t seem to control—is worth the loss of his powers. And there’s no way he’s tangling with a celestial being.
Unless, of course, she tangles with him first…
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
