Circle of Fire

Arthur has always been one of my favorite authors, and I was thrilled to check out this new series. Circle of Fire was an exciting read full of surprises that captured my attention with its spooky beginning and never lost my interest. Maddie is visited by what she thought was a ghost but turned out to be a dying man. She needs to trust her instincts or this man will die. Maddie saves Jon, but the two must work together to save two more missing teenagers one of whom is Maddie's own nephew. Arthur does a great job with her development of both Maddie and Jon since both have issues of letting people in, and I enjoyed how their connection and romance developed. The book is full of many twists and turns keeping the reader guessing until the show more end. Overall I really enjoyed this paranormal world that Arthur created and I am really looking forward to reading the next book in this series. If you enjoy action, romance, and thrills with your paranormal, then this book is one you will definitely want to check out.

Received a copy of Circle of Fire through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. show less

Maddie is hiding. She spends most of her life hiding, after her abusive relationship was finally ended when her disturbing power went terribly out of control.

But now she’s being haunted – well, maybe, the ghost claims he’s still alive and he needs Maddie’s help – if she will just leave the house. Eventually forced when her own family becomes a target, Maddie has to confront her powers, rebuild her sense of self and find her courage in the outside world to save the lives of kidnapped children, including her own nephew.

But that outside world is more complex than she ever imagined – and Jon himself, the very very real ghost – definitely complicates matters and Maddie’s wounded feelings.

I am going to struggle not to “not show more bad” this book to death.

What do I mean by that? Well, take the romance. The romance is apparent almost from the very beginning of this book. Maddie and Jon see each other and there’s instant chemistry – which isn’t bad, even if it is rather overwhelming – which is heavily spiced with lots of describing how attractive the other is – but it’s not nearly as overwhelming as it is in other books.

By the end of the book, the two are madly in love etc etc. They’ve known each other for about a week. A week and they now cannot live without each other. A week in which they’ve never really spent any true social time, concentrating entirely on the mission. They are, effectively, strangers but at least the true love forever doesn’t hit until the end of the book. Jon tries to seduce a woman for information on kidnapped children as he has done dozens of times before and Maddie gets jealous for no reason – but her snappiness over it doesn’t last and she quickly gets over it (especially when he reveals he just couldn’t do it because he can’t stop thinking of Maddie – ugh). Jon is ridiculously protective of Maddie – but it stems from her own inexperience and vulnerability that isn’t entirely unreasonable and she fights against it repeatedly. Jon tries to drive her away for her “own good”, but at least his behaviour was limited to distancing himself from her rather than active cruelty. She’s struggling to control her powers and learns under his guidance – but at least part of that growth comes from her own emerging confidence and strength

And this really sums up the book. We hit a lot of the old tropes, a lot of tropes that are either tired or problematic or both – but all of them are handled as well as it is possible to handle them. It sounds like terrible praise but my constant refrain is “this could have been so much worse.” That doesn’t sound like a compliment – but it is. These tropes and clichés were handled, if not necessarily well (I don’t think anything could make me like them) then at least with a careful restraint to prevent them truly destroying the book or at least making the story more irritating.

There are also some very good elements – including some very good commentary on domestic abuse. Maddie has an abusive past – physical and emotional (this does feed the trope of a woman with little or no sexual experience and what experience she has is truly awful). She has been left with a lot of fear, a lot of doubt and very little confidence due to the scars left by it as well as the doubt she faces due to the steps she took to protect herself – people both don’t understand her fear and judge or pity her for it. But her sister as well serves as an equal example of emotional abuse; even in a non-violent relationship it’s still clearly abuse as her sister is forced to change her behaviour and often live in fear of her husband finding things out.

The depiction of how the experience can affect you is very strong but is also coupled with Maddie’s evolution as a character. She isn’t saved by the love of a big strong man – she grows stronger through the need to step up to rescue her nephew. She becomes stronger and more confident because she needs to save the day, because there’s an innocent life relying on her and because she cannot sit back and leave it to others who may fail without her skills. She finds her own courage and her own confidence; it is not conjured in the magic of true luuuurve which I really appreciated.

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Sometimes I get in a place where I read a series of books back-to-back. That's what I did with the Damask Circle books and that's why I'm reviewing them together.

The first book and the third are very much the same. Missing children. An evil femal supernatural being who is somehow and for some reason draining their lifeforce. One of the protagonists is related to a missing child. And in all the books one of the protagonists is unaware of/unwilling to use/unable to control their magical/supernatural ability.

I thought Circle of Fire was the worst of the trilogy. (Trigger Warning: Mention of domestic violence.) It felt like an earlier draft of the novel the author wanted to write. (A feeling that got stronger after I read the third book, show more which seemed like the evil supernatural draining kids book the author did want to write.) It wasn't a bad story, and Maddie's reluctance to use her power and inability to control it did make sense in the context of her life. But her quickly jumping into a relationship with Jon did not make sense in that same context.

I enjoyed Circle of Death, the second book in the trilogy, the most. Its plot was different from the other two, even though its protagonists were similar. In this book, Kirby, who doesn't believe she has much power, is being stalked by someone who seems to be out for revenge. Kirby must discover the parts of her past she's blocked out and Doyle, sent by the Damask Circle, will help her. This book had a lot of action and I liked Kirby quite a bit more than I liked the protagonists in the first book.

The third book, Circle of Desire, explained more about the Damask Circle and gave me a female protagonist who was highly aware of her powers and the responsibilities that come along with them. It also gave me a bonus character in her grandmother who was very powerful and with whom Kat had a very close relationship. It also had a werewolf in heat so that was a little odd for me, not being a trope I enjoy. Still, I think this book was better written than the earlier ones and shows the author really coming into her own style.

(Provided by publisher) show less

It's not often I award low ratings to books with a shapeshifter as a main character but this was one of [a:Keri Arthur|7742|Keri Arthur|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1297828955p2/7742.jpg]'s earliest works and it showed.

Circle of Fire had a simple mediocre plot about missing teenagers including the protagonist's nephew, with shaky writing which failed to suck me in and was occasionally painful to read with it's cheesy and clichéd lines.

The characters appeared all-knowing, a bit of a stretch even with Jon's sharp instincts and the hawk's watchful eyes and Maddie's untrained, and therefore unreliable, psychic abilities.

I never truly cared about this couple or felt anything about their "romance" which to be honest wasn't very show more romantic at all. Jon in particular was difficult to relate to considering his lack of background. We knew very little about him other than him working as a supernatural PI for the Damask Circle. And strangely for an Arthur book there was only one sex scene, which again wasn't the best but not the worst I've read either.

Maddie's prejudiced brother-in-law, the character I was most intrigued by, was so sceptical about her abilities it bordered on murderous hatred. His behaviour towards her didn't bode well for his relationship with his similarly talented son. The quick mention of their apparently improving father-son relationship disappointed me. That was something I wanted to "see" for myself rather than have briefly described in the epilogue. I also wished to know whether Steve treated Maddie any differently after saving his son and learning of his talents, and if she would ever tell him the truth of what happened to her deceased husband.

The colourful cover is what drew me to this book but unfortunately I didn't enjoy it. I will however try out the next instalment of the Damask Circle trilogy in the hope that the writing improves. show less

I would like to thank NetGalley and Dell for granting me the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Though I received the e-book for free that in no way influenced this review.

VISIONS OF TERROR
Sixteen teenagers taken from their homes. Eleven bodies recovered, each completely drained of blood. Some believe vampires are responsible, but Jon Barnett knows it's something far worse. To stop the killers in Taurin Bay, he becomes enmeshed in a web of black magic and realizes he needs help. But fate gives him only one choice in the form of recluse Madeline Smith.

Madeline Smith has retreated to an isolated farmhouse, afraid of the psychic abilities she can't control-abilities that have killed. But when "ghost" Jon Barnett show more brings a warning of danger and her nephew disappears, Maddie has to leave her haven. She also has to learn to control the abilities she fears and place her trust in Jon Barnett, a man who is neither human nor ghost.

But as the search for the teenagers becomes a race against time, and the noose of sorcery threatens to kill Maddie and Jon, the greatest danger to them both could be the feelings they have for each other-feelings that they refuse to acknowledge.

Although the story is tension-filled on multiple levels, there is also a sweetness to watching the romance unfold, not too mention watching Maddie transform into a butterfly, no longer tethered to one place by fear.

What I Liked About the Story:
I truly appreciated that Maddie was allowed to stretch and grow, and though she had some help from Jon, she was the master of her own recovery, reclaiming her life on her own. And having her sister finally figure out just how poorly she'd treated her all their lives was nice. The way that came about was interesting, and has potential for making an appearance in one of the subsequent books in this new series.

Jon was a great character from the beginning, and having him so in touch with his own emotions was nice to see. That's not to say he didn't have some rough patches, but never because he was closed off from his own emotions. His history clearly demonstrated why he responded as he did to certain things, and yet he was still open enough for Maddie to see past the barriers he'd erected. The fact that they could understand each other as well as they did in so short a time falls into my pros and cons list.

Evan and Mack are also solid secondary characters. They are both impressive in their own way, and again I could easily see one or both making an appearance or more in future books. I was truly proud of Evan for being so confident and self-assured, particularly given his role model was not exactly a pillar of strength while he was growing up.

Finally there is the variety of characters from the paranormal realm in this book. I found it to be a bit refreshing that it wasn't all one type (such as vampires, or maybe werewolves). Instead Ms. Arthur allowed us to dabble in a few different areas, not getting to in depth anywhere, but rather providing a sample platter of a small but varied range of abilities that fall into the paranormal.

What Bugged Me:
As I mentioned above, the depth of the connection between Jon and Maddie falls into both columns. It is sweet, but yet rather unrealistic given the amount of time the two knew each other, as well as the baggage that Maddie was still lugging around.

And since this book dealt in the paranormal I would have enjoyed a bit more in-depth exploration of the main antagonist. While I appreciated the variety of paranormal beings, the main antagonist had so much more to offer than we were shown. The way the story flowed amply allowed time for much, much more about the antagonist to be explained/explored.

My Overall Impression:
Clearly my likes section outweighs my dislikes, even more so when you notice that a couple of items had one foot in each column. Normally I would say that the ending was too easy, or contrived, but given the amount of time that passed from the adventure Jon & Maddie shared to the ending of the story allowed it to feel OK to me. Enough time had passed that it wasn't a knee jerk response to the situation, and therefore felt authentic.

All of which means I give this book a thumbs up. It was a very quick read, about an hour cover to cover, which generally indicates that the author woven the arc, pacing, and characters together in a masterful manner. This story essentially told itself, and rarely did Ms. Arthur tell us something if she could show us instead. I posit this to be a solid opening book for a new series, and I look forward to reading the next few books in the series in short order. show less

While I breezed through this book in one setting, it isn't one of Arthur's best. I think it's an early work of hers, which shows if you've read some of her newer books. I still enjoyed it and will read the other two books in this trilogy.

The book is about Maddie, who has abilities she doesn't really understand or know how to use, and Jon, who belongs to a group of supernaturals that use their abilities to help stop the bad things that go bump in the night. The book has some romance, some crime fighting and a little peek into what the world would be like if there were sorcerers and shifters.

If you can get through the repetitive descriptions and sometimes cheesy dialogue, it's definitely worth a read.

Every since reading the Nikki and Michael series I've been interested in The Circle and in Maddie and Jon. I was hit with a a lot of similarities between the two series, but instead of vampires we're dealing with a witch. They both involve crimes against kids, woman with an ability (who doesn't think anyone else understands her ability), law enforcement officer who's brought into the paranormal world (and doesn't have much of a problem dealing), and a romance where the man leaves. But, although there are those same points there are differences too. I liked Jon from the start. He was a strong confident guy ready to take on anything to solve this case. Maddie started out as a kinda weak scared woman that came into her own during the show more course of trying to find her nephew and while falling in love. Looking forward to learning more about The Circle and the people who work there.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. show less