ALL RIGHT! let’s get this review going… let me just list a couple of things I ABSOLUTELY loved about this book…

SUPERNATURAL

Hot & Broody Russian Man

A vulnerable heroine who is anything but that as it turns out

Kick-Ass Female Heroine

…no seriously she was so kick-ass!!!

Amazing secondary character development that can only mean a continuation that will lead into an epic series

So let’s rewind now… This was my first read by the author that I just stumbled upon on Ominific Publishing FB page and color me curious! What attracted me and made this one stand out FOR ME? Well it was that the main character was a Russian man. As you know I have some… ok ok 100% Russian roots and I was just curious how authentic the portrayal will be. If it was going to be simple Da, da, da give me Vodka DA! After excitedly tweeting out that I started reading the book I got an immediate tweet from the author wishing me luck and thus began our 1+ hour conversation on Tweeter. I don’t know about the rest of you but when I’m reading a book I always love getting immediate (I don’ mean like ASAP but eventually!) feedback and support from the author. Don’t know if that is preference for most but I loved my interaction and character support I got from M.V.

As for the actual book… I loved it!!! Simply loved it because it had all the aspects that are my favorites – supernatural, great plot aka great set-up of supernatural universe, and of course romance!

In the first book of The Incandescent Series we are introduced to Laurie Hudson who ran away from her life due to that fact that she is Fire Elemental who can’t control her power. She just happens to start smoking (not not like give me a cigarette… but oooh no I’m on FIRE AGAIN! type of smoking) occasionally which is totally normal to her 2 friends. Weird right? but even her friends are not what they appear to be *cough* awesome secondary characters *cough*.

Now my favorite character besides our ‘lost’ Laurie is our vodka loving Tri-Elemental, Misha, who possesses ability to manipulate earth, air, and water elements. The segregation of power in the supernatural world is complex but easy to follow in this book and we learn that Misha holds dominion over an assigned area and to expand power he needs 4th element to give him enough power to move up in the Power Ladder.

Enter our fiery Laurie! Who by pure supernatural accident gets thrown into the world she knew nothing about and frankly for most of her life tried to ignore or acknowledge. Now where she thought she had a choice to avoid her supernatural freakishness she has no choice now as there is war brewing and she must step up to help Misha. But be prepared to hate him as most of the time he is a total jerk and a hard man even to Laurie. Most of the time I had a hard time loving him but I know that the ones who are like that turn into the most docile pussy-cats for their women. He is a perfect anti-hero.

“You will play whatever game I tell you to play and do whatever I tell you to do. Pravilno? You gave up your life to me the night I saw you in the bar and realized what you are. Do you understand?”

“Fuck you,” Laurie snapped, tugging her arm free from his grip and holding up her hands to keep him at bay. “I’m not your bitch.”

“You are what I say you are until I get tired of you.”

However he can’t shake Laurie as she is a major key in helping him secure the safety of his people and remain in power. The problem is… the more she tries to get control of her power, the more she feels for him (& he for her) and the more she gets buried into the politics that rule the lands behind the scenes of the normal humans.

I won’t be saying more as this book must be experienced if you love a great paranormal read. It is told from 2 POV… Laurie and Misha which I always love getting a male perspective. Their attraction to each other is explosive… literally! You know things happen when you are a supernatural and you get emotional. The one little thing I found a bit wonky is how hard Laurie fought against the attraction and then just simply gave into it at the end.

Overall this book had a great deal of action, romance and great plot and this girl just needs more. Not just from Misha and Laurie as the story does end in HEA. It does leave lots of room for secondary characters to step forward and develop their stories and that’s what I believe M.V. is working on now.

VERDICT: This girl is putting this series on Insta #1click Watch List and I hope you will too!

READ EXCERPT

 

Author Bio:

M.V. Freeman lives in North Alabama. A nurse by day, at night she enjoys creating and exploring alternate worlds within our own.  She gravitates toward stories of determined heroines and anti-heroes who push the boundaries as they both fight to find their light in the dark.

M.V. is represented by Victoria Lea from The Aponte Literary Agency. Her award-winning and best-selling debut novel INCANDESCENT is the first in the Hidden Races Series.  Currently she is working on the third book in the series, while plotting others. When not writing, she can be found reading, cooking, throwing around kettle bells, or making coffee. You can find out more about her here at: www.mvfreeman.com

Author Website: http://www.mvfreeman.com/

Twitter: @MVFree