City in Embers Audiobook By Stacey Marie Brown cover art

City in Embers

Collector Series, Book 1

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City in Embers

By: Stacey Marie Brown
Narrated by: Amy Landon
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Zoey Daniels has been tossed from foster home to foster home, where she grows up fast and tough. When she is placed in her "last chance" home, she finds a reason to stay and turn her life around: her foster sister, Lexie, who is paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair.

After high school, Zoey is hired by a special government agency, the Department of Molecular Genetics (DMG), where she meets the other reason to remain: Daniel, her coworker. The man she loves. But there is something unique about Zoey. She can see fae. Because of this, the DMG hires her to work as a Collector: catching, researching, testing, and using the fae to save human lives. The work never registers on her sympathy radar. She was raised to think of fae as beasts that feed on humans and want to destroy them.

When devastation hits Seattle, Zoey's whole world is turned upside down. The electric storm connects her to a ruthless fae, a Wanderer named Ryker, whose dealings expose them to even more trouble and danger. They embark on a journey, running and hiding from both the government and fae, both of which threaten their lives and those they love.

©2015 Stacey Marie Brown (P)2016 Tantor Classics Fantasy Fiction Paranormal Paranormal & Urban Urban Fostering Funny Witty Government
Engaging Plot • Complex Characters • Budding Romance • Magical Worldbuilding • Humorous Dialogue • Great Pacing
Highly rated for:
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Sometimes I wish that there was a content rating system for books, like we have for movies. This book is full of action and great characters but includes detailed intimacy. Just thought I would pass that on...

Great story... Some scenes not for kids

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I definitely was eager to listen to this book daily. There was a lot of character development, but at times a bit monotonous. There was some nice sexual tension between the characters which I hope gets resolved in the second book, along with more magic use. Overall, a good read.

Good Fae Entertainment

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I really enjoyed this book. The plot is very unique and attention grabbing. I will continue on with the series.

Loved

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I bought this book on a sale and figured it would be a good "filler" book. I was not expecting much. Oh how I was wrong!!!!!

This book has everything! A tough heroine, a sexy Viking , a super sprite, a love triangle, a pirate, demon, and much more! This book - the whole series - had me laughing out loud, and interested at every minute. I finished the whole 4 book series with in days. I could not get enough.

The narration was fabulous as well! Amy captured the characters wonderfully and kept the story well paced and easy to listen to!

Wow! A must read! You will not be disappointed!

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What did you love best about City in Embers?

I liked that the story went at a good pace and kept me engaged

Any additional comments?

Time flied with this book! When it ended I didn't want it to and had to immediately get the next book in the series.

11 hours zipped by!

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This book and the whole series is a must listen. It brings tears to your eyes and makes you laugh out loud!

A must

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“𝘐𝘯 𝘍𝘢𝘦 𝘮𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴: 𝘢 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 - 𝘓𝘪𝘢 𝘍á𝘪𝘭, ‘𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘺’. 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘓𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘪𝘧 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴.”

This is out introduction to Zoey and Ryker.

Zoey is a 20 year-old, former foster child, currently working as a “Collector” for a mysterious and secret governmental agency, the Department of Molecular Genetics (DMG). They “collect” and perform experiments on fae with the excuse/intention of “saving” human lives.

Ryker is a mysterious Viking-like fae, a Wanderer, who stumbles into Zoey’s life during an electrical storm (that may sound familiar if you’ve read The Darkness Series…).

“𝘈 𝘞𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳. 𝘞𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦; 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵.”

Zoey has been taught to hate fae, and Ryker doesn’t feel too fondly of humans, but these two must work together for *spoilers* in the after effects of this freak storm.

This feels like the beginning of a beautiful enemies to *more* storyline, and is already filled with action and adventure, and I’m excited to keep going in this series.

A major event in the Darkness Series has a huge impact on this one, so you would benefit from reading that series before delving into this one.

I enjoyed the evolution for Zoey and Ryker’s relationship with each other as the story progressed, and more mysteries have been discovered, and I have no idea where these clues are heading.

There is new magic we haven’t come into contact with yet, and I’m interested to see if there will be crossover with the Darkness Series characters, and see what has been happening in the rest of the world while all the happenings in the Darkness Series were going on.

Overall, this series grabbed my attention quickly, and I’m anxious to keep going in this world and see what happens next.

What this book is giving:
✅ Enemies to TBD
✅ Forced proximity
✅ Viking-like MMC
✅ Action / fight scenes
✅ Mysterious secret governmental agency
✅ Cute Monkey Sprite

Look out for:
⚠️ Mentions of rape/sexual assault
⚠️ Mentions of traumatic death of loved ones

Rating:

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ½ /5

Like it even more so far than the Darkness Series

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The protagonists got over their mutual hatred a bit too quickly, even while they harbor the same feelings towards Other that they did before. I’d honestly like to see some soul searching on the human’s part, instead of this litany of excuses

A bit of a reach

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Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No. I did not like how the book keeps repeating thing about the main character, it just very old fast. It also seemed to me the author hates men, all but two of the men in this book where not gross pigs. I did like the main story line though.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Saw it coming.

Which scene was your favorite?

The monkey was the best part about this book.

Did City in Embers inspire you to do anything?

Only to not finish the rest of the books.

Good book just not for me.

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It took me a couple tries to get invested into this story, but once I was there, it became easier to finish. Despite a lot of the subject matter being for more mature audiences, the book had a YA feel to it, and not in a good way. I liked the fantasy world created, and many of the creatures and abilities that go along with it, and there's some setup with the overall story of the series that started to draw me in. However, I didn't really care for Zoey as the female protagonist; she was a bit too angsty and unappealing. I'm interested enough to continue with the next one, but I don't have high expectations.

The performance was okay as well. Could have been better, could have been worse.

I obtained this through one of Audible's sales, and if you can get it from one as well, then it might be worth a listen.

Good Potential, Okay Execution

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