Reviewed by Dan

TITLE:    Ashes of Life  

AUTHOR:     Andrew Q. Gordon

PUBLISHER:  MM Romance Group @ Goodreads

LENGTH:     89 Pages

BLURB:

When Sergeant Thane asked his best friend and second in command, to go riding, he had no idea how much his life would change. Whisked away by his horse to a forest that shouldn’t exist, he hears a cry for help. Answering the plea, Thane releases a phoenix—Eraq—from his centuries long imprisonment.

Eraq’s first act of freedom is to claim Thane as his own. But the phoenix is more than he appears. A mage-shifter, Eraq sets his sights on the man who answered his call for help. Thane returns the interest despite learning that his act of liberation has set in motion events that will change the world. When he learns his relationship with Eraq places him at the center of events beyond his understanding, Thane refuses to abandon the man he’s come to love. Even as it hurtles him toward certain death.

REVIEW:

I stumbled on this novella on Andrew Q. Gordon’s website. I am very happy that I did. I loved the story of Thane and Eraq/Plym. I want MORE Mr. Gordon!!! I know this is a complete story, with a happy ending, but I still want MORE!

Sergeant Thane is in command of a group of men, and his second in command has been his best friend since he was a child. One day while the two are riding, Thane’s stallion, Thunder, ignores his commands and takes off for a strange forest that shouldn’t be where it is. In the run, they lose the best friend and when Thane and Thunder arrive at the woods, Thane hears a voice calling for the woods, asking that Thane free it from its prison.

Imagine his surprise when he digs up the prison and finds an imprisoned phoenix! And the phoenix, Eraq, claims Thane as his own, but won’t explain what that means! That is only the beginning of the adventure that Eraq will lead Thane on.

We have dragons, a phoenix, wizards, kings and battles against an evil usurper dragon who took over the neighboring kingdom 200 years ago…and at the same time that dragon imprisoned Eraq in the underground prison. There is obviously animosity on both sides of the border, and it builds all the way to the end of the story.

This story was written as part of the 2014 MM Romance Group @ Goodreads “Love’s Landscapes Stories”.  Here is the photo and story letter that the story was written about.

PHOTO DESCRIPTION:
A bird, the size of an eagle with feathers the color of fire is about to land on the leather glove of a warrior. Flames drip from his tail and the bearded, brown-haired man stares straight ahead. His eyes show his amusement, or is it more? Dressed in the armor of his profession, the man is a professional soldier, or royal guard.

STORY LETTER:

I never knew the day I rescued the injured phoenix that it would create such a large change in my normal run of the mill guardsman’s life. After all how was I supposed to know he was a mage shifter and I was to become his warrior to own.

I highly recommend this story. It is a free read in the MM Romance Group on Goodreads, and also available on Amazon for a minimal cost. Do yourself a favor. If you are fan of Andrew Q. Gordon, this one is a must read! I’m giving it a rating of 4.5 instead of a 5.0 ONLY because I’m pouting because there isn’t MORE! 🙁

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

M/M Romance Group

Amazon