Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: All Fired Up
SERIES: Ashes & Dust
AUTHOR: Jenn Burke
PUBLISHER: Carina
LENGTH: 256 pages
RELEASE DATE: May 18, 2021
BLURB:
Once bitten. Twice burned. Forever bonded.
Don’t miss this riveting and romantic spin-off series from Jenn Burke, author of Not Dead Yet.
Paranormals are dying. All over the city, with no explanation and only one thing in common: their magic is missing.
Vampire and private investigator Evan Fournier isn’t supposed to be taking on paranormal cases, but when the murderer hits close to home, he agrees to look into it. The last thing he expects is to become a target himself—and then to become irrevocably bonded to the man who just tried to kill him.
With his memory gone and his soul bonded to a stranger, former firefighter Colin Zhang wants to be anywhere else. He doesn’t have a damn clue why he just tried to kill Evan, and he didn’t even know about magic until just now. The sooner he can get back to his real life, the better.
But every time either of them tries to leave, pure agony stops them short. Forced to work with Evan or suffer the consequences, Colin must excavate the secrets buried in his missing memories while battling two rising threats: the conspiracy behind the murder, and his mutual attraction to the bond mate he never wanted.
REVIEW:
Note: This is the first book of a spinoff series from the paranormal romantic suspense series Not Dead Yet. This book can, however, be read as a standalone.
Evan Fournier is a vampire and PI who works with his found family at Caballero Investigations. While his bosses/best friends/surrogate big brothers Wes and Hudson are out of the country to take care of some family business, Evan is told specifically not to take on any paranormal cases. Of course on the very first day after their departure, Evan is asked by his doctor to help with a case that involves paranormal patients who have been referred to a specific retreat for help in dealing with issue of living hidden as a paranormal in the “regular” world. Of course once he hears the particulars and understands the dire consequences of whatever seems to be affecting these patients, he can’t say no.
Evan volunteers to go undercover at the retreat that seems to be the common thread for these paranormal deaths. Each victim has lost his/her soul and magic sometime fairly quickly after being at this center and Evan is determined to find out what happened. He feels uncomfortable from the start, but he’s determined to figure out what’s going on. Pretty soon he finds himself in danger and thankfully he’s is able to walk away from the retreat center thanks to his friends and colleagues, but the man behind the mystery seems to be gone and Colin Zhang, a Toronto firefighter who seems to have been also controlled by this man, is left holding the bag. But Colin doesn’t know what has happened, isn’t what he seems to be and even more confusing, he’s somehow now bonded to Evan.
Colin has a lot to overcome – including a very a big memory gap. Evan and his friends also have a lot of persuading to do to get Colin up to speed with his lack of knowledge of the paranormal world too. Colin does want to get to the bottom of whatever is happening and who is stealing from paranormals, because now he really does have a vested interest. And then there is his surprising attachment to Evan, which comes as a bit of a surprise to everyone – including Evan 😉
Oooooh what a great start to this spinoff series form Jenn Burke’s Not Dead Yet paranormal series. It takes place a few years after that series, and the regulars from those books make appearances here, but this is definitely Evan’s story. I don’t want to spoil the plot, but there is a good mystery here, along with the simmering unexpected relationship that is growing between Evan and Colin. Evan comes into his own a lot in this story and I had a lot of empathy for Evan in dealing with a past full of familiar rejection, betrayal, grief, loss and ultimately depression. I loved his relationship with his doctor who helped him deal with everything and come out stronger. If you haven’t read the previous series, I think this book is still really enjoyable without the prior knowledge of how this found family was built. There is enough explanation of the world that this series takes place in that the reader won’t be lost, but I do heartily recommend the previous series – because they are really enjoyable reads.
I loved Colin and was chuckling through his introduction to 2024 🙂 Boy have things changed in the 21st century! I also liked the way Colin deals with his budding relationship with Evan that builds on trust and friendship after a VERY rocky start. Colin is a bit of a surprise and the twists ant turns of his past are really interesting, but you’ll have to read to find out just in how many ways 😉 Be aware that everything is not tied up neatly with a bow at the end of this book and there will be much ore to Colin and Evan’s story. Highly recommend this author, this book and this and the previous series! I can’t wait to see what happens next 🙂
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
Carina