Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Out of the Ashes
SERIES: Ashes & Dust
AUTHOR: Jenn Burke
NARRATOR: Tim Paige
PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio
LENGTH: 6 hours and 57 minutes
RELEASE DATE: October 11, 2022
BLURB:
Some bonds weren’t meant to be broken.
Vampire PI Evan Fournier has dealt with his fair share of danger and heartache, but nothing prepares him for the pain of a broken bond with his mate—especially when his mate is the one who severed it. Bond or no, he still loves Colin—fiercely. Trust, however, is harder to come by. And when a demon starts terrorizing paranormals in Toronto, trust in one another is exactly what they’ll need.
Former firefighter turned crime-fighting phoenix Colin Zhang knows who Evan was—is—to him, but he doesn’t know if he can give him what he wants. He just needs a little time to figure things out. Unfortunately, bringing down a demon bent on mass murder leaves little time for anything else.
The only way they’ll destroy the demon is by teaming up with an unlikely partner to infiltrate a gang of terrorists. But the only way they’ll save themselves is by finding a path back into each other’s arms-and hearts-once again.
Contains mature themes.
REVIEW:
Note: This is the third book in this series and will not make any sense without having read the previous books. In fact, it’s is recommended to read the previous series Not Dead Yet that this series is spun off from.
As this book opens, Evan is dealing with the devastation of the breaking of his bond with Colin. He didn’t want it, but Colin did because he felt he needed to be his own person again. Colin remembers what he had with Evan, but he doesn’t “feel” the feelings. He and Colin are still working together to some degree – and especially when they are searching for the demon who has been killing people and paranormals. The breaking of the bond also seems to have affected Colin’s phoenix abilities as he finds out the hard way when he at Evan are unwittingly at the scene of an attack on a bar that was a favorite among the paranormal community – which happens to be owned by the shifter boyfriend of a Toronto police officer.
Turns out there are a group of people who are trying to take out the paranormals who have been trying to fly under the radar. When a new agency shows up to take charge of the investigation, there are some misgivings. Colin and Evan are tasked with going undercover to infiltrate a group who may be working with whoever is trying to eliminate the paranormal activity. Maverick is one of these agents and he and Colin and Evan do what they can to try to figure out how all these different elements are working together. When the real baddie shows up, it’s a huge surprise to see who and what is behind the mayhem.
Just when you think that Colin and Evan and their allies have things figured out, there are some wild-cards. One is Colin’s son CJ who is not necessarily adjusting too well to his new life after his injuries in the previous book. There are other loose ends that have to be tied up as well that Evan is determined to handle. When the climactic moments occur, help comes from some unexpected sources. The results may lead to a whole new life and series 😉
Overall I really liked this story. Evan is a favorite character in this series and I really wanted him to be happy. He certainly has to work for it. My one niggle in this whole series is Colin. He’s just not as committed as Evan is – mate bond or not. Burke justifies this somewhat because of the era that Colin grew up in and his ties to his former fiance and his son. He struggles with his attraction to Evan and being out and he lets Evan suffer because of it. I appreciated that the author did not sweep Evan’s depression under the rug nor the work he’s done with his therapist over the years to get him to the place he’s at. I will be interested to see what she comes up with next and if Evan and Colin figure in that as well. All in all, a nice wrap up to this series with a potential for more in this fascinating universe.
Tim Paige does his usual stellar job of performing this story and in fact earned an extra half-heart in the rating for this work. He’s been a consistent and engaging narrator for this series. He is able to convey the emotional pain of Evan as he is dealing with losing his mate. As he and Colin work through their issues while simultaneously dealing with outside threats as well as the potential problems with Colin’s son and the decision that Colin has made to save him, Mr. Paige provides the perfect page and energy as the story ebbs and flows and the danger ratchets up with each new confrontation with the bad guys. I also loved his interpretation of the new characters to this story, particularly Maverick who is a key character and I assume will show up in the next series. This might be my favorite in this series because Evan finally gets his real HEA 🙂 Cliffhanger from Book 2 is now forgiven 😉
RATING: 
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