The Last Rising By Rachel Firasek
Title: The Last Rising (Curse of the Phoenix, Book 1)
Author: Rachel Firasek
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Length: Novella – 102 pages
Release Date: September 2011
ISBN: 978-1-937044-28-2
Source: Received from the Author
Synopsis:
After paying two millennia’s penance to Osiris, world-weary Phoenix Ice has had enough. Saving souls without any hope for her own redemption isn’t how she imagined spending eternity. Fed up, she decides her next death will be her last. But when she sacrifices her own life for a sexy Texan in a catastrophic plane crash, she has no idea the consequences will be so great…or that she’ll end up back in his life for her next assignment.
Now that Turner Alcott has survived the worst, finding a wife and mother for his son matters more than ever before. When the mysterious Ice comes into his life, Turner knows she’s the one—but love is the last thing Ice wants. If he wants to win her heart, Turner must teach Ice how to forgive herself, and prove that love is the ultimate sacrifice.
Lisa’s Thoughts:
The Last Rising grabbed me from the very first chapter and pulled me into a unique story that I really didn’t understand at first but as each paragraph and chapter unfolded pulled me deeper into the heartbreaking and frustrating life of Phoenix Ice. I just could not put this book down. I had to know how Ice’s situation was going to turn out. The opening of this book she is face with a man on an airplane when she knows it is going to crash and he will be the only survivor. She dies over and over again saving the souls and yet unable to save her own. Ice is completely done with this and decides that her next death will be her last and beings to take steps to prepare the other women who travel with her. In Ice’s next assignment, she is to be a school teacher, something that she know she will have very little patience for. But she is stunned when she meets the father, Turner, of a young student Brodie, and he seems so familiar. He feels the same way about her. Ice is forced to try to keep her distance from Turner because she just wants him too much and knows she can’t have this. But can these two stay apart is the real question.
Rachel Firasek does an outstanding job with character building for all of the characters in her stories not just the main characters. I felt like each character from Brodie down to Grey and Sadie, all had their own story that intermingled in with the main story line of Ice and Turner and their ups and downs. Not only do the character stand up but the locations of the story as well everything from the homes to the workplaces and the plane crash for sure. They are well defined but for me personally I like to know the names of places and things like that so that would have made me enjoy this book even more.
The other thing that was a huge plus for me in The Last Rising was the heat factor. There chapters that were just sizzling. Nothing that was over the top or just too much but a honest situation for two people who should be together and are having trouble letting go what what they think they should do and what they want to do. Also, a reason why it was so hard to put it down not to mention all of the drama with Ice’s internal debates with herself.
I am excited to know that this is only one of three books in this series. I am forward to finding out what is next in store from this series.
My Rating:
I rate this 5 penguins – I enjoyed everything from the characters to the story line to the HEAT factor. Great work! I am looking forward to more.
About the Author:
Rachel currently resides in the heart of Central Texas with her husband and three children. She’s an active member in the Romance Writers of America, belonging to the Heart of Texas, FF&P, and YA chapters. You’ll also find her surfing the Savvy Authors site daily.
An office manager by day, and an urban fantasy/paranormal romance author by night, you’ll never find her far from her beloved stories.
