Frost and Flame by Gena Showalter Also in this series: Shadow and Ice
Series: Gods of War #2
Published by HQN on September 17, 2019
Genres: Paranormal Romance, Royalty, Science Fiction Romance
Pages: 384
Format: eBook
Source: Library
Bane of Adwaeweth is the most feared immortal warrior in All War history. Possessed by a bloodthirsty beast, he will stop at nothing to win. Then he meets irresistible Nola Lee. He hates the power she wields over him, but she alone can rain vengeance upon his wife’s killer.
Unaware of her destiny to rule as queen of beasts, Nola battles illness, addiction and vulnerability. With Bane, however, she experiences pleasure for the first time, and only wants more. But being with him comes with a terrible price.
With enemies lurking around every corner, Bane and Nola must fight to survive. But time is running out, and neither can resist the sizzling attraction blazing between them. Will their romance save the beast and his beauty, or destroy everything they’ve come to love?
Frost and Flame is the second book in the Gods of War series and this book was just as intense as the first book “Shadow and Ice” but it was so different from the first book. I fell in love so quickly with Shadow and Ice so I was apprehensive about this one. I have had the physical copy on my bookshelves for a YEAR now, but quite frankly I have struggled picking up print romance fiction especially lately so when I saw my library had the ebook I decided to grab up the digital copy and read it out on my kindle oasis and I was swept away by this story and such a fantastic book and so grateful I finally took a chance on picking it up especially when I was in the right mood for this type of read.
Frost and Flame is on the same timeline as “Shadow and Ice” so it can be read as a stand a lone although I would recommend reading Shadow and Ice first if possible. Our story begins with our hero, Bane. Who is a warrior for his queen of the Adwaeweth, an immortal and the fiercest of their kind. But when his wife is murdered by his queen, he vows vengeance but first he must win the All War. But when he is frozen in ice, there is one who can free him….the one woman who is his weakness and his way to freedom. But can he do as his queen commands….or is she his future and liberty? Nolalee, unaware of who she really is, is a woman that is sick and addicted to the drugs that help with her sickness but she is determined to get away from her addiction and be more empowered in life until she is swept up in the all war of all types of beings who come from various worlds all over the galaxy. But despite her battle with Bane, there is a potential and royal lineage that she will need to embrace if she plans on surviving.
NEVER, IN ALL his days, had Bane been this hard, or ached this intensely. After everything he’d suffered over the centuries, he deserved sexual release with the most beautiful female he’d ever beheld. The woman who maddened him beyond all reason.
WHEW….this book was so powerful in so many ways and I just got a kick out of this one. I didn’t know what to expect from this book to be honest. I remember these characters of course, especially since they are so connected to Vale and Knox BUT this other side plot was so fascinating and I really liked that it was on the same timeline as Shadow and Ice. Even though Hunger Games was never really a thing for me especially when they were released, Gena Showalter has really stepped it up with these books. I love seeing this all war come out and the various characters that come into play here. I will say that Frost and Flame was so unique in so many ways. The first if the two plots. And yes I would say that there is. Of course first we have these creatures that are out trying to kill each other and trying to survive the best they can but the other plot is with Bane and Nola. Now at the first of the book you are horrified in seeing what happens to Bane’s wife. Its really so heartbreaking but I can see why the author placed that scene in, because it really sets the stage for EVERYTHING that goes on with Nola and Bane. Nola is much more connected to Bane and his queen than you realize at first. Nola has had such a tough life, but a life that was necessary in order to give her the strength to embrace her destiny as queen. Her road is going to be tough, but we see how much she and Bane rely on each other. Once we get past the angst between them, and they start working as a pair, their partnership together is simply beautiful in so many ways. I think what I was so stunned in was seeing these two gravitate towards each other in such a way that makes you see the deeper parts of themselves.
Being so close to Nola…breathing in her honeysuckle and jasmine scent, home…touching the silken softness of her skin…watching her ruby lips part, and the pulse quicken at the base of her neck… He’d raced from reality to fantasy, starved for everything she had to give.
And if you love a great building plot ….look no further than this book here because dang…..Gena Showalter surely knows how to write her plots and this one was intense and crazy and will have you as the reader addicted and hooked on it and wanting more. From beginning to end, this author will keep you on the edge of your seat and you won’t get enough of this story that pulls you in completely. I was so hooked on all of these characters involved here, and I adored both Bane and Nola. I was really curious where Showalter would lead us, especially with the sub plot of the queen but I can say the ending STUNNED me in ways I didn’t expect. Don’t worry all I will say is it does end up in a HEA, but whew what a finale that brings these two their beautiful ending.
You respond to me like no one else, as if you are a conduit for my pleasure. I give, and you take, then give right back to me. You give more.
I am very curious where this author will go from this series. I was expecting something from her about book three, but only thing I have heard is going self published with the third book. *crossing fingers* she will be the type of author to do self publishing right and I won’t be disappointed with the cover or story or editing.
Overall I found Frost and Flame to be a vibrant and thrilling read that had me engaged from the beginning, its a story that will lead the reader on an adventure of a lifetime….sensational in every way!
About Gena Showalter
Gena Showalter is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over thirty books in paranormal and contemporary romances, as well as young adult novels. Her series include White Rabbit Chronicles, Angels of the Dark, Otherworld Assassins, Lords of the Underworld, Alien Huntress and Intertwined.
Her novels have appeared in Cosmopolitan Magazine, and Seventeen Magazine, and have been translated all over the world. The critics have called her books "sizzling page-turners" and "utterly spellbinding stories", while Showalter herself has been called “a star on the rise”.
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