Tracy’s review of Hidden Embers 
In the New Mexico desert there is a secret race on the brink of extinction-the pure-blood shapeshifters of the Dragonstar clan. Their last hope for survival lies in the hands of Quinn Maguire, the desperate clan healer lost in love with a human female.
There is a horrible virus that is spreading through the Dragonstar clan. Quinn has been working for years to try to find a cure but so far hasn’t had any luck. When his brother dies from the virus he can’t take it any more and heads off a flight that ends up taking him to Texas and a one night stand with an incredible woman.
The incredible woman is Jasmine Kane, a friend of Phoebe’s (from book 1) who works for the CDC but is currently on medical leave. She’s on her way to New Mexico to help the Dragonstar clan – at Phoebe and Dylan’s behest – when she gets a flat and heads to a bar to wait for the repair truck. When she meets Quinn she’s instantly attracted and they decide to take their attraction to the next level…and the motel next to the bar.
Quinn’s not happy, at all, when he wakes up and Jazz is gone but is shocked and thrilled when he finds her walking in to his lab. He wants to keep matters professional but finds that he just can’t do that – especially when he discovers that Jazz is his mate.
Jazz, Phoebe and Quinn work together to try and discover an antidote and/or immunization to the man-made virus that is wreaking havoc on the Dragonstar’s. While they do discover some interesting properties about the virus and know that they are on the right track they realize they can’t do anything until they find the one traitor in the clan who has been dosing the clan members in the first place.
I’ll start off by saying that I had very mixed feelings about this book. It was definitely much darker than book 1 which was ok to a point because the virus itself is getting worse so I understood that in order to show that the author had to have some events happen to prove it. Unfortunately those events (and I can’t tell you what they are without spoilers) just didn’t sit well with me. I think it was an issue with what I personally find acceptable in my romance novels so others might feel differently about the darker occurrences in the book.
While I liked Quinn quite a bit I really didn’t care for Jazz all that much. Don’t get me wrong – I admired who she’d become from where she had grown up and she was brilliant, but her stubbornness and independence really rubbed me the wrong way. I will say that she did think about her actions after the fact and find that maybe she overreacted but she wouldn’t think first and act later she would fly off the handle and then have to apologize. Once is fine but several times was getting annoying. I just wanted to shake her and say, “Think before you speak!”
There were also some incidences that weren’t dealt with, imho. After the traitor was discovered and unveiled very little was mentioned about it. It was almost like it was decided that they were glad they found the person but they weren’t going to talk about it. I also didn’t care for the way that Jazz was saved near the end of the book – it just seemed that while very emotional it was remedied too easily.
Besides Quinn I loved seeing Phoebe and Dylan again from book 1. Also, the other sentries, Logan, Ty, and Gabe and enjoyed seeing their continued loyalty to their king and the clan. Their easy camaraderie was fun to read about – treating each other like family and enjoying every minute of it.
It may not seemed that I liked the book all that much but I did – I just didn’t like it as much as I’d hoped.
Rating: 3.25 out of 5
The Series:
You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place
This book is available from NAL Books. You can buy it here in e-format.
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