Series: Ember & Ash #1
Publication date: July 23rd, 2024
Synopsis:
She's the ember that started the fire.
He's the ash that remains when all is dead.
When Emberly, a field biologist with a connection to the spirit world, returns to her hometown for her dream job, she thinks she's prepared to defend her home and confront her destiny. But she's not prepared for Ashton: the man she must marry to uphold the bargain she made for her life. And no amount of chastising from her ghost twin is going to change her mind.
Ashton, the handsome, reluctant heir to the mining empire that killed Emberly's grandfather, wants nothing to do with his family legacy. But when his father announces plans to resume mining operations, his only hope at protecting the mountain is to work with the woman he fell in love with at first sight--and who can't stand to look at him.
Forced into a fake relationship to keep the circumstances of their magically arranged marriage--and the supernatural salamanders--a secret, their annoyance with each other is only heightened by their mutual attraction. But there's only so long they can avoid fate.
Fire Called is the first in a new contemporary romantasy trilogy. If you like steamy romances, hearing ghost stories around the campfire, and finding magic in so-called 'mundane' places, this one's for you.
Available at:
Excerpt
"Would you all cut it out? We don't need to scare her," a guy's voice echoed around Ember when she made it back to the huge room full of salamanders.
At least the guy sounded human. Not mountain god-y. And that would have been somewhat reassuring if she didn't recognize his voice.
If it didn't flip her stomach the second it reached her ears.
She pushed the thought aside. Maybe she was imagining it. Maybe the echoes of the cave were distorting his voice and it was someone else entirely.
"Um, hi. I guess we're engaged?" Ember said to him. Not that she saw him; she was still scanning for the semi-opaque form of a ghost in a final attempt at denial.
"In a manner of speaking."
Ember could pinpoint the sound's location this time and turned to face it.
She blinked. Once, twice, a third time, trying to comprehend what she saw.
Ashton.
He was far enough away she couldn't touch him to be absolutely sure he was flesh and blood, that he was actually the man she's kissed, that he was actually the man she couldn't get out of her mind since the day she'd first laid eyes on him.
But no.
It was him.
Ashton Pyne.
He stared at her for a beat. Another. His mouth was open, just a little, and his eyes glowed a soft orange, though that might have been the lighting. He watched her move, carefully, and she felt like she was being tracked.
When she met his gaze, his mouth spread into a full, genuine smile.
Her attraction to him was immediate and intense. Even for Ember. Even compared to how it'd been in the days following the kiss. She couldn't describe it, really, couldn't figure out why all it took from him was eye contact and a tilt of his lips to make her weak for him.
Maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing ever to marry him.
That felt separately absurd, but there was only so much she could do with the hand she was dealt.
She took a moment to regain her composure. "Um. Hi. You?"
He walked toward her so quickly she thought he might tackle her, but he stopped a perfectly gentlemanly distance away.
"Ember."
"You," she said. She had more of a thought attached to it, but it died before it could reach her lips.
"Ember," he said again, and stepped forward just far enough to take her hand.
He was definitely corporeal, and his touch flustered her.
"Why... are you here?" she blurted out.
He tilted his head and squinted at her, a fair reaction to her odd question. "I assumed that'd be obvious.
EDELINE WRIGH is an eccentric storyteller with a penchant for swearing, drinking too much caffeine, and spending more time with cats than people. She writes fantasy, romance, and love stories without happy endings from her house in the midwest. When she's not putting words on paper, she's busy upleveling her martial arts game or taking in stories in any way she can.
.png)
