ARC Review: Fire by Lisa Carlisle (Underground Encounters 1)

 Title: Fire

        (Underground Encounters 1)

Author: Lisa Carlisle

Release Date: September 14, 2017 (ARC)

Publisher: Amazon Digital Services

Category: Paranormal Contemporary Romance

Type: Digital

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Lisa Carlisle Website

Blurb:

Maya Winters, a firefighter, heads out on Halloween to dance at her favorite club. A man with haunting eyes watches her from the back of the club. He's just her type--a dark, brooding bad boy. She feels their connection, but thinks it's merely physical attraction.

Despite being the new owner, Tristan Stone avoids people in the underground goth club due to his curse. But when he spots a woman dancing alone surrounded by an unusual glow, he must discover who she is and what gives her the radiating power. 

While they work together to understand their connection, passion ignites, leading to danger. And the heat could send their world up in flames.

Fire is the next installment in the Underground Encounters series, set in a club that attracts supernatural creatures. Step into Vamps, a thrilling new world of steamy paranormal romance featuring sexy shifters, thirsty vampires, wicked witches, and gorgeous gargoyles.

Favorite Line:

She smiled. “No, I’m the idiot. You’re the dumbass. Remember?”  ~Maya

Dialogue Highlight:

When she opened it, I saw a colorful set of cards set against maroon velvet lining.

“Would you let me do a reading?”

“What kind of reading?” I asked.

“Just some Tarot cards. Have you ever had them read for you?”

“No.” I leaned forward. “Sure, why not.”

Isabella shuffled the cards and explained how she’d be reading in the Celtic Cross fashion. She had me concentrate on whatever problem or concern I had, and then pick a number of cards. I did. My thoughts turned through random thoughts, but most drifted to what she’d uncover about my ability with fire—or any sort of future with Tristan.

She laid them out for past, present, future, hopes, obstacles and so on. Each time she turned over a card, she said a few words on each, but she didn’t get animated until the end.

“The Star. Another major arcana. You’ve been feeling the lack of a sense of meaning in your life. And the lack of someone special. You desire more.”

Heat suffused my cheeks. The reading had quickly turned personal.

“You’ll find a connection with someone special, something so deep that it will seem your tie is unbreakable. However, you will be hurt, forced into estrangement.”

What the—? “By the same person?”

She shook her head. “It’s unclear. You will come through and learn much about yourself.”

I shook my head. “What does this mean? A special connection, estrangement, new ability? I’m confused.”

Isabella put down the cards and looked at me. “Be true to yourself and follow your path. Only then will you get what you desire.”

I was speechless, a rare moment. Then, trying to lift the mood, I laughed. “Whoa, that was intense.”

Excerpt:

By reading any further, you are stating that you are at least 18 years of age.

If you are under the age of 18, please exit this site.

“Mr. Stone is the new owner,” Byron explained. “He put a lot of attention into rebuilding the club.”

“And you’re leaving so soon?” he said, never breaking our gaze. “What a shame. I hope it’s not that the club doesn’t live up to your expectations.”

Several seconds passed while my eyes traveled from his dark ones down to stare at lips that I could kiss for days—“interface with,” as the guys at work said when geeking out talking about girls. Suddenly aware that I still hadn’t uttered a word, I said, “No, it’s not that, Mr. Stone. It looks great. I don’t want to overdo it. Haven’t used these dancing legs in a long time.”

“Please call me Tristan. Come, Maya, I’m not convinced. Let me show you around. Maybe get a drink. I’d love to get input from a former regular to see if we’re missing any of the old charm.”

He took my hand and warmth once again spread from where he touched me all through my body. I controlled my racing pulse for a moment to turn back and look at Byron. His mouth was half-open in shock, but then he recovered in time to wag his finger in front of his face with a naughty grin.

I shrugged back at Byron before Tristan reopened one of the doors into the main club area leading us back into Dante’s Inferno as hinted at by the sign. Tristan led me into the loud music and pulsing energy in the club. What was I getting into?

He pointed out some of the new features of the club, the new live stage and a newer bar. Polished black marble graced the top of a dark mahogany carved-wood bar, with scenes of ancient rites of what looked like naked witches dancing around a cauldron carved into the front panels.

We walked over to the bar and he asked, “What would you like to drink?”

“I tried a Tempting Fate earlier and it was smashing.” I tilted my head and peered up at him. “Anything else on the menu you’d recommend?”

He stepped back and looked at me. No, appraised me up and down in an unabashed manner. If another guy looked at me that way, I’d rip him a new one, but when Tristan did it, it made me blush. Set me on fire.

I didn’t blush often and I wondered why I did now. Luckily it was dark in here.

“I think you deserve a drink as delectable as you look. But that might be hard to concoct. How about a Hotter Than Hell Bloody Mary?”

“Aren’t you a flatterer,” I said, aware that I was fluttering my lashes like some flirt. “Do you use that line on all the females here?”

“Never before. Boy Scout honor.”

I tilted my head. “Were you a Boy Scout?”

“No. Does that matter?”

I shrugged and took a sip of my drink. “Excellent choice,” I said. I looked around the club. “I like what you’ve done with the place. The little touches make it unique. And the new drinks are extraordinary.”

“Thank you.”

“No, thank you for buying the club. Saving the place.” Seeing all the people on the dance floor, I added, “You’ve made a lot of people happy.”

“I hope you’re one of them.” He looked at me so intensely that I felt self-conscious. “I am. This is my favorite place for a night out.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” he said. “The live music is what I think will really give this place a new life. We had an old punk band in here last week. Wicked fun. You’ll have to come and judge for yourself one night.”

“I will,” I said. As if I needed another reason to come back.

Review:

Maya Winters is a Firefighter with a secret. She has a pretty stressful job as a Firefighter and likes to unwind by going to her favorite club, Vamps. She hasn’t been back since the fire a year ago, but a new owner took it over and now it has reopened. She likes what she sees. When she notices a super-hot guy watching her, she is curious, but not sure what to make of him when he suddenly disappears. Another encounter reveals him to be the new owner of Vamps. As Maya gets to know him more, secrets are revealed and a destiny neither one of them ever dreamed of  comes to light. But to fulfill the destiny, they both have to find a way to breach the protective walls that they have built over the years … and after hurting each other, it might not be possible to go back and start anew.

Tristan Stone is dark, broody, and gorgeous. He is immediately attracted to the light he sees in Maya. It is something he has never before experienced and he isn’t entirely sure what it means. He allows himself to get closer and indulge a bit, but after realizing his darkness is not what she deserves - she deserves someone so much better - he tries to distance himself, which may have cost himself the best thing in his life. Her light and his darkness- could they actually help one another, or just end up destroying themselves trying to make something work that never should have been?

A couple of days ago, I reviewed the prequel novella to this series. I really didn’t’ care for it much. I think everything just happened so fast, that I had a hard time believing any of it. While we read for fantasy and to indulge in said fantasies, I like to have a bit a believability within a story. Fire ended up featured at the end of the novella, Smolder, and I was quite intrigued with it. I received an ARC of this book and decided to give it a try. I have to say I am glad I did. While it was still fast-paced like the other, it moved at a much more believable rate. Both characters also had hurdles to overcome in an effort to find out the truth of their abilities and their purpose. Each character had more time on the pages and so were given a bit more depth that was lacking in the prequel. I ended up enjoying my time spent with this story. Interestingly enough, when the characters Nike and Michele (from Smolder) were introduced into this book, I wasn’t annoyed with them as I had been when reading Smolder. One issue that stuck, was my difficulty in visualizing the characters. I can put my finger on precisely what it was, but I kept seeing “young” and I didn’t picture Maya as someone who would have been ripped as a Firefighter.

I know I probably sound like a roller coaster – I liked this one, I don’t like that one -  but I had made a suggestion with the review of Smolder that I think would still apply now that I have read Fire. Read Fire first. Go to Smolder after Fire. I believe that, had I read in that order, my irritation at the prequel novella would have been lessened. As far as Maya and Tristan, I enjoyed watching their secrets unfold and would be interested in reading more about Tristan’s family history – as well as what Maya’s heritage may have been given her being adopted as an infant. I sort of wish these things had been addressed in the book. Maya and Tristan were likeable characters if a little bull-headed in their own stubborn ways – leading to a couple of idiotic decisions that never should have been made but ultimately worked out. I think people who enjoy underground clubs might like several of the references made to bands and songs that were completely lost on me. I only recognized a couple of them, but that might be a nice bit of familiarity for those who can identify them. This book was longer than the first, but I still breezed through it. There is quite a bit of sexual content, so it isn’t for the reader sensitive toward description. However, I’d say it’s worth giving this series a shot. I’m now getting the vibe that somehow these characters will come together for some huge threat later in the series. They all ring in some different kind of skill set. The club and the main players within remind me of a paranormal version of the Island of Misfit Toys with great ability and potential. Viewed this way, and if I am correct in my completely unproven assumptions, the series has quite a lot of potential itself. I’ll be keeping an eye on it to see what develops as the books progress.

Kindle version provided by Author in exchange for an honest review.