Release Blitz & Excerpt:
All Fired Up
By Jenn Burke

Ashes & Dust, Book 1

Once bitten. Twice burned. Forever bonded.

Don’t miss this riveting and romantic spin-off series from Jenn Burke, author of Not Dead Yet.

Paranormals are dying. All over the city, with no explanation and only one thing in common: their magic is missing.

Vampire and private investigator Evan Fournier isn’t supposed to be taking on paranormal cases, but when the murderer hits close to home, he agrees to look into it. The last thing he expects is to become a target himself—and then to become irrevocably bonded to the man who just tried to kill him.

With his memory gone and his soul bonded to a stranger, former firefighter Colin Zhang wants to be anywhere else. He doesn’t have a damn clue why he just tried to kill Evan, and he didn’t even know about magic until just now. The sooner he can get back to his real life, the better.

But every time either of them tries to leave, pure agony stops them short. Forced to work with Evan or suffer the consequences, Colin must excavate the secrets buried in his missing memories while battling two rising threats: the conspiracy behind the murder, and his mutual attraction to the bond mate he never wanted.

Universal Link

Universal Audio Link

Goodreads

Special Excerpt from All Fired Up:

Found family

“There are two meetings with new clients tomorrow. One at 10 a.m. and one at 3 p.m.” Hudson took out one of the shirts Wes had tossed into the suitcase and refolded it Marie Kondo–style.

I nodded. “Got it.”

“And Sam’s got a list of questions from the website that I was going to tackle tomorrow.”

“Yep.”

“If the reporter from Canadian Investigator calls back, tell him I’ll get in touch when I’m back in the country.”

Our receptionist, Sam, would take care of that, but I made an affirmative grunt.

“You taught Vamp Junior bad habits, Hud,” Wes piped up from inside the massive walk-in closet.

I shook my head at the old nickname as Hudson gave a grunt of his own. The man had mastered the art of grunting instead of responding with words…and yeah, I’d kind of picked it up. But hey, so had Wes—sometimes—so there.

“Are you taking notes?” Wes made his way toward the bed and the half-full suitcase.

I held up my sketchpad, complete with the caricature of Wes and Hudson on a plane. “Nope.”

“Hey, that’s pretty good. New style?” Wes haphazardly folded a shirt and put it in the suitcase and Hudson predictably picked it up and refolded it properly. Wes didn’t notice.

“I’m playing with it a bit.”

“Cool.”

Hud frowned at the picture. “You sure you’re going to remember everything?”

I raised a brow. “Two new client interviews, plus the questions from the website tomorrow, impersonate you for the Canadian Investigator interview.”

“Ha. Funny.”

“Relax, boss. I know what I’m doing.”

“I know. I’m just—”

“Freaked out,” Wes supplied as he appeared from the closet with a new load of clothes.

“Freaked out,” Hud agreed with a sigh.

“Have you gotten any updates?” I asked softly.

“The last I heard, he was going into surgery. No news is good news, right?”

I wasn’t sure, so I grunted noncommittally.

“Exactly my thoughts.” Hudson refolded another shirt, then seemed to realize that the suitcase was mostly full, and mostly with Wes’s clothes. “Do I not get to wear clothing?”

“If I had my way, no,” Wes singsonged back.

“I’m not parading naked around London.” At that declaration, Hudson joined Wes in the closet, and I chuckled at the bitching between them.

This was family. Maybe not by blood—well, sort of, since Hudson had used his blood to turn me into a vampire. But this was what family was supposed to be. Love without limits or conditions. Love that accepted you, no matter who you were.

“Oh!” Hudson stuck his head out of the closet door, his hands full of pants and shirts in a variety of colors. “We need to discuss new clients.”

“The ones I’ll be meeting with tomorrow?”

“No. I mean the ones who show up looking for special help.”

Oh—those kind. The sort looking for Wes the God and Hudson the Vampire King. “I’m not sure we can hang up a Gone Fishin’ sign for them.”

Hudson scowled. “Well, we’re going to have to. Because like hell you’ll be taking on any paranormal cases while we’re gone.”

I set my shoulders and opened my mouth, preparing for a fight. Hudson might be my sire, and my boss, and my unofficial big brother, but I did not appreciate being told what I could and couldn’t do. Especially not in that almost-not-quite sire voice.

“What Hudson means,” Wes interjected before I could share my displeasure, shooting a glare in Hud’s direction, “is that those cases tend to go sideways.”

“Sometimes,” I countered.

“Most of the time,” Wes counter-countered. “Name one that didn’t.”

It took me a few seconds, but then I snapped my fingers and pointed at Wes. “Finding the witch’s familiar.”

Hudson squinted at me. “Oh, you mean the cat the witch stole from the kid in the unit down the hall and tried to hex you and me so we wouldn’t find out? Which left us wandering Midtown without memories for a couple of hours until Wes found us and did his god thing?”

Oh. Right. I mean, in the grand scheme of paranormal cases we’d investigated, it was one of the more tame ones. There’d been no murder, at least. Or creatures summoned from the beyond. That had to count for something, right?

The deepening scowl on Hudson’s face said no. “Okay. No paranormal cases. I promise.”

If only I knew how I would come to rue those words.

About the Author:

Jenn Burke has loved out-of-this-world romance since she was a preteen reading about heroes and heroines kicking butt and falling in love. Now that she’s an author, she couldn’t be happier to bring adventure, romance, and sexy times to her readers.

Jenn is the author of a number of paranormal and science fiction romance titles, including the critically acclaimed Chaos Station science fiction romance series (authored with Kelly Jensen) and her newest series, Not Dead Yet, both from Carina Press.

She’s been called a pocket-sized and puntastic Canadian on social media, and she’ll happily own that label. Jenn lives just outside of Ottawa, Ontario, with her husband and two kids, plus two dogs named after video game characters…because her geekiness knows no bounds.

Connect with Jenn:
Website: http://www.jennburke.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jeralibu
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeralibu
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9869819.Jenn_Burke

[I received a digital arc for an honest review]

All Fired Up is the first book in the Ashes & Dust series by Jenn Burke. This is a spin-off from her Not Dead Yet series. While you don’t have to read that to enjoy this one I personally would because besides the fact that that is a great series, you would then know the backstory of the main character Evan and pretty much all the supporting characters in this one.

When vampire Evan’s bosses’ and family, Wes and Hudson, are out of the country he is in charge of their private investigation business. He is told to not accept any new paranormal cases but when someone close to him asks for help he can’t refuse. He finds himself in the middle than something much bigger than he expected and bound to a stranger who wants nothing to do with their paranormal world.

“Those fangs and glowing eyes don’t make you any less human, Ev. Trust me.”

It was so great to be back with this cast of characters again. I was so sad when the Not Dead Yet series finished without Evan getting his own satisfying conclusion, and it looks like it will be happening in this series. Evan is such a fantastic complex character. He struggles with depression and while he’s been doing much better he still has time when his fears, insecurities and guilt from the past weighs him down. He is trying so hard to be more mature in this book, but sometimes his emotions still get the best of him. Then we have Colin {{sigh}} I feel for the man I really do but the way he hurts Evans feelings without meaning to still irks because I’m very attached to that cinnamon roll of a vampire. I had a hard time connecting to/ caring for him , even if he spouted some swoon worthy lines to Evan and had been through something traumatic. The ‘relationship’ between them was alright. Evan helps Colton see it’s okay to question his sexuality but since they are both healing from lost loves they decide to take it slow between them.

“It’s scary and f*cked up, and I feel like I’m one wrong turn from being lost forever. I need an anchor. I need a connection. I need a reminder that I’m here. That someone else knows I’m here.”

The case that Evan has to solve with the help of his friends was interesting with layers and plenty of “oh sh*t ” moments that kept me engaged with it. While it’s wrapped up at the end for the moment you’re left with the knowledge that it’s not completely over. I think this could have really benefited from Colin’s POV instead of just Evans. Hopefully now that his character has been bonded into their makeshift found family that he will get his own POV in the next book.

Overall, I enjoyed the start of the Ashes & Dust series and look forward to the rest of the series.