About the Book:

Title: From Blood and Ash

Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout 

Publisher: Blue Box Press

Release Date: March 30, 2020

Pages: 625

Genre: Adult Fantasy, Adult Romance

Synopsis:

Captivating and action-packed, From Blood and Ash is a sexy, addictive, and unexpected fantasy perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Laura Thalassa.

A Maiden…

Chosen from birth to usher in a new era, Poppy’s life has never been her own. The life of the Maiden is solitary. Never to be touched. Never to be looked upon. Never to be spoken to. Never to experience pleasure. Waiting for the day of her Ascension, she would rather be with the guards, fighting back the evil that took her family, than preparing to be found worthy by the gods. But the choice has never been hers.

A Duty…

The entire kingdom’s future rests on Poppy’s shoulders, something she’s not even quite sure she wants for herself. Because a Maiden has a heart. And a soul. And longing. And when Hawke, a golden-eyed guard honor bound to ensure her Ascension, enters her life, destiny and duty become tangled with desire and need. He incites her anger, makes her question everything she believes in, and tempts her with the forbidden.

A Kingdom…

Forsaken by the gods and feared by mortals, a fallen kingdom is rising once more, determined to take back what they believe is theirs through violence and vengeance. And as the shadow of those cursed draws closer, the line between what is forbidden and what is right becomes blurred. Poppy is not only on the verge of losing her heart and being found unworthy by the gods, but also her life when every blood-soaked thread that holds her world together begins to unravel. 

 

 

Review:

I first became familiar with Jennifer L. Armentrout when I read and loved the Lux series a number of years back, and I have lots of her books on my TBR. A friend and I decided to do a buddy read of From Blood and Ash, and we jumped right in. Completely obsessed! It was hard to put down. My friend and I would message each other that we needed to read more chapters for the day, lol. It definitely lived up to the hype for me.

Poppy is chosen at birth, and her life has never belonged to her. The Maiden has a very solitary life, and can never be touched, looked upon, spoken to, or able to experience pleasure. As she waits for her Ascension, she would rather be fighting with the royal guards against the evils that took her family, instead of preparing to be worthy for the gods.

The fate of the whole Kingdom rests on Poppy’s shoulders, although she’s never asked for this. Hawke enters her life as a guard honor bound to ensure her Ascension. Things begin to get complicated, as Poppy begins to question everything that she’s ever known, and as she is tempted with the forbidden.

A fallen kingdom is rising once more, and is determined to take back what they believe is theirs. As the shadow of those cursed draws near, the line between what is forbidden and what is right becomes blurred. Poppy is on the verge of being found unworthy to the gods, losing her heart, and losing her life as her world starts to come apart at the seams.

I absolutely loved the banter between Poppy and Hawke! They reminded me of some of my other favorite bookish couples, and I can totally get behind the comp to Sarah J. Maas.

If you’re a fan of fantasy and adult romance, than I highly recommend this book! I loved the setting, the characters, the romance, and the intrigue. There are lots of twists and turns, and I enjoyed figuring some of them out, and being completely surprised by others. That ending! Can’t wait to start book two, A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire. I need to find out what happens next.

About the Author:

# 1 New York Times and # 1 International Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Charles Town, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. she spends her time reading, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki. In early 2015, Jennifer was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a group of rare genetic disorders that involve a breakdown and death of cells in the retina, eventually resulting in loss of vision, among other complications. Due to this diagnosis, educating people on the varying degrees of blindness has become of passion of hers, right alongside writing, which she plans to do as long as she can.

Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Tor, HarperCollins Avon and William Morrow, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her Wicked Series has been optioned by PassionFlix. Jennifer has won numerous awards, including the 2013 Reviewers Choice Award for Wait for You, the 2015 Editor’s Pick for Fall With Me, and the 2014/2015 Moerser-Jugendbuch- Jury award for Obsidian. Her young adult romantic suspense novel DON’T LOOK BACK was a 2014 nominated Best in Young Adult Fiction by YALSA. Her adult romantic suspense novel TILL DEATH was a Amazon Editor’s Pick and iBook Book of the Month. Her young adult contemporary THE PROBLEM WITH FOREVER is a 2017 RITA Award Winner in Young Adult Fiction. She also writes Adult and New Adult contemporary and paranormal romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.

She is the owner of ApollyCon and The Origin Event, the successful annual events that features over hundred bestselling authors in Young Adult, New Adult, and Adult Fiction, panels, parties, and more