Awakening Fire: A Paranormal Shifter Romance Novel (The Divine Tree Guardians Series Book 1)

What I thought would be an exciting series full of the paranormal, supernatural, otherworldly things that make this genre so great was overshadowed by MC's that I didn't enjoy.Venn starts off in the prologue with an attitude, a chip on his shoulder, a stronger than strong will, and a desire to do his best to fulfill his duty once he accepts it. I had high hopes for him and his progression once he finds his mate. He grows closer to her and to his heart but then seems to throw away all his loyalty to his duty. When he can't think around a problem or use his centuries of experience and knowledge to try to find another way or to think beyond his rage for Io he barrels in and makes a mess of things. Refusing to heed Seth's warnings and admonitions get him into a much more difficult situation than he would have been because both he and Emma go into the dangerous, world-altering situation not working together or knowing what they could to thwart Io's plans.Emma is another story. The thing with Todd was such a throwaway and made her a cheater rather than just conflicted. When she gets after Venn for keeping things from her because he thinks she can't handle something and then at every single turn she runs away from the situation, avoids thinking deeply about it, denies, and falters under pressure I don't blame him. I do blame her for not rising to the strength within that she's supposed to have. And with her freaking out and struggling to accept Venn's shifter nature...umm...SHE CAN MELT AND CHANGE METAL WITH HER HANDS!! Oh, AND SHE HAS VISIONS!! How is any of Venn's stuff so much that she takes so dang long to accept and move forward with the information?Their relationship was iffy too. The sexy times didn't compensate for the lack of relationship building that was necessary for me to believe that Venn loved Emma, not just Amelia and that his mate was reincarnated or to believe that there was something about each person as an individual that said they belonged to one another and could work out for the long haul. Destiny, trees, and past live's relationships aside, I didn't see them doing much to get to know one another. Venn tries to get her to know about their past but doesn't actually try to get to know her now. Emma takes his support but doesn't really give him anything back. Neither of them try to figure out her power and what makes her different from Amelia besides the tree connection. I just don't buy it.I struggled with this book almost all the way through. The best part of the book was the prologue because it gave me insight into who the players are throughout the series. The tree is cool and the powers stuff is good too. To start off the series with these characters who don't use their resources and their heads, they're willing to sacrifice the world for one person, and to end up with a rushed patch to heal things that her impulsive short-sighted actions caused was just not enough. I'm now roped into reading Awakening Storm and I'm not really looking forward to it if what I'm going to get is a bunch of hype and sex with no foundation or depth beyond a ton of supernatural stuff thrown in to engender enthusiasm and interest.

Can I say HOT, because this book was definitely on fire. I loved the uniqueness of this story it was different than any paranormal mysrery / romance book I have read before. The story was wonderfully written and beautiful. I was brought to tears a time or two. I was so impressed and look forward to reading the rest of the books in this series. Larissa Emerald did a fantastic job!

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book. The book started off kind of slow but after a couple of chapters it picked up steam. You try to keep the balance between good and evil. I didn't think I would like this book at first but after getting thru the first couple of chapters when Larissa was telling you about the plot of the story and the characters. It turn into a very good read. Good Job Larissa

Super good plot, descriptive scenes, Amazing characters. So why the 4But a really good read star rating? Because the editing department didn't show up for work on this one. Example, "error" when it was supposed to be "era". But a really good read.

Enjoying the series, reading the third book now. This book makes you think about reincarnation - would you come back the same or different; and if different....in what way? Also, if immortal, would one stagnate or grow? Did really like this book, liked the second book more and just getting into the third. Will recommend to my friends who like paranormal romance novels.

This is a differentiator in reincarnation & shifters. The main characters are sympathetic & I became engrossed in the book. As Emma and Venn fall for each other once again, their enemies will try to destroy them. Recommended if you enjoy PNR.

Scheduled to read the next book in the series as part of an advanced reader copy. I decided to read this one first. The storyline is amazing, and well written.Longing forward to reading the next one in the series !

I am not a believer in or advocate of reincarnation, but Awakening Fire is an over all great paranormal read. Very well written.