Blog Blitz & Giveaway: Fire and Bone by Rachel A. Marks

Fire and Bone
Rachel A. Marks
(Otherborn #1)
Publication date: February 20th 2018
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult

“Gossip Girl meets Percy Jackson in the glitz and grit of L.A….”

In Hollywood’s underworld of demigods, druids, and ancient bonds, one girl has a dangerous future.

Sage is eighteen, down on her luck, and struggling to survive on the streets of Los Angeles. Everything changes the night she’s invited to a party—one that turns out to be a trap.

Thrust into a magical world hidden within the City of Angels, Sage discovers that she’s the daughter of a Celtic goddess, with powers that are only in their infancy. Now that she is of age, she’s asked to pledge her service to one of the five deities, all keen on winning her favor by any means possible. She has to admit that she’s tempted—especially when this new life comes with spells, Hollywood glam, and a bodyguard with secrets of his own. Not to mention a prince whose proposal could boost her rank in the Otherworld.

As loyalties shift, and as the two men vie for her attention, Sage tries to figure out who to trust in a realm she doesn’t understand. One thing’s for sure: the trap she’s in has bigger claws than she thought. And it’s going to take a lot more than magic for this Celtic demigoddess to make it out alive.

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EXCERPT:

LILY

I try to hide my shivering as I wait before the altar, in my position as the Bonding begins. Around me, shadows dance over the cairn walls from the restless flames licking up the ram’s body—the sacrifice on the pyre behind me—and the smell ofsweat and burnt flesh smother the smoky air.

The King of Ravens paints an alarming image, standing almost naked across from me on the other side of the blood circle. He wears the corona radiata, the golden laurel-leafed crown, on his head of onyx hair. His short beard is neatly trimmed, combedwith lavender oil for the ceremony. His sharp silver eyes study me beneath a heavy brow.

I try not to think about the past. Or future. I try not to think about what those hard hands will feel like on my skin when he seals this Bond.

I study the stone floor rather than look in those metallic eyes. I feel them on me, though, the same way they have been for the fortnight I’ve been here preparing for the ceremony. He hasn’t touched me; he’s only brought me gifts and insisted I sit with him beside the greatfire in the evening before he goes out for his hunt. Sometimes I smell him in the hallway outside my rooms. But he never comes in, thank the goddess. The scent of blood is heavy on him in those moments. I’m not sure what I would’ve done if he’d attempted anything.

After this is done, it won’t matter. My bed will be his. As will my life.

A druid walks back and forth behind me, tossing rosemary and lavender onto the pyre after each stanza of his spell. He calls to the wind from the east, he calls to the waters in the west, and he pulls the spirit of flame and earth into the cairn with us, asking the Penta to approve the Bond set to be made between the two most powerful Houses, as he pleads for a blessing from our mothers, Brighid and Morrígan, and thanks the Cast for their permission to seal the Bond between the two very different powers.

A female druid comes to my side with bowl and brush, beginning to paint my skin in blue woad, tracing patterns of knots and runes across my back, then baring my chest and continuing.

The king’s gaze follows the woman’s strokes, and when she’s finished, he raises his chin at me in approval but says nothing. What does he see when he looks at me? My wild copper hair? My simple features? The awkward birthmark just above my heart? I’m round of cheek and hips and not much of a beauty. But however I look to him, I will belong to him.

Determination is set in hard lines on his face, and I wonder if the torque on hisneck is working properly. I can see his dark energy lifting in silver and black curls over his shoulders now. It should be tight inside his skin, as mine is. The iron shackle should be holding it in place so that we don’t harm each other in the first merging, before we can get used to the feel of each other’s powers.

The female druid moves to the king next and begins painting the woad in circles over his torso. The druid chanting behind me recites the final section of his spell, walking the ram’s-blood circle painted on the floor. He holds a rowan stick aloft, flicking rosewater over the king and then me as he passes by, mumbling, “A price paid, a covenant sealed, in earth and blood and ash, in spirit and flesh and fire.”

The price is my will, my soul, in payment for the life of the human prince that I took.

In the center of the circle, between the king and me, is an altar with two bowls set atop, one full of salt, one full of rye.

The iron union dagger rests between them.

I stare at it, imagining the blade cutting into my flesh. And I can’t help when my gaze moves to the king. I want to blink and make this moment a dream, perhaps findmyself in the thicket with Lailoken, among the bluebells in the Caledonian wood.

I should run from this son of Morrígan, deny him, deny our mothers, and let the world burn. But my heart twists at the thought. I was running from duty when fate took my heart from me, when the prince succumbed to my fire’s will. It was the childish notion of freedom that tore him from me.

Now it’s time to accept my punishment for allowing the humans to glimpse ourworld. Time to atone.

The druid’s voice fills the room again. “When moon gives birth to stars,” he says, in a droning hum, flicking more rosewater over us with the rowan stick, “let this Bond be sealed in blood.”

My skin prickles with fear as the king takes the cue, reaching out to pick up the ceremonial dagger by the leather-wrapped hilt. I focus on not moving, not making a sound, as I watch him bring the blade to his chest, tip pricking his left breast. A drop of crimson pearls up at the spot.

With a slow hiss of breath, he cuts across.

Dark blood slides down his abdomen in a thick swath of red. “My blood with yours,” he says. And he turns the knife, holding out the hilt for me.

My hands clench into fists at my side, and I force my shaking limbs to still.

I breathe in slowly again. Then I reach out, taking the ceremonial dagger from him, careful not to touch his fingers.

I pretend not to care about the cage I’m about to be locked in. About the pain in my soul from loss, from the goddess Brighid abandoning me to this darkness, pain from the reality of everything in front of me.

I press the tip of the blade to the center of my chest, the point breaking the skin. I look into the silver eyes of the king in front of me. And consider my fate.

One deep plunge to the heart and the pain will end. One plunge.

One.

My Review:

4.5 Stars Out Of 5

Genre: Another-World, Mystery, Royal-Court, Supernatural, Suspense, Teen, Urban Fantasy--

Sage is most interested in getting a shower and finding a safe space to spend the night for her and her friend Ziggy, so in an uncharacteristic act, she agrees to go to a Halloween party if it means being safe for a night. But after falling asleep in a strange bed, Sage wakes up and realizes that something is not right. A drink made by a friend ends up taking away all her worries- that is until she ends up draining the life from the guy she was dancing with, a guy who was not human at all. But, Sage might not be human herself, and the world she is thrust into may be more dangerous than even her... and everything may burn.

It's like I won a weekend at a five-star resort. With deadly creatures and mayhem, but still...It's pretty close.

I am always looking for new urban fantasy books to escape into and I was excited when Fire and Bone crossed my radar- I loved the cover with the bright color choices as well as the synopsis caught my attention. I was going to read this, it was only a matter of when- luckily my friend Sarah over at the Clever Reader website offered me a copy to review. Well, I am so glad that I could read this right now, especially since I am on an urban fantasy kick- and keep in mind that I read a LOT of Urban Fantasy (it's my favorite!). I was really happy with what I discovered beneath the gorgeous cover of Fire and Bone- an equally developed, complicated and unique world unlike anything I have delved into before. The book was roughly 450 pages but only cover a few days time, so the pages were so full of action, descriptions of the world and magical creatures (from vampires, pixies, ghouls, selkies, Demigods, Goddesses, wraiths, druids...) that sprung from Danu the goddess, mythology and legends that the world builds on, as well as fleshed out characters. There is a little bit of something for everyone wrapped up in this book.

The story alternates narration between Sage and Faelan, the person assigned to train and protect Sage while she transitions to her new life. I really enjoyed how Rachel was able to give them very different personalities and voices throughout the boom. Sage is cynical and wary of accepting help due to her past, knows nothing about this world she apparently belongs to, and is basically a pawn who is bumbling her way to understanding. But yet, inside her she has the fire and heat that could make people bow down to her, so we will have to see how she wants to play her cards. Faelan on the other hand is centuries old, stoic, controlled and uncompromising- basically an incredibly attractive badass who marches to his own strict code. Sage and Faelan butt heads left and right, yet it makes me wonder if the sparks (ha, a Sage related pun!) are a sign of what is building between the two of them.

Occasionally, we were able to see through another characters eyes, such as the mysterious Kieran, who I thought was a great, complicated character and I kind of rooted for him- but I usually like the bad guys and he basically killed Sage within the first 30% of the book, but nobody is perfect. And my favorite character is Aelin (who is actually a side character), the Druid who appears to be a flighty, superficial, self-centered character but really has depth and heart and a really entertaining personality that made me laugh with her over the top antics. She is totally underrated in their world and I hope she gets a chance to show what she is capable of later.

This was my first book by Rachel A. Marks but it won't be my last- I can't wait to read the Dark Cycle series while I am waiting for the next installment of Sage's story- because let me tell you, this was just the beginning and the ending of the book caused just as many questions as it answered. Sage is just learning who she is and what she is capable of, as well as the underlying darkness that is motivating the plans against her (ok, I will admit that the twists that happened right at the ending filled me with rage that I can't pick up the next book right this minute, but I will try to cope and fill the hole in my heart that waiting for more Demigod mayhem caused- yes I am overly dramatic). Overall I really enjoyed this story and all the twists and turns the plot took as well as the dynamics between the characters. I highly recommend this YA- Urban fantasy crossover for anyone looking for something different.

Author Bio:

Rachel A. Marks is a cancer survivor, a writer and artist, a surfer and dirt-bike rider, chocolate lover and keeper of faerie secrets. Her four kids and amazing hubby put up with her nerdiness with tremendous grace, even when she makes them watch Buffy or Smallville re-runs for days on end. She was voted: Most Likely To Survive A Zombie Apocalypse, but hopes she'll never have to test the theory.

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