Title: Out of the Ashes
Series: A Metahuman Files: Classified Novella
Author: Hailey Turner
Publisher: Amazon/Kindle Unlimited
Length: 107 Pages
Category: Sci-Fi
At a Glance: For those of you lucky enough to have read Hailey Turner’s work, you know that she has a gripping style. The characters are so deep and complex that you are drawn into them immediately.
Reviewed By: Taz
Blurb: War never leaves a soldier behind.
Staff Sergeant Alexei Dvorkin is still healing from his brief stint as a prisoner of war. While his physical wounds have mended, the emotional scars left behind are slow to disappear. Eager to prove his resilience in the face of lingering trauma, Alexei is determined to complete his first mission in three months and get back into the field—but he’s not forging ahead without his lover.
Nightmares will always linger.
Agent Sean Delaney’s recovery from trauma is more slow going than he would like, but he pushes through in order to return to active duty and not be left behind. But every decision he makes leaves him feeling like he’s gone two steps forward and one step back when it comes to Alexei. The guilt Sean feels from what they both endured still colors his interactions with the man he loves. Trying to overcome it is difficult and exhausting, making Sean question his place in Alexei’s heart.
Holding on is the hardest thing to do.
The ties between Alexei and Sean were frayed by the enemy’s hand. Mending what’s been broken between them will require a depth of honesty neither man is ready to face just yet. But if they don’t, they risk losing a future together neither wants to let go.
Out of the Ashes is a 28,000 word novella that follows directly after In the Blood in my Metahuman Files series and builds off of events in that book. It is recommended that you read In the Blood first before reading Out of the Ashes. There are explicit intimate scenes that are not suitable for readers under the age of 18 within the novella.
Review: Man, can this woman write!
For those of you lucky enough to have read Hailey Turner’s work, you know that she has a gripping style. The characters are so deep and complex that you are drawn into them immediately. The plot is unerringly packed, the pace flying while each movement and reaction is captured perfectly in her descriptive expertise. And the balance between emotion and action.
In this installment, we find ourselves three months out from the last book. If you remember, there was a battle in Boston, and both Alexei and Sean suffer traumatic experiences there. They are just getting cleared for active duty and are sent on a mission in London to see whether they are ready and, more importantly, if they can work together even though they are in a relationship.
And that last bit, their relationship, is where the real action takes place. Sean can’t help but blame himself for the torture Alexei suffered. This has placed a physical and emotional barrier between them. Alexei is waiting patiently for Sean to work through his demons, but Sean is having trouble.
What I enjoyed in particular about this installment to the Metahuman Files is how Ms. Turner really focused on the relationship between the two characters and how they struggled to work through their own issues while remaining sensitive to the needs of the other. This is one of the more angsty stories in the series, because it tugs at the heart strings. We know Alexei and Sean so well that we can’t help but hurt for them as they struggle to make it through this rough patch in their relationship.
When they do, for this is a happily-ever-after romance, it is well worth the journey. The sex scenes and raw desire which heat up the pages will leave you panting for the next installment, In the Requiem, soon to release.
You can buy Out of the Ashes here:
[zilla_button url=”http://authl.it/B079R8KXWS?d” style=”blue” size=”large” type=”round” target=”_blank”] Amazon/Kindle Unlimited [/zilla_button]