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The Ember and the Emerald
by Gena ShowalterSeries: No Monsters Like Hers #2
Published by Self-Published SubGenres: Fantasy Romance
Format: eArc
Pages: 342
Source: the author
Audience: 18+/Adult
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From New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter comes a portal romantasy where a young woman's road home leads back into a nightmare… and the arms of the man fated to destroy her.
She escaped the monster realm.
Fate dragged her back—twenty years earlier.Waking up in the past wasn’t on Moriah Shaker’s bingo card, but after surviving a brutal world of cannibals, rabdogs and lethal poppy fields, it happens anyway. Now, she has one chance to save her mother, undoing the death that started it all. First, she must return to Hakeldama, where survival is never guaranteed and destiny always demands sacrifice. At her side is Jasher, the ruthless, axe-wielding executioner who melts only for her. Until he’s trapped in a monstrous form, becoming a weapon for her destruction. To him, she’s an enemy. To her, he’s everything.
Armed with only a cryptic journal that whispers of a lost gemstone, Moriah is forced to bargain with a tricky water maiden who is equal parts redemption and ruin. Worse, she’s transforming into something she no longer recognizes: The Oracle Great and Terrible.
As secrets unravel and a forbidden attraction rekindles, Moriah must decide what she’s willing to sacrifice to unravel time: the past she’s desperate to save…or the man she isn’t supposed to love.
The Ember and The Emerald is the second installment in Gena Showalter’s No Monsters Like Hers Trilogy. If you haven’t read the first book, The Great And Terrible, you’ll need to before reading this one, since the second book picks up where the first left off. The second I knew Gena Showalter was writing a Wizard of Oz retelling, I knew I had to pick up the first book, and then I couldn’t wait to read this one. She’s one of my auto-buy authors, and I’ll read whatever she writes, so I’m glad she decided to venture into the Wizard of Oz. It was one of the movies I used to watch over and over again and drive my parents crazy. =)
This book follows heroine Moriah as she goes back twenty years in the past, where her mother is pregnant with her, but she needs to get to Hakeldama so she can hopefully change the past and save her mother. The second she gets to Hakeldama, she’ll face the same dangers again, and survival is everything when she’s trying to save what is going to happen to her mother, as well as others. Poor Moriah, though, is going to find out the truth about herself and why she never felt like Kansas was home, while also learning other secrets. She has Jasher with her, but his feelings for her are not all happiness, especially when he is an exact copy of the enemy she’s trying to defeat, and everyone they encounter is afraid of him because he’s a monstra. She also finds out things about Jasher that will make her not trust him completely. When she finally faces one of the threats to her and her mother, she ends up realizing there are others that are at play, and now she has to find out how to take them out, too.
What I loved about this book is how it kept me engaged. The adventures and dangers that Moriah had to endure again kept me on the edge of my seat. When it came to the secrets that were being revealed, I already had it figured out because of hints throughout the book, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying it. I had a funny feeling that Moriah was someone special, and then there was the fact that she was constantly being targeted. I loved how much she’s grown since book one. She’s not someone to mess with because she’ll handle anything thrown at her because she has to, but she does have Jasher, as well as others, who will assist her.
When it came to her forbidden attraction to Jasher, it’s still there, and I feel for Moriah when she has to make a hard decision at the end. I had to agree with her decision after she found out the truth. I loved that Moriah never gave up on Jasher, even if he was her enemy due to his maker. Jasher is definitely that morally grey character, and he is very protective of Moriah, even if he is trying to fight his feelings.
I want to mention that if you are expecting steam in this book. Just know there is only kissing. There is yearning, though. Lots of forbidden yearning.
I loved the side characters and unique characters that were introduced, including a chicken named Cluck Cluck and a robot named Kevin, who I have a feeling is going to play an intricate part in the final installment.
This is a Wizard of Oz retelling, but it’s definitely not like The Wizard of Oz because Gena Showalter has a wild imagination, and I love her spin on things in these books.
Overall, another great installment that kept me on the edge of my seat and left me with another cliffhanger, and I give this book four stars. I can’t wait for the final installment. Hopefully, Moriah will finally take out the other threats revealed in this book and find her happily ever after with Jasher because those two are definitely meant to have one. They just have to survive what is to come next. Gena, please give Moriah a well-needed happiness. She deserves it, after everything she learned in this book about herself.
If you enjoy Portal/Time Travel Fantasies and are looking for a Wizard of Oz Retelling, then check out the No Monsters Like Hers books from Gena Showalter. The final installment comes out next year, so you have time to catch up before then.
What to Expect:
✔️Wizard of Oz Retelling
✔️Forbidden Love
✔️Slow Burn
✔️Morally Grey Hero
✔️Monsters
About Gena Showalter
Gena Showalter is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of nearly 100 novels. Most stories fall under the genre of romance, be they paranormal, fantasy, contemporary, or young adult. She’s also co-authored a (delightfully quirky) cozy mystery series as well as a nonfiction guide about how to write a book in a year.
Gena is a dedicated mother, grandmother, and fur-mom. A woman under construction, whose life took a few unexpected turns the past few years. But she’s learned a lot and firmly believes her best days are ahead of her, not behind her. Chances are good she’s writing her next novel and already in love with the hero.
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My obsession with reading started over 30+ years ago when I went to my first Scholastic Book Fair and found R.L. Stine's Fear Street series. Later, I came across Anne Rice's novels at my public library when I was fourteen when my obsession with vampires started. I was the girl who preferred to be a vampire over a princess any day. My husband says I would leave him a heartbeat for a vampire that looked like Spike or Angel (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) or Damon Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries. (It's true, though, and he's accepted it.)
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