House on Fire

Ashes and Dust Series, Book 2

By: Jenn Burke

Narrated by: Tim Paige

He's done fighting his attraction to the sexy vampire . . .

To say former firefighter Colin Zhang is struggling to accept his new life would be a vast understatement. He's bound to a vampire he didn't choose, living in a house filled with creatures better left to the imagination—there's a lot to resent. As much as he tries, he doesn't resent Evan—far from it. But he needs to know that what he feels is real and that requires breaking their bond. No matter the cost.

Vampire private investigator Evan Fournier is more than willing to explore his connection with Colin, but the crisis at hand keeps getting in the way. Their bond makes it dangerous for them to be apart, so he's forced to put the other man at risk while he investigates the latest in a series of murders. If he doesn't find the killer soon, the paranormal community will seek retribution on all humans, not just the guilty ones.

As the tensions escalate, Evan and Colin find solace in each other and their growing attraction. But if their bond is broken, attraction—even love—might not be enough to keep them safe.

Contains mature themes.

©2021 Jennifer R. L. Burke (P)2022 Tantor

Love these two

I skipped the rest of Wes and Hud to get to these two because I’m honestly obsessed. However, the change of narrators threw me off, especially as Tim Paige does a terrible job at accents. He’s decent enough at regular voices even if sometimes he mixes them up and I can’t tell who is speaking, but it is what it is.
I absolutely LOVED Evan in the previous series so to see him get his own? I was THERE. However, I’m still iffy about Colin, especially since this is the middle book! I feel like he never takes his emotions or feelings into play, which honestly is frustrating.
I hope the third book clears up a lot!

Enjoyable continuation from the first series

Overall I liked the story. I really liked the MCs. I liked them more that the MCs from the original series, so I'm really glad they made the spin off. I feel like I can empathize more with Evan and Collin since they seem more logical while still dealing with trauma and depression.

Too shallow-not like the prequel series

In the series that preceded this one, the story flowed better. I get that expanding the series and focusing on a different set of characters changes things, but this series just heaps more and more on top hoping to remain engaging. Then it ends in a cliffhanger. Blech! There is not enough development to elicit emotional responses to the events of the story. I got lost a few times and had to go back to remember who some random character was. It lost the investigative feel that was a cornerstone of the first books. The story directly preceding this one was a little better, there was a villain to uncover and people to save. This story was a re-hash of the last storyline and then it was all soap opera drama. It's like the author forgot they were supposed to be writing a mystery. And then the way they 'fixed' the big problem was utter crap.

Then there is the narrator. He seems to and try to purr when he talks, or he is trying to talk in a sultry manner. It was very off-putting during much of the book. His British accent was horrible and so obviously fake that it took me right out of the story. I swear, Dick VanDyke was better... It was apparent that he had not listened to the previous narrator from the first series, there was no attempt to duplicate or emulate their previous characterizations. The narrator also changed how the characters 'talked' during the story.

The only reason I will get the next (and I hope last) book in this series is because I hate when stories I read do not get finished.