Leira and Julian are part of an ancient magical race called Albah which are witches whose powers are the elements. . Because of prejudice and misconception about ,magic their race has been hunted for a very long time. Julian is a target for those who want to end this race. The Guardians Of Adam or Guardians are a race who are out to wipe out the Albah completely. The Guardians have been raised to do this very thing to the Albah and feel the only good Albah is a dead Albah. Although there is suppose to be a truce between these two races for the last two hundred years. Julian’s mother was killed in a car accident when Julian and his youngest brother. It deeply affected both brother and they were not a close family. Odd how a lot of Albah are killed in car accidents. In the last twelve years Julian has been away Julian has been working at a hospital using his healing skills to help humans yet not calling attention to himself. Most Albah just want to be responsible, to do good, and work in fields that their talents are most useful but the Guardians won’t believe this as it goes against how they were raised to believe. Julian had a sexual relationship-only-with Emily for a couple of months not realizing she was a Guardian and there to kill him. Emily had to make her first kill to become a true Guardian and Julian was to be it. But Emily had started to have feeling for Julian and finding that hard to do even though she was getting pressure to kill him from her family. Julian realized she was becoming clingy and ended the relationship. Leira and Saba can tentatively see into the future but the outcome of these visions depends on the path the individuals take. Leira likes the vision she has seen of her future so doesn’t go to group meetings as she doesn’t want her future to change and she will wait for the man on the train to come into her life. Leira has problems controlling her power. Julian has always figured he would marry a Albah as the only way males were be born in the Albah race was for two Albah to have children and the race really needed more male Albah. Julian and Liera connect through the internet to discuss recent events. They both get a feeling or rightness when they connect. Emily sees Julian and Liera meet and there is a hot connection between them. Emily is jealous and is determined to kill Liera.
I really enjoyed reading this book. I also liked this wasn’t an insta/love/lust romance. It did drag for me at times but that didn’t stop me from finishing this book and I was glad I did. I advise you to read this series in order to have a smooth flow while reading this. I liked the plot. I also liked Julian and Leira together. I felt they earned their happiness together after all they had to go through to get t that point. I would have liked more of a back story on the Albah and why the Guardian were raised to kill them. I loved the suspense in this book and the surprises that popped up throughout this book. I liked the chaarcters and the ins and outs of this story and I recommend.

I can't believe this book was as long as it was but barely any information was given about the Albah. The basic information that was shared could easily fit in the description. Blonde, weird rolled over ears, magic, and arranged relationships to produce male children. There was no real world building or culture creation. The main couple were decent people, but there wasn't much of a connection really. If there was no vision I don't think the two of them would've even given the other a second thought. It wasn't even instalove, it was insta-well I had a vision, you're here, so we might as well have sex. And finally the villain was lame. She wasn't a real threat. They had magic, she had guns and basic stalker skills but no real knowledge about the Albah. There was really nothing for anyone to be afraid of when it came to her, they could've taken her out at any time. This was a story that seemed like it had an interesting premise, but fell completely flat.

A quick read although I didn't realize that it was a series, so I think I missed out on quite a bit of world building in book one. It's an intriguing take on a vampire story, and the characters are very well developed. I was pulled in by Leira and Julian, and while I think the issues between them were a little over-done, it was nice to see their relationship develop throughout the plot rather than an insta-love story. Plot is a little slow in the beginning, but it does pick up. Overall, it's a well-done story.

This is a great book with a wonderful story and well developed characters. The story flowed very well and was very enjoyable. This book will keep you reading long into the night and you will not want to put this book down until you finish. This was such a great read and full of surprises. I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader’s copy of this book. The free book held no determination on my personal review.

this is the second book in husk's blood and silver series. leira is the younger sister of saba, who we met in lady of silver, and she's been waiting for a man on a train to come into her life and change her world. because this man is also an albah, she's avoided group meetings so as to not change the future she saw in her vision. she liked that version of the future.

but when she is forced to attend a meeting to discuss the increased threat her people are under and she sees julian ryder, she knows that everything is different now. the future she had been protecting has literally gone up in smoke, a terrifying prognostication given that she is a fire elemental and has problems controlling her power.

julian also wields fire. and he is attracted to leira from the moment they meet. he also has a girlfriend, soon-to-be-ex, who is clingy and demanding and a guardian of adam, a race of human hunters who have had it out for his kind for centuries. most paranormals or fantasies draw themes from our real world and represent them in a new light in fiction, and while this may be a romance, it does do this here, in particular with the guardians of adam and their fervor in trying to exterminate a race they view as a threat to humankind.

behavior like this is still prevalent today. and warrior of fire, does a nice job of drawing parallels without hitting you over the head with symbolism.

when leira and julian realize that the future that they wanted with one another is gone, they have to work together and see if they can change enough of their present and get it back on track. the spark between them is undeniable. and not only that, they like each other, they work well together, and who's to argue when things are meant to be. it's meant to be because it is right. i really liked their relationship and what they had to overcome to earn their hea. sometimes with stories that start with this "we are destined" for each other have me bucking at the convention, but julian and leira make sense together. they really do work. and there is enough suspense and doubt as to the outcome of their relationship that you aren't stuck on it's inevitability, even knowing this is a romance novel.

Destiny has foretold that Liera Venn will meet the man fated to be her soul mate on a train after which they will fall in love and enjoy their happily ever after. When Liera meet's Dr. Julian Ryder at his father's home, she knows right away that he's her soul mate in fact the burned plate of crisps is evidence of her loss of control. Unfortunately it seems something has gone wrong and all she can see are smoke and flames when she attempts to look into her future.

Julian has dated casually before meeting Liera. Unbeknownst to him his ex girl friend is an assassin for the guardians who want to kill male Albah's of which Julian is one. Obsessed with Julian she's held off from making the kill hoping to possibly convert him to her side and/or target members of his family. Both Julian and Liera have fire magic. As Julian teaches Liera control over her magic they explore their relationship but no matter what they try in order to change their future the death in smoke and flames seems inevitable.

This is an interesting love story with a paranormal twist in a modern day setting. The suspense gives it a nice edge that I'm enjoying very much.

This was kind of a hard read for me, I think I might just not have been in the mood for the story because it seemed like it dragged for the first 1/3 of the book but I finally got caught up in the story after that but the passive mentality of most of the main characters seemed at odds with what was happening.

The romance just missed the mark with me until the last few chapters, the main couple were just going through the motions and I was not feeling any real emotion again until it was almost done.

Bottom line: Kind of a 3.5-4 Star story that I rounded off to 4 in case it was just me since I usually love anything Shona Husk has written but this series has just not gotten me caught up in it like her previous works. So 4 Stars it is and hope you like it, I liked the ending and several parts but overall it fell flat until the last 50% of the book and really came alive for the last few chapters.

*I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

I'm going to keep this one simple: I hadn't read the previous book, and so I was a little lost at first, but that proved to be no problem. The writing was fine as were the characters. They were not very outstanding, but the plot turned out to be enough to cover that, (I'm even going to let a psychopath assassin girlfriend slide).

What weirded me out the most were the guy's actions and so I didn't really connect with him.
The best thing about this book is the race in itself, the problems they had because they were being wiped out and their powers.

Overall, this is a good fantasy book which effectively helps evade oneself from the there and then.

Warrior of Fire, Shona Husk

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre:  Sci-fi and Fantasy

I really enjoyed Lady of Silver, the intro book to this series. that featured Saba, an Albah lady and Dale a human cop.
This book is about Liera. Saba's sister, who we met in book one as a secondary character, and Julian who's a son of cop Quinn, who is also the Albah's "King". Its a title that's really name only, they don't meet or live closely as its too dangerous. 

There's a faction called Guardians, who are out to kill Albah, though supposedly there's been a truce for the last 200 years. Strange though how so many Albah die in accidents. That's what happened to Julian's mum, she died in a car crash when he and his younger brother were in the car. Its affected them both, as traumatic events do to young children, and they're not a close family. In fact Julian has been away for the last 12 years and only returned six months ago. 

He's been working at a local hospital, somewhere he can put his healing skills to use without creating attention.
See that's the thing the Guardians won't recognize, that most Albah just want to be responsible, to do good and work in fields where their talents are best use to humankind. As far as Guardians are concerned the only good Albah is a dead one.
Its that potential to turn into an immortal blood sucking murdering Alabanex that worries them so they think killing all Albah means humans are safe. Shame they don't focus on how humans can become murdering vicious killers too, or even look at their own behaviour, murdering parents, children, wiping out whole families proudly and bringing up their kids to believe in the same.
Hate rhetoric is so pervasive when instilled from a young age and that's what's happened here.

Julian has been having a "casual" relationship with a woman for the last few months. He doesn't know much about her, that's what he likes, physical only stuff, no need for pleasantries and socialsing, not knowing she's a Guardian and a killer.
She's come to do a job, make her first kill and become a real Guardian, a role she's trained hard for, encouraged by her Guardian mother and family.
She's finding it hard though, she's become attracted to Julian even though both agreed upfront this was simply a casual fling, and now she's becoming clingy Julian is thinking the time has come to part ways. she won't like that! 

Liera has always known she's meet the love of her life on a train, she and Saba are very good at seeing into the future, though its not fixed but depends on paths taken by individuals.
She doesn't know who her future is with though, and so is astonished when she feels a visceral reaction to Julian at a meeting of the local Albah. It's where they connect via the internet with others to discuss recent events. Julian feels the attraction too but its a kind of muted pull for them both, not a huge insta-lust kind of thing. Jut that feeling of rightness when they connect with each other. 
Liera is puzzled. What about the future she and Saba had seen? 
Julian isn't sure he's ready yet either, he's always felt he would marry an Albah. His people need the males that come from only Alabah pairings, but he thought that was way in the future, loads of time yet. Until now he's been content with simple casual relationships, like the current one with Emily. This has thrown him though,made him question that, and he decides Emily's been getting clingy lately, not what they agreed and its time to let go.

She is Not Happy though. Pressure from home about why she hasn't killed him yet and the excuse she's given, he could lead her to more is wearing thin. Now he's dumped her, and as she's been spying on him she sees him meet Leira and just knows it's all down to her. the knives come out, Liera is in the way, time to move her. She knows now Leira is an Albah so has no worries about killing her, she's been brought up to beleive thats the right thing to do. 

It all leads to a cracking story, brings danger to the Albah, not just here but across the globe, makes them think about the future of the race, brings the Guardians into the series in a big way and is a hugely entertaining read. One that flows easily, has that element of suspense I love, the wondering what if, and how will they...?
The romance too, I enjoyed that, the doubts both had, it makes a change from the one-look-and-they-are-in-love scenario we see so often. Instead they both talk, tread carefully, think about how they feel inside.

There's no simply quick fix solution for the future of the Albah. It needs some decision if they aren't to die out, and the way they've lived for the past few hundred years needs to change. Using the internet they can conference, avoiding the dangers when large groups get together, and hhopefully make changes to their lifestyles the majority agree to while keeping safe.
Maybe the time for Quinn as king has become the era for change, for the role to become more than the lip-service one its been. He's certainly a decisive enough character to generate momentum for change. 

I really enjoyed this installment, loved meeting Dale and Saba again, was intrigued as to how things were going to work between Julian and Liera, whether the change of place of their first meeting meant their future had changes in a big way, and of course the drama with Emily was pretty solid and full on.

I found it easy to believe in Emily, that she'd been brought up and trained to kill Albah, but in her greed to kill more by finding Julian's family she actually came to like him, to see the good he did. Somewhere deep in her psyche she had to rationalise why she hadn't killed him yet, rather than admit she was falling for him. She was a twisted individual but also a product of a very dark upbringing, brainwashed that Albah were all bad, potential killers. 

Its an easy read, well paced, solid writing. Its not as in depth as many fantasy reads, but a fun story that made me look at the characters as individual, see them as real people, and wonder just where the story is going next.
I'm really hoping Quinn gets some happy, right now he gets all the flak and doesn't really seem to have anyone close to support him when it goes bad. 

Stars: five, a great story, building on the first one and expanding the world. 

ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers