TOUCH OF FIRE
MARIA ZANNINI
ISBN#: 9781605040312
May 20, 2008
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
www.samhainpublishing.com
E-Book
$5.50
215 pages
Fantasy Romance
Rating: 4 cups

More than a thousand years into the future, the world has simultaneously evolved and devolved. Leda is a product of the former. A Fire Mage, she is an Elemental on a mission. An ancient book containing blueprints for potentially devastating technology has been unearthed, and she has been sent to retrieve it before it falls into the wrong hands. Her Reverend Mother has chosen her, and Leda will do whatever it takes to get the job done.

Greyhawke Tams awakens from a bar brawl to find that he not only lost the fight, but is now indentured by law to the priestess who paid to keep him out of prison. A veteran soldier who fought against the fae-kind in the warlord's army, Grey is now a farmer who does some scavenging on the side for fun and profit. Freed of the bonds of military life, he is most unhappy to be collared by steel and magic and forced into being this hot little Fire Mage's scout and servant. She wants the book, but it had unfortunately been stolen from him months before by an old desert dweller. To get it back they must cross hostile territory, and their own personal issues, to find it.

The Fae are the only ones who can read and understand the ancient writings and have appointed themselves guardians of the Old World's secrets. Grey, therefore, has no idea what terrible damage his discovery could do. In a post-apocalyptic world where men fight with swords and fire is flint-born, Grey's book could shift the balance of power forever. Now everyone wants it for their own reasons; some to exploit it, some to protect it. Along the way, Leda and Grey go from the hunters to the prey, and find that, in order to save themselves, they must save each other.

Maria Zannini's look into the future is at turns humorous, foreboding, foreign and familiar. It is interesting how you could find a man like Grey in the present, or a thousand years in the past or future. Leda's internal and external conflicts are believable, and her prejudices, well-founded or not, both protect her and propel her into dangerous circumstances. I enjoyed the story twists. The writing is intelligently done, but the pace of the love story was a little accelerated at times. Even still, the story never suffers a lack of creativity or direction, and overall I thought it was quite a good tale.

Heather
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance
Reviewer for Karen Find Out About New Books