Flame Guardian

Deities #1

by Kristin D. Van Risseghem

I am fire. I am pain. I am death.My name is Ashley Warfield, a child of the foster system. I’ve bounced around town to town, home by home. I don’t trust anyone except for my twin brother and my BFF. The jury’s still out on the hot guy who shares my abilities.Just before my 18th birthday, I’m charged with arson after failing to keep my newfound talents in check. Then I’m shipped off to juvie with my only option being to join the army - I need discipline, control, and obedience. Then it’s to Special Ops so I can become the hero I’m meant to be. Or is it the bad guy?Because of my special powers, the government wants to keep those like me under wraps, but I know enough that others will want to use me for their cause. To top it off, someone is after me, and I need to figure out who that is and if they have anything to do with my parents death. Because I know I didn’t start our house fire those 14 years ago either.I am the FLAME GUARDIAN.

291 pages, Paperback

Published August 16, 2019

About the author

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https://www.kristinvanrisseghem.com/n...

USA Today bestselling and Award-Winning, Kristin D. Van Risseghem grew up in a small town along the Mississippi River. Currently, Kristin lives in Minnesota with her husband and a pomsky named Elise. She also loves attending book clubs, going shopping, and hanging out with friends. She has come to realize that she absolutely has an addiction to purses and shoes. They are her weakness and probably has way too many of both.

In the summer months, Kristin can usually be found lounging on her boat, drinking an ice cold something. Being an avid reader of YA and Women's Literature stories, she still finds time to read a ton of books in-between writing. And in the winter months, her main goal is to stay warm from the Minnesota cold!

Kristin's books are published by Kasian Publishing LLC.

Reviews

[G.K. DeRosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been a fan of this author for quite some time now and I couldn’t wait to read her newest series. I was not disappointed. The characters are well fleshed out and the storyline is really unique and intriguing. Ash is a total badass and I enjoyed watching her develop her powers. And I love her and Tor! Can’t wait to see what comes next!

[Natasha Clark-French · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book sounded so good and there are some good moments but overall it was a let down because it lacked a level of depth that it needed to bring it to life. It read like it was somewhere between an outline and an actual book. It should be 2 books, each with hundreds of more pages and then it would be something worthy of international book stores! It truly has awesome bones and there are inspired moments. Unfortunately, in between the few inspired moments everything is sort of hazy. It sort of feels like the author had a lot going on and a time frame she wanted to release by so she worked on this inspired idea and was just happy that she actually finished it in time without any huge errors. But this book really needs more TLC to thrive.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a digital arc in exchange for an honest review. This is simply my opinion on the book and is not influenced by any external factor.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: several uses of strong language, as well as abusive foster care situations and abuse while in army boot camp. It also features a scene where someone is forced to kill innocent people.
how to use her powers.

This was a really exciting and enjoyable read. It was very well researched and engaging. Ash Warfield is a teenage girl with the power to control fire – she just doesn’t know that yet. When fires start happening unexpectedly around her, including in her latest foster home shared with her twin brother Smoke, she is arrested for arson and sent to juvie. Once she is released, she struggles to find a job and a place to live and takes her social worker’s advice to join the army. It’s there in the army that Ash realizes that she has these powers and gets help to control them.

When I first started reading this, I was excited, as it seemed that Ash was not the typical noble protagonist. We quickly see why afterward; with all the problems she has been through while in foster care. Ash is a truly unique character, as she has the potential to be both the hero and the villain. But it’s up to her to decide as the story progresses (not going to spoil this for anyone).

There was minor romantic subplot, however, it was a clean read in this area and the romance did not overtake the main plot. Which was great, in my opinion.

It was also a very quick read, the one thing I could say could have been better is that there were some very, very short chapters, which could have been combined, but other than that, it was an excellent read.

Overall, I have to say that I was very happy with the story itself. Based on a tragic and unstable past, we ride this emotional roller coaster through and watch Ash adjust to new situations and make some difficult decisions. Definitely one to re-read in the future, and I wish I could get my hands on the sequel, because that ending really makes you want to read more!

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a definite not to be missed story. I loved the characters and the plot. Don’t miss out.

[Debbie Eyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fab start to what looks to be shaping up to be an awesome series! I love the storyline and the characters, the Egyptian lore, the pacing and the world that this author has built and I cannot wait to read more!

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. But what I don't like is ending the book so abruptly it almost forces you to get the next book. Rather than you enjoying it and buying the sequel to see where it goes next .

[Hollylovesbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75!
I really liked this book. Ash our main character was so well developed. I loved her relationship with her brother smoke and torrent! I will be reading book 2!

[Bohdana · Rating 4 out of 5]

For some reason, this reminds me of the Lorian Legacies, Seven Wonders books, Freya, and maybe the Daughter of the Sun (though only in the Egyptian mythology aspect since Zoe Kalo looks at the cult of Bast more). It was an interesting concept and was entertaining to read. Honestly, I was twice as interested when Egyptian mythology was mentioned as this is totally my jam. It's fast-paced, has a romance that doesn't distract from the main plot, and had an interesting plot.


Slightly spoiler-ly review:
At times, the pace feels a bit rushed, like how her practice sessions is just skipped (in chapter 24 I think) and mentioned later. In general, it is just a very fast-paced book that for those that love descriptive books might be short. But those that want something that is short and will hold their attention then this book will work for them.

I wasn't a fan of Ash at first because I'm more of an introvert so there was a difference of opinion but eventually I could get in her head. Also, the relationship seemed rush, for a lack of a better word. It was cute; it didn't distract from the main plot but it sort of made me realize how little we learn of Torrent's personality given that the training sessions with him were skipped, mostly. Sure, skipping certain scenes makes the pace faster but I'm not sure that was necessary for that particular development of her powers. I don't know if it's just me on that and I don't pick on characters characteristics that quickly. I tend to read book series because you can see characters develop, so I'm looking forward to seeing the characters develop.

I'm looking forward to seeing how mythology is developed in this book. Overall a good read (no pun intended, lol).

***I received a complimentary copy from Voracious Reader***

[Topsues · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kristin.Van.Risseghem has created a brand new series that definitely keeps your pulse racing and your heart and muscles clenching. It is exactly like an uncontrolled fire that starts with a small smoulder, progressing to a few flames that get fanned by the atmosphere then rips through everything, destroying anything in its path. This is how we are introduced to Ashley & her brother Storm, her BFF and the person who totally becomes her world, Torrent. We join this young lady’s journey from high school, to the next step that is forced upon her and her brother. Ash is unaware of the power that is inside her, so we join her on a journey of discovery os a power she is yet to understand & use wisely, to a hard lesson in discipline & opening up to the possibility of love. However, how can she contain & control an ancient power that takes her across the world into historical Egyptian times past. This creative storyline will keep you glued to its pages. The world, the hardships, the heartaches along with the discoveries of growing up, acceptance, duty and love. I don’t want to spoil this book for you, so I think I will leave it there. To me I appreciate and enjoy that Kristin.Van.Risseghem dosnt just write a story, her first instinct is to involve you, make you a part of this world and encourage you without a doubt to invest in the characters, seeing their hearts & souls, seeing & understanding what others can’t see, or what they haven’t learnt about themselves yet. You will worry about them, encouraging them and discouraging them. Overall accepting the reality of them. I look forward to the rest of this series. I believe it will continue to excel.

[carrie thackston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great start to a new series!

I enjoyed this book. I loved the different take on elementals so much. Ash and her brother have been in foster care since their parents died. Weird things seem to happen when she looses her temper, mainly fire. What is the reason for this? This book is different for me because the heroine turned to the darkside for a bit. She did some horrible things that were hard to read, but I think in her world it was what she had to go through so she could really know herself, understand her powers, and her reason for having powers in the first place (which she is still trying to figure out). She goes to such extremes in this book. At first she is defiant and hates authority, she then swings to following orders blindly. I imagine with her age, how she grew up, and powers she has, it would be a bit much. Boot camp was a bit drawn out for me, but probably necessary to see her progression from angry teen to soldier. Very interested to see where this series goes.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I recieved an Advanced Review Copy of this book."
Wow this book was fantastic. I loved this story line. Kept me interested from the beginning. I loved Ash and Tor together. I love the surprise elements. Like I thought Smoke and Tage would be the other elements but guess not. Definitely kept me guessing. So Ash is a bad A with her flames. She gets a little off course at times and uncontrollable but I understand later that if my family was being threatened I would do what I had to two. Tor being able to control water shocked me like crazy when we found out this book to me just constantly shocked me. I also loved turn ashes relationship they were meant for each other. I'm happy that even though they didn't agree he still loved her. the ending very much shocked me because I did not expect a new character to come and play. I hope smoke is okay. I cannot wait until the next book I will definitely be reading it. I strongly recommend this read.

[T.L. McDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Flame Guardian is the first book in Kristin D. Van Risseghem’s Deities Series and proves to be an intriguing start to what I’m sure will be an exciting globetrotting urban fantasy.

Discovering she has an ability to harness fire, Ashley’s life goes from bad to worse when she’s sent to juvie and then thrown out into the streets when she ages out of the system, giving her no other choice but to follow the advice of her counselor and join the military. There she finds out that her friend/the boy she’s crushing on has abilities too, and that they may not be the only two. Moved to Special Ops, the army trains and harnesses their abilities but as time passes the lines between right and wrong become blurred and Ashley has to make a decision. Be a good soldier or defect to find out what’s really going on before the government finds more like her.

With twists, turns, and discoveries to be had, I enjoyed this book and look forward to the next.

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ashley and her twin brother Smoke are foster kids. Not a good life but at least they are together. They are almost 18 and trying to finish high school, when they are reunited with a friend from their early child hood, Torrent. The 3 of them along with Tage, Ashley's best friend are a tight knit group. A fire changed things a bit. Ash gets sent to juvie, Smoke is healing in a hospital. The 4 decide to join the Army together, but then get separated again. Eventually, Tor and Ash are together and then Smoke and Tage get to join them. The stuff these kids go through is crazy. They end up meeting a new friend in Cairo, Pamin but then things get heated again.

I really enjoyed this and couldn't put it down. I am very interested in reading the rest of this series and seeing where this all leads.

[Genelle Themann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fire and Water...complement each other or clash?

I now understand why Superman always hid his identity and became just Clark Kent. Seems there are always some in power who want to control those with incredible abilities, for unsavory purposes. Two kids are thrown into the foster system, and when they turn 18, they are no longer in the system. Their best chance is to join the military to develop skills, experience, and possibly be able to go to college. So, the kids and 2 of their friends head off to boot camps where the elemental abilities are exposed. Of course, the military wants to weaponize the two who have the abilities, supposedly to assist first responders and then troops on the front lines. What could ever go wrong...?

I received an ARC of this ebook. This is a fantastic start to a new series and I can't to get my hands on next one.

[Tina Fritchley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book! I enjoyed it while I was reading it, but for me, the true test of a book is whether it stays with you afterwards. And this did. I read it yesterday, and since, have found myself considering the main characters, their choices and their lives, and what's going to happen next, almost constantly.

Ok, so it's not perfect - there are some editing errors, words missed or mis-spelled. But there's definitely enough good stuff that those little bits don't matter so much.

I look forward to reading the next instalment and finding out what happens next to Ash, Tor, Smoke and Tage - and also, what happened to Ash & Smoke's parents, because something tells me there's more to that part of the story too!

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

So Ash is one of those girls that you like sometimes and other times you don't. At the beginning of the book you don't like Ash. You do warm up to her a little and then you don't like her again. The Army is not a nice place but I already knew that. Ash makes decisions that are typical for an 18 year old. I think if she was older she would have made different decisions. I really like Tor and Storm. I don't know enough about Tage yet to form my opinion on her yet. It will be interesting to see where this series goes.


*I received a free copy of this book via the author and am voluntarily leaving a review.*

[Cheryl · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book. The concept sounded really interesting and I appreciate the author sending me an ARC. However, the book bounces from each of Ash's tragic storylines to the next, feeling more like a series of short stories compiled into a novel.
Scenes often feel too rushed yet somehow chapters drag on and can't go by fast enough. It would've read better if Ash discovered her power and promptly got recruited to special ops to get the story where it needed to be, instead of introducing so many unnecessary storylines and characters that come and go.
This could've been a solid novella, but as it stands it's just a bunch of unresolved questions and a cliffhanger ending.

[Caroline Doig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great story it took me a bit to get into it and once I did I enjoyed it. Ashley and her brother Smoke are orphans they have made friends with two other orphans Torrent and Tage they all make a vow to join the military. Ash has powers they always come out when she loses her temper her parents died from a house fire years ago but Ash doesn’t know if it was her fault she was just a child. Ash joins the military where she gets help to control her powers eventually she is sent to special ops where the government sends her on missions but Ash goes dark for awhile but she turns herself around. A great read and I recommend this book.

[Tammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the idea of the guardians being based in Egyptian lore and seeing how a couple were developed. Most of the book read like a diary with little interaction or dialogue during the beginning and boot camp time frames. Wasn't a fan of how Ash was during her military assignments that were not nature based. She had started to win be over during boot camp but that just knocked me off her friend list. I would have liked to see more of Tor and his story. The ending was good. More interaction and maybe a bit more developed in the beginning.

[Rose Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kristin has done a wonderful job of combining reality and fantasy in this paranormal tale. It is well-written with a smooth storyline and engaging world-building. Ash is magical, funny and intriguing. Following her, on her journey, you find that either you like her or you don’t. Tor, Storm, and Tage are other likable characters that she meets along her path to discovery. It will be interesting to see where this series goes. I enjoyed this tale and look forward to the next in this series.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Tera Comer · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has been a while since this author has put out anything new and let me tell you this book did not disappoint in any way. The characters, world building and storyline are exciting and intriguing. While the boot camp parts annoyed me, (I hate military type books) the over all plot required them to be there. I can not wait to see what is in store for the next book since something important happened at the end of this book.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Christinaraven · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book. I thought it was a good start to a new series that combines elemental magic, Egyptian motifs, and paranormal aspects in a different way. I thought it did a good job of covering a lot of time and history from Ash’s life and not getting too bogged down and sidetracked. I liked the setup of the series and cannot wait to see what what happens next. Ash made a great character as I wanted to praise and slap her, sometimes at the same time. I liked the hints of mystery and odd things that popped up too.

[Veronica Prowant · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fantastic. It had a kick butt MC, an quirky twin and boss BFF, and a hot guy who totally meets all the right criteria. The plot line had a great build, and I was biting my nails at times wondering what would happen next. I laughed at, cried through, and even cursed during the different scenes. Definitely a fantastic read, but that's what I always expect from Kristin D Van Rissenghem!

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is fantasy / saga meets critical feedback on abuses of foster care and in military training.

Intense action, lots of guilt, pain, hurt and blame. Issues are raised about the family you choose and built, and this forced on you, by nature or by fiat.

Food for thought in an action filled package.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Faye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great start to a new series. Ashley Warfield, a child of the foster system. I’ve bounced around town to town, home by home. I don’t trust anyone except for my twin brother and my BFF. The jury’s still out on the hot guy who shares my abilities. I enjoyed reading this book looking forward to see what happens next.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

She tries to keep her talent hidden as she trust no-one expect her twin and bbf as she was taken away so many different homes and towns. She is accused of causing a fire and ends up in the army as a special ops. Now someone is trying to kill her. Can she find out who it is? Can she prove she did not start the fire that killed her parents. Follow her journey

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Miranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great beginning to a series! Fantasy coming alive among us! I'm very interested to see where this leads, especially since I love Egyptian culture and I'm pretty sure some more of that must be coming. ;) The boot camp section was a bit tough to read, with all the unfamiliar acronyms, but overall a great book.

[Jennifer Lil'n Dunski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Miss Kristin definitely did her homework....About Chicago, the military lingo & lifestyle and the Egyptian culture.
Reality and fantasy make this book a great start for the series. The storyline is well thought out, the world building is addictive and the characters are incredible!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and read it in one go! Looking forward to reading the next book!

[Debbie Briggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good start to the series. I do like the story and characters. However, I feel like the story skipped some and left a couple of plot holes for me. It was fast paced and went through a lot of development quickly. I think Tor is my favorite
main character. Ash is a little complex and intense some times. I like the Smoke and Tage dynamic. Can't wait to see where it leads.

[Scarolet Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Flame Guardian by Kristin D. Van Risseghem is a wonderful story that I have read. This is book number one in this wonderful start to a brand new series that I loved reading. I highly recommend this story to everyone who loves reading about magic and fantasy.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.