Disclaimer: This Review is based on observation and opinion of the lead writer of this blog! Please respect her thoughts and feelings. Also, spoilers may be ahead!

Hello Shiquers and welcome back to Nerdy Shique Universe! It’s been a while since I done a book review since I have been reading books on my Victor Reader Stream, now I bring you a new review!

Title: Chasing Embers
Author: James Bennet

Synopsis: We meet Ben Gaston in this tale who is known for a bad attitude with a leather jacket and always bar hopping. There is one thing that not everyone knows is that he is known as Red Ben and has a secret underneath his skin and that is he is a fire breathing dragon! When an old rivalry re-surfaces, he ginds out that not only he is endanger from an old legend that exists in a desert but his once girlfriend, Rose, also gets taken and he must save her and his own life before things become dicey in this rivalry.

Thoughts: I think I did a better job with this synopsis since the website had a confusing one in my opinion. I did say it took me a while to finish this book since I had new reading device during my work experience but managed to get back to it once the New Year arrived.

I think the book was good but at the same time some of the parts were skipped over due to how Kindle likes to skip when you do the double finger swipe down on the screen. I did get the idea that this story deals with how Ben signed a pact that keeps all magical beings in control and not to cause any trouble and this was made after his story back in the old days when he used to know a girl that ran off with him and died when her lover caused major damage to the region they lived in by trying to kill the dragon when the lover didn’t know it was Ben who whisked her away in the first place. The pact did get broken when a girl ends up taking on the spirit of a dragon from Egyptian times as part of a prophecy. It did feel a bit complicated with this part because I can see how witches appeared to cause trouble but the girl taking on the spirit of a queen dragons spirit was out of nowhere. I think the book would’ve been better off without that part and just focus on Ben due to how the rivalry started in order to preak the old pact that was signed many centuries ago. They did resolve it in the end which I felt like it was fitting. I know I am a bit of a rookie author myself, putting too much into one story can make it hard to finish reading and there were points where I did have a hard time to continue the book, which towards the end I did have to take a break and digest what was going on with the final fight. Bennet should’ve just stick with the Ben and his current lover story and why the bad guys wanted her instead of adding on the queen dragon bit since I did see the love story part more than the B-plot. TAlso, there was a lot of Ben’s back story being told more than the ideas behind the witches and one other character, I did think they talked about the guild a little bit if I remembered from reading it earlier. I did say I have to take a break at certain points due to how much story this carried.

To me, this book should’ve been better to just focus on the love story bit than making it so action packed and focus on the legend parts itself to keep the story going. It could’ve been better…

Favorite Character: Khadra! It was hard to pick a favorite character since there were so many involved but I would have to say Khadra herself, the one who takes on the Queen Dragon spirit wiuthin. I was confused with how her story got involved since this did deal with a prophecy too. I didn’t get it as much because it only went back to things with Ben more than Khadra herself. If this book was split and would have Khadra’s story separate then that would make a better book. I did like how she was unsure of what her duty was and she did become stronger in the end after she let go of the Queen herself because Ise didn’t want to get hurt anymore than she had before when she took on the spirit back in the beginning. That is why I liked her a bit more than the other characters since it seems like was going through a growing up phase from what I’ve seen at the end of her role.

Rating: 2.5 Cat Paws Out of 5! This was hard especially with how complicated the story felt. I needed the breaks to digest this story but it felt like there were too many things going on in this book. I wished it was split into two with focusing on Ben and Rose in this one and then Khadra and the trouble with the rivals in the sequel itself because Ben was mostly focused upon in this one. Still, I feel like it would’ve been a better story.

That is it for this review! Next book from my titles from Net Gally, Come Winter!