Fire Baptized by Kenya Wright is Full of Fire Alright

Title: Fire Baptized (Habitat #1)

Author: Kenya Wright

Publisher: Dragonfairy Press

Published: January 16 2012

Format: Kindle

Pages: 286 pages

Source: Received from the author

in exchange for an honest review

Read:  October 8-9 2012

In A Few Words: Full of Action

My Rating: 4 Stars

Goodreads: Add This To Your TBR Shelf

Goodreads Synopsis:

Since the 1970s humans have forced supernaturals to live in caged cities. Silver brands embedded in their foreheads identify them by species: a full moon for Vampires, a crescent moon for Shifters, a pair of wings for Fairies, and the list goes on, for each supernatural species has been tagged and categorized by humans.

Lanore Vesta is marked with a silver X, the brand of Mixbreeds, second-class citizens shunned by society. She stays to herself, revealing her ability to create fire only during emergencies. All she wants to do is graduate college and stop having to steal to survive. But when she stumbles upon a murder in progress, she catches the attention of a supernatural killer. Now all she wants is to stop finding dead bodies in her apartment.

Enlisting help from her Were-cheetah ex-boyfriend MeShack and a new mysterious friend named Zulu, she is steered through the habitat’s raunchy nightlife. But their presence sometimes proves to be more burden than help, as they fight for her attention.

While the corpses pile up, and the scent of blood fills the air, Lanore is left wondering: will she find the psycho or die trying?

Melissa's Musings:

First things first, this book is full of action. Right from the very first line you are sucked in and captivated. I immediately wanted to know more and kept swiping forward on my Kindle to find out what would happen next.

One of the best things about this book is the way that the magical and real life elements are combined. There's a lot of heavy issues in the book like drug use, prostitution and racial and class issues that are interwoven into the story. Sometimes this can be really difficult to pull off, especially within a supernatural setting, but the author made the integration relatively seamless.

The supernatural combinations in this story are unlike any I've ever come across before. For example, Lanore is half demon, half fairy. And MeShack is a Shifter with demonic powers/blood.  Those are two combinations I haven't run across before. 

As a character, Lanore is very strong. She stands up for herself and can hold her own. She has her weaknesses, but, who doesn't? I'm very interested in learning more about her background. You get bits and pieces, about how her father is a demon and her mother is a fairy, and some of the backstory associated with that. There's a lot more to it though, and I have a feeling that there are some great twists, having to do with her heritage as being half fairy, so it'll be interesting to see what those are.

There is a love triangle here, and I have to say that I like this one. I like the aggression and possessiveness that both Zulu feel towards Lanore, because it's raw and real. Each of their attraction to her is very apparent in their actions. And, I really like the fact that she's not going all mushy over either one or playing games with them. She's very clear on what she wants. Whether they listen to her or not, is another story. The bonds between MeShack and Lanore and the one between Zulu and Lanore are very different, but I think they're equally intense. It'll be interesting to see how that all plays out and who she ends up with.

Here's where I have to put up one note of warning for people. The sexual tension in this book is slightly intense. The sexual scenes are descriptive, so if those make you uncomfortable then you may not enjoy the book as much. There aren't a lot of these scenes, but the few that there are are very descriptive, so just be forewarned about that. Also, the killings in this book are rather gruesome so if you're on the squeamish side, you may want to be prepared for that as well.

If you're looking for an action packed supernatural story, this is it.