The main character of the story is Max, who has a HOT temper, literally! He falls for 2 girls at once. Can you love more than one person with all your heart and soul? This is something Max must ask himself numerous times, after having his heart broken more than once. Each girl does their damage, in more ways than one. There’s something different about Max, quite interesting in fact. And he manages to find his balance from each girl, in different ways. Asia is who he falls for first, and she is his exact opposite. She is hot, smoky, and rich. She has unique talents as well. Then there is Sam. Sweet, girl next door Sam. She seems to calm Max down without even trying but just by being there. You’ve got Devon, who is the bully/badass wannabe of the story. He and Max clash instantly. There’s a huge scene, well more than one actually, where they come to blows. And every badass has his gang; Devon’s got the 4 horsemen.
EXCERPT: Max meets Asia
I let the remaining fire flicker along my fingers as lightning flashed above me. It was so close that I thought if I reached up I could grab it out of the sky. The sight of lightning that close should have scared me something awful but it didn’t. What did send chills down my fiery spine was the flash of white fire above me made no sound at all. It was accompanied by something much more startling….the sound of someone screaming. I wasn’t alone.
I found that I could not speak, I could not move as my body had frozen stiff as stone. Locked in her gaze, I stood there with my left arm ablaze in the pouring rain. Smoke danced off my silhouette like a ghostly ribbon and trailed off into the sky. She was twenty yards from the beach and even from that distance her features were intoxicating. She stood like a statue at the front of her surf board as it slowly cut through the black water. Her legs were long and tone, like an athlete. Her black bikini hugged her fit torso, exposing her stomach and tone arms. The menacing water barely touched her, only peppering her skin in soft delicate bursts. Her hair fell with dark beads of water trailing through her soft curls. The ocean was a beast now but her hair hardly moved, it cradled and shaped her shocked face.
The flickering lightning revealed every line of her face and exposed her full lips pulled together in a serious pout. Her eyes were glowing blue and sparkling, like two jewels on fire. How could someone’s eyes burn so bright from so far away? It didn’t make any sense. As I stood burning on the beach, the sea became tiresome of our time bending interlude. It swelled up and began to rise behind her and I could feel time pulling at my body again, speeding back to normal. My flames disappeared as I looked back at the girl and the wall of water building behind her. She didn’t seem to notice the danger, even when the waves began to tilt the back of her board up and out of the water. She continued to stare at me with those angry eyes in some kind of quiet calmness. Thunder seemed to rattle the surf over and over again, shaking my bones in the process.
I tried to scream to her but nothing came out of my mouth. The dark wave stood up behind her like a monster rising from his grave, covering her in an icy shadow. It hung there just long enough for her to snap back to reality and realize that she was in trouble. She broke off her stare just as the wave crashed down over her and buried her in darkness. Lightning split the sky with the force of an explosion, almost knocking me off of my feet. She was gone now and the sea quickly began to settle itself, satisfied with its latest meal.
EXCERPT: Max meets Sam
A knock at the front door startled me from my rambling thoughts. I quickly threw on my faded tee shirt and ran for the door. I had to jump over Oz, who had now stretched his little frame across the living room floor. Sleeping away, with his tongue sticking from the side of his mouth. My feet hit the floor with a dull thud.
“Hang on,” I called out. As my hand found the door knob I gave Oz one last glance and saw that he hadn’t moved an inch. Heavy sleeper. I opened the door not ready for what was on the other side. I found myself face to face with an angel. Her hair was blonde with slight hints of red streaming through it, as the morning sun radiated from behind her petite frame. Her blonde locks fell almost half way down her back and a hint of her sweet shampoo filled my nose. She couldn’t have been much taller than 5’ 2” but she gave off a much larger radiance. She looked up at my eyes with a quiet confidence I had never seen before. She was smiling slightly with an inquisitive look in her eyes. They were jade green and reflected her golden locks inside of them.
She was dressed in a white tank top that exposed a cluster of freckles that resided on her round shoulders. Her blue jeans were snug and her car keys dangled from her right pocket. They would jingle with every slight shift of her hips. She looked casual yet proper. She was beautiful. Not the drop dead, gorgeous supermodel beautiful, but the girl next door beautiful. “Aloha,” she said smiling. “I’m Sam. Are you ready?” I was lost. I tried my hardest to focus and say hello back, but I think the most I was capable of spitting out was... “Alo...” At which point I closed my eyes and hoped I was still dreaming away, safely in my bed. A gentle laugh came out of her lips as I cracked open my eyelid and dared to sneak another peek at her lightly freckled face before I decided to run and hide. My face felt hot with my burning embarrassment.
Max & Asia
“I was right…” “What do you mean Max?” she asked catching her breath. “You taste like rain.” I wanted to smile but forced myself not to. Her stare turned nervous. “Why would you say that?” “Because it’s true,” I smiled. “Max…I think this was a mistake.” She pulled away but didn’t let go of my hand. Her face grew sad. “You shouldn’t speak of such things.” “Why not?” I pushed. “You know my secret. You’ve seen my past…even felt them.” I stepped back toward her. “You’ve seen the real me Asia,” I said softly and she looked away from me but I pulled her face back to mine. “And I can see the real you.” Thunder rumbled loudly and I glanced upward toward her ceiling and laughed lightly. It rumbled with a force that seemed to push the ceiling down toward us.
Max & Sam
“Sam, that’s not what I meant.” It was no use; she was no longer paying any attention to my voice. She then pulled one final blanket out and snapped it in the crisp air while she shot me a wanting glare. This blanket was blue and much thinner than the others. She swiftly wrapped it around her barely five foot frame. She straightened her back and cocked her hips to the side as she removed her bikini top from underneath the blanket. She let the top drop to her side and she motioned with her finger for me to come join her. Steam flickered from my shoulders and I closed my mouth with my hand. I hadn’t even realized it was wide open until I could literally taste the beach air. She laughed sweetly at me and took a step forward. “Sam…are you crazy?” I asked bluntly with my mind racing. “I thought you were a bad boy?” she teased back. “And I thought you were a good girl…” I stuttered out.
Max & Devon
Devon and Brian approached slowly, staggering a little as they did and the twins mirrored their every move until all four of them were fanned out in front of Lucy and I. As they slowly circled us, I turned along with their movements, to shield Lucy as best I could. But now we were cut off from the beach, with our backs to the ocean. The air rushed off the waves quickly cooling my back and bringing Lucy to shivers. Her teeth chattered from below me.
“You’re going to play the hero?” Devon taunted. “Or is the new kid just trying to make a name for himself?” “I already have a name,” I said as calmly as I could, which wasn’t very calm at all. My eyes were locked again with his and I couldn’t believe how much I wanted this to happen.
“No. What you have is a big problem,” he screamed through the drenching rain. A small smile slipped onto my face. “Eddie…Alex…grab him,” he ordered. They looked at each other and back toward him with hesitation and his face twisted in anger. I stepped forward growing even hotter. “Bring it!” I demanded. Water flew from my mouth as I screamed and waved for them to do like they were told.
I read Ember by Madison Daniel in a matter of 24 hours, give or take. I absolutely loved it! It has love, passion, hate, anger, grief, you name it. This book has a little bit of everything! It didn’t take my long to get sucked into it. Wondering and anticipating what was going to happen next. I was on the edge of my seat. These excerpts, they don’t do the book justice. But if I added any more, there might be spoilers. There is just way more to it than what can be written here. You will have to read the book to find out more. You won’t regret it. There’s a huge OMG moment at the very end, and I will be picking up the next book in the series as soon as possible. I CAN’T WAIT to read what happens next!