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Sacred Fire
Tinsley Swann is cursed to change into a beast for seven days, every seven years. She keeps her distance from the world, and has more of a relationship with the antique erotic postcards she collects. With the time of her transformation approaching, she finds herself torn between two women. One woman is Sandra, Tinsley’s new boss, and the two are having an affair. Sandra glimpses her transformation and is kind, not frightened. The other woman, Leda, bears a striking resemblance to one of Tinsley’s turn of the century postcards, and she becomes obsessed with the young woman. Tinsley must choose between these two women and ultimately two factions, one that will save the world, the other with plans to destroy it.
264 pages, Paperback
First published May 11, 2014
4 people are currently reading
161 people want to read
About the author
Tanai Walker
3 books11 followersTanai started writing strange little novels at the age of fourteen and dreamed of becoming a published author. She is a hard-core musicphile and enjoys everything from Bluegrass to Rap to Metal. She has an extensive collection of digital music files, CDs, and vinyl. Tanai is a total fangirl. The generous space allotted in this biography is not big enough to even begin to list all of her favorite fandoms. She studied graphic design at the Art Institute of Houston and uses what she learned there for her second passion, teaching art to inner city youth. She lives with her hilarious, wonderful wife, Janette, and their three dogs, Zeus, Zoey, and Beto. (from the publisher's website)
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 1, 2020
This was an odd one. I had seen Walker on a few Bold Stroke Books Zoom panels and was really interested in reading one of her books. She has two books out right now with this one being her debut book. I think I should have picked her other book, Rise of the Gorgon, to read today. ROTG has zombies in it and I love some zombies. When it came to this book, I found it to be really well imagined. I have never read anything quite like this but I think it was a little too odd for my tastes.
I thought the book started off great. We had a bit of a boss/employee romance going on with a woman who seems to have a secret of shifting every 7 years. I’m not good about reading book blurbs; I think they more often than not spoil too much story. So I had picked this up thinking it was more of a different take on a werewolf or some other were shifter type book. Instead it was more about a beast and a goddess, who wanted to go to hell but couldn’t, and it just got a bit convoluted from there. For a lot of the time I had no idea why things were happening and once we are told, we are more told and not really shown. I felt like more announcements were made instead of learning things organically throughout the book. Again, this is a debut and Walker was writing about something completely new, not like vampires that have built in histories, behaviors, and powers already. So even with the bumps, I am very impressed by Walkers imagination.
I did think the book got a lot better in the last quarter or so. While some things still felt a bit convoluted and I was still wondering about other things, the action really picked up and the book was just more fun. Plus, the main character finally grew a bit of a backbone. She was a bit too passive in much of the book for me so it was nice to see some solid growth. Her character became more likeable because of this change too.
Even though this book didn’t really click with me, it was a solid debut book. I would recommend this to urban fantasy fans who want to read something completely different. I’m glad to have finally read something by Walker and I’m hoping her zombie book will be much more up my alley.
I thought the book started off great. We had a bit of a boss/employee romance going on with a woman who seems to have a secret of shifting every 7 years. I’m not good about reading book blurbs; I think they more often than not spoil too much story. So I had picked this up thinking it was more of a different take on a werewolf or some other were shifter type book. Instead it was more about a beast and a goddess, who wanted to go to hell but couldn’t, and it just got a bit convoluted from there. For a lot of the time I had no idea why things were happening and once we are told, we are more told and not really shown. I felt like more announcements were made instead of learning things organically throughout the book. Again, this is a debut and Walker was writing about something completely new, not like vampires that have built in histories, behaviors, and powers already. So even with the bumps, I am very impressed by Walkers imagination.
I did think the book got a lot better in the last quarter or so. While some things still felt a bit convoluted and I was still wondering about other things, the action really picked up and the book was just more fun. Plus, the main character finally grew a bit of a backbone. She was a bit too passive in much of the book for me so it was nice to see some solid growth. Her character became more likeable because of this change too.
Even though this book didn’t really click with me, it was a solid debut book. I would recommend this to urban fantasy fans who want to read something completely different. I’m glad to have finally read something by Walker and I’m hoping her zombie book will be much more up my alley.
May 29, 2016
Tinsley Swan is a ticking time bomb that explodes into a dangerous beast every seven years, forcing her to push away people. Besides herself, the only other person she's got in her life are the women on the antique erotic postcards she collects. But on the tide of her upcoming transformation she's stuck between two women, her boss whom she's been having an affair with and a strange woman who looks exactly like one of the models on her antique postcards. Tinsley's choice between the two women goes much deeper than she thinks, with the fate of the world hinging on her decision.
Plot
Our protagonist has a werewolf-esque curse on her and must deal with a goddess and a cult that forced the beast-transformation curse onto her. That’s the bare bones. There’s a bit of confusing stuff about the underworld and demons or something, but that takes a backseat to the whole drama with the cult and goddess. In my very honest opinion, I don’t think the plot was all that good. It was a very simple idea, and it was executed fairly well, but it was really boring.
Nothing that happened surprised me at all. I knew what was going to happen with the main characters, I knew what would happen with Tinsley, I knew what would happen with the goddess, and I knew what would happen at the end of the book (minus the epilogue). The only things that I didn’t see coming were things that were pulled out of thin air, like .
I think if things hadn’t been so predictable, the plot could have been a lot more interesting.
Writing
I don’t have any real complaints about the writing, per se. It was good. Not too descriptive or wordy, nor too under described. But the writing did feel very amateurish. It read a lot like fanfiction. If you’ve ever read fanfiction, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. Fanfiction is like a weird middle ground between bad and good. It could be better, but it could also be a lot worse. Writing like this also suffers from pacing issues and a lack of good foreshadowing, which I definitely noticed. All in all, the writing was good, I won’t deny that, but it wasn’t great.
Characters
The main character is Tinsley Swan, a forty-something year old black woman. She’s joined by three secondary characters: her boss, Sandra, her former lover and current leader of her former cult, Juliette, and Leba, a mysterious woman who looks like a pinup girl from over fifty years ago. I liked Juliette, though her presence was a bit more minor compared to Sandra and Tinsley’s. I didn’t have strong feelings for or against Sandra. She was just there for me. Nothing about her character compelled me. Tinsley, our protagonist, I didn’t really like. Mostly because of her utterly moronic she could be. This grown woman acted exactly like a teenager in a Young Adult novel! She had to have things of the utmost importance explained to her multiple times, and even when she saw something that was explained to her, she still acted surprised. It was irritating at best.
There wasn’t anything I can think about that I actually liked about Tinsley. She was painfully obtuse for a lot of the book because she didn’t reflect on things or use critical thinking about much of anything. The only redeemable thing she actually did was what she did for the Lost Goddess in the very end. Other than that, I didn’t like her for the vast majority of the book. I didn’t actively hate her, but I don’t think she was a good character.
Things I Liked
I liked that a majority of the female characters were black or otherwise non-white. Tinsley, her family, and Juliette and hers were all black. Sandra was probably Mestiza, as she spoke Spanish and was described as non-white.
Things I Didn't Like
I didn’t like how willfully ignorant Tinsley was in the book. If she had thought about things for two seconds, she would have been much better off. Instead she chose to stumble through important things. Another thing I didn’t like was the description of Tinsley’s postcard dealer. He’s physically disabled, with something like scoliosis, and there’s a gross line in the book basically about how “he’s handsome in the face despite his grossly disabled body”. Yuck.
The biggest thing that I didn’t like, though, was the pacing and how the worldbuilding suffered for it. A lot of stuff is crammed into such a short book that things felt rushed and concepts and the like were pulled out of thin air because they didn’t have a proper build up. While the plot might have been stretched too thin over three books, at the very least Sacred Fire could have been made into a duology or a much longer singular book. That way more background could have been given on a lot of stuff and then maybe things wouldn’t have felt like they were pulled out of thin air just as the plot needed them.
Diversity
Tinsley is a forty-something black lesbian, Sandra is a Latinx lesbian, Juliette is a dark-skinned lesbian, and there are other same-gender attracted women in the background, like Tinsley and Juliette’s aunts. There’s one disabled character but he’s not prominent and he’s treated very grossly by the narrative. People of color are littered all throughout the background of the novel as well.
Overall
If more effort had been put into Sacred Fire, like making it longer to explain things more, I think I would have liked the book a heck of a lot more. As it stands, the book was alright, but not very memorable to me. It’s a cool concept and everything, but poor execution. I wanted to like it more than I did, but I just couldn’t. But still, I hope Tanai Walker continues to write and improve. The world needs more authors like her.
Here is a link to my notes.
Plot
Our protagonist has a werewolf-esque curse on her and must deal with a goddess and a cult that forced the beast-transformation curse onto her. That’s the bare bones. There’s a bit of confusing stuff about the underworld and demons or something, but that takes a backseat to the whole drama with the cult and goddess. In my very honest opinion, I don’t think the plot was all that good. It was a very simple idea, and it was executed fairly well, but it was really boring.
Nothing that happened surprised me at all. I knew what was going to happen with the main characters, I knew what would happen with Tinsley, I knew what would happen with the goddess, and I knew what would happen at the end of the book (minus the epilogue). The only things that I didn’t see coming were things that were pulled out of thin air, like .
I think if things hadn’t been so predictable, the plot could have been a lot more interesting.
Writing
I don’t have any real complaints about the writing, per se. It was good. Not too descriptive or wordy, nor too under described. But the writing did feel very amateurish. It read a lot like fanfiction. If you’ve ever read fanfiction, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. Fanfiction is like a weird middle ground between bad and good. It could be better, but it could also be a lot worse. Writing like this also suffers from pacing issues and a lack of good foreshadowing, which I definitely noticed. All in all, the writing was good, I won’t deny that, but it wasn’t great.
Characters
The main character is Tinsley Swan, a forty-something year old black woman. She’s joined by three secondary characters: her boss, Sandra, her former lover and current leader of her former cult, Juliette, and Leba, a mysterious woman who looks like a pinup girl from over fifty years ago. I liked Juliette, though her presence was a bit more minor compared to Sandra and Tinsley’s. I didn’t have strong feelings for or against Sandra. She was just there for me. Nothing about her character compelled me. Tinsley, our protagonist, I didn’t really like. Mostly because of her utterly moronic she could be. This grown woman acted exactly like a teenager in a Young Adult novel! She had to have things of the utmost importance explained to her multiple times, and even when she saw something that was explained to her, she still acted surprised. It was irritating at best.
There wasn’t anything I can think about that I actually liked about Tinsley. She was painfully obtuse for a lot of the book because she didn’t reflect on things or use critical thinking about much of anything. The only redeemable thing she actually did was what she did for the Lost Goddess in the very end. Other than that, I didn’t like her for the vast majority of the book. I didn’t actively hate her, but I don’t think she was a good character.
Things I Liked
I liked that a majority of the female characters were black or otherwise non-white. Tinsley, her family, and Juliette and hers were all black. Sandra was probably Mestiza, as she spoke Spanish and was described as non-white.
Things I Didn't Like
I didn’t like how willfully ignorant Tinsley was in the book. If she had thought about things for two seconds, she would have been much better off. Instead she chose to stumble through important things. Another thing I didn’t like was the description of Tinsley’s postcard dealer. He’s physically disabled, with something like scoliosis, and there’s a gross line in the book basically about how “he’s handsome in the face despite his grossly disabled body”. Yuck.
The biggest thing that I didn’t like, though, was the pacing and how the worldbuilding suffered for it. A lot of stuff is crammed into such a short book that things felt rushed and concepts and the like were pulled out of thin air because they didn’t have a proper build up. While the plot might have been stretched too thin over three books, at the very least Sacred Fire could have been made into a duology or a much longer singular book. That way more background could have been given on a lot of stuff and then maybe things wouldn’t have felt like they were pulled out of thin air just as the plot needed them.
Diversity
Tinsley is a forty-something black lesbian, Sandra is a Latinx lesbian, Juliette is a dark-skinned lesbian, and there are other same-gender attracted women in the background, like Tinsley and Juliette’s aunts. There’s one disabled character but he’s not prominent and he’s treated very grossly by the narrative. People of color are littered all throughout the background of the novel as well.
Overall
If more effort had been put into Sacred Fire, like making it longer to explain things more, I think I would have liked the book a heck of a lot more. As it stands, the book was alright, but not very memorable to me. It’s a cool concept and everything, but poor execution. I wanted to like it more than I did, but I just couldn’t. But still, I hope Tanai Walker continues to write and improve. The world needs more authors like her.
Here is a link to my notes.
May 12, 2014
Paranormal is the operative word for this book. Witches, familiars, reincarnation, and life and death struggles with worlds hanging in the balance. Oh yes! The Sacred Fire is a very special ritual that occurs on the seventh day of the seventh month of the seventh year. Oh my, numerologically, seven is my predominant number. This story totally swept me into its magical and mystical center while the folks on both sides of the struggle put up their best effort. This is a most worthwhile trip into the nether lands. Don't miss it!
Tinsley Swan is apparently the last of her kind. However, the fight, the struggle, her deep-seated anger at being dragged into an ancient confrontation, gives us an interesting perspective when checking things out though her eyes. I was very taken with her home environs, rather clever and provocative. Her passions and preoccupations provide her with a most interesting opportunity to face possibly her greatest threat or her dearest love. Tinsley was definitely one fascinating woman!
Sandra Ortega is Tinsley's new boss since the medical illustration studio Tinsley worked for was swallowed up by a possible unfriendly takeover. She has a peculiar captivation and intense interest in Tinsley. Curiously, it takes some time before the reasons come to light. Sandra initially almost appears to be stalking Tinsley at every possible opportunity much to Tinsley's confusion and discomfort. However, they mesh remarkably well on an intimate level which initially seems to be totally out of character for Tinsley. Oddities abound early on, but I adored them and confidently knew a good author will bring me up to speed at the appropriate time. Delicious!
A secret sisterhood, an apparent re-incarnation, an essential confrontation every seventy years barreling toward a critical reiteration had me breathlessly on the edge of my seat. Everything does get revealed before the classic battle ensues, sometimes in extraordinary detail. I have to confess, I went back to the longest detailed part after I knew what really happened. I just couldn't focus on such meticulous material while my breath was racing a mile a minute. My failing. In retrospect, I wished I hadn't raced to the denouement. This amazing tale was more than I could have possibly imagined at the outset. Astoundingly compelling!
NOTE: This book was provided by Bold Strokes Books for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
Tinsley Swan is apparently the last of her kind. However, the fight, the struggle, her deep-seated anger at being dragged into an ancient confrontation, gives us an interesting perspective when checking things out though her eyes. I was very taken with her home environs, rather clever and provocative. Her passions and preoccupations provide her with a most interesting opportunity to face possibly her greatest threat or her dearest love. Tinsley was definitely one fascinating woman!
Sandra Ortega is Tinsley's new boss since the medical illustration studio Tinsley worked for was swallowed up by a possible unfriendly takeover. She has a peculiar captivation and intense interest in Tinsley. Curiously, it takes some time before the reasons come to light. Sandra initially almost appears to be stalking Tinsley at every possible opportunity much to Tinsley's confusion and discomfort. However, they mesh remarkably well on an intimate level which initially seems to be totally out of character for Tinsley. Oddities abound early on, but I adored them and confidently knew a good author will bring me up to speed at the appropriate time. Delicious!
A secret sisterhood, an apparent re-incarnation, an essential confrontation every seventy years barreling toward a critical reiteration had me breathlessly on the edge of my seat. Everything does get revealed before the classic battle ensues, sometimes in extraordinary detail. I have to confess, I went back to the longest detailed part after I knew what really happened. I just couldn't focus on such meticulous material while my breath was racing a mile a minute. My failing. In retrospect, I wished I hadn't raced to the denouement. This amazing tale was more than I could have possibly imagined at the outset. Astoundingly compelling!
NOTE: This book was provided by Bold Strokes Books for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
January 4, 2016
Solid, fun book. I would read more from this author.
August 29, 2019
There are a lot of really great ideas and things I love in this book. There are too many queer women to shake a stick at. There's some interesting mythology and consideration of what it means to inherit from the previous generation, be that religion, wealth, or a curse. There's a beast that's not a werewolf but has enough similarities to a werewolf that it checks that box for me. Yet the book just didn't work for me. Individual scenes work well, but the overall plot and character interactions just don't quite feel real. There are also some contrivances--one character dies to clear up the love triangle that could have developed, when I think things would have been much deeper and more interesting if she had lived. It's not a bad book, but I think it could have done with a few more edits to make things flow more smoothly and to make character interactions feel more natural.
February 16, 2025
This was a quick and enjoyable read, but definitely left me wanting more meat on the bones of the worldbuilding. A lot of the plots twists felt like they relied on characters' lack of knowledge that would have easily been remedied by other characters actually explaining things, which took me out of the story sometimes. I actually loved the twists and just wanted them to make a bit more sense.
September 16, 2021
Not sure how a paranormal romance ended up on my to read list but it was entertaining, kind of The L Word meets True Blood. I could imagine a film directed by a feminist Tarrantino.
July 19, 2016
Every seven years, Tinsley Swann transforms into a beast for a week, thanks to a cult only known as The Sisterhood. Inducted into it (and not knowing exactly what it would entail) when she was fourteen, Tinsley lives with the consequences and leads a lonely, solitary life. That is until she meets Sandra, who is surprisingly accepting of Tinsley's beast. But Tinsley is drawn to someone else as well - Leda, a beautiful woman who, according to The Sisterhood, is the reincarnation of a goddess bent on destruction.
Super props, first off, for some diversity in lesbian fiction! The main characters are all women of colour, which is often a rarity, unfortunately. And this story line is definitely unique. Sometimes it feels like I am reading the same story over and over again, but not in this case. It feels more like an urban fantasy book than a paranormal romance, just because the romance takes a back seat to the action for much of the book. I didn't have a problem with that, but others might want more romance.
I had a hard time with Tinsley for much of the book. I just wasn't sure what it was, and I never could put my finger on it, but I just didn't like her at first. Eventually that feeling thawed. I did like the character of Sandra.
The ending felt rather rushed to me, and I really don't like it when an epilogue is added on to answer questions, rather than answering the questions directly in the book.
I would definitely pick up another book by this author.
Super props, first off, for some diversity in lesbian fiction! The main characters are all women of colour, which is often a rarity, unfortunately. And this story line is definitely unique. Sometimes it feels like I am reading the same story over and over again, but not in this case. It feels more like an urban fantasy book than a paranormal romance, just because the romance takes a back seat to the action for much of the book. I didn't have a problem with that, but others might want more romance.
I had a hard time with Tinsley for much of the book. I just wasn't sure what it was, and I never could put my finger on it, but I just didn't like her at first. Eventually that feeling thawed. I did like the character of Sandra.
The ending felt rather rushed to me, and I really don't like it when an epilogue is added on to answer questions, rather than answering the questions directly in the book.
I would definitely pick up another book by this author.
May 21, 2014
I received a copy from Netgalley.
I found this book browsing through Netgalley. The blurb caught my attention right off. The story was interesting. The mythology and paranormal aspects of the story were what fascinated me.
Though there was something about the main character and her attitude that I just didn't really like. I can't put my finger on what it was. I just didn't like her much.
That being says though the book was well written and interesting with a good plot and great world building. I would definitely read something by this author again.
Thank you Netgalley and Bold Stroke Books did approving my request to view the title.
And as the book was first published in May that crosses of a square for my Book bingo challenge - a spring release.
I found this book browsing through Netgalley. The blurb caught my attention right off. The story was interesting. The mythology and paranormal aspects of the story were what fascinated me.
Though there was something about the main character and her attitude that I just didn't really like. I can't put my finger on what it was. I just didn't like her much.
That being says though the book was well written and interesting with a good plot and great world building. I would definitely read something by this author again.
Thank you Netgalley and Bold Stroke Books did approving my request to view the title.
And as the book was first published in May that crosses of a square for my Book bingo challenge - a spring release.
tbr-maybe
September 29, 2017recommended here: https://www.autostraddle.com/urban-fa...
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews