Ghost Phoenix

The Phoenix Institute #3

by Corrina Lawson

The cure they desperately need just rose from the ashes of evil…

The Phoenix Institute, Book 3

Richard Plantagenet, self-exiled prince of an immortal court, is content living the uncomplicated life of a California surfer. Until his brother’s sudden death and his Queen’s wasting illness wrest him from his ocean-side solitude for one last quest.

The Queen needs a cure. To get it, Richard needs assistance from someone with a singular—and slightly illegal—talent.

As the latest of a long line of ghost-walkers, Marian Doyle can, literally, walk through walls—bringing objects with her. Her gift comes in handy for her family’s shady antiquities business, but Marian’s had it with breaking the law. She wants a life of her own choosing.

Instead, she gets Richard.

Their mission seems Find the body of Gregori Rasputin and procure a small sample of his DNA. But when they discover the Mad Monk of Russia is very much alive, the prince and the phantom must form a bond to battle a man who desires to remake the world in fire.

This book contains one hot immortal surfer dude and a woman who’s been waiting for a chance to just go wild.

Genres: Romance, Paranormal, Paranormal Romance

277 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 7, 2014

About the author

Writer, Mom, Geek & Superhero, Corrina Lawson is the author of the superhero romance series, the Phoenix Institute, and the alternate history Seneca series, in which Romans and Vikings have settled in ancient North America.
She is also co-founder and Content Director for GeekMom.com and a mother of four, including twins.

Reviews

[All Things Urban Fantasy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy

I always enjoy it when a book takes characters from history and puts a twist on them as GHOST PHOENIX does with various famous figures from different points in time posing as immortals living in modern times. One issue I had with the story is the use of ‘California slang’ like ‘stellar’. I adored the fact that Richard Plantagenet is an immortal surfer dude but it just seemed so jarring and weird for him to be using slang terms that I am not certain are actually used. Other than that Richard’s story of being prodigal son of the immortal court was interesting albeit the issues he had with the court didn’t seem to be as big of a deal as they were made to be.

Richard’s relationship with Marian is that of the insta-love variety at least on Richard’s part and while its not my favorite trope their relationship evolution was really sweet. Richard’s nickname for Marian upon first seeing her ghost-walking ability was absolutely adorable. I enjoyed Marian’s ability to ghost-walk and how she used it in her family business. I would have actually liked to have a whole book with her using her ability to phase through walls but alas this was not that book.

The story is fast paced starting out as a simple madcapped heist to find the body of Rasputin, only to become a more complex race against time with massive deadly roadblocks in store for Richard and Marian. The conflict with Rasputin was very entertaining and suspenseful. The way in which they incorporated Marian’s ability into the quest to get Rasputin’s DNA was genius. GHOST PHOENIX is a thrilling science fiction adventure story with a sweet romance that doesn’t overwhelm the exciting plot.

[Eva Millien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Richard Plantagenet’s Queen is wasting away from an illness and to save her, he’ll need help from Marian Doyle, the last in a long line of ghost-walkers in this exciting paranormal romance.

Richard is a self-exiled prince and has no desire to return to the court, but with his brother’s death he’s the only one left to save the queen and Marian wants out of the family business but agrees to take on this one last job. The strong compelling characters grab the reader’s attention from the very beginning and take them along on a thrilling quest of suspense, action and romance. The steady paced and smooth flowing plot keeps readers shivering in suspense and wondering what will happen next. The attraction between Richard and Marian heats things up considerably but their relationship has a few problems that will have to be worked out – if they can stay alive long enough and them being at odds with their families adds spice to the story.

Lots of spine tingling anticipation builds throughout the story as Richard and Marian discover that everything is not as it seems, enemies could be allies and there’s a madman out to remake the world in fire. The well written scenes and details capture the imagination and the well orchestrated events and suspense draws the reader in and ensures that they can’t put the book down until they have read every last detail.

The fascinating world has a bit of a super hero feel crossed with the paranormal that gives it a unique and different feel that I found quite entertaining and as this is the first book that I have read in the series, I have to say that it was not what I was expecting…it is so much more. Oh… and I had no trouble with the fact that I read the book out of sequence and I will certainly be reading more of these captivating characters with such intriguing abilities and hey some of them even have magnificent pasts to make things even more interesting.

[Marlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published at Sci-Fi Romance Quarterly

I read The Phoenix Institute series all in one giant binge, and I’ll admit that Ghost Phoenix is the point where it almost jumped the shark. But the romance between the hero and heroine was so much delicious fun that it pretty much jumped back.

The evil dude in the previous book, Phoenix Legacy, went by the name Edward P. Genet V. At the end of the story we discover that his real name is Edward Plantagenet, briefly King Edward V of England. Back in the late 1400s.

If the name rings any bells at all, it’s because Edward V was also one of the famous Princes in the Tower. Shakespeare claimed that Edward and his brother Richard were killed by their uncle, the recently discovered Richard III. (Contrarians say that the Princes were murdered by their sister’s husband, King Henry VII. We may never know)

But it turns out that the people that the Phoenix Institute has discovered are not the only folks out there with special gifts. The Plantagenets have a strain of self-healing in their DNA, making some of them effectively immortal. Edward was one such, as was his brother Richard. In this scenario, they weren’t killed after all - they disappeared into the shadow court of their immortal queen, who turns out to be Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Eleanor is wasting away of some unknown malady that is preventing her from accessing her healing talents. Edward’s pursuit of Delilah and Drake’s genetically engineered baby was all part of his plan to create someone with the talent to heal others. However, messing with Drake’s family was a guaranteed way of getting killed. A sword through the heart will kill anyone. Even a self-healer can’t heal around a big honking piece of sharp metal in a truly vital organ.

Richard is forced back to court by his duty to his brother, and to his queen. He never approved of Edward’s methods, but now he has to find out what truly happened to his brother, and find a cure for the queen. Since Drake and Delilah’s baby is now out of reach, the court has discovered another possible method - studying the corpse of the mad Russian monk Rasputin, who was also had the power to heal others - as well as being a charismatic and nuttier than a fruitcake. Legend has it that Rasputin was poisoned, shot and drowned, so it is assumed that one or all of those methods overcame his self-healing ability.

Richard thinks he’s looking for a valuable corpse. So he hires Doyle Antiquities, especially Marian Doyle, to dig up (if necessary literally) the body of Rasputin. The Doyle family is known for possessing a rare psychic gift - the ability to turn to mist and go through walls. Marian is the only member of the family in this generation to possess the gift - as well as a talent for researching where lost treasures might be found.

Richard discovers that Marian is the most pleasantly surprising person he has met in centuries. She is intelligent, beautiful and talented, and always manages to do the unexpected. As they hunt what they think is an artifact, they discover that in spite of the centuries, they belong together. If they can survive the mess they have gotten themselves into.

Rasputin is still alive, and his followers are every bit as fanatical in the early 21st century as they were in the early 20th.

Escape Rating B+: The combination of the immortal Plantagenet court with Rasputin went really too close to the “believe three impossible things before breakfast” idea. In a world where multiple people have some kind of psychic/telekinetic talent without having had the equivalent of a mutated spider bite them in a lab, it is logical that there would be others with some talent.

There are so many stories about Rasputin, that it isn’t a stretch to believe he had some real power. He and his followers certainly thought he did. But adding the Plantagenet court into the mix almost went over the top.

But Richard Plantagenet is surprisingly empathetic as the surfer dude who could be king. He has rejected much of the isolation of the court and become a surfer in California. He may love the queen, but his attachment is to contemporary life. Watching him straddle both worlds makes him more human. He is still an autocrat at times, but he also knows how to value the short-lived human lives around him - and he knows there are lines that can’t be crossed, a lesson his brother never learned.

Richard meets with the Institute and Philip Drake, yet everyone walks away with their organs intact. He mourns his brother, but acknowledges that Drake’s actions were more than justified. He would protect himself and his to that same extreme - he can’t fault Drake for doing the same.

However, it is Richard’s relationship with Marian that grounds him and makes him human enough to feel for. He needs to win her love and approval, and she keeps him on the relatively human straight and narrow.

It is also her talents that discover the truth about the Queen’s illness. He needs her, and she needs him to boost her confidence so she can break away from the family that uses her and takes her for granted. In the early scenes, where Richard puts her overbearing grandfather in his place, that makes the reader first see him as “one of us” and not “one of them”..

[ItsAboutTheBook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review can be read at It's About The Book

4.5 stars

Marian Doyle has inherited the family gift – the ability to transform into a phantom who can go through walls. And she can bring things with her, like the priceless treasures her family business is famous for locating. Marian, however, is exhausted. She doesn’t enjoy the pressure that the job entails, and the expectations that come with it are becoming more than she can stand. Her grandfather’s dictates are becoming more and more difficult to deal with, and Marian has trouble skirting the law the way that her family and job demands. Sometimes she feels that the things that she “liberates” and brings back should be in a museum, not in the hands of a collector. She know’s that if she’s caught, she’ll receive a stiff prison sentence–which is a strong deterrent to continue doing a job she’s quickly coming to hate. She arrives home from her last job empty-handed and determined to quit. That’s before she meets Richard Genet.

Richard Plantagenet had left the Court of the Immortals many years before, escaping to the carefree freedom of the California surfing scene. Staying had become impossible–the Queen was allowing his older brother Edward free reign, never listening to Richard’s cautions or advice. While he loved his brother, he didn’t approve of his often harsh and cavalier behavior to those around him and couldn’t stay to watch it any more. He knew it was only a matter of time before the consequences of Edward’s behavior caught up with him.

So when Marshal, the Queen’s agent and his beloved mentor, appeared on the beach in California with the news of Edward’s death, Richard wasn’t surprised. He was stunned, however, to learn of the Queen’s wasting illness. He knew that it was time to return home–fate had at last caught up with this son of York.

When he sees the Queen, he’s shocked by her appearance and accepts the quest she asks of him. Everyone had believed that Rasputin was possessed of great healing powers, and the Queen and her court believed that they could use Rasputin’s DNA to heal her. Whenever the Court of the Immortals has needed something precious found, they’ve used William Doyle Antiquities. So Marian, showing up to quit, is coerced by her grandfather and bewitched by Richard into helping him find the Mad Monk’s body.

When events out of their control force Richard and Marian to work with the Phoenix Institute, Richard is placed in an uncomfortable position. Having to work with the people that killed his brother is difficult; however, Richard knows in part that it was Edward’s high-handed behavior that caused it. When he and Marian agree to have Daz Montoya as their bodyguard on the trip to Russia, he doesn’t trust him at first. Sometimes, as this prince well knows, circumstances can force strange and unwelcome alliances. But Daz’s actions prove him to be a true ally and a loyal friend to them both.

The search for the queen’s cure leads them to the last resting place of Rasputin. However, when ones mixes magic, ghost walking, and powers beyond comprehension, things often go awry. Monks create diversions, tunnels lead to strange places, and bodies are not buried where they are supposed to be. Luckily events from his past have made Richard familiar with the area that they are searching, and he’s able to lead himself and Marian to safety; however, Daz is kidnapped by the monks. But Richard’s quick thinking and Marian’s abilities keep them one step ahead of the authorities as well as the bad guys, and they are able to retrieve Daz– alive.

But all the machinations have made them all start to wonder about why they are really chasing after a ghost. Have Richard, Marian and Daz been diverted by a misplaced pawn and left their queen open to attack? Is there a larger, more sinister plan afoot? Could this spell the end for the Plantagenet court?

Corrina Lawson has built a very unique series with the Phoenix Institute novels–in fact, I would say it is unlike any other I’ve read. Each book is a unique story in and of itself; yet they build on each other like layers of a wedding cake. You can read one without reading the others and have a completely enjoyable read; however, to get the entire scrumptious mouthful, you’ll want to plunge into the whole set, making sure you get a taste of each. Honestly, even read out of order it works! Then you will get the total swirl of delicious textures, tastes and delights that this author has on offer with this truly one-of-a-kind series. Enjoy!

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting. I once spent a week, on a pilgrimage of sorts, at Fontevraud Abbey. I guess you could say I'm a tad obsessed with Eleanor of Aquitaine. Have been ever since A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver. So this book intrigued me from the beginning. I took beaucoup classes on Medieval History to get close to my lady. Specialized in 500 to 1450 (because I truly believe the world ended in 1450 but we haven't figured it out yet). But the woman who was twice Queen, creator or at least sponsor of chivalry (the art of courtly love), went on a Crusade, fomented rebellion, put her daughters and granddaughters into every royal house in Europe, grandmother of Saint Louis, at the back of our tales of Robin Hood, and Black King John and therefore the Magna Carta, not to mention the Irish Troubles for needing land for John Lackland. So let's just say a fan

At first I wasn't sure I'd finish it; I got a little bored.

But then the action kicked in with assassin monks, a "Charles Xavier" institute that I'm still puzzling out, revised ending to Alexandra's tale of woe, and a little treachery to boot. It ended up a fun run. The closing was a little too fast and alliances a little too quickly validated, but I didn't feel any big plot holes or complete character turnabouts. So the center held

[Philippa Lodge · Rating 4 out of 5]

I mostly liked this one. unlike the earlier books in the series, I kept falling asleep when reading late at night. there were several parts that dragged. and i wondered what border crossing they used from France to Germany because it must have been the only one that was manned.

[Pagan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rating: 4/10