This is book one of the Rise of The Phoenix series and the main character is Ana (Anastasia) a young woman who has so far lived a life of emotional and physical abuse at the hands of the man she knows as her father. The only lifeline she had was the boy next door, Dakota, who helped her to cope with some of the worst of her life at home. His parents became her surrogate parents, allowing Dakota to keep her in his room at night to keep her out of her father Mitch’s hands, as he blamed her for everything and anything. He would keep food away from her and Dakota’s mother Elizabeth, would always ensure she was fed at their home, whenever possible. Mitch was the Assistant District Attorney and kept a very public face, which was completely different to the face and anger he showed at home. Even though Dakota’s father was a policeman, he couldn’t take any action against Mitch due to his extended influence in the law and law enforcement circles! Dakota and Ana shared a flat, after they both graduated school and his parents allowed her to stay with him at a very low cost, to enable her to go to college.
When she suddenly disappears from his life, just after he finally got the courage up to ask her out, he is left bereft, not knowing what has happened, nor where she may have gone or if she is even alive! A sorcerer has taken her to the world of Terrenia, through a portal between their worlds, just as Mitch and two other men had come to get her for their boss! The people of this other world, where there is no electricity or running water, nor any technology like she is used to, believe her to be the prophesised saviour and warrior, who will stop the darkness. This darkness has led to numerous villages being attacked by large creatures called Brutes, mainly humanoid in features, but with light blue skin and way large and stronger than the normal human warriors. They keep coming through portals and attacking, seemingly at random, wiping out hundreds of Terrenian people. Each village rules itself and many are reluctant to leave their homes, even knowing they may be attacked and overrun.
Ana wants no part of this war, she just wants to return home and back to Dakota. But the man who brought her there, Gregory Silvan, says he has no more vials of magic to create a portal or get her back home. The only way she will get home is to train as a warrior and learn to fight these huge creatures, to try and defeat the darkness. Gregory and his wife Annabelle, reveal Ana has magic within her and he wants to try and teach her how to use it safely, unlike his brother Vincent, who has taken a liking to dark powers and is a huge part of the problem facing everyone. Ana has terrible nightmares which seem to reveal all those she love as dead and surrounded by utter devastation. Are they really dreams, or portents of the future? Lots more to come in this series and a young woman who has come from a lifetime of pain, but will have to endure a lot more, before this is over. A very detailed storyline, with an evil that has grown for decades and a prophesised warrior to defeat it. Great characters and a definite page turner! I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.