Cadence has always been an Empath, but those powers weren’t needed to see the Guardians struggle with the aftermath of a brutal war. The signs were clear, and she begged the Council to believe, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. Eva may be the closest friend of Analyse — the leader of their people — but that shouldn’t have been enough to let her walk away. Leaving nothing but destruction in her path. A destruction that comes knocking on Cadence's front door. Her grief and sorrow ignited her. Is what she awoke inside herself enough to finally bring her family the justice they deserve?
Jasper is a man from the most powerful family in the world. His mother is the Riamora, Merlin’s only Heir. His obedience and loyalty are as expected as is the respect given to his family, which is why Cadence is a force he hadn’t anticipated. Wild, outspoken, and pointing the blame solely at him and his family. He wasn’t expecting to reflect on the path he chose for himself, but strong willed as she is, she leaves him no choice. Can they work together to prevent another conflict before it’s too late?
JL was an Army brat, who then married a soldier, only to become one herself. She has lived a nomadic existence and attended 7 schools before she was 10. She loves the rich and nuanced world she was exposed to traveling and living around the globe. She is now a disabled Army Veteran who loves to write stories and release them for the world to escape into. She is a married mother of 4 and lives in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
I really did enjoy this story, it wasn’t until I started it that I realized it was a prequel to another series Casten had started! The story was great and honestly did awesome as a stand alone book, and I really loved the flow of it! I couldn’t put it down. It follows the story of Candace and jasper, the development of their relationship and The trials they conquered that brings you a better understanding their world and what might come for their future daughter in “A Amulet of Stars and Fire” the only reason it took me two days to finish is because work so rudely interrupted me. Candace and jasper’s relationship sparked rather quickly but it didn't FEEL rushed and was very natural with all the emotions Candace had to sort through in the beginning. I loved it and will definitely be continuing to find out more about Lorali!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
3 ½ stars This book is part of The Eilvara Chronicles and the main characters are Cadence Foster and Jasper Galloway. Jasper is the son of the Heir, the head of their Order, the Guardians. Whilst Cadence is a strong empath living in the 1990’s with her parents, Harmony and Arlo, both strong friends and supporters of his mother Analyse, the Heir. His sister Vivi (Vivienne) has turned her back on her powers, much to her parents and brother’s dismay and is about to marry a human with no powers or magic and who knows nothing of her life, who Jasper has a bad feeling about as well. Jasper and his family are immortal and the closest thing to Angels on Earth. Jasper hasn’t yet found a woman he wants to settle down with, but has a few he visits and spends time with as he needs or wants to. He and his family members are also Travellers, able to travel from one place or another and even to different realms, either through light or shadow. They are descendant from Merlin and Morgainne. They are part of the Order of Guardians, meant to protect magickal portals all across Earth, through both Time and Space. The war split many factions apart and many of the Guardians saw horrendous things, which have scarred them deeply. The damaging and out of control behaviour of one such powerful being, Eva (Evangeline), saw her brought in front of the Council, but they allowed her to go free. She has continued in her out of control mania, trying to destroy place s and killing people all over the different realms. What her end point is, nobody knows, but now she needs to be stopped. She was once a member of the Council and also a confidant and good friend of Analyse, making it difficult for Jasper’s mum to do the right thing. Cadence tried to get the Council to listen to her about all these Guardians and others needing some sort of treatment or the chance to vent their anger, pain and rage to others, in a chance to heal. She knows form her studies how damaging the war was to many, those who took part, as well as those who were left behind, but the Council refuse to listen and laugh at her suggestion that Guardians might need any help! Eva goes on to attack more places and Jasper finally gets a reliable source with an up to date sighting of her, for him to follow up. This leads him to Cadence and her parent’s home, with Cadence appearing in feisty mood and not happy to have to play host to a privileged man, especially one who takes time to use his gits to travel and have a bit of nooky rather than get onto catching Eva before she kills anyone else! She is very direct with her comments to him, knowing what he has just done and her parents are not best pleased with her! A baby girl is in danger from a father long thought dead and Eva is after them, causing a huge confrontation that ends in tragedy and one mother killing the other’s husband, by accident surely. Her mother decides to die rather than live without her husband and Cadence is left with just her brother Zack in her family. Seeing it all happen right in front of her, makes Cadence become irrational and severely emotional, out of control of what she says or does, needing to have her magic bound by Analyse, especially after making threats to kill Analyse and Jasper. Her common sense and knowledge of the psyche does her little good when faced with such a tragic event, only the presence of a man called Stuart, apparently sent to her by herself, allows her to rest. The tragedy forces emotions to boil up uncontrollably and soon she is faced with the same decision as her mother, to live or to die. When she decides to live, in that split second her body is reduced to ash and a Phoenix emerges. She is the first Phoenix to be seen in hundreds of years if not longer and the only person old enough to be able to help her with this new status and strange powers, is Morgainne, someone even Jasper as her grandson, fears to meet! Cadence’s streak of independence and headstrong behaviour will cause a few eruptions of displeasure from Morgainne and she has lived long enough to be able to punish people on a whim, challenging them in more ways than they can imagine and not being as helpful as one might expect! The Fae woman Jasper had been with for some time, utters words about his and Cadence’s future, and being a powerful seer he has to believe it, even if Cadence initially refuses to. Even the stronghold of the Guardians comes under attack and the very portals they all rely on are suddenly closed and no one knows how it happened not how to reopen them! Those who remain of the Foster and Galloway family’s may need to hide, after even Analyse goes missing on the wrong side of a portal and her powers are not available to put a stop to Eva and whoever else is working with her. The new role and importance of the Phoenix and their offspring, seems to be what any future books may be based on. Somewhat confusing if you haven’t read any of the other books in this world and lots of words to remember the meanings of. I didn’t mind the Gaelic or often Scottish words used as I could follow them quite easily. The only other book on the author’s page is book one of this series, but takes place long after the event sin this book, so make of it what you will. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
J.L. Casten did it again!! I loved An Amulet of Stars and Fire and I absolutely love Phoenix Rising! I don’t normally read prequels, but I’m so happy I read this one. It’s what I needed while I wait for the next book in the series. I love Casten’s writing. She has a way of writing complex stories in a way that is easy to read and understand. She’s my newest instant buy author!
After reading an amulet of stars I was very excited to read the prequel. It gave more background on jasper and cadence which was much needed. I love the story and look forward to reading book 2 in the series.
This is a pretty good prequel to An Amulet of Stars and Fire. It tells the stories of Jasper and Cadence, and what leads to the the upcoming war. There is love, self discovery and magic. I loved Cadence and her development - she was a great character. I found Jasper a little arrogant at the start, which surprised me as I really like him in the other book. I found some aspects of the story frankly unnecessary like all the Fae interaction and found that it detracted from my enjoyment of the story and like for one of the main characters. 4/5 stars.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This is the story you didn’t realize you needed after reading An Amulet of Stars and Fire. This follows the story of Cadence and Jasper. Jasper is the son of what feels like royalty and Cadence is the daughter of guardians in the order that works to protect the portals. Although Jasper is an intriguing character to read, it’s the evolution of Cadence through the book that will have you turning pages and begging for more.
This was a great read. I definitely recommend grabbing it!!