I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: the library
Firewalker
by
Allyson James
It is part of the Stormwalker #2 series and is a urban fantasy in a paperback edition that was published by Berkley Sensation on November 2, 2010 and has 329 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books in this series include [books_series]
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Hexed, Shadow Walker, Dragon Bites, Nightwalker, Hot for the Holidays, Stormwalker
Second in the Stormwalker urban fantasy series about a woman with the power to manipulate storm energies.
My Take
It was a great story but there was something a little off in the writing. Janet bugged me too. She kept whining that she couldn’t control her mother’s power showing up every time Coyote threatened her and she simply sounded like a little kid wanting to get into that cookie jar just before dinner. Coyote’s example toward the end did finally get through to her…otherwise, I think I might have reached in and slapped the girl!
I did enjoy Nash’s rescue of our kidnapee! So nice to see that the rich don’t always get their way! Then there was Janet’s little speech to the dragon council during Mick’s trial…you go, girl!! Even if I hadn’t enjoyed the story, Janet’s diatribe would have been enough to rocket it up!
Oh, yeah, they do find Nash’s brand new, black F250 pickup in the end…
The Story
The Changer who raced into her hotel and jabbed her for blood was the first indication Janet had that Mick was in trouble. B-a-d trouble if it can put down a dragon.
Now Janet is compelled to search out Mick and rescue him. Fortunately, she’s been learning and she doesn’t intend to go without backup. Nash Jones. He would be perfect. Rescuing Mick however simply reveals even greater dangers. Her mother’s powers are swooping in.
And some guy’s been resurrected using her power. But it wasn’t her. Now he’s wreaking havoc all over town and beyond. Coyote is threatening to kill her for using her Beneath powers. The dragon council wants her dead and intends to sentence Mick at his trial. Preferably to death.
The Characters
Janet Begay is technically human since she is mortal however from her father she has inherited stormwalker power while her goddess-possessed human mother was the conduit for the powers of Beneath. She bought herself the Crossroads Hotel in Magellan, New Mexico and she and Mick are settling in nicely…lots of possibilities for non-vanilla sex.
Mick is a dragon in one form and a six-foot-six-inch tattooed biker in his other. The dragon council had ordered him to kill Janet before she became too powerful, too much of a force for them to cope with but he chose to let her live as he fell in love with her.
Series regulars include Cassandra Bryson, a Wiccan and Janet’s hotel manager. Cassandra left her old life seeking refuge here in Magellan. Maya Medina is Janet’s friend and an excellent electrician. She’s also hopelessly in love with a Nash who denies what he feels about her. Nash Jones is the sheriff here in Hopi County. He’s also a null around magic which can be mighty handy. Unfortunately…or is that fortunately??…he can’t stand Janet. At least ya always know where ya stand with Nash. Assistant Chief Salas and Lopez work with Nash. Jamison Kee is a mountain lion Changer and shaman. He taught Janet how to control her magic when she was young and is still one of her best friends. He’s married to Naomi, a gardener (see the short story in Hot for the Holidays: A Little Night Magic). Coyote is a trickster god and for some reason he likes the Kees, especially Naomi‘s daughter Julie; he’s also very interested in Janet—her magic and her bed.
Pamela Grant is a Changer with a mission. Mick has charged her with finding Janet and passing a message on to her. But she seems to have found something in Magellan that has her thinking about staying.
Drake is a dragon, a flunky to one of the dragon councilman. The one killed by Jim. Bancroft. Colby is a dragon not-friend of Mick’s who’s offering to be his defense at his trial. Hoo boy! The other two members of the dragon council are Aine and Farrell. These two pay the concept of dragon honor lip service mostly.
Jim Mohan is a guest of Janet’s hotel who gets himself into a whole lotta trouble. The naughty boy! That’ll teach ‘im. Ben Kavena is the human side of the Koshare, a clown kachina god. His heart was in the right place but, still, he was a very bad boy. Gabrielle is a bad girl too and I suspect this isn’t the last we’ll see of her.
Friends? Gods? I’m not sure but I do know they are allied with Janet’s grandmother: Beth, her dad, and her two brothers keep showing up just in time.
The Cover and Title
The cover has a metallic sheen and a very vivid and sharply detailed image of Janet braced, holding balls of light in her upturned palms arcing over her head forming a circle of yellow flame even as flames erupt behind her silhouetting her figure. A very sexy woman, Janet is wearing faded gray hip-hugger jeans with a Navajo silver and turquoise concho belt and a wide-banded black leather halter top with a wide-collared, beaded necklace.
The title is all about the dragons, the Firewalkers.
