Book Review for Dead Embers (Valkyrie #2) by T.G. Ayer

Dead Embers

  (Valkyrie #2)

by T.G. Ayer

    4 stars

Reviewed by: Tonya
Format:Kindle/Paperback

Published:T.G. Ayer Books
Source:author copy Genre:  Paranormal

About Book

Valkyrie-in-training Bryn Halbrook just can’t catch a break. With her boyfriend stuck in Hel and the taunting laughter of Loki still ringing in her ears, she struggles to concentrate on her training and duties in Odin’s realm. The last thing she expects or wants is more adventure—but then treachery, a shocking abduction and a chilling discovery send her forth on another perilous, globe-hopping mission.
As the ultimate battle, Ragnarok, draws closer, it’s a race against time for Bryn, Fenrir and their team to discover who kidnapped her foster brother from the halls of Asgard and what’s causing the mysterious deaths of so many of Odin’s chosen warriors.
In the exciting sequel to DEAD RADIANCE, Bryn encounters dwarfs and dragons, new friends and old foes—but the worst enemy of all may be the person she trusts most!

My Thoughts

Like the first book I loved this one just as much, loved it even more as it literally picked up right where Dead Radiance left off. I love that there was no lapse in time. No scratching your head wondering hummm how did they get there, it seamlessly moved from one book right into the next.
Bryn is as feisty as ever I really love that about her. And right from the start the action begins and Aidan is ripped from her arms even after successfully retrieving the desired jewel the goddess Freya wanted.

Bright red blood, Aidan’s blood, dripped from my quivering hands, warm and sticky like honey. Yet there was nothing sweet or pleasant about having the warm ruby liquid seep into the whorls of my fingers and stain my hands and my clothing.
I blinked.
The sounds of the Great Hall simmered around me, fading into the shadows of my despair. Only the rabid cackle of Loki’s laughter filtered through my sorrow. The rattle of his chains echoed in my ears as Fenrir dragged him away.

My heart breaks for Bryn she had finally forgiven Aidan and had risked her life and his to save his life from the curse that Freya had put on him all for her precious gem. Only to have his life possibly taken anyway and sent to Hell to hopefully save him but never knowing if she would ever see him again.
But she wasn’t allowed to wallow in that sorrow to long – nope Fenrir had other plans for her and the warriors needed her, something was going on and she needed to be ready, but to be completely ready she had to learn to fly. Okay I have to admit I am like way jealous because there are days I am sitting in traffic to or from work and if I had wings like Bryn had wings I would be flying every day. No worries about gas prices, traffic, flat tires, overheated engines. Me and the great blue sky….

“This is your training ground.”
Fen’s voice echoed around us, reverberating on my eardrums as I breathed the icy air deep into my lungs. The valley floor lay far, far below, almost as far down as Odin’s castle on the other side of the mountain. At least the trip down would be easier than our muscle-burning hike up.
I hoped.
Fen folded his arms and faced me, his face as shadowed and unrelenting as the rock-faces hemming the valley in. “Are you ready, Valkyrie Brynhildr?”
I nodded, clenching my jaw and lifting my chin a fraction. He’d used my full given name, a name that reminded me of my one claim to fame – being a close of the real Warrior Princess Brunhilde, who’d lived and died centuries before I’d even been a figment of my father’s crazed imagination.
“You do have to remove your cloak, you know,” Fen tempered his dry tone with a sudden cheeky grin, for a brief moment transforming his forbidding, hooded features into a genial, approachable face.
I threw him a reluctant, tight smile, undid the ornate clasp at my neck and dropped the dark, silky cloak over the nearest boulder.
“Very good. Now face the edge of the cliff. And jump.” He spoke the words so matter-of-factually he might as well have invited me for a cappuccino.
“You’re kidding right?” I asked in horror, half believing he meant his words, half unable to think straight. The sober glance he threw me squashed my urge to burst into laughter.
I risked a peek over the edge.
No way in hell is he serious. No frigging’ way.

Does she learn to fly – get the book and find out I won’t tell you (No spoilers here) but I will say that is one seriously intense scene right there how it unfolds, what transpires between Bryn and Fen really threw curve balls at me and then the surprising twist. My emotions just in this one section went from HOLY FRIGGING CRAP to OH NO HE DIDN’T to BWAHAHAHAHAHA all within a few pages.
And Hugin yes he is still in this book and still his ever cryptic self – oh I love this bird and how he gets Bryn all riled up every time he is sent somewhere with him. The conversations she has with him and the thoughts she has about him kept me rolling. I swear every time I thought she couldn’t top herself she threw another zinger out there. Where else can you get laughter from a Valkyrie and a Raven then right here in the pages of Dead Embers.

My feet trod a path of shattered stones that covered raw, black soil; the stones clattered underfoot like a chorus of chattering teeth. Ominous sounds that sent strange chills down my back. Dark trees loomed over me, limbs creaking eerily in the still air. Every tree stood stripped of its leaves, blackened, bark-bare and as bleak as the low sky above us. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled, and I was sure the trees reached out to grab hold of me. I blinked, then laughed at myself. Scaredy-cat. Shivering harder, I struggled to process this strange, bone-penetrating cold. Not a breeze stirred the icy air; no wind drifted past to shift the cold around.
I glared at Hugin.
Thanks for not telling me to bring warmer clothing. Blackbird.
What more could I expect from a birdbrain? The bundle of feathers probably had no idea how debilitating the cold was to me. And knowing him, he’d just say he didn’t tell me because I hadn’t asked. I huffed in silence.

This book delivered everything the first book did and more. The non-stop action, the nail biting moments, the grab your stomach and laugh at what comes out of Bryn’s mouth or just her thoughts and of course the turmoil of her heart for Aidan and her friend Joshua. I have to say the story the author wove in Dead Embers was truly amazing and I couldn’t put the book down. I read the entire book in one day.
Now to sit and wait, luckily not too long, for Dead Chaos which comes out in June and to see what happens next with Bryn, Aidan, Joshua, Fen and the rest. 

 
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