Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Review: Tara Sivec's Branded (Ignite Trilogy)





Ignite Trilogy, Volume 2: DJ & Phina I wear my scars like a scarlet letter, reminding myself that I’m not worth the trouble.
I’ve spent seventeen years pushing men away, never allowing myself to believe in the fairytale…then, he walked back in.
Just like before, we explode when we’re together. I hate him for what he did to me, but I can’t stay away.
Eighteen days filled with passion and promises.
Nineteen letters filled with threats and foreboding.
It only takes twenty minutes for the numbers to all add up.
One thousand, two hundred seconds until everything changes and there’s no going back.
This is my story, and it’s going to leave a scar.


4 Hot as Hell Stars!

Review by Lisa Kane 


Branded is the second book in Tara Sivec's  Ignite trilogy. Phina is the best friend of Finnley and DJ is Collin's best friend. Their story was told in Burned and it was a great one! All four of them knew each other in high school, but have only recently reconnected. DJ and Phina had crushes on each other in high school, but one drunken night ruined everything between them. 

It's 15 years later and DJ spots Phina in a bar. She's had way too much to drink and the two of them play a fantasy challenge game. She admits she would love to have a threesome but only if one of the guys holds her and watches while the other goes down on her. DJ takes the challenge to heart, and tells her he can make that fantasy come true. While he doesn't want another man with her, if that is the only way he can have her, he'll take it. But then the tragedy between Finnley and her ex husband occurred and DJ had to deal with that fall out. But after the dust settled, he made sure to follow through with her fantasy and arranged to have a friend of his, Dax, here. He and Dax have had a couple of threesomes before. He is discreet and a true manwhore. He's a rising detective and doesn't lack for women sharing one night with him.

Phina had lots of conditions for their one night. No full nudity for her. No sex with the guy observing. No actual intercourse. But as fantastic as the night was, Phina wants nothing to do with either one of them again. Of course she is lying to herself. She wants DJ , she just won't let herself pursue her wants.  This was a revenge of hers, for what happened between them in high school. DJ was so drunk that night, he doesn't even remember what happened.

But the two can't seem to stay away from each other. Cue the suspenseful music! It seems someone else knows about their night together. Both start to receive weird notes and messages. Phina is called a whore in all of them. She has a violent history. Her mother left her and her father when she was little. Her father was a mean, abusive man who enjoyed using her as a human ash tray. Her body is scarred from his cigarette burns. He went to jail after she testified about something she saw him do, but he is close to being released from prison. Phina has mental scarring from his abuse. As she got older she wanted to be the one in control, so she resorts to some really destructive behavior when things become too much for her. But no one knows this but her therapist. But she hasn't engaged in this activity in a while, looking at Finnley and her scarring from her burns makes her feel guilty for the way she deals with her pain. 

Things are steamy and close to igniting between Phina and DJ. But there is real danger surrounding them. The three of them, DJ, Phina and Dax try to figure out who is behind all of this. But then a real catastrophe strikes. Who will make it out alive?

This second installment also has a hero who is a firefighter. The interaction withFinnley and Collin from Burned keeps the continuity flowing in this story. While Finnley's ex provided most of the dangerous angst in the first book, in this story, the reader has to guess who is behind everything. That mystery aside, this is primarily a story about a broken girl and the guy who just wants a second chance. The third one, Scorched, will be Dax's story.

She branded her name on my heart and I know I'll never be the same.




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