I fell in love with the shifter lore in Ashes to Earth. Pulling from many different cultures, Sarah Ashwood was able to show the mythical creatures from around the world in one place. Many of the main shifter characters seem to be based on Greek myths, so fans of Greek mythology may really enjoy this fresh take on the classic mythological characters.

Ellie, the human, is wonderful. She’s very well-balanced and when the fluff hits the fan, she freaks out – as any good human girl would do when a minotaur shows up in front of them. But she also reacts quickly. She isn’t a damsel in distress by any means, but she does realize her own limitation when it comes to standing up against these shifters. It was quite refreshing to have such a down-to-earth character be the heroine of an urban fantasy story.

I’m still trying to figure out Carter. he’s hard and stubborn, but I saw glimpses of something much more, but I’m not sure what that “more” is yet. He has a very dry and sarcastic sense of humor, which I loved, but not everyone in the story did. I feel like he may have been a little flat with a lot of her deeper self being described from his past instead of showing up in his actions in the present.

Carter’s job throughout the book is the protect Ellie from the other team’s shifters. And both sides get pretty creative in their attacks and defenses, which just freaks Ellie out even more. The reason for the war between the two sides comes out slowly, and we discover more about it as Ellie finds herself slipping further and further into the shifter world.

I will definitely want to pick up the second book in the Stones of Fire series. The story ends with a bit of a cliffhanger, but even without that, I know there’s more to tell and I really want to find out who is going to win in the end.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**