🔥 3.5 Stars (rounded up) for J.R. Ward's Consumed! 🔥

I have been a J.R. Ward fan for years. Over time I have faithfully devoured each book in her Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Consumed is the first book in her new series so of course I had to read it! I was happy to find that it mostly stays true to the writing style Ward's fans have come to love & expect with an added bonus that I loved - a mystery twist.

The book opens strong taking us right into a two-alarm fire that has life-altering consequences for two of our main characters - Anne and Danny. As to be expected from Ward we have strong-willed, emotional and relatably flawed lead characters. The book takes a turn from the initial opening scene and takes us through Anne and Danny's road to recovery as they deal with the physical and emotional scars left by the devastating decisions they had to make in the fire.

This was very much a "first book" in a series. It introduces us to the cast of characters and offers some backstory while setting the stage for more to come. I found the characters likable. The plot was interesting and I enjoyed the mystery twist with Anne becoming an arson investigator and having to uncover the truth behind a series of fires in the warehouse district.

Overall, I found this to be an enjoyable read. It did feel a bit slow towards the middle but it started and ended off strong for me which brought it all together. I understood it was a book 1 and as such was laying a foundation for the books to come so I gave some allowances for that. The title was very appropriate as the characters dealt with various things that "consumed" their lives - love, lust, work, ambition, desire, alcohol, etc. I am definitely looking forward to seeing what happens next with this cast of firefighters.

Thank you to J.R. Ward, Gallery Books and NetGalley for the advance copy.