Forged in Fire (The Vessel Trilogy # 1) by Juliette Cross
Paranormal /Urban Fiction
Released: January 27, 2015
Samhain Publishing

Reviewed by Sheena

Favorite Quote:  There on bended knees was Jude.  Fists tightly clenched and so, so bloody.  his head snapped up, black gaze tormented with despair and helpless rage.  Bursting onto his feet, he took in my state of undress as I teetered on the threshold of the door, dazed and terror-striken.  He grabbed me by the shoulders, gaze flickering behind me, and yanked me roughly into his arms.  A gust of cool wiond slammed the massive black door with a resounding boom, but not before I heard the distinct, smug sound of lilting laughter.  

DIZZZAMN!!!  *Flails* Hot demon master with dangerous baggage and an alpha boss streak a mile wide, snarky young heroine, just coming into her own womanhood and brave enough to take on the underworld  all while getting her man- ummmm duh! Sign me up!  Forged in Fire is the start of the new Vessel trilogy and if book 1 is any indication of what is to come, Cross has certainly made a believer out of this paranormal-romancy-urban fictiony reader girl!

Genevieve Drake never needed a man to come to her rescue. Not until the night of her twentieth birthday, when some dude nearly chokes her to death in an alley behind a New Orleans Goth club. And a hot stranger splits the guy in half, rips a monster from inside, and incinerates it into ash.

The hunky rescuer? Jude Delacroix—Dominus Daemonum, Master of Demons, now her guardian, whether she likes it or not. But she’s seriously beginning to like it.

For Jude and his fellow demon hunters tell her she is a Vessel, one who is born to serve the Light, but can be corrupted into a weapon of darkness. And to survive, she must trust a man whose unearthly eyes promise heaven…but whose powers unleash hell.

Shivers! I know!  Right off the bat we meet Genevieve, on her way to party hard for her 20th birthday.  Her good girlfriend Mindy has roped her into another double date with the undesirable Slippery Steve her gnat of a would be suitor who is as annoyingly bothersome as Jude is alluring and fascinating. Ahh Jude Delacroix- great demon name for a formidable demon master.   After saving her life, the two embark on a journey that is as dangerous as it is darkly sensuous.

“Don’t settle, Genevieve. Don’t let strangers grope you on dance floors. Don’t allow college boys to fondle you in doorways. Don’t waver in uncertainty about your own desires….Know what you want. Endeavor to seize it, and keep it when you do.”

Gawd, I can quote from this book all day!  This is absolutely my favorite urban/ paranormal read in a while!  Delicious! Such a fun, scary world.  Demons that turn your stomach, dark Princes who vie for the innocent Genevieve’s soul.  Too damn bad they have to go through Jude to get it!  World building was done expertly and without the boring passages of info dumping that often plague introductory novels.  I am absolutely on the edge waiting for the next installment.  Cross’s writing style is so addictive.  The humor and snark alone are enough to make Forged in Fire a must read.  I swear my face hurts from all the hardcore grinning I did at Genevieve’s impertinence.

The green-eyed monster hissed and spat, though I thought I locked that damn animal up good and tight…

“Who’s Goth Barbie?”

His head tilted slightly to the left.  His eyes narrowed, still glinting with golden stars.

“She’s a friend,” he finally responded.  “Who’s school boy Ken?”

He evaded, a special talent he possessed by the buttload.  Two can play that little game.

“He’s a friend.” 

God, but I loved Gen!  She was not a complete ball buster but she held her own against Jude, remained true to herself. Gen is all hot woman, never the ice queen and when it was time to go boneless at his touch, my girl did not disappoint! Her awakening and paranormal emergence was not the eye ball rolling “insta-adjustment” where the heroine is all “Oh no, demons exist, fantastic” and kicking immortal ass by page 9.  I love that her growth and awakening as a vessel was so authentic and believable.  It is unfortunate that the cover is not fantastic.  I hope the next cover embodies the series in a far more appropriate way because this cover image is so far from Genevieve its laughable.

I could gush about how exciting this book was, how smart the writing is, how the characters are spot on and how the sensuality is so brutal that the sexual tension at times damn near made me blow my top.  Though it ended a little abruptly, it felt complete, no cliff hanger thank goodness, and the story arc is engaging.

Speaking of engaging:

“Dangerous girl, aren’t you Genevieve?  Let me explain to you very clearly what I mean.  Dressing in this fashion with a body like yours gives off a certain signal to men, which I could care less about.  What I do care about is the signal you’re sending me, for it is quite clear this is for me.”

One hand slid to my hip…

And so there’s no misunderstanding whatsoever, you can warn the boy, or not, that if he dares lay a finger or even thinks about putting his lips on this skin,” he rumbled darkly, trailing his index finger along my jaw, down my throat, over the hollow to the V of my shirt, “then he won’t even remember his own fucking name when I’m done with him.  Are you getting my meaning now?”

Oh yes Jude, loud and clear!  To my extreme pleasure, we are only beginning to pop the lid on Jude’s dark past and reason behind his making and I look forward to the consequences to several decisions that Jude and Genevieve made in an effort to confirm an ancient prophecy- ramifications that simply put are going to rock my freaking world!  Hurry! Somebody, anybody! You, you, you, you and you, read this so we can fangirl out and discuss!

Grade: B+

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