Slow Burn

dramatic and passionate

SLOW BURN is the second instlament in Cynthia Eden’s contemporary, adult PHOENIX FURY erotic, paranormal romance series. This is vampire Ryder Duncan, and phoenix Sabine Acadia’s story line. SLOW BURN can be read as a stand alone but for back story and cohesion, I recommend reading the series in order.

NOTE: SLOW BURN is the re-release of the author’s 2014 ONE BITTEN, TWICE BURNED. Some of the event of SLOW BURN cross over with, and run parallel to book one HOT ENOUGH TO BURN.

SOME BACKGROUND: Approximately ten years earlier the existence of the paranormal, the supernatural was revealed to the world. A group calling themselves Genesis is capturing, torturing and performing unsanctioned experiments on the supernatural in an effort to create the perfect soldier. These are their stories.

Told from third person perspective SLOW BURN follows ancient vampire Ryder Duncan and phoenix Sabine Acadia’s escape from the group known as Genesis. Ryder Duncan is an ancient vampire, believed to be the first vampire, and as such his powers are beyond that of which anyone knows but Ryder’s blood has been used by Genesis in an effort to create the perfect soldier but the power within the blood is more than anyone can handle. Enter phoenix Sabine Acadia, a young woman who knows nothing about her powers or the existence of the supernatural but a woman who is about to find herself front and centre in the unsanctioned experiments at the Genesis complex, experiments that match Sabine and Ryder together in an effort to merge their powers. Upon their escape, Sabine is desperate to return home to her family but her returns brings chaos and death to the people she loves. What ensues is the building relationship between Sabine and Ryder, and the potential fall-out as betrayal and vengeance target our story line couple.

Sabine Acadia is an innocent, naïve to the world of the supernatural but Sabine’s past is mired in secrets and lies, and our heroine is about to discover how truly deep goes the betrayal. Ryder Duncan is the king of all vampires, and as such, he is impervious to most of the ‘usual’ things used to kill a vampire including fire and our story line heroine but one taste of Sabine’s blood, and Ryder is unable to stay away, blood that calls to our hero’s heart.

The relationship between Sabine and Ryder begins as an experiment that goes horribly wrong for our story line couple. Ryder is starved of blood for months at a time, and Sabine is ripe for our hero’s lust. Sabine believes that Ryder only wants her for her blood but her memories reveal a bite that is both deadly and arousing. The $ex scenes are intimate and erotic without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including Cain Connor and Eve Bradley (Hot Enough to Burn #1), scientists Richard Wyatt and Cassandra Armstrong, phoenix Dante, vampires Julia and Grayson; Sabine’s father and her brother Rhett; Rhett’s cousin Vaughn and his father Keith Adams; and Ryder’s brother Malcolm.

SLOW BURN is another story of betrayal and vengeance, power and control, desperation and manipulation, torture and abuse, acceptance and love. The fast paced premise is dramatic and passionate; the romance is seductive and fated; the characters are energetic and strong.