Review: Kiss of Fire (Imdalind #1) by Rebecca Ethington

Author: Rebecca Ethington

Series: Imdalind #1

Pages: 354

Release date: 30^th October 2012

Publisher: Self

Goodreads

Synopsis: Joclyn Despain has been marred by a brand on her skin. She doesn't know why the mark appeared on her neck, but she doesn't want anyone to see it, including her best friend Ryland, who knows everything else about her. The scar is the reason she hides herself behind baggy clothes, and won't let the idea of kissing Ryland enter her mind, no matter how much she wants to.
The scar is the reason she is being hunted.

If only she knew that she was.

If only she had known that the cursed stone her estranged father sent for her 16th birthday would trigger a change in her. Now, she is being stalked by a tall blonde man, and is miraculously throwing her high school bully ten feet in the air.

Joclyn attempts to find some answers and the courage to follow her heart. When Ryland finds her scar; only he knows what it means, and who will kill her because of it.

Review: 3 ½ out of 5 stars

I was intrigued by Kiss of Fire, being in the mood for some magical YA; I stumbled across this book whilst browsing Amazon. This is the first book in the Imdalind series which at this stage will have six books in total.

Joclyn Despain is a bit of a loner, hiding behind baggy clothes, she has a hoodie obsession; this is because of a mark she has on her neck which she received as a toddler after being bitten and falling ill with an unknown illness. No-one knows of her mark including her long time childhood best friend and she wants to keep it that way.

Joclyn was a likeable character, she wasn’t without her faults but she was level headed, had a wonderful relationship with her mum and was realistically flawed. Her best friend is Ryland LaRue, the son of very wealthy Edmund LaRue who Joclyn’s mum cooks for; his family was extremely strange and I had no idea why, at first I thought it was because of the class difference but we soon find out there is a lot more to it.

On a movie night with Ryland, Joclyn’s life forever changes, she is thrust into a magical world that she has always been clueless about and pushes her further away from Ryland, the one person she thought would be her constant.

Ryland was a great love interest but very protective, probably a little too much as well as too showy with his wealth which did annoy me. But otherwise I adored the friendship he has with Joclyn. We are introduced to a few side characters, I adored Joclyn’s mum, Wyn was great and Edmund was evil creepy! I’m curious to learn more about this guy and his purpose.

The plot was slow moving until the half way mark; it was all about the friendship between Joclyn and Ryland which I thought would definitely lead to more but what was revealed was a huge shock! A welcomed shock because it moved the whole storyline in a whole new direction where Joclyn’s every move was now monitored at every moment because of what she was but the way it all came about was very surprising and creative.

Watching over Joclyn whilst she was on the run (I won’t reveal spoilers to avoid who/what she is running from) is Ilyan, I originally thought this guy was a little stalker creepy but he became Joclyn’s saviour; I can definitely see this series turning out to have a love triangle which is a shame because I loved the build-up at the beginning of the book between Ryland and Joclyn so it will be disappointing to have us fall for Ryland only to have him quickly replaced by another.

I enjoyed Rebecca Ethington’s writing style, although there were parts that I felt were repetitive and dragged out, there were also obvious editing issues, typos etc. but nothing I couldn’t overlook.

Kiss of Fire was a nice start to the Imdalind series, I am definitely keen to learn more about the Imdalind and their purpose and also to see what will come of Joclyn and Ryland.

About the author: Rebecca Ethington has been telling stories since she was small. First, with writing crude scripts, and then on stage with years of theatrical performances. The Imdalind Series is her first stint into the world of literary writing. Rebecca is a mother to two, and wife to her best friend of 14 years. She was born and raised in the mountains of Salt Lake City, and hasn’t found the desire to leave yet. Her days are spent writing, running, and enjoying life with her amazing family.

** All images used are from Goodreads,