Blog Tour & Review: Mortal Fire

Title: Mortal Fire
Author: C.F. Dunn
Series: The Secret of the Journal #1

Summary: Twenty-nine-year-old, independent, and self-assured Cambridge history professor Emma D’Eresby has one obsession in life: the curious journal of a seventeenth-century Englishman, a portion of which was left to her by her late grandfather.

When an unexpected opportunity to study the journal in its entirety presents itself, Emma finds herself leaving Cambridge to take up a year-long position at a prestigious university in Maine. Anticipating a quiet year of research, Emma quickly discovers her work impeded by a range of unforeseen complications. From the start, there is the well-intentioned matchmaking of her vivacious Russian colleague, Elena Smalova, and the unexpected jailing of one of her post-graduate students. More troublesome, however, are the unsolved, brutal night attacks on women near the university and Emma’s suspicion that they might be linked to the sinister English professor, Kort Staahl. But, most diverting and disconcerting of all, is Emma’s growing attraction to the strikingly handsome Dr. Matthew Lyons, whose kind but deliberately distant demeanor puzzles her.

Excerpt: Read the first two chapters HERE.

My Thoughts: Mortal Fire by C.F. Dunn is a book that I really, really wanted to love. I thought it sounded so, so good. And, while it’s well-written and actually a mostly enjoyable read, I felt the book left much to be desired. When finished, it was like I was strung along. There are lots of mysteries/questions that were raised, and few answers were given. In fact, almost NO answers were given. There are a lot of big questions, inferences to something shocking, but very little actually is revealed. I honestly still don’t quite know what the point of the story is. Add to that, the ending is extremely dissatisfying as a result of there being too much left unsaid. Yes, in a series it is important to leave some things to be discovered as you go through the sequel(s), but you can’t give the readers nothing – or even next to nothing! I don’t like feeling strung along by a book,and that’s exactly what happened here.

Oddly, though, I find myself intrigued enough to want to continue the series. But, if it continues to give me questions without answers, I’m done. What do I want to know?

• What (oh, yes, what) is Staahl?
• What’s Matthew’s deal?
• Why is Emma such a hot commodity (for lack of a better way to put it)?
• What’s Sam’s deal?
• What’s up with the journal? We’re teased with it, but never shown why it matters.

I had better get some answers, or I’ll have to write this series off for good!

Source: Received for review as part of a blog tour promotion hosted by Kregel Publications.

Read It: Get your own copy HERE. (This is a Book Depository link, and purchase through this link will result in my receiving a small commission at no cost to you. Your support is appreciated!)

About the Author: C. F. Dunn runs a school in North Kent for children with developmental disabilities, dyslexia, autism, and other difficulties.

Tour Info: For more information about this blog tour, including links to other reviews, visit the page HERE.

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FTC Disclosure: All items reviewed were either obtained by me for my own enjoyment or sent (from the author, publisher, publicist, via tour sites, etc.) in exchange for an honest review. I receive no monetary compensation for my posts. All opinions expressed are my own. Any exceptions to this are clearly noted in the appropriate posts.

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