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Skies of Fire: The Ether Chronicles (The Ether Chronicles series Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Zoe Archer (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 60 ratings
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Captain Christopher Redmond has just one weakness: the alluring spy who loved and left him years before . . . when he was still just a man. Now he's superhuman—a Man O' War, made as part of the British Navy's weapons program—and his responsibility is to protect the skies of Europe. If only he could forget Louisa Shaw.

Louisa, a British Naval Intelligence agent, has never left a job undone. But when her assignment is compromised, the one man who can help her complete her mission is also the only man ever to tempt her body and heart. As burning skies loom and passion ignites, Louisa and Christopher must slip behind enemy lines if they are to deliver a devastating strike against their foe . . . and still get out alive.

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  1. Book 1 of 5
    The Ether Chronicles series
  2. Print length
    196 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publisher
    Avon Impulse
  6. Publication date
    April 3, 2012
  7. File size
    2929 KB
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
    Enabled
  10. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  11. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Zoë Archer is a RITA® Award-nominated romance author who writes novels chock-full of adventure, sexy men, and women who make no apologies for kicking ass. Her books include the Hellraisers paranormal historical series and the acclaimed Blades of the Rose paranormal historical adventure series. She enjoys baking, Tweeting about boots, and listening to music from the '80s. Zoë and her husband, fellow romance author Nico Rosso, live in Los Angeles.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B007BCF49C
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Avon Impulse (April 3, 2012)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 3, 2012
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2929 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 196 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 60 ratings

About the author

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Zoe Archer

Zoe Archer

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Zoe Archer is a RITA-award nominated romance author. She has written the acclaimed Blades of the Rose series, as well as the Hellraisers, Nemesis Unlimited, and many other romance series featuring smart, capable heroines and the heroes who love them. She also writes Regency-set romance as Eva Leigh. Please visit her on the Web at http://www.zoearcherbooks.com/

Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
3.9 out of 5
60 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

JLL
4.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, sexy, exciting steampunk romance
Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2013
Verified Purchase
I enjoyed this book WAY more than I expected. I struggled with whether to give it 4 of 5 stars--really this one came in at like a 4.5 for me but I'm stingy with the 5 stars so I decided to go with a 4.

Christopher was a fantastic hero. He's brooding and strong and bossy but still capable of heart-melting tenderness and not afraid to cede control to Louisa when warranted. His mechanical augments have done incredible things for him, and it was really fun to learn about all the changes that happened to his body (since Louisa knew him before and after we could see things from her perspective). The world building was great--enough detail to help you buy in but not so much detail that it got tedious.

I myself was half in love with Louisa! She's strong and ultra capable. There are no weak damsel moments in this book! She may not be able to keep up with Christopher's post-transformation physical strength, but she can more than match him in intellect. I love that she was an equal partner in the plot and in fact drove many of the sections. I also love that she wasn't afraid to admit that she was completely, disgracefully wrong to leave Christopher years ago, and she fully understands that she has to earn forgiveness over time. There was one sex scene that was so awesome--I don't want to ruin it, but let's just say I've never seen a more empowering, positive portrayal of pleasuring a man anywhere before.

The side characters in this book are pretty much incidental--the focus is on the lovers (and also on the plot), and it's what allows for their emotional connection to progress so deeply. It always helps when you know characters have a history because some of the early courtship can be dispensed with, but here you really get the sense that the characters move beyond their previous (somewhat shallow?) understandings of one another to a new level of knowledge. You can tell that Christopher and Louisa are not only more aware of the other but of themselves as well.

If I had one quibble, it would be that the plot felt a little anticlimactic toward the end. When they finally get to the end mission, they really face no obstacles--everything goes EXACTLY according to plan. I was left wondering if this mission really was as hard as they said it would be. It just seemed a little too easy given how hard they had worked to get there.

Exciting and suspenseful action along with meaningful and tender romance make this a really fun read.
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Cathy
5.0 out of 5 stars Great new entry into steampunk romance genre
Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2012
Verified Purchase
This story centers around Christopher Redmond, a Man O'War in an alternate Victorian-era, steam punk Europe. In this world, scientists have discovered how to turn a few rare men into Navy Men O'Wars. The Men O'Wars have extraordinary physical abilities and act as symbiotic power-plants for the arial ships they captain. There's a lot of hand-wavy science going on but you have to expect that with steam punk, and I didn't mind it since it was internally consistent.

Anyway, when the story starts, Captain Redmond's busy with an arial naval battle in which he and a few other British vessels are fighting against a greater number of vessels manned by the Huns of Hapsburg. So the action is off to a rollicking start. He's a paragon of captain-ly-ness, and the only thing that he has trouble with is keeping the thoughts of Louisa Shaw off his mind. She's a covert operative that he had an intense relationship with, but she left him three years ago, and he's never recovered. Of course, they soon meet up in dangerous conditions, deep in enemy territory, and they're thrown together in an adventure together to save themselves and Britain.

So, on the romance side, it's a former-lovers-coming-together tale with some real emotional poignancy as well as explicitly (and well) described sex scenes. On the adventuring side, the author does a great job of keeping the action rolling and the stakes high within a fairly simple achieve-the-mission-and-get-back-home plot.

The story's real heart is the romance, so the author focuses tightly on the two main characters. I liked them both. Christopher is sexy, honorable, tortured, protective, loving, and brooding. Yum. But for me, Louisa stole the show. She's brilliant and driven and flawed and courageous. Steam punk in general is a field where a lot of authors do a good job of having strong female characters, but I think the author did an especially good job here of building a world where you can find just as many strong and exceptional women as men, even though the setting isn't one which assumes political gender equality.

Overall, the series reminded me of Meljean Brook's  The Iron Duke  (which I LOVE!), but with enough differences in world-building, characterization, and plot to make it feel like its own story. There's supposed to be a sequel to Skies of Fire coming in July 2012, set in the American west - I'm definitely going to read it when it comes out.

If you like a good romances with a side dose of fantastical high-adventure, then you should like this story. Definitely recommended
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Cecilia Rodriguez
3.0 out of 5 stars Steampunk romance
Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2024
Verified Purchase
Captain Christopher Redmond commands an airship. He is also a Man O war: a cyborg.
Louisa is a member of British Naval Intelligence as a spy.
When Christopher’s airship crosses into enemy territory, he rescues Louisa.
Given that this was published in 2012, there seems to be some inspiration from Marvel’s: Captain America and Agent Carter.
My book’s pages had obvious signs of foxing(discolored pages).
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B. Singleton
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable, Quick Read
Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2019
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I wasn't sure if I was going to like this book, but it turned out to be a very enjoyable read. It was also a very quick read. I finished it in a few hours and I'm not a very fast reader. Because of its length, or lack thereof, the writer had to pack a lot of information in and not give you too much time to dwell on it. The plot details were very straight forward, and even predictable, but the characters were fun and enjoyable to read about. If you like a book that is fast paced with no twists and turns or shocking revelations, than this book is for you.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Bou Marie-anne
5.0 out of 5 stars L'aventure a un nom :Zoé Archer
Reviewed in France on December 7, 2013
Verified Purchase
Ce court roman est un très bon moment de détente . L'histoire elle-même se déroule dans un 19°siècle de fantasy, ou les meilleurs militaires ont leurs capacités augmentées artificiellement et ou les bateaux volent dans les cieux.
Le couple principal est bien décrit, leurs relations sonnent justes.
J'ai vraiment beaucoup apprécié ce roman d'aventure.
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