A century ago, the Traitor God's fury left the world broken by violent storms and twisted monsters born of darkness and death. Now those storms are sweeping across the continent again and it will take everything the armies of man can muster to survive. As a sworn knight, Olvir is prepared to do his part—even if that means journeying deep into the magic-tainted Battlefield to face the enemy alone.

Sentinel Vivian Bathari has lost too much to allow her closest friend to make such a sacrifice on his own. Besides, there are whispers that Olvir's strange new powers are somehow connected to the Traitor God, and she'd rather be by his side should the worst occur. But as they travel deep into the heart of danger, their growing attraction burns into mutual desire, and the true depth of Olvir's connection to the evil haunting their world is made clear. In the end, Vivian will have to decide what she's willing to sacrifice to save their world...and the man she loves.

Isabel Cooper’s Blood and Ember offers a detailed, distinct fantasy world. The world’s mythology and the backstory for this book are intricate, interesting, and obviously well thought through, with logical distinctions among magic users. Some are Knights. Others are Sentinels, and some are Mourners. Each set has ties to a different god and possesses different magical gifts.

The characters are brave, determined to succeed against terrible odds, and loyal to each other. They’re easy to root for. The hero, a Knight named Olvir, carries within him a shard of the betrayer’s soul, which has been manifesting in disturbing dreams for a couple of months. No one knows what this means. Is he gaining new powers that will help them against the betrayer’s heir? Or will he become another foe his comrades must destroy?

A magical spider’s message sends him to the heart of The Battlefield, where one god betrayed and killed another long ago. No one knows why he’s supposed to go or what he’s supposed to do there, but with the land crumbling under the weight of the betrayer’s heir’s forces, Olvir and his comrades desperately need something that will help.

With him goes Vivian, a Sentinel, ostensibly to help him along the way. But she has another mission, a secret one. If reaching the Battlefield’s heart allows the soul shard within him to gain ascendancy and turn him evil, she must kill him before he can use any power he gains against their people. The story builds to a suspenseful, action-packed climax that works well.

Unfortunately, the romance didn’t work as well for me. Vivian and Olvir are longtime comrades and friends. They trust each other and soon realize they love each other. We don’t really know why they love each other, though. Why does Vivian love Olvir and not one of the other Knights? Why does he love her and not one of the other Sentinels? We don’t really know.

Blood and Ember is marketed as “a fantasy romance with a touch of heat.” The romance, however, does not drive the plot. The quest to reach the Battlefield does. The romantic moments are done well, even beautifully in the intimate scenes, but the main story could proceed unaltered if Olvir and Vivian remain friends with no interest in being more to each other. The main romantic conflict is the pair’s fear that Vivian may have to kill Olvir at the end of their quest. He quickly figures this out and, as a soldier, understands it. So it isn’t a source of conflict as much as it is a sword of Damocles hanging over their heads.

While the love scenes are detailed and moving, they don’t seem particularly hot to me. Of course, heat may be in the eye of the beholder, so other readers may see this differently. While there’s plenty of emotional tension, mainly spurred by dread of what’s to come, moments of sexual tension are rare.

Marketing descriptions should promise what the book will deliver, and Blood and Ember does not deliver a romance. It’s a superb fantasy with romantic elements. If the book were marketed as such, I would give it five stars. Since it’s marketed as a romance, however, I can’t rate it higher than three stars, so I’m compromising between the elements of the story and giving it four stars.

Readers who want a central romance set against a fantasy adventure backdrop won’t find what they’re looking for here. Those who enjoy fantasy action-adventure with a romance woven into it, however, will enjoy this book immensely. While Blood and Ember is the third book in the series, everything in it is sufficiently clear to make a good entry point.

This is the 3rd book in the Author's Stormbringer series and I would recommend reading the previous books first to set the scene

Vivian a "Gods blessed Sentinel " is on a journey with Olvir a "Priest and Knight " to discover if the piece of the "Evil God " within his body will help or do more harm in the upcoming end of the world War .
Are Olvir's strange new powers connected to the Traitor God ?
It is only by travelling together into the heart of danger that the truth will come out - their growing attraction will call into question Vivian's willingness to sacrifice herself for not just World but also for her new love .

I felt that this book was not quite as good as the first two in the series but was an enjoyable read overall

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

This is the 3rd book in the Stormbringer series by Isabel Cooper. This book tells the tale of the Knight, Olvir and the Sentinel Vivian Bathari. As a sworn knight, Olvir is prepared to do anything, even traveling deep into a magic-tainted battlefield to face off with the enemy. He expects to complete this quest alone, but Sentinel Vivian Bathari is to accompany him and kill him if he cannot complete his quest without becoming corrupted.

As they travel, their attraction grows and they are brought closer together. They have to overcome many obstacles before they finally battle a dark evil to try to save their world. I found this book very exciting. It has a true epic quest feel and flows very well. I would recommend this book to people who enjoyed reading The Elder Races series by Thea Harrison.

I wanted to like this more. Part of it is that it was apparently the third book in a set. I could puzzle out a lot of the world, but despite some impressive world building here, I really needed more context.

Character-wise, I wanted to like them more too. Vivian as a battle ready woman with her sword, shaped by gods, reminded me a lot of Mercedes Lackey's Kerowyn and the Swordsworn. Honestly, at least one star is for that parallel. Olvir was just a really good person which felt unrealistic, despite the whole sworn to truth and duty thing. It felt too simple.

Overall though, if you like fantasy, and a journey similar to the LOTR (but with sex), this fits that bill. But maybe read the other two books first?

*ARC received through Netgalley

I have voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this title given to me via NetGalley. This book was just amazing. I just lost myself in this story and didn’t want it to end. It was really well written and just drew in you into these characters lives. I look forward to seeing what’s next from this author.

I found the prior book engaging and I wanted to finish it where as this was just not my thing. Olivir and Vivian seem to have some chemistry but the whole he could be the devil incarnate and the Lord of the Rings-esque walk bored me. I tried to read it over two weeks and found I just couldn't get into it. At 40% I called it quits.

Blood & Ember is the third book in the Stormbringer fantasy series, and follows the characters Vivian, a gods-blessed Sentinel, and Olvir, a priest and knight, on a journey to discover if the piece of the evil god that resides in Olvir’s body will do harm or help in the upcoming end of the world war. Though this series is marked as a romantic fantasy, the romance is minimal.

This book specifically of the three was extremely boring in a way the others were not. There was so much about the spirituality of the world that is dumped into this with no preamble. The majority of the tale is told on a long journey, and there is honestly very little dialog or relationship development. The author introduced these characters with apparent previous backstory as friends and colleagues, but didn’t really develop it in any way until they act on their mutual attraction. I struggled to get really into the narrative.

I am a big fan of Romance books and I found this one to be a very enjoyable read. I will be looking for more books from this author.

This is the third in the Stormbringer series… I hesitate to say the third in a trilogy, but I think it is, because the story here reaches what seems to be a natural conclusion. While I’m sure Cooper could tell more stories set in this world, I’m not entirely sure how she could top the pretty epic conclusion of this one.

I’ve really enjoyed this epic fantasy romance series. Each book follows a different couple, and you can actually read them standalone because characters and events from the earlier books are only lightly referenced (more on that later). In this one, paladin knight Olvir discovers a terrible secret - he’s the vessel for part of a fallen god’s soul - and he must undertake a perilous journey with Vivian, leader of the Sentinels, to the Heart of the Battlefield, the cursed ground where two gods fought, to try and prevent a coming apocalypse.

I’ve loved Cooper’s worldbuilding through this series, and she does a great job of pulling in a bunch of little clues that were dropped through earlier books and bringing everything full circle to a resolution which feels earned. She doesn’t shy away from putting her characters through hardships, which makes their brief respite in an ancient magical cavern all the sweeter.

Now, back to the one thing that both worked and didn’t here. Keeping the romances each to their own book does mean that each book works as a standalone… but because this is a trilogy, there was a problem here in that Olvir and Vivian’s romance arc didn’t quite land in the same way as the others, where the characters from each couple met each other for the first time during the course of their book. We’re TOLD that Olvir and Vivian have known each other for years, that there’s mutual respect… but I would have bought into it so much more if we had SEEN them working together in both the previous books. And having enjoyed those books so much, I definitely wanted to see the major characters from them get more than a brief namechecking here, even if it was just in a sort of ‘celebratory epilogue’ where we got to see them all come back together and figure out what they’re going to do now the threat of apocalypse has passed.

This has been a great series I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, but looking back on it, we needed Olvir and Vivian to have been present more strongly throughout in order to make the conclusion land properly. The worldbuilding and storytelling is truly excellent, but the romance in this third installment missed the mark for me because the history wasn't quite there. I’ll give it four stars, but I know I’ll read all three of them again and I’ll definitely be looking forward to whatever Isabel Cooper writes next, in this world or another.

Fans of The Witcher and Ilona Andrews will love this epic tale of adventure and romance by award-winning author Isabel Cooper.

A century ago, the Traitor God's fury left the world broken by violent storms and twisted monsters born of darkness and death. Now those storms are sweeping across the continent again and it will take everything the armies of man can muster to survive. As a sworn knight, Olvir is prepared to do his part—even if that means journeying deep into the magic-tainted Battlefield to face the enemy alone.

Sentinel Vivian Bathari has lost too much to allow her closest friend to make such a sacrifice alone. Besides, there are whispers that Olvir's strange new powers are somehow connected to the Traitor God, and she'd rather be by his side should the worst occur. But as they travel deep into the heart of danger, their growing attraction burns into mutual desire, and the true depth of Olvir's connection to the evil haunting their world is made clear. In the end, Vivian will have to decide what she's willing to sacrifice to save their world...and the man she loves.

The world building once again is amazing!

This is the third and final in the trilogy, and while it wasn't my favorite one of the three, I still really enjoyed the characters. The relationship between the characters continue to grow from the other stories too, which means it's really a good idea to read the other two books first before diving into this one. On that note, it was an enjoyable read as always from Ms. Cooper and am looking forward to reading more from her.

What a powerful battle that lead to the defeat of Thyran. It appears that this is the last book in the series. This was a travel story mostly until the end. I have mixed feelings about this particular story as I didn't think there was enough action in the journey to The Battleground. It would have been more interesting for these two hardened warriors to have to work harder to get to their final destination. Olvir does discover a lot more to his power abilities that was interesting. It becomes more introspective instead of action until the end.

Sentinel Vivian Bathari accompanying knight Oliver Yoralth to The Battleground to sort out the odd things that happened in the battle with Thyran in the first book. It's a mostly uneventful journey to The Battleground where these two get to know about each other and Olvir tries to get a handle on the shard they believe is in his body. The Battleground is where the traitor god Gizah kills his sister's lover that sets up this whole series. Overall I found this an interesting fantasy series.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced readers copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Blood and Ember by Isabel Cooper is the 3rd and final book in her Stormbringer series. Refresher: This is an epic fantasy adventure series filled with magic, sword fighting, epic battles, monsters and an evil god. Sentinels, who start training at a young age, protect the world against a traitor god and his minions who threaten to destroy the world.

Olvir, our hero, is a knight, whom we met in the first book. Vivian Bathari, our heroine is a Sentinel, and has worked with Olvir, over the years, just being friends. As the Traitor God continues to create havoc and chaos, all the Sentinels, Knights, and others are losing the battle. During one attack, Olvir finds himself with some unusual abilities to help defeat the monsters, that seemed to look only at him. The leaders suspect that his new found powers have some sort of connection to the evil Traitor God, and decide to send him on a journey to the “Battlefield” were it all began.

Vivian, who is one of the leaders of the Sentinels, decides she and her soulstone sword will join Olvir on his dangerous mission, to help support him. Vivian also knows if along the way, if Olvir is overtaken by the Traitor God, she will have to kill him.

As they travel, both Olvir and Vivian begin to feel the growing attraction to each other, which slowly becomes love for them both. But no matter what, Olvir must retain his own mind and ability, and not succumb to the Traitor God’s powers; or Vivian will have to do what she dreads. The journey was very detailed, with Olvir seeing memories from those years ago, trying to find where to stop the constant attacks and horrible weather that would eventually destroy the world.

What follows is a nonstop action filled battles that has you on the edge of your seat, if they will survive, especially against Thyrad, the Traitor God’s second in command. Olivr and Vivian work closely together to use their experience and magical skills, along with Ulamir (soulstone sword) to fight the traitor god’s monsters, storms and evil beings.

This is a difficult review to write, as with so many details and descriptions, it would ruin the book for you. I said this previously that Cooper creates strong and powerful women (warriors/sentinels) in this series, who are equal to the men. I really liked Vivian and Olivr together, as they made a great couple. The last half of the book was tense and exciting, as we raced to the climax.

Blood and Ember is another exciting and well written story by Isabel Cooper, with great couple and secondary characters, excellent fantasy adventure, with was nonstop action. Blood and Ember was a satisfying conclusion to this series, tying up loose ends. Very well done.

This may have been my least favorite in the trilogy. I still liked it, and I liked these two characters (Vivian and Olvir are both interesting, though I think there are missed opportunities to explore more about Olvir's birth and how it all connects back to book 2). This is mostly a hero's journey story - well, a heroes' journey since there are two of them - so there's a lot of traveling and talking and meditation and a little romance, but not much action. The mythology/deities were explored a bit more here, which I liked, but most of it was just walking and talking and then they were in an area that was kind of magical and I had trouble envisioning the setting because it was constantly shifting. All of that description made me feel like the actual big climax was kind of anti-climactic. Glad I read this series and I like Isabel Cooper's writing style a lot, this particular one just wasn't my favorite.

Blood and Ember is the third book in the Stormbringer series by Isabel Cooper. While it could be read as a stand-alone, I think readers would understand more if they had read the previous installments. The characters are well-written with intriguing world-building that is sure to make this a story readers will easily get lost in.

This is the third book in this series and while it could be read as a stand alone, I think readers would understand more if they had read the previous installments. The world building and evolution of characters would be enhanced by prior history. There is considerable introspection and self-discovery of characters in this adventure. Readers will enjoy reading about how the relationships develop and grow in this epic storyline.

This is a wonderful book. This author has a vivid mind that flows.into eloquent prose. I hated to put this book down and did not want to reach the end.

This book is the conclusion of an arc to the overall storyline of this series - it goes in a direction we knew was coming - but what happens is definitely not something I would classify as in any way predictable. Olvir is a knight and an all around good man. He played a major role in the first book - and after the second book (that he isn't in) you could 100% see where his destiny lay. Actually at the end of the second book - my heart hurt for him even though he wasn't even a character in the book. I just felt where Isabel Cooper was going with the story. Vivian is the leader of the Sentinels - if they even really have one. She and Olvir have worked together for years - but have never taken their relationship farther. When Olvir's future becomes clear to everyone - she goes with him - to see it done one way or another.

Vivian and Olvir's task reminded me very strongly of the final trek for Frodo and Sam to get rid of the ring. The weight of the journey on them is almost palpable. Especially the weight on Olvir - and the book doesn't shy away from that burden.

I have loved this fantasy series so much - I am hopeful that maybe this isn't the end of this world and what we'll see of it. Isabel Cooper's books are always so immersive in the worlds they inhabit. She gives such wonderful fully realized pictures of those worlds - without answering all your questions or giving an overwhelming amount of detail. If you love romantic fantasy - I highly recommend this book and the series for you. You might be able to read this as a standalone - but I am not sure I'd recommend that. Mainly because you'd be missing out.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, but these opinions are all my own.

I received an ARC copy of this book from Netgalley in return for my honest review. Blood and Ember is the 3rd book in a series. I struggle to finish the book. The characters were not fully developed. Perhaps if I read books one and two first I might have been able to connect with the characters better. I could not get into the book and did not enjoy reading. Sadly, I would not recommend.

I had some difficulty getting into this story at first but after a while I began to enjoy it. Tinival Knight Olvir has started having disturbing dreams and he discovers after fighting one of the twistedmen, that he has powers unlike the other knights. It appears he may be the Sundered Soul, also known as the Heart of the Traitor God Gizath.

Olvir considers himself a true and honest knight but if he has an evil heart he needs to find out before he betrays his people. Olvir is sent on a dangerous mission to face the enemy on the magic Battlefield and save his people from killer storms and twistedmen. Vivian, Commander of the Sentinels, volunteers to go with him so he won't have to go alone. She also knows that if Olvir turns evil she will be forced to take action. They become closer after overcoming huge obstacles and their romance grows. Recommended.