Scorching Tension: “City in Embers” Book Review

Book Review: City in Embers by Stacey Marie Brown

This book came out swinging with a killer premise: a girl who can see the fae, working for a secret government agency that harvests fae blood to cure human diseases? Yes please. City in Embers is the first in Stacey Marie Brown’s Collector series (linked to her Darkness series, which I hadn’t read. But didn’t feel lost, just curious to learn more later). And while the pacing leans slow in parts, I was absolutely hooked by the world-building, the biting humor, and the slow-burn tension that smolders between the characters.

Zoey Daniels is the kind of heroine I love to root for: snarky, loyal, a little reckless, and doing her best to make sense of a world that keeps shifting under her feet. After a freak electrical storm throws her into the orbit of Ryker (aka Viking Brute With a Vengeance), her whole life flips upside down. She has to team up with the exact kind of creature she was trained to fear. And of course, Ryker is full of secrets, violence, and the kind of chemistry with Zoey that takes chapters to unravel… but when it hits, it hits. This is a slow-burn romance in every sense, but the tension between them keeps the pages turning.

The humor in City in Embers? Sharp. Some of these side characters had me laughing out loud, especially when the world around them was literally falling apart. And while there’s plenty of action and danger, Brown never lets it feel too heavy thanks to those sarcastic, well-timed character beats.

That said, the pacing dragged a bit in the middle. There were a few moments I wished things would just move, especially as the mystery deepened and the romance sparked. Speaking of… there are strong mystery and conspiracy vibes here. I wish some of the darker threads were pulled more tightly by the end, but that cliffhanger? I’m already looking for book two.

Final Thoughts

If you’re into slow-burn fantasy romance with morally gray fae, secret agencies, and crackling tension, add City in Embers to your TBR. It’s got Karen Marie Moning energy, and I can’t wait to see where Zoey and Ryker go next, because that ending? I need answers.

City in Embers Summary

Zoey Daniels has been tossed from foster home to foster home, where she grows up fast and tough. When she is placed in her “last-chance” home, she finds a reason to stay and turn her life her foster sister, Lexie, who is paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. Zoey will do anything to keep her safe.After high school, Zoey is hired by a special government agency, the Department of Molecular Genetics (DMG), where she meets the other reason to Daniel, her co-worker. The man she loves.But there is something unique about Zoey. She can see fae. Because of this, the DMG hires her to work as a catching, researching, testing, and using the fae to save human lives. The work never registers on her sympathy radar. She was raised to think of fae as beasts that feed on humans and want to destroy them.When devastation hits Seattle, Zoey’s whole world is turned upside down. The electric storm connects her to a ruthless fae, a Wanderer named Ryker, whose dealings expose them to even more trouble and danger. They embark on a journey, running and hiding from both the government and fae, both of which threaten their lives and those they love.