Review: Taken by Fire by Sydney Croft

Taken by Fire (goodreads.com)

By: Sydney Croft (author website)

Paperback, 304 pages

Published June 28th 2011 by Bantam

ISBN 13: 9780385342292

Source: Purchased for self

Genre: Erotic Paranormal Romance

Series: ACRO, #6, last of the series

Best read in order: Yes

Stars: 4

Flames: 5

I have loved this X-rated X-Menish series from the very first book. I loved the way the books were written with the main focal hero and heroine’s story and then all the secondary romances that was there. I really hate that this is the last book for this series. I truly hope that Larissa Ione and Stephanie Tyler do a spin off series or perhaps they will flash forward and do another generation of these extremely hot, overly sexual, operatives with rare abilities.

I impatiently waited for Taken by Fire. I knew after Stryker watched Phoebe kill his best friend that he would be out for vengeance in the most violent way possible. I like Stryker’s character. He was born and raised ACRO. His parents are ACRO operatives. He has always had the love and support of not only family but also the other member of ACRO. He was also perfect for Melanie.

After being introduced to this pair of women sharing a body in Tempting the Fire, I knew Melanie/Phoebe was going to bring an interesting dose of drama to this book. Melanie and the lack of control and worth that was her life had me cheering her to a happy ending without Phoebe. Phoebe has harmed herself knowing that it would do more damage to her sister that she shares the body with. Melanie having lived the majority of her life with no one to care about her well-being but herself sees ACRO as an opportunity to save herself from herself.

Stryker has a hard time believing that Melanie and Phoebe are two different people. He has an even more difficult time believing that Melanie wants to help ACRO. He knows that this person killed his closest friend. He was there and saw it happen. The trust issues are tremendous. Melanie wants a better life for herself. She knows that getting Stryker to trust her is the key. These two worked so well as a couple. They brought the best out in one another.  

I wanted Devlin to have his own book from the moment he was introduced. I have been very happy with the generous helpings of Dev throughout the series. He had a major role in this installment of the series. Since he is the man who runs ACRO he had an instrumental role in the Itor takedown. He also gets some much needed Oz closure and an incredible happy ending. Gabe has really evolved as a man worth having in his life.

My disappointments fall to Itor and Alek’s demise. It seemed to happen way too smoothly and quickly. After this many books/years of Devlin and his crew trying to take these people down all they ever needed was just one of Itor’s operatives to flip. I guess I was just expecting more. I also expected Phoebe to cause more damage in the sabotaging of Melanie and Stryker’s relationship. Don’t get me wrong Phoebe caused major damage, but it was mostly ACRO overall damage. Phoebe was very late in the game on her caustic destruction.

Be sure to have a box of tissues on hand for the last few chapters of the book. VERY EMOTIONAL and the absolute perfect ending for this awesome series!

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