ClaireKent – A Take from Two Cities

EMBERS by Claire Kent

I never thought I’d live through an apocalypse, but I guess no one ever does. Now my family’s gone, and the only person who can keep me safe in a violent, chaotic world is my dead boyfriend’s rough, uncivilized father. I don’t like him. At all. Cal’s the last person I want to rely on, but for now he’s all I’ve got.

Eventually we become unconventional partners as we try to stay alive, but then my feelings for him start to change. I want more from Cal but maybe I shouldn’t. I can’t risk losing what matters most.

One thing I do know. In a world as broken as ours, everything gradually gets burned away. Everything but him.

Title : Embers
Author : Claire Kent
Series : Kindled #3
Format : eARC
Page Count : 241
Genre : Dystopian Romance
Publisher : Self Published
Release Date : August 9, 2022

Reviewer : Micky
Rating : ★ ★ ★

Micky’s 3 star review

The third installment in this Kindled world felt again a little different to each previous story. Rachel and Cal were the couple in this story and we had caught sight of them in a previous book. I knew this age gap romance might be a little more tricky to gel with and for me it was.

Rachel was the girlfriend of Cal’s son who died early into the post-disaster world. These two rubbed along as reluctant companions for a good few years. I liked both Cal and Rachel as characters but I struggled with them somewhat as a couple. To be fair, Cal also struggled with that a lot. I think it was the whole factor she was his son’s girlfriend.

The plot was good in general. I enjoyed seeing Rachel in the previous communities we’ve seen in Kindled. I didn’t buy into the couple or chemistry as much as I’d hoped.

Thank you to the author for the review copy through netgalley.

PRINCESS by Claire Kent

I guess I’m one of the lucky ones.

When the asteroid hits and the world falls apart, I’m seventeen, and my dad buys us a place in an underground bunker. We’re supposed to be safe down there, but we’re not. Gradually, I lose everything until all I have left is a bewildering relationship with a stoic, unknowable man.

As one of the guards in the bunker, Grant has lurked in the background of my life for years, teaching me to defend myself, making sure I’m safe, and infuriating me by treating me like a sheltered princess in a tower. I don’t even know if he likes me, even after we end up in bed together. All I know is that he’s always there beside me–during the bleak half-life of the bunker and the hostile, unfamiliar world we discover when we finally come out of lockdown.

Maybe one day he’ll open up. Let down his walls. And maybe eventually our days can be about more than surviving.. Maybe I am one of the lucky ones, but right now all I have left in the world is him.

Title : Princess
Author : Claire Kent
Series : Kindled #2
Format : eARC
Page Count : 222
Genre : Dystopian Romance
Publisher : Self Published
Release Date : July 12, 2022

Reviewer : Micky
Rating : ★ ★ ★ ★

Micky’s 4 star review

Headlines:
Age-gap (not creepy)
A different take on this Kindled world
Bunker life

I am so taken by this series by Claire Kent and my only complaint is where the asteroid fell (what about Europe?!). What I like about this series is that there isn’t rehashing of the apocalyptic event, this series is all about survival afterwards and the interconnected couples through the series.

Princess gave us a bunker existence perspective for some of the book and that felt really fresh. The couple in Grant and Olivia took a familiar path, somewhat similar to the previous book but I still thoroughly enjoyed reading their journey. It was push and pull, uncertainty and chemistry.

I really enjoyed the grander picture, seeing the previous couples, communities and how that bigger plot is weaving together. The threats from the unsavoury part of humanity put the communities trying to survive at risk and it had the reader absolutely on edge at times.

I cannot wait for the two further books coming in this series and the names I’ve seen that will be in subsequent stories. Princess was the kind of book you can read in a day and feel completely satisfied in the ride.

Thank you to the author through netgalley for the review copy.

LAST LIGHT by Claire Kent

It only took four years for the world to fall apart.

Now the last member of my family has died, and I’m forced to travel across what’s left of three states to find the only people I know left alive. To survive, I’ll have to salvage food and supplies and try to avoid violent men who’ve learned they can take what they want by force. The only way I’m going to make it is by trusting Travis.

Travis used to fix my car, and now he’s all I have left in the world. He’s gruff and stoic and unfriendly, and I don’t really know or like him. But he’s all I have left. He’ll keep me safe. We’ll take care of each other. Until we reach what’s left of our town and can finally let go of one another.

Last Light is a standalone post-apocalyptic romance set in the near future after a global catastrophe.

Title : Last Light
Author : Claire Kent
Format : eARC
Page Count : 335
Genre : Post-apocalyptic romance
Publisher : Indie
Release Date : November 13, 2019

Reviewer : Micky
Rating : ★ ★ ★ ★ .5

Micky’s 4.5 star review

I’ve been a long-time fan of Claire Kent ever since her book ‘Escorted’ and while this isn’t a pen name the author writes under much, I jumped on the chance to read and review this one. I have enjoyed a number of post-apocalyptic stories, those with and without romance and this take did not let me down. I read this book in one sitting, I couldn’t put it down.

LAST LIGHT is carried by a cast of two, Travis and Layne. They were from the same home town, a few years after the world-changing event and having to travel to safety. All the things you might expect from this kind of setting were prevalent, no food, no power, gangs of vigilantes and increased vulnerability for women. That said, at no point was there a thread of the weakness of women, on the contrary, Layne was empowered and fierce in her own way.

This story centred on a slow growing connection and a romance to light fires. I lived for it and I loved it. I found everything about their past and presents engaging. There was a strong and detailed world in the background and a plenty of storyline to hang on to. The steam was pretty strong in this read but it fitted so well.

There were other characters that came into the story, friendlies and not-so-friendlies. There was a background of mild tension as you might imagine in a world such as this which added to the pacing of the story.

I would love to read more of this world and characters and I continue to love anything written by Claire Kent.

Thank you to the author for the review copy through netgalley.