From Blood and Ash cover art

From Blood and Ash

Blood and Ash, Book 1

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From Blood and Ash

By: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Narrated by: Stina Nielsen
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About this listen

Captivating and action-packed, From Blood and Ash is a sexy, addictive, and unexpected fantasy perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Laura Thalassa.

A Maiden...

Chosen from birth to usher in a new era, Poppy’s life has never been her own. The life of the Maiden is solitary. Never to be touched. Never to be looked upon. Never to be spoken to. Never to experience pleasure. Waiting for the day of her Ascension, she would rather be with the guards, fighting back the evil that took her family, than preparing to be found worthy by the gods. But the choice has never been hers.

A Duty...

The entire kingdom’s future rests on Poppy’s shoulders, something she’s not even quite sure she wants for herself. Because a Maiden has a heart. And a soul. And longing. And when Hawke, a golden-eyed guard honor bound to ensure her Ascension, enters her life, destiny and duty become tangled with desire and need. He incites her anger, makes her question everything she believes in, and tempts her with the forbidden.

A Kingdom...

Forsaken by the gods and feared by mortals, a fallen kingdom is rising once more, determined to take back what they believe is theirs through violence and vengeance. And as the shadow of those cursed draws closer, the line between what is forbidden and what is right becomes blurred. Poppy is not only on the verge of losing her heart and being found unworthy by the gods, but also her life when every blood-soaked thread that holds her world together begins to unravel.

©2020 Jennifer L. Armentrout (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Fantasy Fiction Paranormal Paranormal Romance Romance Heartfelt Royalty

Editorial reviews

From Blood and Ash is a captivating blend of dark fantasy, paranormal intrigue and steamy romance that’s filled with surprises.

From Jennifer L. Armentrout, a celebrated and internationally best-selling author in the romance and fantasy genres, From Blood and Ashes is a must download that will have you hooked. It unfolds the story of Poppy, a brave heroine chosen by the gods to live the solitary life of a maiden. Poppy accepts her destiny to remain alone and untouched—until Hawke, a golden-eyed guard, enters her life. From there, this listen is filled with twists and turns, powerful emotions and sexual tension.

The debut novel in the Blood and Ash series, From Blood and Ash joins a list of more than 50 titles authored by Armentrout. Unlike her previous novels, however, it was a total surprise to her fans. With no promotions or prior announcements, From Blood and Ash was released on March 30th, 2020 and immediately met with delight and rave reviews. The novel was awarded the 2020 Goodreads Choice Award for Romance.

New York based actress Stina Nielsen lends her voice to the narration of From Blood and Ash. Nielsen delivers the range of emotion Poppy experiences, which will have listeners cycling through laughter and tears, kept speechless, and remaining curious. Her voice shifts seamlessly between the characters she is portraying with a natural cadence. Nielsen goes on to narrate the second instalment in the series, A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire.

Interweaving forbidden passion with violence and danger in a richly layered fantasy, this audiobook will take you on an exciting journey. The hardest part will be hitting pause.

Critic Reviews

"Dreamy, twisty, steamy escapism. Take me back!" --New York Times bestseller Wendy Higgins

“Jennifer Armentrout has the power to control my emotions with every word she writes. From swooning to crying to racing through the pages to find out what happens next, I couldn't stop reading about Hawke and Poppy, and you won't be able to either.” --Brigid Kemmerer, New York Times bestselling author of A Curse So Dark and Lonely

"Narrator Stina Nielsen enthralls with this sumptuous romance, which highlights her ability to thoroughly immerse listeners in its fantasy world.… Nielsen employs a wide range of inflections, from the warm, breathless tone of the heroine to the appealing accent of Hawke, the love interest, combining them in the sensual scenes they share." --AudioFile Magazine, An Earphones Award Winner

All stars
Most relevant  
LOVE LOVE LOVE
If you're on the fence about whether to get this book all I have to say is YES, ABSOLUTELY DO IT, you won't regret it

The voice Stina does for Hawke is beyond perfect and got a few giggles out of me
Another book boyfriend in the collection!

Absolutely YESS

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An amazing read. Definitely helped zoning out of painting and into the story line.

Absolutely loved it

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I thoroughly enjoyed this book, so much so I purchased the next 2 books, an hour into. The character developments are amazing! The pace of the storyline was perfect. The innocence to the slow burning passion to fighting to snickering to humour (etc) ratio is just perfection. Not too much or too little of anything. Easily my favourite book of this genre. Oh and the narrator did an amazing job! I could easily distinguish the characters. Highly recommended this book!!! Enough said... ON TO THE NEXT!

Stellar!

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One of the best books I have listened to! Can’t wait to listen to the next one.

Loved this book!

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Once you break through the first chapter or 2 which is setting the scene, you will literally be up to all hours of the night scribbling in your colouring book, saying to yourself, this is the last chapter, this is the last chapter for tonight.... it won’t be

It is an absolute MUST

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This book is good if you're looking to listen to a standard fantasy romance. Nothing too exciting, and it can get annoying listening to the long, round about way of getting to the point. Also the main male character I find to be irritating. Still, I finished it and didn't mind it.

Enjoyable

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I had to buy a credit and it was well worth it. Could not stop listening. What a great twisting story and so well told. I don’t write any reviews but this 1 was worth the time. Can’t wait for the next book

Brilliant

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This is the first audiobook I've listened to, all the way through and I loved it. The story was fantastic and the narrator was wonderful. Her voice really brought the story alive for me and I can't wait to listen to book 2!

Amazing

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*I have decided to review this book after listening to Book 4, so my review is a little late in coming, but I want people to enjoy this book.

Story: 5
Reason: the world that JLA built in book 1 is unique and the fantasy behind the myths surrounding the people living in this world is diverse and colorful eventhough the vampiric aspect is not a new concept to modern day readers.

Poppy, our fmc, starts off as a very sheltered and somewhat ignorant person due to her upbringing. She quickly begins to question her life and whether or not "ignorance is bliss". Her world view gets challenged often by multiple sources including her love interest and the events that the author weaves into the story eventually forces Poppy to open her eyes and change her opinions about the people that were/are her friends and foes.

This book features a believable enemies to lovers aspect woven in-between action, adventure, and wonderful world-building that developes naturally through artfully crafted events and lively banter.

Narration: 4
Reason: Stina is a new Narrator to me. Her pacing is a little slow and takes some getting use to, but I solved this by listening to the book at 1.3x the normal speed. She does a good job at voice differiation between male and female characters as well as giving both Hawke and Poppy unique voice/tone styles that allows for easy following through the dialogue between characters. Trust me, this is a very important quality for a narrator. I have about 500 unique book titles and several feature specific narrators because they enrich the book without taking away from the story. Sadly, some books in my library I avoid due to flat or poor narrators.

4.5 stars, unexpected but great story

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I loved loved loved this story and now am addicted and committed to the whole series. Highly recommend

Amazing story and performance.

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