Darkness Rising: PHOENIX Files Book 1

Romance, Mystery & Thrillers, General Fiction

By Eboni Manning

Publisher : Outer Banks Books

ABOUT Eboni Manning

Eboni Manning
I write under two pen names, Alexandra Kane and Kianna Alexander. I'm a married mother of two young kids, who wedges writing time in between kissing boo-boos and my day gig as a freelance copywriter. I write in several genres, including romantic suspense, paranormal romance, and histor More...

Description

City council secretary Lalah Norris is propelled into the center of a scandal. Born of two African American parents with the panthera trait, Lalah's a no-nonsense woman who, when she finds out about the money laundering ways of the city's assistant manager Dell Christopher, will risk her job to see him pay for his crimes. Little does she know, the loss of her job will be the least of her worries.
When she refuses to be intimidated by Dell's thug, she's kidnapped and locked away. Rescue comes in the form of a mysterious Chinese man, Junjie Yu, but Lalah finds herself being taken against her will for a second time. When the night is over, she's forced to join PHOENIX, a covert organization that assists law enforcement on the Federal, state and local level through the use of shifters, sorcerers, and all manner of 'gifted individuals.'
But which will be more dangerous: her new role in the secret organization, or her burning attraction to Junjie?

I wanted to take a different approach to the shapeshifter phenomenon becoming so popular in romance, so I decided to use a panther. Why? Because is hadn't been done (at least not to my knowledge), and it was my high school mascot.

Format:Paperback
I loved the passionate connection between Lalah and Junjie. Reading about them and the sensual tension that kept you riveted through the majority of the book made the suspense associated with the mystery of the crime solving that much more interesting. This book had everything you need for a great read: romance, suspense, intrigue and comedy.

This first book was a wonderful introduction to the world of PHOENIX and the interesting characters who work for the mysterious Dr. Black. Im curious to see where this series goes. My only complaint, as with all books that I like, is that it ended sooner than I wanted it to.