You are here: Home » My Books » From The Ashes

From The Ashes

By Maree Anderson

From The Ashes Cover From The Ashes

From the ashes, a hero will rise….

Calista’s a freelance space courier recovering from a disastrous marriage during which her ex sold her as a slave. Sure, she’s emotionally damaged, but you should see the state of her ex! She’s also an expert pilot who can illegally reprogram and augment all manner of tech. She’s been ripping off the system and flying under the radar her entire life. Until now.

Asher’s her “cargo”, the mouthwateringly gorgeous Phoenixae alien who accidentally hatched from the egg she was transporting, and bonded with her. He’s been bred as a sex slave and he can read her mind. Which wouldn’t be so bad if 1) she didn’t abhor slavery and everything it represents, 2) she wasn’t horny as hell, and 3) he wasn’t doubly tempting because of his extra er, male parts! Oh, and then there’s the small issue that if Asher is killed and his body burnt, he can be resurrected. He’s one hot commodity that illegals will kill to possess.

Take one sex-deprived space courier who’ll risk everything to save a Phoenixae alien from a life of slavery. Add one mouthwateringly hot alien sex-slave who knows her deepest desires, feels her pain, and lives to please her in every way. Mix with a ruthless ex-husband intent on vengeance. And stir in a sadistic Libertine noble who will do anything at all to get his hands on a Phoenixae.

(Click here to read an excerpt)
(Click here to read my interview with “Asher”, AKA former UK Gladiator, Sam Bond)

Genre:	Erotic Romance
Format:	eBook
Length:	Novel
MSRP/List Price:	$6.00 US
Publisher:	Red Sage Publishing
Available:	December 2010
ISBN:	9781603105743

FROM THE ASHES eBook also available from the following outlets:
(Note that available formats, prices, & currencies may vary)

I can sign your Kindle copies of my books here

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reviews

FROM THE ASHES

5 HOOTS!

At first I forgot that I had requested this book. Then upon looking at my list, I remembered it and thought, yikes, I have to read that by the end of the week. Well no worry there. I read it in one night and boy was I pleasantly surprised. I had an immediate image of the two-phallus man and the “sex-capade” direction that the book could have gone. But no, the lust was there certainly, but the story and more importantly the plot was excellent and the characters well developed.

I enjoyed Asher’s twist on the slave mentality in that he wanted to be the man Calista could love so badly that he was ready, willing and able to become her master. The mental and emotional bond between these two was so powerful that when bonded, neither could tell where one ended and the other began. The imprinting was deeper and stronger than anything Asher had been programmed to understand. What could it mean? Both he and Calista struggled to understand the bond and the feelings. But since neither had known true love before, they were in uncharted ‘space’. Speaking of space, Calista’s ex, Nate, is hunting them all over the universe trying to capture “the cargo”, aka Asher, and sell him into slavery, just as he attempted to do to Calista. The two fight together and Calista finally learns to trust another and in turn together they save their lives, their freedom and their love.

Nocturne Romance Reads
(Reviewed by ~Karia)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FROM THE ASHES

Overall Rating: 9/10

In this fantasy world all is possible and we can see what other worlds are in our sphere. There are those who live beyond the norms of society and who demand more and more of that depravity for their enjoyment. It is into this world that Asher is born and Calista must use her wits.

Calista is a privateer and she is also very resourceful woman. She takes on cargo and delivers it to the clients. Calista is fiercely independent and has learnt many lessons in her life. She has had one bad marriage and unfortunately her ex-husband keeps appearing in her life, this time to avenge what she had done to him. However, his revenge is more depraved that anything Calista could do to him. Calista takes on a particular cargo and realizes that something is not right with the job. She opens the cargo and comes across an egg. An egg that hatches before her very eyes and Asher appears with a very astonishing quality. One she cannot get over, ever.

Asher is a Phoenixae. He has many distinguishing characteristics. Firstly, he is a phoenix who, once he is killed or dies, he can be reborn by the use of fire. This means he comes to the attention of a sadist who wants to use this for entertainment. Secondly, he also has a dual set of genitalia, more than enough to please any woman. Immediately upon hatching, he bonds with Calista and is able to read her every thought. As he is her slave, he also feels her pain and when the dark thoughts of her ex-husband intrude, he feels all her pain, physically. When the pair are separated, Asher realizes that the bond he has with Calista goes beyond the master-slave bond and it is something he is willing to fight for.

While this story is shorter than normal, the reader becomes involved in the storyline quickly and the reader is taken on the adventure as Calista and Asher need to escape those who want the egg. Naturally, as this story is erotica, the initial sex, real and imaginary, between Calista and Asher shows the instant chemistry. This explosive sex continues throughout the story and both are very satisfied by the outcome. Their attempts to be together are often interrupted and there are also some entertaining moments.

This story does contain language that is suited to the erotica format and also contains, as you can imagine if a male has two sets of genitals, contains sex that is beyond the norm.

Eye On Romance
(Reviewed by ~Heather, Erotica Romance Writers)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FROM THE ASHES

Surprisingly Sweet, Satisfyingly Smutty

Calista hasn’t had the greatest luck in love, her ex-husband sold her into slavery! But she’s not one to take that lying down and once she’s back on her feet she’s back to working as a courier in her ship, Doppelganger. Having had a few too many bad surprises in her life she figures she can open the crate holding her latest cargo, find out what’s secreted away inside and have time to pack it back up with no sign of tampering before she gets to her destination. What she finds is an egg, an egg that hatches into a baby boy who rapidly becomes a grown man with two sets of genitals and ability to be resurrected indefinitely from his own ashes. With no one else around he imprints on her and the pair find themselves driven into a world of sadistic Libertines, her cutthroat ex and all manner of crazy.

This is my first taste of Maree Anderson and hopefully not my last. She has a great way of creating a decent scifi ‘verse without a lot of pages to do so. While the idea of alien males with special “man-parts” is far from original she manages to make Asher special in other ways that make him multifaceted enough that you can buy this is romance not pure smut. It’s funny, adventurous and the kind of smutty that makes ya want to skip the talky parts. The romance was unexpectedly sweet and never felt forced.

I would recommend this as an excellent place to start dabbling for readers who are interested in alien scifi romances/erotica. I’d also tell my fellow Cheryl Brooks fans to give it a read, while this is certainly not of the same caliber it’s a great quickie read to fill in the time between her releases.

RhiReading
(Reviewed by ~ Rhianna Walker)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FROM THE ASHES

4-1/2 stars

I enjoyed this Science Fiction Romance. It hits the high points of what I consider the necessary criteria for Sci Fi Romance.

First good world building. I could visualize the settings in which the action took place. There were two planets involved in addition to the ships. The first planet was a desert planet. The description was clear and the dangers were clearly described and pertained to the story. The populated planet where the majority of the story took place was easy to visualize. It was a hedonistic pleasure planet and the characters actions, either in accordance with the mores of the society or contrary to custom, caused them to either get along in the place or have problems. The cultural mores of the planet were clearly shown in the actions of the characters not by telling.

Secondly the romance was well done. The hero and heroine spent enough time in each others presence for real emotions to form. They grew to know and depend on each other. They didn’t just hop in the sack arbitrarily. The did spend a large portion of time in the middle of the book apart but struggling to get back to each other. I would have preferred that they hadn’t been apart but that is a personal preference and doesn’t mean that that part of the story was bad or unnecessary. Just not the way I would have preferred it. But I didn’t write it did I? :-) The emotions seemed real and there was some pathos and sacrifice involved.

Third – Characterizations in general for all major characters where clear and well motivated. The hero and heroine both were solid characters who grew over the course of the story. The secondary characters were clearly differentiated and were true to their stated motivations. The heroine was a kick butt kind of girl. She was tech savvy and could defend herself. When things got screwed up, she came up with a plan and acted on it. He was coming from a very different place and had to grow from being a slave to learning to be his own person. He seemed very three dimensional and real.

Fourth – The plot made sense. There was a clear beginning middle and end. Actions taken had logical consequences. There was a lot going on and much of it was fun. Some of it was sad and a lot of it was tense. Not a one note book at all.

These final two thing are not common to all SFR but were pertinent here.

Alieness and sex scenes.

There were some aliens but most of the characters were human or mutated humans. Humans had come from Earth so long ago that Earth was considered a silly legend and those who believed in it were scorned. Our heroine was unmutated and was a believer in Earth. The hero was from a planet of mutated beings who had been designed as sex slaves and they had a second set of genitalia. Only a man was described though so I don’t know what the women from that planet might have had. He was well written and the whole Phoenix aspect was new and interesting and really had a lot to do with the plot.

The sex scenes were not gratuitous. There were maybe 3 or 4 and only one that was completed as it were. Since he was born as a sex slave, that aspect of the story was pertinent but most of it was about what that meant to them in their personal relationship. I will say however that it didn’t seem really necessary that he have two penises. I guess it just illustrated that he was mutated to be a sex slave. An outward symbol of the inner purpose of his race. It did seem like it might be a little tedious to have to do both ‘ahem’ entrances every time you wanted a little nooky.

The writing in general was good. The sentences flowed and I didn’t notice any annoying word choices etc. There were some good quotes (example below) and it was very readable overall.

“If he found Calista hurt or damaged in any way, Asher would go after Nate and make him regret the day his father fucked his mother and inflicted their son upon the universe.”

Reviewed by Jacqueline (via Goodreads)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FROM THE ASHES

The author has written a book that has a well developed background and characters. It has a love story that will have you rooting for Calista and Asher. However, it is not for the squeamish.

Night Owl Reviews
(Reviewed by ~Arianne: please click on the link to read the full review )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FROM THE ASHES

From the Ashes combines two of my favorite genres – romance and science fiction. So I knew when I got it, I would probably like it. I was not disappointed. There is plenty of action for me (and, no, not just the sexual kind!!!) and a nice mix of romance and science fictional things.

I was hooked when her ex shows up and demands Calista’s cargo. Incidentally, her cargo is our hero, Asher (he was hatched!). His extras are particularly interesting. I liked the revelations – how her ex had sold her into her slavery and she destroyed his face in payment. I liked how Asher died and came back to life afterward. It goes with the title – From the Ashes – as he is a Phoenixae and death doesn’t manage to kill him permanently.

Another scene I really liked was when her ex caught her, was planning to give her to someone and she convinced him to kill her ex. Very nice.

Asher is very nice, too. He is disturbing when he first hatches as a baby and turns into a child, than a teenager, than a man. The part where he turned into a man was a relief. I didn’t want a child hero.

He escapes from his own captors and goes in search of her. Calista has a problem with that Asher is from a slave race and he has to please his owner. Well, I would be disturbed by that, too. Who wants a lover who pleases only because he is slave and has no choices? Who wants a slave at all? Not Calista – she disapproves of slavery. But he convinces her they can be together and it all works out.

Story Treasury
(Reviewed by ~ Sonia)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~