Soul Reborn by Jean Murray

Publisher:  Crescent Moon Press
Pages:  282

(Released:  April 6, 2011)

From the Cover:

THE HUMAN REALM, HIS BATTLEFIELD.

Asar, the Egyptian God of the Underworld, has been tortured and left soulless by a malevolent goddess, relegating him to consume the very thing he was commissioned to protect. Human souls.  Now an empty shell of hatred, Asar vows to kill the goddess and anyone involved in her release, but fate crosses his path with a beautiful blonde huntress who has a soul too sweet to ignore.

DEADLY SECRETS BETTER LEFT UNEARTHED.

Lilly, fearless commander of the Nehebkau huntresses, is the only things standing in the way of the goddess' undead army unleashing hell on earth. But Lilly has a secret--one she is willing to sell her soul to keep. If the Underworld god discovers her role in the dig that released the goddess, she will lose everything, including his heart. 

Lilly has had her hands full since the death of her father, and Mother holds his life and death over her head. Lilly holds herself responsible for a lot of things, including the well being of her two younger sisters, Kit and Kendra. Lilly is the leader of the Nehebkau huntresses, only occasionally challenged by Rebecca, the commander of the para-fighters. With Kit at her back, Lilly lets the power of Nehebkau flow through her body, to destroy the hordes of undead plaguing their world, their home. This undead plague seems to be infecting more and more of humanity, until the city officials have to depend on the huntresses to keep the hordes in check. Kendra, museum mistress and the brains behind their efforts as well as being the youngest sister, keeps them on track, searching to discover the answer to the undead plague... one Lilly feels has been unleashed by her own hand.

Asar first sees Lilly as he seeks out the human souls he needs to nourish his depleted soulless body. She appears as the beautiful blonde unwilling to bow to his demands or desires. His body has been left soulless by a jilted goddess, one he found lacking, one he couldn't allow to have entrance to the Underworld, and entombed. As revenge, when she was accidentally released, she strips away his heart, and with it, his soul, as well as any of the human souls she can enslave. He and his brother, Kamen, are unaffected by the soulless undead, even to the point of having control over them if only temporarily. 

When Lilly and Asar finally meet on equal terms, sparks ignite, and what Asar thought was lost forever is returned with Lilly's every touch. It's an addiction only she can cure, and he must endure, if his soul is to be reborn.

Soul Reborn by Jean Murray is a sweet ride into Ms. Murray interpretation of Egyptian mythos. She builds her world to include a different existence on the Earthbound plane, one where Egyptian myths are brought into reality. And with that reality, comes the existences of Gods and Goddess, some good, and some, not so much. A great battle is building between the forces of good and evil, the only question is will Lilly and Asar be able to withstand the coming conflict? Will this new love they've discovered by strong enough to fight the evil that has been brought into reality? Are Asar and Lilly willing to forgive each other for what they see as their crimes against humanity?

Soul Reborn is an excellent addition to the growing genre of stories revolving around the mythology of Egyptian, Roman, and Greek Gods. The heroine of the story, Lilly, provides the strong resilient, but at the same time, very feminine leader. Asar, our hero, is the alpha male I've come to love, strong yet needy, a soft core only Lilly fill to complete his existence. Because, with the loss of his heart and soul, he'll need to learn to love, if he's going to live to fight another day. Each will have to see how far they're willing to go to be together. I highly recommend this book to lovers of stories revolving around mythos, as well as paranormal romance lovers. Urban fantasy lovers will also fall in love with this story because at it's core, there is the creation of the world filled with scores of the undead, willing to dine on humanity. 

Soul Reborn, Key to the Cursed, Book 1 is Lilly and Asar's story, with Kit and Kendra's stories yet to come. I'll be eagerly waiting to see where this story leads next. Five out of five fairy kisses.

Book Trailer:



Stop back tomorrow for an interview with Jean Murray, author of Soul Reborn! 



I won my copy of Ms. Murray's Soul Reborn in Crescent Moon Press's Memorial Day blog hop. All opinions expressed are my own.