Hannah is not sure where her life is headed as the 30th birthday arrives.  She had hoped to be at least getting health insurance from the small magazine she works for.  No such luck, as money is still tight.  When the flowers arrive, she honestly has no idea who they are from.

Will has waited for this date without really telling himself he was waiting.  The girl of his dreams is still single - and so is he.  Now is the chance to grab the one who got away.  Then when they talk it over its to his total surprise she says yes!

This was a bit of a slower book than I anticipated.  It ended up being full of little surprises inside.  The story moved along at a great pace, the couple was swoon worthy, the heat was just right and the ending just a little flatter than I hoped for.  Overall was still a great read and I would definitely pick up this author again.  I give this story a 4/5 Kitty's Paws UP!

***This copy was given to review by Netgalley and its publishers.

 -The First Truth-

 Know The Self.

Illusions Trick The Eyes,

But Not The Inner Eye.

-The Second Truth- 

Know The Family.

Trust Is Not Truth;

It Is But A Flickering Flame.

-The Third Truth-

Know Light From Dark.

Magic Is Not Equal To Righteousness.

A Wizard May Destroy Or Save.

A City Hangs In The Balance.

-from the first page

 The Fire was the final book in the original Witch & Wizard trilogy. It wrapped up things nicely. So, going into this book, Whit & Wisty and the entire city are all celebrating the end of the evil dictator The One. But, of course things can't stay happy or there wouldn't be a story. There is a new threat, the Wizard King on the mountain. And there is a new government. A council made up of 17 men & women and 17 kids including Wisty & Whit. The head of the council, General Bloom is also a problem. He wants to control things and takes his newfound power too far. The Wizard King has cut off the city's water supply and children have been vanishing from the city. Whit takes off on a peaceful mission to the mountain to negotiate with the Wizard King. And Wisty chooses to stay behind with a mysterious wizard named Heath.

I enjoyed this book. It seemed totally separate from the original trilogy, with new locations and characters popping up that we never heard of before. But, it is another exciting adventure for Whit & Wisty. She is a difficult character to like because she is so hot-headed and always flying off the handle (not a good thing when you can't control your magic and you start fires). But I get her. She seems to fall really fast for this new wizard (Heath) without too much hesitation considering she doesn't really know him. But I guess that's young love in the wizard world. ;) Whit is likable but I wish his powers were stronger. I liked the conflict between the siblings and that they learn they are stronger together.

There were some fun twists towards the end and one especially that I didn't see coming (though some of you may). A fun, very quick read. Overall another good book in the series and great for middle school students.

Recommended to:

Young adults and middle school students. There is magic and adventure, a little romance and a strong brother/sister bond.

Welcome to your worst nightmare,

or maybe one you can't even imagine.

A world where everything has changed.

There are no books, no movies,

no music, no free speech.

Everyone under eighteen is distrusted.

You and your family could be taken

away and imprisoned at any time.

Your very being is expendable,

even unwanted.

What world is this? Where could

something like this have happened?

That's hardly the point.

The point is that it DID happen.

It's happening to us right now.

And if you don't stop and pay attention,

it could happen in your world next.

Recommended to:

Young adults and adults who enjoy fantasy & magic. An edge of your seat book. There is some violence & death and  a bit of nail biting action.

My thoughts:

Once again we are plunged into the world of Whit & Wisty Allgood, the Witch and Wizard. They are learning to control their powers and continuing to lead the resistance in the fight against The One Who is The One. They are fighting for the future of their world, while the New Order (N.O.) is brainwashing and torturing children to turn them into killing machines. The stakes are higher than ever and Whit & Wisty are in more danger than ever.

This is a great series, lots of adventure & danger and twists & turns. Like all Patterson books, the chapters are short and fly by. I finished this book in one day.

I have enjoyed this series, told from the alternating points of view of Wisty and Whit.  The two are leading the Resistance against The One Who is The One and the bleak  world that he and his regime have created.  Just about everything that is beautiful and soul-stirring has been stripped away... books, art, music, any kind of creative expression.

I love the story line behind the series, the idea that it is kids that have to save the world. This book lacked a little for me, though.  It doesn't seem like a lot of progress was made in the quest to end the reign of the one.  Whit and Wisty spent much of their time apart and the Resistance is missing, and I can't help but wonder if that missing dynamic was part of it.  There also seemed to be too much missing between the end of the second book and the beginning of this one.  Neither Whit nor Wisty have made a lot of headway with learning how to use their powers and that has kind of slowed the pace of the story.

All of that being said, I did enjoy the story.  It just wasn't my favorite of the series thus far.  The series isn't over, with the next book already out and a fifth due out later this year.

Things to love...

• The premise.  I like the idea of kids as the creative force and saviors of the world.
• The fast pace.  The action was fast, even if the story itself wasn't advanced too much.

Things I wanted more/less of...

• More progress with their magic/the story.

My Recommendation

Even if it wasn't my favorite, it is important to the series and necessary to build upon the world of Witch & Wizard.