Apocalypse Rising: A Fantasy Romance Novel

Apocalypse Series #2

by Maria Zannini

The only place left to hide was in the past. Fire Elemental Leda and her plainfolk companion, Grey, are running from a demented time traveler, a man obsessed with creating a creature who can read thoughts. Convinced that Leda can produce this unnatural child, he has threatened to hunt her down to the ends of the earth-and he has kept his word. Their only escape is a one-way trip through the time portal. With death on their heels, salvation appears in the form of two strangers. Seemingly ordinary people, Tom and Cassandra assure Leda and Grey that they are here to help. They claim they are repaying a debt-Leda and Grey helped them once, 1200 years ago. The trip through the portal offers no escape, as Leda and Grey discover that evil transcends time. Can their presence in the past stop the eventual apocalypse that forms their future?88,000 words

Genres: Paranormal Romance, Time Travel, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal

274 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 13, 2011

About the author

http://mariazannini.blogspot.com/

I homestead on six acres in the middle of nowhere.

My writing runs the gamut from science fiction to time travel to angel romance.

Blogging is my favorite way to connect with friends and followers. On my blog, I talk about dogs, country living, absent husbands, and ghosts. Yeah, I said ghosts.

I hope you'll visit me soon. You can see a complete list of my back list on the blog.

Reviews

[Ronda Tutt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb Writing! Fantastic Read!

Now this was an excellent and exciting read. Maria Zannini’s excellence in story telling/writing clearly shows in this story. The story immediately picks up from where the 1st book “Touch of Fire” left off where Grey, the plainfolk and Leda, the fire elemental step through the time portal. The time line takes Grey and Leda back 1200 years into time right before the beginning of the apocalypse and the story explains when, where, and how the disease, pestilence, and destruction of human kind and the beginning creation and rise of the elementals.

The author did a fantastic job of weaving in how the evilness was released, spread, and how it remains spread throughout in the present day, through time, and how it will continue into the future. All the characters were well developed and the interaction and drama between them was humorous. The journey of Grey and Leda in the past was exciting and addicting to the point I couldn’t put the book down. The book ending was a great cliff hanger as it left Grey and Leda finding themselves back through the time portal and possibly back in their own time.

I can hardly wait to read and find out in the next book if Senosai will be defeated by Grey and Leda and put an end to his quest of evilness of wanting to create a creature to read thoughts along with controlling over all humans and elementals. I am so hooked!

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maria Zannini has outdone herself with this follow up book to Touch of Fire ! Apocalypse Rising picks up exactly where book 1 Touch of Fire left off and from page number one to the last page you will not want to put this one down!

I got the chance to read book one Touch of Fire when the author released her book True Believers last year and I was one of the early reviewers of her new series. I totally loved the wonderful Time Travel, Fantasy Romance series that she created with Leda the female lead and Grey the plainfolk male character who she falls in love with and has adventure after adventure culminating in a leap through time 1200 years into the past...

Unlike the first book though this is a much more intense and personal read, the author has stated that inspiration for this series has come from her own life and experiences she has faced in the past... Some of those experiences were harrowing and traumatic and they translated into one heck of a tale that will keep readers going late into the night once they open the first page...

I love a book that draws me in and keeps me turning the pages to see what happens, Apocalypse Rising accomplished that and in doing so it gave me a deeply emotional reading experience as well...

Some of my favorite parts of the story were where the mongrel dog Bone made his appearance, one time in particular when he was defending Leda's friend Cassandra had me laughing out loud and at the same time cringing for poor Bone as his actions were not well received by her attacker and his friends!

The relationships between the characters from that of Leda and Grey, to Grey and Rowena were so richly portrayed that it was almost like being in the same room with them as they interacted with each other..

I especially got a kick out of the scene where Leda and Grey come across Rowena and the rest of the women who help them when they appear in the past as the women are part of a witch coven and are doing a moonlit ceremony for which they strip nude and Grey has to be led away by Leda after he gets an eyeful!
This was one of the lighter moments in the book...


I also stepped into the characters shoes from time to time, felt what Leda felt and saw what she saw and it affected me very deeply the more I read and the ending had me crying tears of relief, tears of joy and tears of sorrow all at the same time!

There is a lot that takes place in the book, I will not go into more of the specifics of the story because I hate spoilers, I will say that there are going to be some very strong reactions from readers and some of them may not be favorable... I feel however that the realism and the darkness that make up parts of this story are what give it the depth and enchantment of a true epic fantasy, it will make you think and it will make you feel for the characters both primary and secondary and that is what a truly wonderful reading experience is all about!


Fans of Fantasy, Time Travel, Paranormal Suspense and Romance as well will enjoy this book... I strongly suggest you do get a copy of the first book in the series either in Kindle or Paperback version and read Touch Of Fire first so Apocalypse Rising makes more sense as there is quite a bit of back story you will miss otherwise!

I hope that we are at some point in the future allowed to revisit this series, I want more answers and to know what happens after the ending of the book!

[Ishabelle Torry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magical

I found this book to be just as awesome as part one! While it can be read as a standalone, I recommend reading book one first. Grey and Leda are definitely on my list of top ten heroes and heroines. If you love fantasy and magic mixed in altered worlds and timelines, then here's your next read!

[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.0 stars
Recommended to: Fans of Fantasy, Time Travel, Paranormal Suspense and Romance.

This story picks up where Touch of Fire left off with Fire Elemental Leda and her plainfolk (mortal) companion, Greyhawke Tams, running from a demented time traveler named Senosai. He is obsessed with creating a creature, a Fifth Element, that can read thoughts, as well as being a superbeing with unrestrained powers. Convinced that Leda can produce this unnatural child with him, he has threatened to hunt her down to the ends of the earth—and he has kept his word. Their only hope for escape is a one-way trip through the time portal.

Salvation appears in the form of two strangers. Seemingly ordinary people, Tom and Cassandra assure Leda and Grey that they are here to help. They claim they are repaying a debt since Leda and Grey helped them once before; 1200 years before actually.

I have not yet read the first book Touch of Fire, but I was lucky enough to receive this ARC from Carina Press. Leda and Grey couldn’t be more different in their upbringing and their talents, but the love they share outweighs anything else. She is a fae, while he is a mortal, or plainfolk with no magical abilities. He is, however, very skilled with the blade.

Leda can read aura’s but has only limited abilities to read thought. Leda ran because Grey crossed Senosai once too many times. Grey is determined to protect Leda even at the risk of his own life. He wants to marry her and have strong children who can protect them in the future. Unfortunately, it has been 8 months and Leda seems not able to get pregnant. Leda only has 12 months to become pregnant, then Grey must let her go, and find another mate. That is their customs.

Thanks to Senosai, Fae Hydra (Water), Zephyr (Air) Elementals and Gaian, or earth elementals, all have joined forces to stop Leda and Grey from escaping from Senosai. The only one’s not tracking her are her own kind, the fire elementals. Leda has been the only one able to escape Senosai grasp, and her legend is growing by the day. She is a strong fire elemental, but not strong enough to defeat Senosai one on one.

As they are transported back through time, a glitch happens which allows a Demon named Beleth to enter Leda’s body after she makes a deal with him to save Grey’s life. Beleth is king and commander of 85 legions of demons. He claims to have implanted his evil demon seed into Leda. Demons cannot exist in the mortal world without a host. Leda became that host.

Upon arrival in the past, Leda and Grey meet with witches and spirit conjurers named Rowena, Cassandra, and Searcy. Leda tells them she is a mage of the Solas Order, which they look at her like she has spoken in tongues. This is a world where there is no magic and the people rely heavily on machines to do their jobs for them.

Cassandra, who dabbles in Wicca, was told to expect Leda and Grey by Gaea, a young earth elemental that is the outcome of experiments done by Doctor Senosai. Next-Gen makes designer babies with the same elemental powers Leda has. Senosai is creating Elementals, which are Leda’s ancestors, and her people.

Gaea is an earth Elemental, and a psychic. Gaea is in love with Jared, but can’t tell him since she’s basically a lab rat. Jared, the so called failed experiment who is free to roam without the restraints Gaea has. She is also the future first mother of the elementals.

There are some fun parts as well in the form of Bone, the stray dog that comes to enjoy being around Leda. Especially at the end when they are escaping and men try to stop them from entering the portal and Bone takes a "bite" out of the trouble.

The mix of danger, romance, and the threat that the apocalypse is just a matter of time away, makes this book worth reading. The romance between Leda and Grey is strong, except when she is hard headed and tries to push him away in order for him to have his children with Cass. The demon is a good addition to this story, even though it was realively short in length, and the after effects of his death have not yet been written or determined.

I'm looking forward to seeing what Zannini's plans are for Leda and Grey's future now that they have traveled back to their own world. Is Senosai still alive, or has the future been changed by their actions in the past?

[Tahlia Newland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carina Press is publishing a steady diet of interesting fantasy titles that I’m really glad to see in print. What I like about them is that they don’t rely heavily on their romantic element to succeed. They have good plots and plenty of action to hold the novels together so the romance/sex isn’t too in-your-face, thus they can appeal to readers not usually into the romance genre.

This is what I’d call a time twister with individual time-lines moving between times and our usual concepts of how our future might be turned upside down.

Tom and Cassandra know Grey and Leda from a previous time, but Grey and Leda don’t know them, because they haven’t met them yet. How much can you tell someone about their future which is your past? The same quandary occurs when Grey and Leda go back in time to before Tom and Cassandra have met them. Thought provoking or confusing? A bit of both. Can knowing the future change the past if you go back there? If changing the past, changes the future, then what happens to the future that you’ve already experienced? These are the sort of questions this book raises and they do wonderful things to your mind.

The characters were well drawn and likable, except for the bad guys, of course. They were cold, sadistic and creepy. I particularly liked Grey, a big guy, too ready with his punches but faithful, loving and protective. The perception of our modern world through the eyes of someone from a future where magic has replaced technology was fascinating and extremely well done.
We didn’t see much of the future world, but Leda and Grey’s thoughts and actions expressed this future culture clearly and consistently, for example, they referred to Christian priests and nuns as ‘Cross Lovers’. It was an interesting turn-about to think of the future as being so like our past in its lack of technology and reliance on horse transport, natural remedies and materials.

The story had plenty to keep you interested and it was different to anything I’ve read before, which was great, however I found the demon’s actions when he accosted Leda on her way back in time shocking and disturbing. I was grateful that it was the only episode like that in the book. It was there for a valid reason but I think it could have been a little less disgusting. Just get rid of the blood.

Leda’s insistence on sticking to her cultural norms in her ideas of the importance of childbearing and it’s affect on her relationship with Grey didn’t sit well with me. I thought it was a bit wimpish for a fire elemental, but in terms of the world she’d come from and the expectations of that society it was a reasonable action for her to take. I’m just glad that Grey wasn’t too quick to move on the idea.

The end was satisfying and left me wondering about the repercussions of the age of a certain object. A nice touch.

It was a good book, but not one I’d get excited about, though for purely personal and rather vague reasons, so I give it 4 stars.

If Carina Press made some of the covers for these more-than-just-a-romance-books less obviously romance, would it encouraged readers from outside the romance readership to pick them up? I know that many people won’t buy a book with an obviously romance cover on it.
What do you think?

[Vannessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book starts off right in the middle of the action - Leda and Grey, our two main characters are running for their lives from a fire lord Senosai. Not realising that this book was in the middle of a series meant that I was lost initially, but the story soon unfolds and it was easy enough to work out some of what had happened previously.

In order for Leda, a fire elemental, and Grey, a plainsfolk (i.e.a non magical person) to escape from being captured and killed they jump through a portal that sends them back in time 1200 years, to our current day. They find it rather strange and difficult to adapt initially as everything is done by machines, whereas in their future machines no longer exist. They meet a group of witches who help them and Cassandra, one of the witches, is the same Cassandra who helped them in the future. How you say? Read it and find out :P

The fire lord Senosai is also in this time, not as a fire lord but as a scientist performing experiments on a large group of children who have all been created to be elementals. Leda knows she has to save her ancestors from Senosai, but things don't strictly go according to plan. Once the children are freed, with the help of some priests and nuns, Leda begins to teach them how to control their talents and how to live together. Gaea, an Earth elemental with the power of foresight, is chosen as the one to lead them all and although she is only a teenager herself, Leda knows she will become the most powerful of all the elementals.

Leda also has dealings with a demon Beleth, who actually comes in quite helpful later on, even though what he does is not actually meant to be helpful. However, he inadvertently sets the ball rolling to start the apocalypse that will destroy the world as it now is. The elemental children are immune to what is happening due to the demon blood in them, but the plainsfolk are not, so they have to be transported through the portal back to Leda and Grey's time. And with a bit of help from Gaea, so are Leda and Grey, even though the portal is meant to be a one way trip only.

I really liked the characters of Leda and Grey. She definitely had the upper hand in the relationship but when she realised that she couldn't produce any heirs for Grey, she offered him to another woman who would be able to bear him children. This idea is not something I would do, but in the time they came from this was what was done. The whole idea of giving Grey away killed Leda and you could see how much turmoil she was in every time she thought about him and Cassandra. Luckily another man saved Grey from sleeping with Cassandra and having children with him.

I liked this book and enjoyed how the story unfolded. I would also like to go back and read the books before this one to find out the events leading up to this book.

I got this book to review from NetGalley and would like to thank the author and publishers for the opportunity.

[Cleffairy Cleffairy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reviewed at: Library of Lights

Date reviewed: 22 May 2011

Review link: http://mykindaland.com/?p=310



I am not quite sure what to say about this book, Apocalypes Rising by Maria Zannini. The story is pretty strange and intriguing, but I have difficulties grasping onto the story. I couldn’t make head or tails of what’s going on.

Strange enough, it did not stop me from continue reading til the end. This book have it’s charms despite the fact that I couldn’t really grasps the story. I feel as if I was thrown into a whirlwind and couldn’t get out of it.

I suppose this is a good book, but perhaps it’s just not my type of book. I rate this book 3 out of 5 stars.

I received an ARC of this book from Carina Press via Netgalley. I was not compensated in any ways for writing this review.

[Cate Masters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leda and Grey's tale continues from Touch of Fire, another great read. Maria Zannini did a wonderful job in crafting this sequel, which leads the hero and heroine to the past, the beginning of all they know and revere. The plot twists will keep you turning pages, and the nonstop action will keep you riveted until the satisfying - and surprising - conclusion.
The author's stories contain strong heroes and even stronger heroines, and include compelling secondary characters with interesting stories of their own to tell. The subplots of Gaia and Lady Jai intrigued me.
While it's not necessary to first read Touch of Fire, you may want to for sheer enjoyment.

[Stacy McKitrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Magic, witches, time travel, and a hunky hero--it's got a bit of everything. However, it had been 3 years since I read the first book of this series (man, time flies!), so it took me a bit to remember the characters (but that's all ME because my memory sucks). I suggest you read book 1 first, though, before reading this one because you'll enjoy reading how Leda and Grey meet, since their story continues in this one.

I hope one day to see a book 3 in this series.

[Laurielu Bona Fide Reflections · Rating 1 out of 5]

Umm... I just could not get into this book! This is the second book in my life I have not finished.