by Claire A. Murray

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of the book and a link to purchase it from Amazon.

If the title isn’t clue enough, then the opening line should warn you—Dance Among the Flames sizzles. Sit down, grab a glass of wine, and even for readers who disdain prologues, begin there.

Flames dances across centuries and continents in a whirlwind that is sometimes chaotic and other times coldly calculating. It will immerse you in a world where the heat of passion, anger, love, and religion and mysticism play with emotions—yours and the characters.

The subtext of mysticism intervening with the characters’ lives provides a steady drumbeat warning of massive collisions—of time, beliefs, and outcomes.

I found myself wanting to shout, “Serafina, No!” at so many dark choices the main character makes. After training to become a Quimbandeira using ancient rituals where Catholicism and Quimbanda magic overlap, she learns that even this secretive world dominates those it purports to uplift.

Flames is a fast-paced dance. Whether it’s Serafina’s efforts to claw her way out of São Salvador poverty with newborn son Carlinhos, her attempts to make him what he can never be, or her anger at granddaughter Adriana with artist/lover Michael—the flames of passion are the heart of the novel.

Eldridge delivers a pulse-pounding, passion-driven exploration of passion, poverty, and promise. Her descriptions of Brazil’s vibrant colors and stark darkness never slowed the pace and made me want to be there.

Mystery, thriller, and horror writer Tori Eldridge may be best known by readers for her three-book Lily Wong thriller series: The Ninja Daughter, The Ninja’s Blade, and The Ninja Betrayed. The series was nominated for the Anthony, Lefty and Macavity Awards and won the 2021 Crimson Scribe Award for Best Book of the Year.

To enter to win a copy of Dance Among the Flames, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “flames,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen July 16, 2022. US only, and must be 18 or older to enter. If entering via email please include your mailing address in case you win–it will be deleted after the giveaway is over. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

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Claire A. Murray is a fiction writer who transplanted from New England to Arizona mid-pandemic. She has thirteen published short stories, is completing a suspense/fantasy novel so she can return to her trilogy, and has two novels awaiting revision.Find her at cam-writes.com.

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.