Heir to Gold and Ashes is a fiction, horror story loaded with all your (or at least my) favorite creatures: Vampires, Witches, Demons, Fae and other monsters. It also borders on a new world fantasy, horror story, with the new world being a Los Angeles that has been taken over by a host of dark creatures.
The story captured me from the very beginning as Charlotte lost her husband in a car crash that almost took her life, too. As Charlotte recovers, she finds out that she is not who she thought she was. Nor was her strange life; a life full of questions, with few answers. When Charlotte is attacked, by first a demon and then by witches, a mysterious Fae named Sky rescues her and helps prepare her to face the underworld and the creatures in it.
That is all I’ll tell you about the plot because I don’t want to give anything away. What I will tell you is that I am not a fan of fantasy but love a good vampire story. For fantasies, my reviews usually go downhill as I write them. That certainly is not the case with this review. Nor is it because I’m a fan of vampires; although that certainly didn’t hurt.
The reason my review is so high is because of Ashley’s fantastic story and character building. As I said, she captured me from the very beginning and held my attention right up until the last page. (Which, by the way didn’t end the way I wanted. But that’s me and I can’t hold that against her.) Especially when her story was unique and the characters different and original. Also, neither of them wandered into clichés, stolen lines from TV and movies or became completely unbelievable, as so often happens.
If I could, I would take off half a star for her not ending it the way I wanted it to end. But, I can’t and honestly, a lot of horror readers will probably like the end. Thus, my rating stands at a well-deserved 5 stars.
So, if you’re into Vampires, Fae, Witches and other dark monster-like-creatures, and want to read a very well written story, add Heir to Gold and Ashes to “your must-read list.” It will not disappoint you!