With the arrival of a comet Nalia knows it is time to begin her quest to find a Cinnabar mine and a someone to help her make the elixir of life. She and a group of her clan begin their travels, meeting up with long lost family along the way. When Nalia finally finds the mine she and her clan have lost much, but will they be able to gain the cinnabar to create the elixir or will they end up being swayed to create fake gold. Or, worse yet, the inquisition could find them and they would lose their lives.
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. This book is set during the Spanish Inquisition and takes place with a band of gypsies. Not the safest place during that time. Still, we see the inner workings of this clan as they break rules by traveling during their quest. Beyond the constant threat of the Inquisition they have other things to worry about. They must find an alchemist to work with them to create the elixir, but finding one they trust will prove difficult. Then, there is the fact that many in the clan believe that they should create fools gold to become rich from the cinnabar.
Each threat is balanced perfectly in this book and you are invested to see if Nalia completes her quest as well as who she ends up with. There is quite a bit of implied sex in this book and it is discussed rather regularly, but not in detail. I only mention this as some people have problems with the very descriptive sexual scenes that I personally love in smut. In this case, it worked. But, if you don't like a lot of overly in depth scenes, this book glosses over the details.
I will say that book 1 ends on a cliffhanger. There has been enough given away, through Nalia's dreams that you are confident in how any additional books that may come later will play out, but it does not tell you how it comes to pass. Perhaps the author will tell us more about it, perhaps she will leave it up for interpretation. We will find out.
All in all this was a good book, especially for a period piece. This book is available on Amazon for $0.99 by clicking here.
