From the Ashes

By Ruby Banks

Going on an adventure with a sexy fireman who happens to also be a dragon? In a hot second.

You'll have no problem finding Emily Travis – she'll be the bookish girl hiding among her beloved artefacts. And that's exactly how she likes it. She doesn't need to screw up and lose this job, just like she did the last one. And she absolutely doesn't need to go toe-to-toe with the sexy thief who's broken into her museum to steal a prized map.

So when she's mistaken for her vivacious and smart twin, she knows she has to pretend to be her in order to track the thief—and map—to make sure her job's safe and her life returns to normal. Has she mentioned she really needs this job and her boss is pretty scary? A mini-kidnap, a chase on a train, and a gun-wielding maniac later, she wonders if she's cut out for a life of adventure.

But conning a thief isn't easy, especially when secrets begin to unravel, and life gets dangerously twisted. Emily soon realises that Ethan isn't who he says he is, either, and the town he calls home, is all sorts of screwy. Can she drop the sister act long enough to claim her man and find her true power? Or is a future with her fated mate about to go up in flames?

From the Ashes is a standalone dragon shifter romance with a guaranteed happily-ever-after ending and no cliffhanger.
It's book one in the Deadrose series, and it contains paranormal beings, hot firemen, sassy females, lots of action and adventure, plus a big splash of humour. Tropes include enemies to lovers, mistaken identity, and fated mates.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Midas Jinx
• Release date: Jun 14, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215772416

Ruby Banks

Ruby Banks is a British author who's married with kids - furless and not. She spends her waking hours dreaming up epic romances full of action adventure and nekkid people, all whilst inhaling coffee. It's a tough life.

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COPYRIGHT

EBook Edition

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book, please purchase an additional copy for each person. No part of this book may be copied or shared, unless a small excerpt or blurb is needed for review or marketing purposes. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, then please return to the vendor and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author. This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organisations is coincidental. Originally published by Xandra James and Midas Jinx

Copyright © 2023 Ruby Banks and Midas Jinx

All rights reserved

About From the Ashes

To protect the secrets of his paranormal community, all Ethan Barrett—dragon shifter and fireman—has to do is steal back a treasure map from a museum. It should be simple for someone with his past military skills. But what his meticulous planning didn't allow for, though, was a woman on a mission to stop him at all costs.

Nerdy and quiet museum curator Emily Travis has been given a second chance with this job, and she won't be giving it up for a thief! Mistaken for her vivacious and sexy twin sister, it gives her the confidence she needs to chase the map across the country. But conning the thief isn't easy, especially when she realises Ethan's keeping big secrets himself.

When they agree to reluctantly work together to save the town of Deadrose, the lines become blurred. But with their hearts now involved, and danger on their doorstep, will the truth make their fated future go up in flames?

FROM THE ASHES IS A shifter romance with a guaranteed happy ending. It's book one in the Deadrose series, and tropes include enemies to lovers, mistaken identity, and fated mates.

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Contents

FROM THE ASHES

COPYRIGHT

About From the Ashes

Chapter One – The end of an era

Chapter Two – Job security

Chapter Three – Penis waggling.

Chapter Four – Books rot your brain

Chapter Five – Brains are a girl's best friend

Chapter Six – Hooray for sticky notes

Chapter Seven – His fair lady

Chapter Eight – Who are you?

Chapter Nine – It's all about the cake

Chapter Ten – Just a dog

Chapter Eleven – I dream of dragons

Chapter Twelve – Fire, fire, fire

Chapter Thirteen – She was a hot mess

Chapter Fourteen – All tied up

Chapter Fifteen – He was having a hard time

Chapter Sixteen – It's all about the key

Chapter Seventeen – Don't look back in anger

Chapter Eighteen – An internet sex tape

Chapter Nineteen – Odd was the new black

Chapter Twenty – Crow pie, anyone?

Chapter Twenty-One – The point of no return

Chapter Twenty-Two – From the ashes

Chapter Twenty-Three – Blue Balls

Chapter Twenty-Four – Epilogue

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Chapter One – The end of an era

The cold of the early April day seeped through Ethan Barrett's expensive overcoat, but he barely noticed it. His mother had gripped his hand in a death squeeze and she wasn’t letting go anytime soon.

Dark clouds threatened rain, casting an eerie glow over the Deadrose cemetery and the small group of people gathered for the service. His mother began to weep softly and he instinctively pulled her close, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. His father should have stood to her left, back straight, large and imposing, eyes forward, not a flicker of emotion breaking the hard lines of his face. Yet, here he was, standing by her side and laying his dad to rest. It was too soon. There hadn't been enough time.

Half listening to the priest’s words, Ethan's mind wandered. An elder of Deadrose hadn't died for quite some time, so it had thrown the community into disarray. Not because they had lost one of their leaders, but because there were so many residents vying to be the newest addition to the elite line-up. It was exciting times.

Fuckers.

They all wanted to be elected so they could finally find out the truth about this strange and God-forsaken place. Although they were all sworn to secrecy after taking their oath, there was a prestige about knowing. And there were several residents who thought they were entitled to hear the tales, probably because they were rich and thought they actually were something special.

Speculation was that the founder had been the descendent of the devil himself, but who really knew? The residents of Deadrose had always held their secrets close and their enemies closer but the devil? That would explain a lot.

New gossip here was life. In a world of deception and subterfuge, it was like sunshine on a rainy day for most of them.

His mother sank into him, bringing him back to the task at hand, and buried her face from the sight of his father’s coffin in front of them. A few people threw a single rose onto the glossy walnut casket. His stomach turned. His father was larger than life, bigger than the world that tried to tie him down. A random drunk driver across the portal in the other world had taken his life and it wasn't fitting, not fair. Wasn't worthy of the man—of the commanding shape-shifter and leader—he was.

Taking a deep breath, he looked into the small crowd of people who had bothered to turn up. Ethan knew almost all of them and could deduce the rest...except one person. A woman dressed in what looked like an expensive black-suit stood to the edge of the group. Her blonde hair had been wound into an intricate, delicate twist. Her lips were painted the same colour as her heeled shoes. Pillar box red.

Curious. Outsiders must have a pass or be accompanied by a resident in good standing. Was she here alone? She'd had her head lowered throughout the funeral and he'd found himself watching her while he should have been paying attention. Who was she? Ethan was sure there was something familiar about her, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

He sighed, ready for this day to be over with. A mystery wasn’t what he wanted or needed to be thinking about.

Michael Barrett was an ox of a man, but he would have moved heaven and earth for those he loved and trusted. Despite all that, he and Ethan would rarely see eye to eye on anything and their relationship was fractured. An ache began in his chest, squeezing him tight.

All the residents of Deadrose respected him, even if they didn't like him. He glanced back at the stranger. Nevertheless, this woman—an outsider—was at a funeral of an elder and Ethan wanted to know why. For some reason it made him nervous. And he always listened to his instincts.

Darling, I'm ready to go, now. Ethan blinked, in a completely different world. Her eyes were swollen red from crying, and she hadn't bothered with any make-up, something he'd never seen before. He wanted to help, but didn't know what he could say. For all his father’s many faults, she had loved him dearly.

Turning away from the large stone-built church in front of him, the town of Deadrose had never felt so isolated as it did right now. Stuck in limbo, he knew there was something big coming. He could feel it in his bones. And he intended to get to the bottom of it as quickly as possible.

Heading back toward the small line of funeral cars parked in the road, he knew his mother was taking comfort in being with him. He wouldn't leave her, not quite yet. Looking around, he'd hoped to see his older brother, but Sean hadn't shown up. That didn't really surprise him. They'd been estranged for years. Why would their father's funeral be any different?

He stopped at the main car to let his mother in first, readying himself for the small, depressing gathering back at his parent's home. He looked back towards the grave site, almost instinctually.

The woman still stood there, looking on as the coffin was completely covered in dirt. The bright red roses she held stood out in the dim light of the spring day, and Ethan watched her, intrigued. Eventually, she laid them down next to where the headstone would be, and right next to his mother's flowers. Something felt off but, again, he couldn't put his finger on what.

Deliberately taking his time in settling Ava Barrett then taking off his jacket, he hovered at the car door like an idiot, waiting for her to get closer to him. The mystery woman glanced up,