Kimber Leigh Reads

I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review

Last House Burning is a paranormal/urban fantasy with an intriguing story, and a main character who never gives up, even with the odds stacked against him. One has to admire Ben and his almost manic drive to help Verla, a girl he just met. He is also one of the most open-minded characters I've come across in a long time.

Ben is on vacation in a remote Australian town where he is mystified by a fire-ravaged town and the one mansion which survived the flames. I liked Ben, he was passionate and caring, open-minded yet intelligent. The lengths he went through for Verla was heroic to say the least. Verla was a rather dull character, but I suppose given the hell she's lived for the last century, it was understandable.

The bureaucracy of Heaven and Hell led to some of the most memorable scenes in this novel. It's strange to picture the reps of Hell as boring pencil pushers. I thought the story started out quite slow, not really picking up speed until about halfway through. Once things got moving, they also got interesting, and I enjoyed the last half.

While I never really connected with the characters, I did enjoy the plot, so even though I didn't really care much what happened to the characters, I still wanted to know how things panned out. This is one of those rare standalone stories that are becoming harder and harder to come by- I appreciated that quite a bit- it's always nice to have an ending.