Review: Marked by Sarah Fine

Marked by Sarah Fine
Published January 2015 by 47 North
Source: eGalley ARC from NetGalley

In a broken landscape carved by environmental collapse, Boston paramedic Cacia Ferry risks life and limb on the front lines of a fragile and dangerous city. What most don’t know—including her sexy new partner, Eli Margolis—is that while Cacy works to save lives, she has another job ferrying the dead to the Afterlife. Once humans are “Marked” by Fate, the powerful Ferrys are called to escort the vulnerable souls to either eternal bliss or unending fire and pain.

Unaware of Cacy’s other life, Eli finds himself as mesmerized by his fierce and beautiful partner as he is mistrustful of the influential Ferry clan led by the Charon—who happens to be Cacy’s father. Cacy, in turn, can no longer deny her intense attraction to the mysterious ex-Ranger with a haunted past. But just as their relationship heats up, an apparent hit takes the Charon before his time. Shaken to the core, Cacy pursues the rogue element who has seized the reins of Fate, only to discover that Eli has a devastating secret of his own. Not knowing whom to trust, what will Cacy have to sacrifice to protect Eli—and to make sure humanity’s future is secure?

My Thoughts

Boston paramedic Cacia Ferry takes on dangerous assignments in a broken and flooded city. Her co-workers don’t know that she, along with members of her family, are responsible for ferrying those who have died to the Afterlife.

Cacy's new partner, Eli Margolis, is intensely attracted to Cacy, but distrustful of her rich and powerful family. When Cacy's father is suddenly Marked and killed—perhaps before his time—Cacy is faced with the possibility that someone is subverting Fate and making a power play to usurp the powers of the Ferrys. And, it appears that Eli's sister, Galena, is the focus of the power struggle. Galena's biomedical research offers hope of new vaccines against the plagues devastating the city, but fewer deaths mean less income to the Kere who Mark the doomed and the Ferrys who transport their souls to their final destination.

I have to say that I enjoyed everything about Marked except the explicit lovemaking scenes. The plot is captivating and the characters are appealing. But I'm just not fond of such steamy scenes. I think the book could be just as good (if not better) if it was toned down a bit.

★★★☆☆

Note that I received a free copy of Marked from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.