City in Embers (Collector 1) by Stacey Marie Brown

Zoey Daniels has been tossed from foster home to foster home, where she grows up fast and tough. When she is placed in her “last-chance” home, she finds a reason to stay and turn her life around: her foster sister, Lexie, who is paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. Zoey will do anything to keep her safe. After high school, Zoey is hired by a special government agency, the Department of Molecular Genetics (DMG), where she meets the other reason to remain: Daniel, her co-worker. The man she loves.

But there is something unique about Zoey. She can see fae. Because of this, the DMG hires her to work as a Collector: catching, researching, testing, and using the fae to save human lives. The work never registers on her sympathy radar. She was raised to think of fae as beasts that feed on humans and want to destroy them.

When devastation hits Seattle, Zoey's whole world is turned upside down. The electric storm connects her to a ruthless fae, a Wanderer named Ryker, whose dealings expose them to even more trouble and danger. They embark on a journey, running and hiding from both the government and fae, both of which threaten their lives and those they love.

I was looking something new to read while waiting (still waiting..) for White Hot by Ilona Andrews and ACOWAR by SJM (a review of that can be read here)

This was nominated for Book of the Month in MacHalo group in Goodreads, and since I don't do SF, I decided to skip the winner and try this instead. Some other members joined me.

Book's beginning was a bit dull. Zoey wasn't very interesting. But when the shit hit the fan and Ryker came to the picture, EVERYTHING changed. What stared quite dull plot morphed into something really exciting and the plot had me then. Dull stupid characters were killed off and Zoey's promising career as and agent left in cinders. The special snowflake-angle was indeed special but not in the "incredible powers hidden within" way, more in ""born as an labrat and die horrificaly at any moment" way. I listened part of this as an audiobook and read part in traditional way, and narrator was good enough, although she made Ryker sound weird at times.Some plot flaws, but not very big ones.There were some delicious toe-curling moments between Zoey and Ryker but no actual smut, which was all good, left me hungry for the next instalment.  Which I'm tackling next week, most definitely.