Book 1 revolves around our main character IVY learning that her life is a complete lie, her sister has been taken by...demons? And the swoony guy who offers to help her...also hates her? Ivy is a key player in the imminent and ongoing war between angels and demons. The last of her powerful blood line, she must play a game of hide and seek, all the while searching for treasures she's not sure exist. She will do anything to get her sister Jasmine back. If that includes going along on this wild fiasco with a hot guy who loathes her, then so be it.
The Beautiful Ashes is definitely an intro book with all the comfort theme you want in urban fantasy: forbidden romance, nice girl-jerky guy, naïve magical girl comes into powers, kidnapping, etc. All this is introduced, so you won't get anything new from this book, but I still enjoyed it. What I'm telling you is to push through, because book 2 & 3 are very entertaining. Ivy and Adrian really develop as characters with their own voice and hilarity ensues as we get to know their minds. The plot thickens in the books and they make mistake after mistake that you both do and don't see coming. Give it a try!