Tag: Romance

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Book: “The Last One” by Rachel Howzell Hall

Publishing Info: Red Tower Books, December 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publicisit!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: Thrown into a desolate land of sickness and unnatural beasts, Kai wakes in the woods with no idea who she is or how she got there. All she knows is that if she cannot reach the Sea of Devour, even this hellscape will get worse. But when she sees the village blacksmith fight invaders with unspeakable skill, she decides to accept his offer of help.

Too bad he’s as skilled at annoying her as he is at fighting.

As she searches for answers, Kai only finds more questions, especially regarding the blacksmith who can ignite her body like a flame, then douse it with ice in the next breath.

And no one is what—or who—they appear to be in the kingdom of Vinevridth, including the man whose secrets might be as deadly as the land itself.

Review: I was definitely excited to check this one out when the publicist reached out with a copy! From the looks of things, it seemed like it was going to be the sort of romantasy that leaned more heavily into the action than the romance, something that I typically prefer when it comes to balancing the two. However, while this proved to be correct, other factors involved left this one slipping as my reading continued.

But let’s start with some pros! And first and foremost that comes down to the action! This is a very fast-moving book, chock full of adventure and fight scenes. Right out of the gate, the plot takes off and never really stops. Now, whether the actual story is being advanced with all of this action is another question, but if you’re looking for a fast read, this one should come through for you! I’ll also say that I enjoyed the romance. There wasn’t tons of it, and I think this worked better for the conceit of this book. The MMC knows her past, but she doesn’t, which could lead to a really unfortunate power dynamic. Instead, the love story plays a definite second fiddle and only really moved towards the end of the book. The writing also has a very casual and approachable style of storytelling. Again, this was a specific problem point for me, but it could also be a feature for others, particularly readers who enjoy the very casual voice that you often find in urban fantasy style books.

And look, I enjoy urban fantasy, so once I understood the style of the narration, it was easier to go with it. At the same time, I really have almost zero tolerance for books that have inner monologues where the author actually types out the words “ugh” or “yuck.” It’s a massive pet peeve of mine and immediately throws me out of a book. I can’t seem to ever take a heroine seriously who is written in this style. However, I’m aware that this is an incredibly subjective point, so take from that what you will. That said, I also feel like this mixing of modern language into what feels like a high fantasy book left me feeling very unmoored as to what type of world and setting I was supposed to be picturing. As a fantasy reader who really enjoys worldbuilding, to lose a sense of place in service of quippy modern language is a huge net negative.

From there, while there is a lot of action involved in the book, the pacing was fairly poor. The middle of the book lagged, with very little actually happening of any worth. You’d feel like things should be happening, but then, looking back on the last 50 pages, you’d see that nothing really had. This wasn’t helped by the way the main character’s past was dealt with. She is a character without knowledge of her past and the majority of the book is taken up by this point. Indeed, it began to feel as if the author was intentionally dragging things out in the middle just to prolong this reveal. Which then came at the verrrrry end of the book. And then, by the end, I was left wondering why I had to bother with this book at all? It felt as if I could have read the first few chapters, skipped to the end with the reveal, and then been all set with my prequel chapters out of the way for the next book, the real beginning of the series.

I know this author is quite beloved, so I’m sure there are readers who will gobble this up. Indeed, if you’re a big urban fantasy fan this might work better for you than it will for those who prefer high fantasy. However, I think some of the language decisions and the way the primary conflict regarding her memory was handled ultimately harmed the book.

Rating 6: I can’t get over “ugh” being written out in the first few pages. Sorry, not sorry.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Last One” can be found on this Goodreads list: 2024 Fantasy and Science Fiction Books by Black Authors

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “The Songbird and the Heart of Stone”

Publishing Info: Bramble, November 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: Mische lost everything when she was forcibly Turned into a vampire—her home, her humanity, and most devastating of all, the love of the sun god to whom she had devoted her life. Now, sentenced to death for murdering the vampire prince who turned her, redemption feels impossible.

But when Mische is saved by Asar, the bastard prince of the House of Shadow with a past as brutal as his scars, she’s forced into a mission worse than execution: a journey to the underworld to resurrect the god of death himself.

Yet, Mische’s punishment may be the key to her salvation. In a secret meeting, her sun god commands her to help Asar in his mission, only to betray him… by killing the god of death.

Mische and Asar must travel the treacherous path to the underworld, facing trials, beasts, and the vengeful ghosts of their pasts. Yet, most dangerous of all is the alluring call of the darkness—and her forbidden attraction to Asar, a burgeoning bond that risks invoking the wrath of gods.

As her betrayal looms, the underworld closes in, and angry gods are growing restless. Mische will be forced to choose between the redemption of the sun or the damnation of the darkness.

Review: It’s both an enormous privilege and an enormous test of willpower to receive ARC copies of popular titles! Obviously, I was so excited to receive this copy months before publication. But on the other hand, I still had to diligently work through my review/reading order before getting to it, all while it glittered like the worst sort of temptation on my nightstand. Whining about having to be responsible and read it only 2 months in advance rather than 4 is quite something, isn’t it? Anyways, on to the actual, you know, review…

This is only tangentially related, but I do love fantasy authors who follow the trend of creating large fantasy worlds and then writing either stand-alones or shorter duologies all connected through this larger setting. In this way, you get the best of both worlds: incredibly detailed world-building, sprawling histories, and grand scale plot lines all while not having to commit to a huge, ongoing series that will leave you dangling for years on end before getting any sort of resolution. This is now the 4th book set in Broadbent’s Nyaxia world (I believe one is still slated to be released this coming spring, so I’ll review it then most likely), and it’s such a pleasure to return to a known entity with all of the greater insight this bestows. And for a book like this, that’s quite important. Not only are we following a character who was a significant side character in the previous duology, but the entire plot revolves around the ongoing conflict in the realm of the gods and the ways in which this pantheon is royally messed up.

Let’s start with the characters, as I always like to do. I very much enjoyed Mische in the previous duology, so I was excited that we were going to follow her story in the next series. That said, I did struggle a bit more to connect to her character than I have with other Broadbent leading ladies. However, this may simply be because Mische is very different than the other “touch as nails” warrior women that so often feature in the other books. Mische’s strengths are much more of the “soft” variety. She literally smiles in the face of danger; not because she’s reckless, but because a hard life has taught her the strength of disarming those more powerful than she is with cheer and optimism. But as the story progresses, the book dives deeper into her past and her relationship with the god she follows. There, we find the darker side of how this approach has developed. Through this storyline, the book tackles some deep themes of abusive cycles, self-defense, and, essentially, large scale gaslighting. It’s tough stuff, and I appreciated the very real conflict Mische feels when confronting the contradictions in her life. There are no easy answers and years of conditioning are not easily thrown off.

While it took a bit to truly understand and appreciate Mische’s character (though now I love her just as dearly as all of the other fantastic heroines in this world!), I immediately loved the romantic interest. I definitely have a type, and it’s the strong, silent, bookish, and too bound up in the rules brooder. Asar was all of this and more! Literally, no notes on him, he was just perfect. I also really enjoyed the grumpy/sunshine relationship between him and Mische. Too often I’ve read versions of this relationship where the “grumpy” one is just a jerk and the “sunshine” one is just an idiot. Neither is true here. Instead, we simply have differences in temperament, but still two characters who share passion, drive, and a growing respect for one another.

As for the plot itself, I really enjoyed this one! It’s essentially a quest storyline, with Mische, Asar, and a few other companions making their way through the depths of the underworld. There’s plenty of action and danger throughout, with each new level uncovering new terrors and deeper traumas that must be explored. I also appreciated the timeline here. This is no quick mission. The story takes place over weeks and even months, I believe. Not only does this make the entire thing feel more plausible and lived, it also lends much needed believability to the growing relationship between our characters. No instalove here! Indeed, it takes several weeks for them to even like one another.

I will say, however, that like “The Serpent and the Wings of Night” before it, this one does end on a massive cliffhanger. It’s gutting! So readers who want a resolved storyline may want to wait for the next book to come out. But, of course, there is no way in heck that I had the type of self-control to hold out for that! We’ve already been over my struggles to wait only a few short months…Either way, fans of Carissa Broadbent are sure to enjoy this latest entry and general romantasy fans should definitely give it a go!

Rating 9: Carissa Broadbent is one of the strongest romantasy authors writing today, and this book highlights once again the true highs the genre can reach!

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Songbird and the Heart of Stone” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Epic High Fantasy/Romance/Mythology in 2024 and Fantasy Romance & SciFi Romance Books: Well-Written, Strong Character Development, and Good World Building! (“Fourth Wing” is first on this list, however, so take this title with a grain of salt!)

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Book: “Bloodguard” by Cecy Robson

Publishing Info: Red Tower Books, October 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the marketer!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: One hundred years. Tens of thousands of gladiators. And today, only one will rise…

Everything in the Kingdom of Arrow is a lie.

Leith of Grey thought coming to this new land and volunteering to fight in the gladiator arena—vicious, bloodthirsty tournaments where only the strongest survive—would earn him enough gold to save his dying sister. He thought there was nothing left to lose.

He was wrong—and they took everything. His hope. His freedom. His very humanity.

All Leith has left is his battle-scarred body, fueled by rage and hardened from years of fighting for the right to live another day.

Then Leith meets Maeve, an elven royal who is everything he despises. Everything he should hate. Until the alluring princess offers him the one thing he needs most: a chance to win the coveted title of Bloodguard—and his freedom.

But in a kingdom built on secrets and lies, hope doesn’t come cheap.

Nor will his ultimate revenge…

Review: While I think it’s clear now that I often tend to gravitate towards book told from a female POV, I always like to check out titles that present from a man’s perspective. It’s even more rare to find a book that focuses on a male POV in the romantasy genre, so I was excited to read this book when it was offered for review!

Since I already brought up POV characters, I maybe shouldn’t have been as surprised as I was to find out that Leith does in fact share page time with Maeve who has her own perspective chapters. While I didn’t have a problem with either individual on their own, I still do think it would have been an interesting choice to remain in Leith’s head the entire time. Especially in a romantasy title!

This book was a bit of a mixed bag, however, as I continued to read. It’s biggest strength is in its action and in some of the dialogue. The book starts off with a bang, throwing Leith right into the gladiator action, fighting for his life. Whenever the plot called for action scenes like this, I found myself immediately more drawn in. The writing style was at its best in these moments, propelling the story forward at a relentless pace that, at times, reminded me of Pierce Brown’s writing style (high praise indeed, as I love Brown’s books!). The dialogue was also a strong suit. Not only did it read naturally (this feels like it should be a given for novels, but so often it is not), but there were also some very funny exchanges.

However, when the story slowed down from the action scenes, I did find myself struggling to piece together how everything worked in this world. Maybe I was just missing things, but it was unclear to me how Leith had been a gladiator for as long as he had been, but hadn’t died or moved up the tattoo-based ranking system. It was explained several times that fighters won elements of their tattoo by winning matches, but then only one grizzled veteran had any tattoo piece at all. So did everyone just die in their very first fight all the time? And how has Leith been fighting for as long as he has, but starts without any tattoos? Are there lesser fights they do most of the time? I don’t know. I could have missed things, but for as often as it was talked about, I struggled to piece it all together.

Some of Maive’s plotting and scheming similarly suffered. For all that the action is written so well, the story structure itself felt pieced together, with characters making decisions rather randomly. There were also clunky descriptive bits when the story was languishing between dialogue and action. It was odd, because there are lines of dialogue that I still remember now as being funny. But there are also lines of text that I still remember now as cringe-worthy.

That said, I do think the author has a lot of potential. And the strength of the idea and action-oriented writing make it well worth checking out if you’re a romantasy reader looking for something that feels completely unique from the current trends.

Rating 7: The writing would shine one moment and then feel awkwardly formed at another, which lead to a rather jarring reading experience. But I’ll still check out what’s next!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Bloodguard” isn’t on any relevant Goodreads lists, but it should be on Gladiators.

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “The Stars are Dying” by Chloe Penaranda

Publishing Info: Bramble, October 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: In a world abandoned by the celestial guardians and left to suffer a tyrant king’s reign, all Astraea knows is safety in seclusion. With fragmented memories of only five years of her life, she’s determined to discover more about her past, even if that means fleeing the cruel arms that hold her safe from the wicked vampires rumored to roam the land.

But when Astraea stumbles upon the mysterious Nyte, she soon realizes determination alone isn’t enough to guard her heart. He lingers like the darkness that expands between the stars, and soon she discovers her captor’s wicked means of control weren’t based on a lie to keep her under locks after all. In her desperation, Astraea accepts Nyte’s help before she can decide if she might have sold her allegiance to one of the bloodthirsty beings the people of her world fear.

Once their bargain is struck, Astraea’s chance to escape comes in the form of accompanying her best friend Cassia to the King’s Central. There on royal territory it’s the centenary of the Libertatem, a succession of trials hosted by the king in which five human lands compete for a cycle of safety from the vampires seeking blood, claiming souls, and savaging after dark. So when tragedy strikes, Astraea must decide if taking the place of a murdered participant for the safety of her kingdom is a ruse is worth dying for, or if protection—and the answers to her past—really are her strongest desires.

Review: I was definitely excited when I saw that this book had been picked up by a traditional publisher, Bramble. I’ve had some good luck with Bramble’s choices (Carissa Broadbent is a new fave by far!), and there was a lot of positive hype around this book, including it being picked by a book box I subscribe to that also has been hitting it out of the park recently. So, with many good signs pointing to a great reading experience, I eagerly dove in once I received my ARC copy!

Unfortunately, all of these positive indicators let me down a bit. But even though the book didn’t work for me, I can see why it has the hype that it does. There is a lot of strong potential here, especially given currently popular tropes and read-alike authors whose names get thrown around a lot as comparisons. The writing would also veer wildly, but when it was at its peak, it could by lyrical and whimsical in a way that I think appeals to a lot of romantasy fans.

It’s also notable that one of my primary gripes with this book has to do with its use of a character type/arc that I’ve read in another book recently that managed to pull it off where this one did not. I didn’t review “When the Moon Hatched” on the blog, but I read it last spring and was, frankly, a bit surprised by how much I liked it. I don’t think it’s much of a spoiler, but the main character’s arc revolves around her identity and who she may have been in a long-lost life. It’s a tricky concept to write, but that book managed to pull it off where this one took a very similar approach and failed. I think the difference all comes down to the execution of this main character and the type of personality/role they are assigned within the story. In WtMH, we had a main character who was action-oriented, violent, a sheer force of nature. The slow reveal of her past is one that is actively pushed against; she has a complete personality and history as it is, and much of her story is trying to reconcile who she is know with who others see her as.

Here, we have…not that. I do think this book set itself up for a much harder challenge by making the main character a victim of abuse as well. This sets her up to be an incredibly passive, withdrawn character for much of the book. Yes, I understand that the author is trying to show the ways in which learned helplessness is a survival technique, but for the story itself, it leaves readers following a character who feels profoundly uncurious and unmotivated to engage with the mysteries swirling around her. Things are ostensibly happening (there was a lot of “plot? what plot?” throughout the first three quarters of this book), but she is such a passive character, that it was incredibly frustrating to feel stuck in the wake of her inaction and seeming uninterest.

I also felt like there was zero chemistry between her and the romantic lead. Again, we have a character here who is aware of her past, so the book neatly side steps the need to create the bond between them. Instead, readers are simply told it’s there. It’s almost like insta-love in that way. Sure, we’re meant to understand that these two have a bond that was established before, but as we never saw it and see no work to re-establish it in a natural way here, it instead feels the same as insta-love: unearned and lacking any true foundation built up on page.

And while there were moments of strength in the writing, I did struggle with it more often than not. Right from the start, I found myself having to re-read pages to try to piece together what the author was trying to convey. Just because words sound beautiful together, doesn’t mean they actually make any sense to read. What am I meant to be picturing? The plotting and pacing also left much to be desired. Due to the passive main character and the lack of any real action, the book feels like a slog to get through for much of the first half. Things do pick up towards the end. But even here, I was incredibly frustrated by what we were given, or, more notably, not given. Almost none of the mysteries surrounding our main character were revealed. I still know next to nothing about who she was five years ago and how she got back.

Overall, this was a fairly frustrating read. I do plan on giving the second book a go as I have already requested it, but this book did set that one up for a steep climb to any sort of enjoyment. Perhaps readers who enjoy more passive main characters in romance novels may enjoy this, but as it stands, I think there are better examples of this sort of story out there. We’ll see how the second book wraps things up I guess!

Rating 7: While there was potential in the basic premise, the passive main character was difficult to follow and the insta-love romance frustrating to read.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Stars Are Dying” isn’t on any Goodreads lists, but it should be on October 2024 Most Anticipated Romance Releases.

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “How to Help a Hungry Werewolf” by Charlotte Stein

Publishing Info: St. Martin’s Griffin, October 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: What We Do in the Shadows with the small town feels of Gilmore Girls in this swoon-worthy romance that will leave readers delightfully cozy and hungry for more.

When Cassandra Camberwell returns to her hometown of Hollow Brook to clear out her late grandmother’s ramshackle old house, the last thing she expects is Seth Brubaker on her doorstep. Her former best friend was responsible for the worst moment of her high school life, and she can’t imagine he wants to do anything but torment her all over again.

Until she unearths the real reason this annoyingly gorgeous beast of a man keeps hanging around: he’s an actual werewolf, who’s certain she’s the witch that will ease his suffering. But Cassie just isn’t sure if she can trust him again. So Seth offers a pact: he’ll teach her all about her undiscovered magic, and she will brew the potions he needs. No feelings, no funny business, just a witch and a werewolf striking a deal.

Totally doable. Until they get hit with a do-or-die mating bond. And now the heat is rising, in between fights with formers bullies and encounters with talking raccoons. They just have to not give in. Unless giving in just might be the very thing they never knew they always wanted.

Review: While October is Kate’s month with her yearly “Horrorpalooza,” if the right options present themselves, I like to get in on the themed action and read some Halloween books myself! Of course, these often skew towards the fantastical and the romantic rather than, you know, all the actual horror. That being the case, I was excited when the publisher contacted me about a potential review for this book. Judging by the title and the adorable cover alone, I thought this would perfectly fit my more laid back Halloween vibes during the month of October!

This book was a bit of a strange read, in that I really enjoyed the first half of the story, but then as it moved into the second part, I found myself beginning to struggle more. But to start with the positives, the story starts out on a strong foot. This is very much a cozy fantasy story in that there is a distinct tone to the storytelling. Nothing is ever discussed in too serious of a manner and much of the dialogue is quite quippy and silly. There is a very stylistic approach to the storytelling, and it’s the kind of thing that will either work for readers right from the start or it will annoy them. For the most part, I was happy to go with it and did find much of it humorous. I made the wise decision early in the story to firmly slot the romantic interest into the “himbo/golden-retriever-esque” character archetype, which helped with my expectations throughout.

That being the case, however, I do wish the book had balanced some of the more light-hearted moments out with some seriousness. While the Seth was funny, I also wished we had some more sincere moments from him. And, as the story progressed, I increasingly began to struggle with the dialogue/character decisions we were getting as contrasted with the actual age of these characters.

We are meant to believe these two are adults well into their twenties. But too often the manner of their speech and the quality of their observations fell firmly into the teenage category. Towards the middle, the romantic conflict began to take an incredibly silly turn, with Cassie misinterpreting Seth’s actions and reactions to a truly ridiculous degree. I get that this was meant to delay their reconciliation, but it began to become silly to the point of frustrating very quickly. Her thought process (and his as well, from what we could see) fell firmly within the juvenile category and was simply not believable as coming from a mature woman.

I also understand that this is the type of cozy fantasy story where the magic system, such as it is, is very broad and undefined. Which is fine, that’s not the point of this type of story. However, Cassie also began to feel incredibly over-powered fairly early on which did take out some of the conflict in the last act of the story.

All of this said, I believe this is the beginning of a series, and I’m fairly certain we meet the next two main characters in this book, both of whom I’m definitely interested in following. So while I felt a bit let down by the end of this book, I’m definitely interested in checking out the next one. Fans of cozy fantasy romance should probably give this one a shot, though the overall quippy tone may be hit and miss for some readers.

Rating 7: A bit bogged down by the quippy tone and immature main characters, but still a fun enough read for the most part.

Reader’s Advisory:

“How to Help a Hungry Werewolf” can be found on these Goodreads lists: A Dash of Spice: Autumn Romance Reads and Witch Romance

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “Fear the Flames” by Olivia Rose Darling

Publishing Info: Delacorte Press, September 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: NetGalley!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: As a child, Elowen Atarah was ripped away from her dragons and imprisoned by her father, King Garrick of Imirath. Years later, Elowen is now a woman determined to free her dragons. Having established a secret kingdom of her own called Aestilian, she’s ready to do what’s necessary to save her people and seek vengeance. Even if that means having to align herself with the Commander of Vareveth, Cayden Veles, the most feared and dangerous man in all the kingdoms of Ravaryn.

Cayden is ruthless, lethal, and secretive, promising to help Elowen if she will stand with him and all of Vareveth in the pending war against Imirath. Despite their contrasting motives, Elowen can’t ignore their undeniable attraction as they combine their efforts and plot to infiltrate the impenetrable castle of Imirath to steal back her dragons and seek revenge on their common enemy.

As the world tries to keep them apart, the pull between Elowen and Cayden becomes impossible to resist. Working together with their crew over clandestine schemes, the threat of war looms, making the imminent heist to free her dragons their most dangerous adventure yet. But for Elowen, her vengeance is a promise signed in blood, and she’ll stop at nothing to see that promise through.

Review: I’ve had a very hit and miss experience with popular dragon romantasy books over the last year or so. I haven’t reviewed either of them here, but over the last year and half I’ve read both “Fourth Wing” and “When the Moon Hatched.” Really hated the former, but, after a rough start, did end up enjoying the latter for the most part. In perusing other fantasy reviewers’ thoughts of these two wildly popular titles, again and again I saw “Fear the Flames” popping up as dragon romantasy title worth checking out. So, armed with my usual caution about BookkTok books (sorry, not sorry), I requested a copy of this when I saw it was being picked up by a trad publisher and re-released this fall. And…oof.

I usually like to start with the good things, but I honestly am having a hard time with this one. I mean, I guess there were the bare bones of good ideas here. But at the same time, those bare bones aren’t creatively unique to this author. Sure, dragons are always a good idea, but you can’t really give any one author tons of credit for simply including them in their book. And in this particular case, the dragons were so wasted as to negate the promise of them to begin with! They’re introduced in the prologue and we are told that our super special protagonist bonded to several dragons as a baby. This later causes her family to harm, reject, and banish her, caging her dragons away from her. But we’re never told any details about this! What does it mean to be bonded to numerous dragons? How rare is this? What abilities does this grant her? And then, said dragons don’t even show up again until the last 100 pages of the book! They are wasted in such a way as to be almost inexcusable, and frankly, it made me feel like I had been sold a bill of false goods on the basic premise of this book.

The incoherent world-building continued throughout. We hear that various nations are at war, but we are never told what drives these conflicts, what the parties involved want, or any history behind it. There are dragons in this world, and some hints at various sorts of magic, but how does any of these fantasy elements actually work? Nothing is fleshed out in any way! It feels as if the author looked into what fantasy tropes were currently popular, and then just threw them all in here. A weird metaphor, but go with me: in a good fantasy novel, an author will combine ingredients that may seem strange on their own, but together they become a lush and rich stew. Here, it’s like the author was a small child who went out in the yard and made “stew” with sticks and stones and tried to pass it off as the same.

The romance was equally disappointing. It pretty much happens instantaneously and then the rest of the book is just the hero saying some variation of “who did this to you” throughout the rest of the book. Oh, and following around the heroine as she shops. And here, too, we had more problems. There is coffee, lingerie, and romance novels in this world, all of which our leading lady loves. Except, oh wait, she’s been living in hiding throughout most of her life and she says early in the book that her only priority is protecting the people of her small, hidden realm. If that’s the case, it’s hard to buy that she’s had much time to focus on these frivolous things. Nothing wrong with these pastimes (heaven knows I enjoy all of these things too!) but it makes no sense in the world that is built here or for this character in particular, a woman who it seems would have had practically zero time for leisure, comfort, or excess.

Honestly, this book made me mad. It feels as if more and more often traditional publishers are combing through the various indie books that have been self-published looking for any that have the currently-popular tropes of the moment and the re-purposing them as fast as possible. And I do mean as fast as possible! The entire point of trad publishing vs. indie publishing is the vast number of resources they have to enhance a book to its best version. But here, and in other similar instances, it feels like the publisher forego any of the professional editing they should be bringing to new titles and instead just threw a new cover on the original version and got it out as fast as possible! Got to if you’re book is nothing but vibes and tropes and who knows when those could change! It’s so disappointing and lets down not only the authors themselves who are now missing out on the crucial edits trad publishers can offer to enhance books, but also to readers who have higher expectations for books published in the traditional manner.

I really disliked this book. And even more so, I really dislike the trend that this book perfectly highlights. Books are more than tropes or vibes, and sooner or later, readers are going to pick up on the fact that that’s all certain books/publishers/authors have on offer anymore. I can’t recommend this one. Perhaps if you’re a die-hard romantasy fan, but even then, the market is so flooded right now that it’s impossible to throw a stone in any direction and not hit a million other titles just like it, some much better than this.

Rating 5: An incoherent mess that feels like it was picked up just because its tropes matched the ones currently popular.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Fear the Flames” isn’t on any relevant Goodreads lists currently but it should be on Dragon Lovers’ Books.