I enjoyed the first book in this series because I'm hopelessly addicted to fantasy romance. However, while I found the story very entertaining I had some real problems with the central romance. The relationship between the hero and heroine often struck me as being very sexist. I was hoping these issues might be resolved in Breath of Fire .... and I'm glad to say there was some improvement. I was really impressed with some of the character development but sadly I'm still not able to get behind this romance. I want to support Cat and Griffin but something about their dynamic just feels really toxic to me.

Regardless, I'm going to continue with this series because I can't help myself. I'm invested now.

There is plenty to love in Breath of Fire. The world building is great and the story is fast-moving, action packed and loads of fun. Deep down, I really want to support the romance and I am still cherishing hopes that Cat and Griffin's love story will achieve some kind of balance by the end of the series.

Overall, I can see why this series is so popular. It's this is the perfect read for lovers of romance (but beware the hero is one of those alpha-male-desperately-in-need-of-anger-management-therapy types).

<blockquote><b><i>"Harbinger of the end. Destroyer of realms"</i></b></blockquote>

For me, this was a very worthy sequel to <a href="http://bookreviewsbydi.blogspot.com/2016/09/review-promise-of-fire-amanda-bouchet.html">A Promise of Fire</a> and I thoroughly enjoyed being back in Bouchet's world based on Greek mythology. It was so very nearly as good as the first book and I really appreciate that in a sequel!

<b>There's an immense plot with action packed battles; swoon worthy romance and sizzling scenes; there's snark, humour and witty banter; tender moments and pages full of camaraderie and friendship.</b>

I really enjoyed watching Cat's character development through this one - she's struggling to accept who and what she is and yet with Griffin by her side and her support from Beta team, she is stepping up to her potential. It's not always pretty and it's not always graceful, but she is growing and moving forwards.

The steaminess is also turned up in this one and not to the detriment of the story which I found refreshing. The world and the plot is becoming more and more complex as are the characters and their interactions.

I love getting to know more about Beta team and getting to know and spend time with more of Griffin's family - I could really see how they have instilled such wonderful values into their children and the characters are so richly developed and multi-faceted that I believed and cared about every one of them.

There were a couple of scenes that have been mentioned in other reviews that I wanted to address here, firstly as a bit of a fore-warning but also to explain why I'm still giving this one five stars.

There's a scene in which Griffin completely loses his cool and destroys a lot of stuff - for me, while a bit of a shock, it was still in keeping with this man. He has a fierce temper which he largely keeps under control and in the previous book it didn't seem to matter how far Cat pushed him or goaded him, he never snapped. In this book the stakes are raised and just <i>everything</i> becomes that much more intense. It wasn't the best way he could have handled things, it wasn't a perfect representation of an infallible main character, but who actually likes those guys anyway? I like my characters to be relatable and I guess I quickly forgave him for the error in his ways. He proved time and time again his loyalty and trust was with Cat. Even when Cat has no confidence or faith in herself, Griffin lifts her up. All humans are allowed to make mistakes, even fictional ones. I'm not defending Griffin's epic tantrum here - but I <i>am</i> defending the author's use of it in this book.

<blockquote><b><i>“I will never leave you,” I vow, feeling the magic in my words bind me. “Only death can tear us apart, and even then, I will wait for you at the edges of the Underworld until you come to me again.”</i></b></blockquote>

As I've mentioned - there's some really great secondary characters in this series and my love for them makes the bad things that happen to them tough to take. In particular my heart is aching for Kato and the treatment that he received at the hands of a capricious Goddess and her handmaiden. I hope that this issue is addressed further in the third book because Kato is one of my favourites and deserves better...

All in all, this is an action packed book and is quite the roller coaster ride from start to finish. I do love Bouchet's affinity for writing well choreographed and action packed battle scenes: I was right there in the arena during the games, I could almost feel the three headed beast's breath on my neck and the hydra's shrieks seemed to echo in my own ears.

<b>I love the world, I love the adventure and I love the wonderful characters</b>. The ending of this book, while not a cliffhanger, leaves a lot still to be resolved in the third book and I'm willing to bet there will be a fairly epic battle in the future. I look forward to Cat stepping into the role that she is born for and I look forward to just reading more from Bouchet. Heart on Fire can't come soon enough for me!

<blockquote><b><i>“The minute you cease being afraid of yourself, there’s nothing in this world that can stop you.”</i></b></blockquote>