As much as I wanted to enjoy this I just couldn't. The writing put me off and had to force my way of the book because of the main characters which I find to be decent at most. I really like Ross and Deacon as well.


Overall, I think this was a decent read but I did not enjoy this unfortunately .

** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Copy received through Netgalley

~

Hearts of Fire (Chevalier #1) by Kay Doherty
★★★★★
146 Pages
POV: 3rd person, multi-POV
Content Warning: homophobia, interspecies-phobia, D/s elements and power struggles, May/Dec, mental health issues, violence, homicidal/suicidal thoughts


Wow! I've been a fan of Doherty since I read 'Only You' last year and I knew then that I was going to love anything they wrote. And I have, so far.

Hearts of Fire is a paranormal romance with a difference. Combining magic, shifters and family dynamics into a novel that is original and refreshingly clever, Doherty has offered something new to the genre.

Predominantly a dual POV, the story adds in the necessary extra POV of Deacon, a side character with a huge impact on the story. Through this, we're never left out of the loop or scrambling to catch up with what might have happened elsewhere.

I loved the main characters and their diversity. Tanner and Luca were excellent characters to provide their POV, as well as intriguing enough to follow for the entirety of the novel. Tanner is strong, a natural leader, but raised to follow and his struggle to find his place in the world is a great journey. We're never once lost amongst the conflict or the internal battle he's waging with himself and how he was raised. We follow his struggle from start to finish, and that's refreshing as well as necessary for his character growth. I really appreciated that none of his struggles were skimmed over, despite what else might have been happening at the time. Similarly, Lucas is the big strong businessman when the story starts, with a dominant personality. But, despite this, we see him open up to Tanner, express his jealousy and his softer side, until we see that he's just as complex and relatable, just as real as Tanner is, with the same doubts and struggles.

The side characters all had their place in the story, and it was nice to follow them through their journey, even if it was a secondary plot. Seeing Deacon and Ross' story through Deacon's POV gave an extra element to the plot that really helped strengthen the worldbuilding and the sense of family that the characters had created with each other. Adding in the supporting roles of Ean, Vance and Theran, means that we get a real sense of family, support, and bonding between all the characters. I can't wait to see their stories in subsequent books, as the series grows.

The chemistry between all the characters was fantastic, as was the slow burn of the central relationship. From sibling behaviour to friendship to the romance, all of the relationships were solid and well formed, well plotted and carefully revealed and constructed. I never doubted the friendship between the characters or the growing bonds that developed, because they were all firmly rooted in the story. The natural instincts of all characters – from human to their wolves to the dragon natures – were all well shown and explored throughout the plot and characterisation. When characters were in their human form, you could still sense their wolf/dragon instincts, and vice versa.

Overall, I loved everything about it and I can't wait to read more.

~

Favourite Quotes

“Luca fell more in love with Tanner each day. He was shocked how easily the pup had stolen what little heart Luca had,”

This one was short (less than 150 pages) but it wasn’t lacking. It started with Tanner helping Luca in the forest and didn’t slow down from there. From their initial meeting to discovering what they were to each other, a lot happens in Hearts of Fire. Tanner was a true alpha, but since he was disowned by his pack, he could easily lose himself without that pack connection. When he lost his pack, he never expected to find a new one who needed him as much as he evidently needed them.

Hearts of Fire was a great start to what promises to be an interesting series. A lot was revealed in this first book, but even more was left unanswered. Without the support of either of their families as well as the threats coming from Tanner’s former pack, things aren’t going to be easy for Luca and Tanner. I can’t wait to see what the author has in store for them in the next book in the Chevalier series. This is my first book by Kay Doherty, but it obviously won’t be my last. 😉

I thought that this was a good story.

It had strong characters that worked really well together and I enjoyed getting to know them

I thought that the story flowed very well and it was really easy to read

Four stars from me for this one, highly recommended and I have to say I enjoyed this story very much!!

This story surprised me! I didn't expect too much from it and was shocked how invested I became in the story!

The forbidden romance of sorts between a Dragon and a Wolf and it's full of so much action and intrigue and found family and the ending left me antsy for the next book!

I actually love this story more than I ever thought I would! The characters are fun and funny and the side characters, you'll come to be just as invested in!

The first book in the Chevalier series, Hearts of Fire is an encouraging start. It has a nice paranormal element and although a lot seemed to be happening, I am hoping the gaps will be filled in later books. I will be reading more of this series

Light hearted easy read. Enjoyable characters and plot. A little bit over the top a lot of the time, but that's pretty standard for the genre.

I really enjoyed this one! I was immediately dragged into the story, all of the characters and the storyline were really well thought out, and the story was engaging. It’s not every day you come across a wolf/dragon pairing so it was a nice change, not to mention the “power” involved. I think this is going to be a very interesting and neat series. I love Tanner and Luca, and their new pack! I’m really looking forward to the next book!

Not much I can say about this one. Its one of those sweet feel good romances about pack and mates with a brewing plot. I liked both Tanner and Luca as well as Ross and Deacon. Didn’t like either family. The ending was a nice little surprise teasing book 2. Looking forward to the next one.

I really enjoyed this book read its in a day its a easy read that you can't put down liked all the characters and hope there a second book.

I really enjoyed this. The characters were engaging and the storyline really kept me interested, I ended up reading it in one sitting. All in all a very enjoyable read and nice addition to the MM fantasy genre.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read more by this author.

3.5 Stars. I did enjoy this book but there was so much happening in such a short amount of pages that I think we lost out on some character development especially for Luca.

I liked both the MC's but I couldn't get a lock on Luca's character. Sometimes he was super dominate and others he wasn't and well if I'm honest the same thing with Tanner. It seemed the author couldn't decide which one she wanted to be the most dominant so she kept flip flopping instead of either picking or making them both dominant all the time. There were also quite a lot of secondary characters introduced along with a plot that will carry over into future books.

I did find the plot very interesting and I liked the concept. I'm interested to see where this will go and while I can't say I loved this book I am intrigued and do plan to read the next book.

This was a very nice fantasy M/M romance. The characters where engaging and likable and the storyline was well written!

The main characters of this story were compelling and interesting. I loved Luca and his developing relationship with Tanner. I loved the subverted expectations when Tanner ended up being more dominant.

However, I found the story rushed, especially the development of the secondary characters and their relationship with Tanner. It felt so forced. They went from just meeting to willing to die for each other in the blink of an eye, and even with the whole pack thing it lacked the development necessary for that to be believable. I needed to see them gain some sort of trust and friendship first.

That being said, the story was enjoyable over all, and I liked the characters.

Fast and entertaining

Tanner helps out Luca when he's trapped and unknowingly forms a bond with him, one that could be dangerous.

The story is interesting enough to keep you hooked from the first page to the last. i think through out this series one would get to see how the group of misfits bond together.
the writing is easy to follow and it flows well, i loved the connection between Luca and Tanner and the way they submitted to each other wholly.
I am interested in seeing were the story goes and so i would follow this series closely..

Good, interesting read. I like this world the author is creating.

I wouldn't mind a bit more detail. I do like when authors leave a little space for the reader to fill it in themselves but some things were just left a little too ambivalent here and my imagination couldn't completely fill in the gaps.

The characters are likeable; I think we could've gone a little deeper into Luca and Tanner. Got a bit more on their personalities, history.

My attention was held until the end thanks to the pace and momentum of the book.
I'm looking forward to what happens next.

Sweet story. A little hard to get into at first but got into after that. There was a lot of telling not showing at first but got better as I went along. Good romance and heat level.

I really enjoyed this, full of action, an easy read that you don’t want to put down. Likeable leads and great chemistry, first in a series I’m interested to see where these lead. If they’re as fun as this one I’ll be there


Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this novel!

Title: Hearts of Fire
Author: Kay Doherty
Rating: 3 stars
Genre: Paranormal romance
Trigger Warnings: (ones found at the beginning of the book: homicidal & suicidal ideations, violence and gore) ones that I found: gruesome animal deaths and some homophobia.

I am a big fan of NineStar Press and I am always on the lookout for the new books they release. I am also a sucker for shifter stories and soulmates (it's a weakness), so this book sounded like something I would really enjoy.

We follow Tanner, who is a wolf shifter. At the start of the book, Tanner has been disowned by his pack for being gay. While running in the woods, he stumbles upon Luca, who is a dragon shifter in need of help, they soon form a bond together. Finally, add in some family drama and a wolf pack in need of an alpha to lead them.

First up, I want to start with what I liked.
-Extremely fast paced. It took me no time at all to get through this one.
-I found Deacon's perspective interesting and I loved the pack’s storyline. The next books in the series will be focusing on the different characters. I will probably end up reading the second book because I am too intrigued by the other characters and I find that I always seem to love the second book in a series more than the first!

Now onto the things that didn't really work for me:
- In terms of the romance, There was absolutely no build up or will-they-won’t they tension. I mean, the main characters were having sex and in a committed relationship by the 30% mark. My interest in the romance started to wane at that point.
-Massive TW for suicidal thoughts and homicidal ideation. I know the publisher added trigger warnings for this title in the synopsis, which I am really thankful for, but I wasn’t expecting it to be in the way it happened. Basically, wolves without a pack start to go mad and eventually start murdering people or killing themselves without their pack bond. One of the side characters, Ross, is suffering from the effects of not having a bond, he is suicidal and murderous for most of the book. I don’t know, it just made me sort of uncomfortable, I didn’t really like this aspect.

Overall, a great start to a series which I would recommend to people who like romance, paranormal and diverse characters!