Wow, this was such a great read! I love a good alternative history - never knew my life was missing an 1800's Spain reimagining with dragons. From the start I was drawn into the story. Lately I've been looking for non-European fantasy, as it's something newer for me and I enjou the different foundations to these stories. This is a great example, and I was so pleased with how the foundation of Spain really flavored this story. The narration is absolutely wonderful as well.

While near perfect, there were a couple of minor issues for me. Early on I made an educated guess on part of the ending, but even then, it was only in part, and some of the motivation was well thought out and surprising to me. .Also, i would say most of the story is young adult, but there is some steam near the end. It was tasteful, and ended in a fade to black moment. Because of this I would caution younger readers, or be prepared to skip over - it's only two short scenes that have thr steam. The romance is done well, and it's very much a slow burn that burns with tension.

Those are small criticisms, and mostly personal preferences. Together We Burn is definitely one of my favorite reads of the year. I'm excited to dig into more of Isabel Ibanez's books. Pick this one up at release - you won't be disappointed.

*I received an ARC copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Dragons. Dragons are a fiery maelstrom of fury and scales. Hispalia has been plagued by dragons for generations. Thus the need for dragonadors to hunt, trap, and slay the dragon for the entertainment of the people. The dragonadors, in a way, protect the people of Hispalia from being attacked. To be a dragonador or even a flamenco dancer, the women who incite the crowd before a dragon fight and cheer on the dragonador, is a great honor. Though, being in the spotlight always comes with cost. When disaster strikes it all lays on the heads of the dragonadors. This is what Zarela has to face when her family’s arena’s dragons are set loose. Her only hope of saving her family name and arena is to train and become a dragonador herself. And the only way she can do that is with the help of one Díaz de Monsterrat. Too bad for her, he doesn’t wish to help. Too bad for him, she will not take no for an answer. Too bad for them both, resisting each other just maybe more difficult than they want to admit.
I love the cover of this book. It was also what attracted me to read this book. The visual of a bouquet of flowers on fire. The vivid reds and oranges, with the light cream colored flowers, on the dark background is very attractive. It was wonderfully beautiful. The story had great imagery and scenes almost as magical as it’s cover. There was a romantic sense to the scenes. Fitting well for a romantic fantasy. I liked the cultural aspect of the book. It follows the Spanish tradition surrounding bull (in this case dragon) fights and flamenco dancing. How heritage has such a high standing among the people. It was interesting how well matched the world was to real life’s Spain.
I was given an advance copy of the audio version for this book. The narrator did a very good job with this book. Her voice seemed perfect for this story. She pronounced the Spanish words very well, her accent matched the characters and the theme of the book. And her telling of the story added to the ambiance of the fantasy.
With all that being said, as beautifully written or read, the story itself could have been stronger. The romance was predictable, the characters could have been further developed, and the world building was minimal. The fantasy aspect is a more integral part in the book. Though, it only contributed to the background of the storyline. It didn’t truly define the story; but it did give the book it’s inciting conflict. Outside of the background, every other aspect didn’t feel like it matched the romantic fantasy and adventure genre/s. Every literary aspect was present in this book. But the only aspect that I thought was fully developed was the conflict.
On top of that, some readers may have difficulty getting through this story. I felt that the story, while it had an interesting concept, wasn’t entirely attention holding. Some readers, though, may fall in love with the ideas of there being dragons in the book. Others may like the twists and romantic intrigue. To say whether or not if this book will be liked is a toss up. It is one of those that plays the line in likability.

4.5 Stars

Take the best most badass dragon moments of Game of Thrones, mix them with the setting and familial ties of Zorro, and add a dash of slow-burn romance from Throne of Glass, and you have the magical story of Together We Burn.

Set in a fantasy version of Spain, where Dragonador fight dragons in the arena vs bulls, and flamenco dancers weave a magical spell with their dances, this is a story that assaults all of your senses and leaves you craving more when it’s done.

Zarela is the daughter of a famous Dragador and a renowned Flamenco dancer. During their family’s 500th anniversary show, a horrific dragon attack leaves their family legacy, and her father’s health, in peril. She must find a way to reverse her family’s fate to keep their ancestral home, and legacy.

She enlists the help of Arturo, a dragon hunter that wants to see the end of Dragon fighting, to train her as a Dragonador. Sparks fly between them (both physical and from their opposing views) as they learn to trust each other and pave a new way forward between tradition and Dragon survival.

Like Isabel’s other books, Together We Burn hits both your heart and your stomach. The world she creates is so vivid and enticing and the food stands out as almost another side character. Hispalia might be a fictional fantasy world, but it’s influence of medieval Spain and the rich culture of bull fighting are entirely recognizable as you are sucked into the fight for love, family and honor.

Together We Burn is a standalone fantasy story with a good dose of romance (and kissing). It moves quickly and is one that will keep you on the edge of your seat. I only wish the resolution at the end had a bit more time, as it felt sudden, but at the same time, it also felt authentic.

Together We Burn by Isabel Ibañez
4.5/5 Stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐💫

•••Spoiler free review below•••

Set in a magical world of dragons, Zarela is a flamenco dancer and daughter of the most famous Dragonador. She has always known that her family's arena will one day be hers but, when tragedy strikes at their 500th anniversary performance, she must step up to run the show earlier than she would like. If she fails, her home and inheritance will be taken by the Dragon Guild and her family will lose everything.

When Arturo, a dragon hunter and former Dragonador, refuses to help Zarela, she schemes up a way to force him to provide his assistance. The more time Zarela spends with Arturo, the more she begins to realize that she might need him for more than his Dragonador abilities...

Together We Burn is a wonderful high fantasy standalone that will have you picturing the beautiful land of Hispalia and swearing you can hear the flamenco music. It will be released May 31st, and if it's not already on your tbr, it should be!
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Special thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for sharing an arc with me in exchange for my honest opinions.

Zarela’s family has been showcasing dragon fights for generations. It is a 3,000 year old tradition. It is a fight to the death between man and dragon and the dragons often win. Someone sabotages a performance, letting dragons free and many people are killed. Can she find a way to keep the shows together?

I love a good dragon story and this did not disappoint! The main story builds Zarela’s family empire and the resolve (yay for a strong female!) she has to save it. She is stubborn and determined and admirable. She will do what she needs to continue their legacy, including working with dragons. Since her mother was killed by a dragon, it’s a difficult challenge to overcome.

We meet Arturo who is just as stubborn and determined! I loved their pairing. It built slowly making it more believable and real. Then we meet the dragons. Oh I wish I could’ve had more dragons! They were unique and I feel there could’ve been an entire story about them. I would’ve loved that!

The audio added so much. She had a Hispanic accent which was so nice for the Spanish words and phrases. It added so much authenticity! Her voice felt right for her age and maturity and it was easy to get lost in the story.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and Macmillan Audio for the gifted copies!

The book releases May 31, 2022.

I loved this story. Zarela is a determined and confident character. I loved the Medieval Spain setting and how not all the Spanish was translated. As a reader I hate when authors include the translation right after the use of foreign words as though I cant guess the meaning or know it. I enjoyed her relationship with Arturo. I was expecting this to be more mid teen level but it had some spice to it that I'd say is geared more toward older teens. Historical inspired fantasies are one of my favorite things so this just made me smile. The audio narration was wonderful and I really like that it's a standalone. Would definitly recommend and desperately want a physical copy to own.

This was fast and fun and I actually really enjoyed it. I was a little hesitant to start because I didn't really feel in the mood for it. But turns out I loved it anyway

I knew I was going to enjoy this book because it has dragons in it, and I was not disappointed! There were so many different breeds of dragons with varying levels of danger. Even though I was interested in the dragons, the main character was also quite interesting. Zarela comes from a family of performers; her mother was a flamenco dancer, and her father was the most famous dragon fighter in the land. When tragedy strikes her home, Zarela must make hard decisions to save her family home and the legacy of her family name.

Zarela is a stubborn, brave woman, and I loved her character development. She meets a former dragon fighter named Arturo, whom she hires to help her save her home. Their relationship is very much enemies-to-lovers. I loved this book, but I didn't give it 5 stars because I predicted the ending about halfway through, and that makes the book seem less exciting by the end.

I liked the descriptions of the weather and how the sun scorched the earth. It was also really nice to read about a healthy father/daughter relationship where the father supports his daughter in everything she does, even if he doesn't agree with it.

Love the idea behind Together We Burn however it felt like it wasn’t really sure if it wanted to be fantasy or not. If you say dragons then there better be lots and lots of magical dragons ha ha ha. Aside from that I found it difficult to connect with the characters make the book a bit of a flop for me.

Dragons, Flamenco Dancing, Magic, Romance, Mystery, Self-Discovery, A little bit sexy, NA.

I loved this book. It was a fantastic ride with great world-building and dynamic characters. Zarela must fight to keep her ancestral home and dragon fighting stadium, from being taken after her father is severely injured by a dragon. She turns to a surly, closed-off, rude but handsome and undeniably gifted dragon tamer for help. I loved how strong and stubborn but also vulnerable and open Zarela was. Arturo was perfect as the tall, dark, handsome and infuriating mysterious male lead. I adored Zarela and Arturo from the moment they met and felt like their relationship developed and deepened naturally with the typical slow burn full of sexual tension befitting any great enemies to lovers trope. I found the villain was a bit too obvious but I loved Zarela and Arturo's story so much that I didn’t let it bother me.

All in all, this was a fun, exciting adventure with dragons, a broody male lead and amazing female characters. The book has a fantastic ending with a sweet epilogue but I want more from this world and these characters, especially Lola! Also, shout out to the narrator Ana Osorio who did a wonderful job telling this enchanting story.

Special thank you to #NetGalley, #IsabelIbanez and #MacmillanAudio for sharing this digital copy, these are my honest thoughts on #TogetherWeBurn
Also, a thank you to narrator #AnaOsorio

This was fine, The narration is good the storyline is fine. But I’m just very middle of the road on it.

Loved the concept-fantasy and dragons, but didn't find myself getting drawn in by the story. I wanted more dragons, excitement and magic.

The story of Zarela and the world of Hispalia is unique on its own. I found the story adorable.

I loved the magical elements, and dragons!! I wish the author dived a bit more into it and established more of the guild. I really liked it and I wanted more of it.
The story is a bit slow at the beginning but it picks up pace. The author sprinkled Spanish words throughout the book and I felt like that gave it more of a Hispalia vibe.

The narrator, Ana Osorio did a fabulous job portraying the emotions, and tones of Zarela and the characters. I was lost in the world that she was narrating. The Spanish words were accurate and I loved every second of it.

Fans of enemies to lovers, and fantasy romance will enjoy this book.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC.

This was such a fun, unique read. I was intrigued from the start with the mention of dragons and wasn't too sure where the book was going to take us. It's a great story of family, standing up for yourself, and following her heart. Full of dragons, drama, and danger I was intrigued from start to finish. The little dash of romance was great and made the book all that more enjoyable. I can see this being a great hit among YA readers. The world-building is simple but beautiful and the cultural vibes based on medieval Spain were incredible. The narrator was fantastic and kept me engaged and wanting to listen. Especially with the Spanish influence, the narrator made this book feel very authentic.

An ancient city under constant threat of a dragon attack is the home to eighteen-year-old Zarela. She is a talented dancer and daughter of a famous dragon fighter that draws hundreds of people to their family-owned dragon fighting arena. But when disaster strikes, Zarela's life is changed in more ways than one. Now, dragons aren't her only threat. She must also fight to save her family and her family's legacy. To do that, she must become a Dragonador, like her father, so she seeks out the most talented dragon hunter, Arturo, who is less than willing to help. Zarela refuses to give up, if she doesn't fight her world will be left to burn.

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the arc of this book!

At the age of eighteen, Zarela is a talented flamenco dancer just like her mother used to be. She often dances in the arena where her father fights dragons, drawing crowds from all around. But when the unthinkable happens and her father is injured, Zarela realizes that she must act if she is to save her family’s business and reputation. The Dragon Guild tries to shut her out, so she approaches Arturo, the best dragon hunter and trainer who is not part of the guild. But he is not interested in her plight. Can Zarela persuade Arturo to help her? Can she avoid the Guild’s attempts to take her family’s property?

I was drawn to this book because of its setting – a fantasy Spain, where there are dragonadors rather than matadors? Yes please! But unfortunately, I felt that the setting was lacking immersion and important details that would have helped to flesh it out. There’s really no explanation of why magic is only found in wands. There’s not much information included about the dragons, and there are surprisingly few scenes with dragons throughout the work, which was a disappointment.

Conversely, there were too many other details included that completely stalled the plot. Details concerning food, clothes, etc. abounded, and there were pages of these details that didn’t add to the plot, characters, or setting in a meaningful way. This happened throughout the book and negatively impacted my enjoyment of this work. Similarly, the writing was repetitive and detracted from the tone of the work.

I honestly believe that the first three-quarters of this work should be edited down to take away at least half of it. Almost nothing happened in the first thirty percent of the work, and even by close to half of the work the plot was really just starting to move in a meaningful way. There was another major slow down before everything went crazy in the last ten percent of the book. The pacing was too inconsistent for reading this to be enjoyable.

The characters were nothing special – Zarela was the focus of the work, but I felt that there wasn’t much character development that occurred throughout the work. None of the characters seemed to have depth. There was “romance” in this work, but I wouldn’t personally call it romance. I believe it was supposed to be enemies to lovers, but it was heavy handed, predictable, and not realistic. The love interest wasn’t grumpy-but-likeable but instead was grumpy-but-boring. The “romance” was predictable and took away from any sort of tension or character growth their could have been related to this aspect of the work.

This was a difficult read for me to finish. I love the concept and the setting, but I don’t think that anything was particularly well executed in this work.

I received a complimentary copy of this work through NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

It took me a minute to really get into this one; however, it could be because I listened to the audiobook and sometimes audio books read differently than physical books. That said, I'm so glad I stuck with this! The beginning was a bit sad. The feisty heroine was a lot of fun. The brooding love interest was sweet. While I would say for the most part the story was predictable - one aspect REALLY surprised me, I really enjoyed listening to this book. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

i received an arc audiobook from NG, macmillan audio, this is my honest voluntary review. this book has a lot of spanish phrases, narrator uses her spanish accent due to where the mc is from a fictional location based in spain. at times phrases will be in spanish and then said in english so you’re hearing a phrase/sentence twice. one in spanish and again right after in english.

i would say it’s similar to how to train your dragon just a little bit and if you were to watch a flamenco dance with a bull fighting match. zarela is dedicated to her family & will do anything for them. her mother was the entertainment dancer before the dragonador event, unfortunately her mom passed away so zarela has taken up her mom’s dress & shoes to take her place. she meets arturo the dragon hunter who is against killing dragons. zarela comes from a privilege family and is used to getting what she wants, she demanded arturo to help train her to kill dragons, he declines repeatedly. however, the mfc continues stalk arturo to drop his values to help her learn how to kill dragons.. ultimately he agrees to her proposal.

interesting book concept, i wanted to read about dragons however i didn’t feel that i connected with the characters, dragons were not really explained aside from them to be used as entertainment & killed. . the book is marketed as enemies to lovers but we don’t really get much if an idea of the characters falling for each other, it went from dislike to just they want to kiss and stuff, i think it’s because of that i didn’t feel connected to their relationship.

i would say the ending is cliche and predictable. there could’ve been more world building, more description info on the dragons & magic system.

overall i rate this book 2 stars for being ok but could’ve been better. i just didn’t feel that the book captured my attention as i wished & the characters were easily forgettable to me.

summary
likes: rich spanish culture, mfc all for her family, arturo against killing dragons

dislikes: animal cruelty, lackluster world building, detailed explanation of the magic system and more of the dragons, predictable ending, predictable villain , stalking to force job, mmc forced to go against his values

suggested for those who enjoy the spanish culture, flamenco dancing/bull fighting as dragon fighting concept and a stand-alone book read you can try this YA book.

triggers: animal cruelty, death, violence, kidnapping, death of a parent, mild sexual content

The jump in on this work was very quick. Immediate fight situation which sucked me into real quick. I kind of wish the chapters were slightly longer, but they were still good.

I loved the representation, and I was honestly very excited with the Spanish being spread throughout. As someone who doesn’t know much, it wasn’t hard to follow along and still be able to understand. Honestly, I probably learned a lot just from the way the book mixed the language.

It was technically long page wise but it was still a very quick and easy read with constant motion. It wasn’t a….slow burn 🔥 if you will. I really wish there was a second one.

I listened to the audiobook and thought the narrator did a great job mixing in the Spanish phrases into the story told in English. I also really liked the premise.

The prologue really hooked me, but then the first few chapters felt slow. There was also a really, really slow burn love interest with some knock you over the head foreshadowing that just took too long to get to the point. This book is YA but there was at least one semi-spicy scene.

I loved that this book had dragons. The dragon scenes were the most exciting parts of the book!

I haven’t read other books by the author, but I would still want to read other books she has written.

I was gifted an audioARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All of the opinions expressed above are my own.

Together We Burn is the story of how a flamenco dancer, Zarela, must save her family's dragon fighting arena, although she has no dragon fighter, no dragons, and no dragon trainers. She pairs up with a reluctant young man who doesn't want to be involved in the business, but wants to help Zarela.

This was a fast paced story with good world building, The dragon fighting appears to be loosely based on the bull-fighting culture, and I loved the combination of historical fiction with fantasy. Zarela is a driven heroine committed to her family and their legacy, but also wants to make the past meet the present by applying a more thoughtful treatment of the elements of the family business.

The audio narration was fantastic!