Appreciated this ARC! My best summary of this book is that it’s like a mafia arranged marriage shapeshifter romance. There’s a bit of a slow burn and a lot of focus on the romance, but it also somehow feels rushed. The fantasy aspects are intriguing. I enjoyed the main characters’ attitudes and their interactions with each other, although I wasn’t super invested. The story is linear and reads easily. I wish it delved a bit more into the fantasy and world building. Some plot points were so outlandish that it was hard to keep up willing suspension of disbelief, but those aspects may get further explored in a sequel.

I was so excited to read this as soon as it was announced. Sophie Jordan's Firelight series was one I loved reading years ago when it was popular. Unfortunately, I did not love this new spinoff. I think too many common tropes were used here, and none of it felt original. I did like the world because it felt familiar yet different, but I didn't love or care for the characters. This was action packed, so it wasn't boring, but it just lacked originality which is what made this forgettable for me.

Thank you NetGalley, Sophie Jordan, and the publisher for this e-book ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A Fire in the Sky is an adult romantasy about an arranged marriage between a royal “whipping girl”, a fierce warrior who protects the kingdom's border and their discovery that magic isn't dying - it's only sleeping.

Overall, I didn't dislike the book; it was decent. However, I couldn't engage with the characters or the plot sufficiently to consider reading the sequel, despite the intriguing cliffhanger. The characters were passable, but they seemed to be merely going through the motions of the plot rather than being integral to it.

It seems as though it was written with the expectation that the reader is familiar with the Firelight series, which I am not. The combination of fairytale creatures and their interaction with humanity was intriguing. The female main character (FMC) experienced a distinctive development arc. Her character was crafted in a way that allows the reader's perception of her to evolve alongside her, which I believe is a common objective for authors. The narrative cleverly manipulates emotions through context, yet the writing style lacks originality. It emphasizes character evolution via events, leading to some discontinuities in the timeline.

📚 A Fire in the Sky is available now to preorder! This book will be released on September 24th , 2024

3.5 rounded down to 3

Raised alongside the royal daughters, whipping girl Tamsyn is part family, part servant. When Fell, the Beast of the Borderlands, demands a royal bride, it is Tamsyn's hand he's given. Still stinging from the deception, Fell and Tamsyn return to the borderlands. Can they form an alliance, or will secrets tear them apart?

Read if you like:
-Arranged/Forced Marriage
-Dragons & Witches

I liked this book, but it also felt a little long. While the story was compelling, I do wish there had been a little more action. Some parts were given too much time; while others felt rushed. I did really like Fell and Tamsyn as characters. I'm interested in continuing on with this series to follow their journey.

I have a major problem with this book, and it’s the fact that I just finished an eARC so there’s no chance a sequel is coming my way anytime soon 😭

I ate this book up in 24 hours!!! The world pulled me in from the start (dragons, magic, say lesssssss) but I stayed for Fell 🥵 This gave me everything I would want from a romantasy, but I loved that it felt fresh and had its own twists to keep things interesting. I will absolutely be reading the next book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for this eARC!

I admit, I was most likely not the audience for this; I'm not a fan of shifter romances, and I have no idea how I didn't realize that when I was requesting and beginning this. Light on the world-building, heavy on internal monologue, slightly repetitive, and incredibly rushed for me.

While this was a nice quick read, there was quite a bit I was left confused by. The story is basically a Beauty and the Beast retelling mixed with Cinderella which is totally fine - no issue there. I was, however, confused about the shifting. Some characters very fully shifted while others didn't have as robust descriptions, so I'm not sure if that was intentional or not written well. It was fairly short, so maybe some more time would have clarified some things. Otherwise, it was fun.

I LOVED! 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I did feel like the book moved very fast and was over just when I wanted a bit more
I wish the book was either longer or had a sequel, I feel like there is so much more this book can do and more places the story can go!
But the short ride was awesome and I loved every minute of it
Great world, magic and character building
I can’t wait to read more by this author

📚ᎪᏒᏟ ᏒᎬᏉᎥᎬᎳ📚

A Fire in the Sky is an adult romantasy about an arranged marriage between a royal “whipping girl”, a fierce warrior who protects the kingdom's border and their discovery that magic isn't dying - it's only sleeping.

Thrust into a world where dragons are said to have been driven into extinction and witches were hunted down to eliminate magic, I was completely intrigued by this book & devoured it in a day. This was the 1st book I've read by Sophie Jordan so I never got to read her ‘Firelight’ series that introduced this world, but the world-building here is easy to grasp, fast-paced and keeps your attention.

If you're looking for an exciting romantasy full of tension, chemistry, intrigue, secrets, betrayal, royal intrigue and a lust for power then this is the book for you.

I really enjoyed the differences in royal traditions that were portrayed in the kingdom for this story. Although their traditions seemed cruel and sadistic, they made the storyline stand out and give an enthralling twist to the royal intrigue theme.

Tamsyn, our FMC, is a strong, fierce heroine whose strengths are derived from the harshness of these traditions and it shows in her character. I loved seeing her development throughout the story and the secrets she unravels on her journey. Fell, the Lord Dryhten & our MMC, whose fierce brutal appearance is intimidating will make you swoon from his strength, kindness and loyalty. I love how tender-hearted he is to Tamsyn from the very beginning and when he falls, he falls hard.

In the beginning, I thought I knew where this story might lead, but the twists and turns it takes were very unexpected and the ending will leave you with a series of reveals, nagging questions and “oh shit” moments. I look forward to seeing where this story goes next!

5⭐️ - Amazing

Highlights/tropes
- Found family
- Touch her and you die
- Instalove (not really any enemies to lovers, though I think that might have been what the author was going for initially?)
- DRAGONS 🐉
- Spicy right off the bat

I think the description for this book leaves a lot of room for interpretation, so I went into this book with an open mind. I also haven’t read anything else by Sophie Jordan, so going into this book I really had no idea what to expect.

Having been re-ignited into my love for dragons in books by Fourth Wing, I really had limited hopes that this book would come close with its storytelling and romance. I was wrong. As much as I devoured Fourth Wing, I also devoured this book. The plot twists just kept coming, but with enough of the hints that I love to keep you reading into the details of every chapter. For people who hated how predictable Fourth Wing was, you won’t like this book, as it is very similar in hinting to a lot of the story (and a lot of similarities could be drawn overall to Fourth Wing, but I won’t go into that here). I personally love that, as it makes me really think about what each hint could mean, so it was welcome.

I also think the MMC is incredible. Fell is the right kind of “rough and tumble” but also incredibly protective of Tamsyn, and I am just a sucker for that. I loved the romance of this book, and every scene where Fell is soft and caring for Tamsyn just made me fall in love with him even more.

Now, I don’t want to go too much into detail, but I really disliked Stig from the beginning. I think the author was just building contempt for him in this book to be used in future books, as his character really isn’t that endearing even from the beginning. I immediately likened him to be Tamlin 2.0, just due to how he is described and how much I disliked him. I think there could be a lot more effort put into Tamsyn and Stigs relationship at the beginning just to make it more apparent how they are connected, as I think he could be cut entirely from this book and I wouldn’t miss him at all. Also, the name Stig makes me think of the driver “the Stig” from Top Gear, so thats pretty much my mental picture of this character regardless of the book description 😂.

Overall, I’d recommend this book to anyone who loves a dragon romantasy and that doesn’t mind a bit of predictability. I think with some editing this ARC will really be amazing, and I will be purchasing a physical copy of this book when it releases.

P.S. the ending killed me and I already need book 2

Thank you NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager for giving me early access to this book! All opinions are my own.

This feels like the quintessential romantasy book, and I was HERE. FOR. IT. Dragons, magic, witches, a fantasy setting, what is not to love?! On top of that, the characters had such an amazing story arc! I loved how Tamsyn and Fell grew throughout the story, and the twists kept me on the edge of my seat. Definitely a must read!!! 5⭐️

Full review to come but for now I'll just say, "Holy wow, Sophie Jordan. You blew me away. This is one of the best books I've read this year." Also, when is book two scheduled for publication because I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!!!

This dragon book was fantastic. I really enjoyed the different take on it. This fantasy romance was incredibly entertaining, fun and just a pleasurable read.

I found the world building pretty thorough and the characters were well rounded and fleshed out. Especially Fell, ha. I loved the interaction between Fell and Tamsyn as well. There was some good action towards the end, and I did enjoy the political subterfuge as well.

And that ending! What? I cannot wait for book two.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for providing a copy of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I really enjoyed this book. I love dragons and sometimes they can be done… well, not well. And that was not the case with this book. The reveal was pretty shocking to me, honestly!

This story totally feels like a cinderella/meets beauty and the beast retelling. The FMC is a royal whipping girl (which I didn’t know was a thing until now) which means she is a peasant that was chosen to live among the royal family and take the punishments for the actual princesses' misdeeds. Tamsyn is resigned to her station because it isn’t forever, once all the princesses have been married off, she’ll be free to choose her own path in life. Which might include Stig, the captain of the guard and her only friend, that she’s starting to think she wants to be more than friends with.

Or at least she was supposed to until Fell, the infamous commander of the kingdom’s border forces, nicknamed ‘Beast of the Borderlands, arrives at the palace and demands that he be rewarded with a princesses hand in marriage. The Tamsyn’s world is turned upside down when the court comes up with a plot to prevent any of the true princesses from being tied to the beast, by tricking him into marrying Tamsyn.
The way Sophie Jordan went about world building and establishing the lore for this story was magnificent! Not only do we get magic but we also get monsters too!! I love a good forced marriage trope and Fell is a dreamy MMC, that wedding night scene was🥵 But I couldn’t for a second ever believe that we were supposed to like Stig. Even when I was mad at Fell for being dumb I liked him more than Stig.
I loved that Tamsyn had no idea about her powers and the way they manifested in the book had me screaming girl power, but that being said, there were definitely some things I didn’t enjoy about this book.

I’m gonna be honest, after reading this, I’m still not entirely sure if the main character shifts fully into a dragon or if they look like a human/dragon hybrid because the descriptions of carrying things after transformation still say “I carried … in my arms.” And do not get me started on the fact that every time the FMC shifts she’s automatically hovering off the ground??? Like what?????

I’m pretty sure my love affair with books involving dragons/dragon shifters started with Sophie Jordan’s Firelight series. So when I saw Fire in the Sky, I was psyched!! But this book, although unique, was not what I was hoping for.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for allowing me to write an honest review of the ARC for A Fire in the Sky!
Rating: ⭐️⭐️/5

My review was posted to Goodreads on 9/3/24.
My Instagram review will be posted on 9/5/24.

3.75 for me
For me this wasn't a bad book, but it was not as good as I expected. In a lot of ways, it was okay. It just wasn't a very exciting book even during important moments in the book until the end that is. The book does end on an interesting note that would normally make me want to read it, but I am not really invested in the characters and their story to maybe continue the series.

I didn't hate the characters they were likable enough, but they didn't spend enough time together for me to become invested in them as a couple. They barely talked with one another even during the time when they were on this long journey back home on horseback. I mean I get that He is angry at her for what happened but there was just no groundwork with the limited conversations they did have.

For the writing it wasn't bad but a lot of it was based around internal dialogue even when the MCs were around their own people. Like a side character who has known the FMC her whole life would say something and then the FMC would just have this whole one-sided conversation with herself and then the scene would move on. In some ways I felt like the MCs were just coasting on the plot rather than participating in the plot. I would say a lot of this book was predictable with very few surprises though I will say I did think one thing about the FMC and while I wasn't wrong, I wasn't completely right but for most of the book I kinda could see everything coming.

Overall, I didn't hate the book it was okay, but I wasn't able to become invested in the characters and the plot enough that I will probably not be reading the next story even if it did end on an interesting cliff hanger. The characters were okay but felt like they also like me were just along for the ride when it came to the plot instead of actually participating in it.

This book is about Tamsyn a girl of unknown origins who was adopted by the royal family to serve as the whipping girl for their daughters. Raised like a sister to the princesses anytime they messed up she would receive their punishment. But Tamsyn knowns that her time as the whipping girl will be coming to an end soon as soon her sisters will be married off for political advantages benefiting the kingdom. She doesn't know what that means for her yet, but she is looks forward to having a say in her future soon. That is until one day the beast of the borderlands comes to the castle to talk with the king. The beast of the borderlands protects them from bandits and other undesirables since there are no longer dragons to hunt, and witches have scattered for fear of being burned at the stakes. With all the success the beast Fell has had on he has come calling asking for a reward benefiting all that they have done for the kingdom... Marriage to one of the princesses. Well, the king has better uses for his blood daughters than some classless violent Wildman so he tricks the beast into marring his adopted daughter. A trick that is only discovered after the wedding consummated and there is no turning back. Faced with the humiliation of being tricked Fell takes his whipping bride with him on the journey home. Along the way secrets will come out and things thought to be long lost will reveal themselves because in a world of magic, magic never really dies it just slumbers in secret.

I received an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review from netgalley.

Absolutely LOOOOOVED THIS! Definitely want a printed copy for my stash. The story is gripping, and the characters are so well written you will get easily attached

“They were different. And different is always feared.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you netgalley and Avon for the gifted arc.

This book was so entertaining 😌 arranged marriage, dragons, and a twisty plot? Count me in.

I think the world building was pretty well done. It was easy to follow along with and wasn’t very complicated! I loved the setting and traveling with Tamsyn and Fell!

The plot was a bit slow and repetitive, but I was still very entertained! The plot twist with Tamsyn definitely made up for it, because I did not see that coming. Not sure how I feel about the ending, but we will see how I feel about that in the next book 😌

Tamsyn is the Royal whipping girl, which has led to her being fiercely loyal and incredibly strong. I really liked her! I read a lot of fantasy books where the FMC is a well trained, stabby warrior, but that’s not Tamsyn. She’s lived her life in comfort and luxury, but has her own form of emotional strength.

“I was not glass. I did not break. I was bred to survive.”

Typically, I would love a MMC like Fell. Large, broody warrior? Like yes please. But here he was just a little dry. I loved seeing the tension from his POV, but I think he lacked depth outside being a warrior and falling in love.

The romance was scorching (iykyk) 🥵 soooo much tension in this arranged marriage and I was living for it! I adored seeing the back and forth between them as they tried to deny their attraction 😌

“Suddenly, I realized we were two puzzle pieces fitting together.”

Yeesh… this was a ride I couldn’t get off of- like really… just read until it was the end and then was so upset it was the end that I have begun to second guess reading any more series. I can’t stand the suspense! (I mean I can. Obviously. The waiting is just too much when I’m so invested in these characters.)

Tamsyn is the “whipping girl” to her royal family. She was found, as a newborn, by the Queen and raised beside their 3 daughters. When the royal children did wrong, it was unlawful to punish them, so Tamsyn was the bearer of their whippings.

Tamsyn loves her sisters, the Queen, and the King. She sees this as her duty to the kingdom. Her best friend, Stig, has always been there to assure her that once her sisters had grown her life would become hers. However, we meet Fell, The Beast, and ruler of the land to the North, and see this future of Tamsyn’s come to a grinding halt.

In the journey to the North, Tamsyn is faced with confronting the person she is, the building power she feels within herself, and how to fit into this world. All the while we find out that maybe witches and dragons are not as extinct as once believed.

This story is rich with the weight of duty, a history of dragon and witch lore, and sppiiiiiice. If you loved Fourth Wing, When The Moon Hatched, or The Branded you’ll devourrrrr this one.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Need all the rest of this series in my hands ASAP.

Thank you for the #advancedreaderscopy @netgalley and @avonbooks I can’t wait to see where @sosophiejordan takes Tamsyn and Fell next.

#2024bookchallenge80of75
#netgalley
#afireinthesky

I really liked the story of Tamsyn and Fell. From a whipping girl to the Beast of the Borderlands, they have both been tricked into marriage, a sign of their times was to accept it. As they discover more about themselves, dark truths come to light that test them both. A good beginning to a new series I am definitely enjoying.