Really enjoyed this one! I am loving this new dragon era in the book world. The ending!! I’m wanting more!

Thank you to the Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with a review copy of Fear the Flames by Olivia Rose Darling in exchange for writing an honest review and promoting the novel.

Fear the Flames is a story which revolves around Elowen, a princess taken away from her dragons and imprisoned by her father King Garrick. Elowen has created a kingdom of her own, Aestilian. In an effort to seek vengence against the king, she aligns herself with Cayden, a commander of a rival kingdom. They attempt to pull off a heist to free Elowen's dragons against Garrick's kingdom.

This novel was absolutely enjoyable and the main character, Elowen, is reminiscent of Daenrys Targaryean. The basis of the plot reminded me of Six of Crows in the Shadow & Bone television show though not the heist in the books. The concept was interesting and I will be picking up the second book once it is released.

My biggest criticisms would be the character developement and world building. Elowen and Cayden both felt like they could have been flushed out a bit more. I wished the novel elicited a bit more emotion.

If you liked this, then you might like Fear of the Flames:
- Game of Thrones & House of the Dragon
- Shadow & Bone/Six of Crows (TV Show premise, not the books)
- Fourth Wing
- A Dawn of Onyx

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 Stars - Please note exact ratings are not shared with our audience on social media. They are only used when considering whether a book will be one of our monthly picks.

Tropes/Elements:
- Vengeful Female Main Character
- Reluctant Allies to Lovers
- Found Family
- Forced Proximity
- only one bed
- Dragons

5⭐/3🌶

Love, love, love! I enjoyed this book so much. FMC was a complete badass. She went through so much crap and trauma and she stayed firm and consistent through it all. She faced betrayal and secrets and loss. MMC was fun and over protective without trying to take over the story.

The friendships were everything. I adored El and Finian's relationship.

The spice? Top Tier. Good tension and I need to get a hard copy of this book so I can tab all of the lines that made me blush!

And DRAGONS! The ENDING! I loved it completely.

I haven’t had the pleasure of reading the indie version, but this version is peak romantasy. It has all the elements I love in a fantasy novel: the world-building, dragons, the banter and the tension between our FMC and MMC, and one bed trope 😉 I’m happy to report that this book lives up to the hype. The banter between the main characters is elite. I cannot wait to read more of this world and the characters.

Thank you Delacorte Press and PRH for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Sweet and spicy with a bit of fire, this is a great fantasy novel! I hope that there will be many more to come.

I was very excited for this book and think it has potential. While I don’t think that this book was quite for me, I do think there are others that would enjoy this one especially if you are someone who loves the tried and true romantasy tropes.

The found family was probably the best part of the book for me. The romance happened a bit quickly for my tastes and I had expected to see more of the dragons throughout the book, but think it will be fun to see where that goes in the future books.

I had a bit of difficulty connecting with the characters/story, but if you enjoy hidden princess, heists, and found family this may be a good choice for you.

Thank you to Netgalley and Delacorte Press for an advanced copy of the book.

i really enjoyed this book overall, the romance, the tension, i appreciated the world building, the dragons and the other fantasy elements, however, it seemed like the pacing wasn’t consistent. some points would be really dragged out when they didn’t have to be while other important parts were just glossed over. like why didn’t we have a longer reconnection with her and her dragons? the romance was 0-100 very fast, although the tension and yearning had always been there, but i feel like at a certain point, it became more about the romance developing rather than their agreement to help her reclaim her dragons.

i did still really enjoy this book, the plot was super fun and i love dragons as well as badass female main characters. there were a lot of quotable moments as well. the spice was definitely spicing and it felt like the connection they formed was very genuine, even with the plot twist at the end.

i’m definitely looking forward to the second book in the series.

Fear the Flames just wasn’t for me. I had high hopes—dragons, a strong female lead, a heist, all the things that usually draw me in. However, the main character seemed very similar to other protagonists and it felt a little repetitive.

First off, if you’re picking this up for the dragons, save yourself the time. They don’t make an appearance until the very end, and even then, they’re more of a background element. The plot lacks the suspense necessary for a really good heist. The idea and setup was there, though.

I would consider this book a romantasy, the romance took the front seat. Which, I am all for however I didn't feel the romantic tension in this one. The relationship between Elowen and Cayden felt surface-level, like an insta-love scenario. I’m all for a forbidden love trope, but the stakes were so low that it barely felt forbidden.

Elowen felt like she was trying too hard to fit the mold of a “relatable” main character, andthat just isn't my personal preference for MCs. I get it, she loves coffee and smut and has a dark side, but it’s hard to care about these details when they’re mentioned on repeat without adding depth to her character. Instead of being the fierce, complex heroine I was hoping for, she felt like a mash-up of tropes.

I did really like Cayden. He’s charming, flirty, and definitely had his moments that made me smile. I just wish his character had been given more depth and maybe even his own POV. Without that, even his character couldn’t keep me fully invested.

The pacing and world-building didn’t help, either. There was hardly any explanation of the world itself, which made it difficult to feel immersed in the story.

Fear the Flames had a promising premise, but didn't live up to my expectations. If you're a fan of other popular tiktok books, you might still enjoy this as a quick read with a sexy love interest!

I’m speechless! This high stakes, high fantasy and romance sucked me right now and didn’t let me go! The story line kept my interest the entire time. If love you romantsy, you’re going to LOVE this!

A great start to a new fantasy world!

In the prologue, we get a taste of how truly awful our FMC Elowen’s childhood was, being imprisoned by her own father the king. He treats her this way after learning that she may be the downfall to his kingdom through a prophecy. You’d think that he might be pushing this prophecy to fruition by treating her poorly.

Once the main story starts, Elowen’s in her mid-20s and the queen of a small kingdom of her own creation. She quickly meets our MMC Cayden, the general of an enemy kingdom. He knows of her bond to 5 dragons, which give her an unbelievable amount of power, and wants to enter into an agreement with her. He will help her free her dragons if she will aid him in an upcoming war against her father’s kingdom. Given her childhood, there’s no love lost between Elowen and her father, and she’ll do anything to get her dragons back.

I love the found family aspect of this story! Elowen and Finnian are the best friends one could ever hope for, both of them willing to put themselves in harm’s way for the other. We also see the extreme camaraderie between Cayden, Ryder, and Saskia as well, and these two groups mesh together very well. When Elowen and Cayden go off on a mission before they launch the big quest, they tell the others to stay behind for their own safety. They see that they’ve been followed by the next morning, because Finnian, Ryder, and Saskia want to help them in whatever they are trying to achieve.

The banter and tension between Elowen and Cayden is BURNING and steamy!! Because of their stations, they try (briefly) to hold off on acting on their feelings towards each other, but this doesn’t last long. Luckily they have a couple missions where they can indulge in their feelings, for the good of the mission of course!

They truly have 1 goal for this story, free Elowen’s dragons. And they are able to accomplish this! But then Elowen is betrayed by someone close to her, and Cayden is able to save her by invoking an old law that challenges his king for the monarchy. But, this causes Elowen to doubt his feelings for her and rethink their previous interactions with a new lens. I hope this doesn’t color their relationship for too long! He truly seems to care about her, and it seems like she knows that but is hesitant to go all in with her feelings. We leave Elowen, Cayden, and the gang ready to head to war.

I cannot wait for the next book in this series! Definitely check it out if you love reluctant allies to lovers, a world to get lost in, dangerous quests, dragon bonds, and an entertaining band of characters.

If you’re looking for a fast paced high stakes Romania’s this is the book for you!! I loved the dynamic between the main characters and the plot kept me invested the entire book!

ROMANCE?! DRAGONS?! A FIERCE FMC WHO’S BONDED TO DRAGONS?!

This was everything and more.
I am obsessed with the romance, the storyline, and the writing.
Olivia smashed it out of the park with this one.
I cannot wait for the next🥰

The indie copy of FtF was one of the first books I read earlier this year when picking back up reading after many many years, and it made me fall in love so fast. This story, the characters, the world, everything about it is wonderful. Then being able to get an eARC for the traditional publishing made my heart soar. I didn't think this story could be more perfect but Olivia Rose Darling made that happen. I fell in love with Elowen and Cayden all over again, constantly giggling and kicking my feet.

I thought this was good. I liked the characters but they didn’t feel 100% fleshed out to me to make them super memorable. I also expected more dragons! I feel as thought the dragons are overly advertised but didn’t come through much in the story.

Fear the Flames was a mixed bag for me. Did I think the story had an intriguing premise? Yes. Did I think that the promise was somewhat underdeveloped ( despite it's length) and clunky? That is a resounding Yes, also.

We follow a princess who holds a strong bong to five dragons in her Kingdom. That bond makes her a political soldier and weapon, plunging her into things she inexplicably does not want. When an dashing enemy to the kingdom offers her a dangerous deal, with the promise of personal freedom attached, she simply can't pass up the opportunity.

In ways this book fell short for me in the way it echoed other stories. A sassy confident female is an archetype fantasy readers are familiar with. Here it felt forces and not genuine. Alliances with handsome enemy's are something readers are also inundated with, this one, leaning heavily into the banter, felt textbook and nothing more. The heroines love of beautiful garments and cozy things felt akin to a certain SJM character, I found the likeness to feel just a smidge to similar.

All that is to say, for my taste, if an author is going to lean on old tired troupes, I want to see something refreshing and new from them. Sadly, I didn't feel that was achieved here.

If you loved Fourth Wing, A Kingdom of Stars and Shadows, and Divergent, pick this up! This follows an runaway princess who forms her own kingdom to avenger herself and her FIVE dragons. She teams up with the commander of an enemy kingdom to take down her father and retrieve her dragons. This is action packed, romantic, and fast paced. This is peak romance in a fantasy world. If you like rivals to lovers, strong female main characters, and characters who grow then pick this up!

Umm, excuse me, what?! This was freaking amazing! The mouth on Cayden is 🥵 Elowen is the exiled princess of dragons, and her only thought is to free her dragons and get revenge on her father for keeping them caged. When approached by her enemy, Cayden- Commander of her father's army, Elowen strikes a bargain with him to help free her dragons. Enemies to lovers at its absolute finest here! Their banter had me giggling throughout the entire book. Stabby FMC, broody and scarred MMC, dragons, he washes her hair *swoon*. So many swoonworthy moments!

A must read!!! Cayden is the best boom boyfriend. Like top notch!!! And dragons, please give me all the dragons. I love love loved this and can't recommend it enough!!

I was sold with dragons and romance!! Fast paced and exciting, and I saw a lot of similarities to Throne Of Glass series

DNF-55%.
I think this book has a lot of potential, so maybe it’ll work for some people! However, it just wasn’t for me. I just kept wanting MORE from the story. More tension, more action, more connection, just more. I kept waiting for the story to pick up but then I made it over the half way point and it wasn’t.

It definitely has some cool elements like:
Hidden princess
Enemies to lovers
Heist/quest
Dragons