I really enjoyed this! Dragon books have always been great to me in the hypothetical, but a lot of the dragon romantasy just hasn't hit how I know a dragon book can. But this was much better than the average "romance BUT WITH DRAGONS" that I've read! Elowen is funny and strong and FIERCE, and Cayden is a huge simp for his girlie but will kill EVERYONE ELSE and I love that about him. And it was so nice to read a beautiful platonic friendship between her and Finnian, because I really feel like not enough romantasy books have such a strong bond between a male/female duo while they're too busy focusing on the main couple. I loved how while this book was definitely still obviously focused on Elowen and Cayden, it wasn't singularly dedicated to showing their relationship at the detriment of everything else. I can't wait for the second book!!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this ARC for my honest review:)

5 star read and top fantasy book of 2024.

The banter is unlike any other fantasy novel I have read in the last several years, and I loved the world building.

Absolutely OBSESSED with Cayden 🥹

The only thing I didn't like is that there wasn't a map, which is always very helpful for me 💙

Fear the Flames is book one in the Fear the Flames series by Olivia Rose Darling.
A great fantasy romance. With so much tension and build-up. The perfect rivals to lovers read.
There is never a dull moment in this book and the action at the end is so well-done.

ARC review, release date September 17th, 2024. This is probably one of the best books I have read this year!! I love this book! I can’t fully describe how much I love this book. No words can fully express the joy I felt when reading this book! The world building, the characters, the plot, the humor, the friendships, the relationships, and the dragons are written so beautifully. I can’t wait to see how this story grows. FMC Elowen is what I love to see in an FMC. She is strong, kind, courageous, confident in herself, funny, a fierce friend, and I LOVE a good stabby FMC. I LOVE HER!!! MMC Cayden… trust me when I tell you...you’ll fall in love with him quickly. He would burn the world down for her if she asked him. Even with his fearful reputation, he is such a sweetie when it comes to Elowen. His attention to detail when it comes to her is precious. He has raised the bar! The banter between them was a chef’s kiss!!  When I tell you I was kicking my feet and giggling the whole time with these two. Side characters Saskai, Ryder, and Finnian are friends we all need. I love them with my whole heart! This friendship was loyal and full of love. OMG, the dragons!!! It takes a bit for a full introduction but it is so worth the wait. Getting little snippets of them through the book was stunning! The bond they share with Elowen brought tears to my eyes! Oh, how she loves them! It was magnificent! The romance was a slow burn but has a lot of tension which I ate up! (especially chapter 32 😮‍💨) This book left me begging for more! I am so excited for the rest of the series! Please please put this on your TBR :)

this book has- found family, partners in crime, dragons, heists, slow burn, touch her and die 😮‍💨

thank you so so much for the arc! 

"careful, angel.. you give a man a taste of salvation and he might keep coming back for more.” 

“Never let anyone make you feel guilty for letting yourself choose how you want to live your life.”

“the princess and her dragons were one.. they were tethered by souls.”

The beginning of this book starts out a bit sluggish, but this is just from world/story building. I was behind this FMC from the beginning……and the MMC is *checs kiss*

MMC is OBSESSED with the FMC and would kill anyone who even looks at his FMC wrong. He would not knell for anyone but her!!

Rereading FEAR THE FLAMES under traditional publishing and seeing the story's growth was so fun! I read this back in 2022 when Olivia self-published it, and I was thrilled to find out I was approved to read the e-ARC.

This has everything I loved about it last time: a fearless, badass protagonist, a found family, well-written banter, and more. An addition I enjoyed from this new version is the prologue. One of the main criticisms I read in reviews from the original version was that there was a lack of background about how and why Elowen has her bond and powers involving the dragons. I agreed with this, so the prologue helped.

There were so many lines I loved as well! I highlighted a bunch of them because of how gorgeous and powerful they were. One is: "I will shake the very stars the gods hung in the sky and crumble the mountains they forged on the earth."

The main reason why this didn't receive five stars is that the end almost felt too conclusive. We know there's more to come for the next book, but the end could have been stronger if there was more of a cliffhanger.

Praise to Olivia for her debut!!

The cover alone was enough to make me want to read this book! The gorgeous map inside was another added bonus.


Elowen is determined to free her dragons and save her hidden kingdom. The chemistry you feel as she works with Cayden is unmatched!

Highly recommend!

4 ⭐
4 🌶️

When I started this book, I wasn't sure if I would like it. There were some, what I refer to as breaking the fantasy wall moments, where the characters refer to items or have figures of speech you would not usually find in a fantasy setting. But as the book moved on, they became less important as I enjoyed the story and the good time. Elowen is quite the fighter, and I liked her spirit; Cayden is the grumpy MMC who really is a bit of a spikey marshmallow when it comes to Elowen. The fight scenes were fun; the bad guys were well and truly bad. (NOTE: Check your trigger warnings on this book! The author does a fantastic job of listing and warning about them at the beginning). The side characters added to the fun of this adventure, and its quick pace added to its appeal. I don't know if another book is planned but it would be fun to see how the war goes and see how those fights go. IYKYK.

Thank you, NetGalley and Ballantine|Delacorte Press, for the eArc. It was a fun ride, and I gladly give my kudos for this excellent debut!

I read this when It was indie published and was obsessed so getting an arc for the trad version was so exciting!!

Now, the first time I read this was about a year ago so my memory is slightly hazy on some comparisons and I was also not as far into my fantasy journey back then so that could explain why I didn’t like it as much this time

Here’s my biggest complaint, the romance is definitely a very large aspect of this story and the believability was just not there. It seems like they give in wayyyyy too quickly for the people they are and the titles they hold. It needed way more tension for me to really believe it. There were also some small details that I felt like changed and took away from the tension. It also felt like sometimes the author knew what he was thinking even though she didn’t and she accidentally let that seep in to the writing

One of the things I saw she wanted to change in this version was add more emotion to her being separated from her dragons and in this version I actually feel like it was less than the other. We didn’t glimpse as much into her childhood and in this version her anxiety and panic attacks felt forced instead of being a refreshing representation of mental health.

I still am going to read the next one because I love reading about dragons and this was good enough that I still enjoyed the read but it wasn’t my favorite

This book was beautifully written and full of found family, allies to friends to lovers. The pacing moves well once the story keeps going. The MMC is everything, and I loved the banter between him and the FMC.

I adored getting to know the dragons and cannot wait to meet them more and learn more about the lore in the next book!

4 stars. Fear the Flames is a really solid romantasy that I think most fans of the genre will enjoy. I've seen people say this one is perfect for those that love the Six of Crows series, and while Fear the Flames does have a heist, I don't think the two books are similar. Fear the Flames has more TOG/ GOT vibes with writing similar to that of Danielle Jensen. If that sounds like your cup of tea (which I mean, why would it?), then Fear the Flames should be your next read. The plot was enjoyable, albeit a bit repetitive and predictable at some parts. But for me, the real star of the show was the relationship between Elowyn and Cayden. Holy banter batman, but literally every time those two spoke to one another (which was most of the book), I was laughing. They have an enemies to lovers turned allies to lovers vibe, and Cayden is growly, hates pretty much everyone except her, and exudes touch her and die vibes. Plus, he's pretty morally grey, which makes him the perfect male romantasy lead. Fear the Flames is a proper romantasy, which means there's steam. BOY is there steam. Darling does a good job with the world building, which isn't overly complicated or detailed. And because of that, I was engaged from the first chapter, which does not always happen for me with romantasy, but is certainly appreciated. Finally, there are dragons. DRAGONS. And more than 1 dragon! I am such a sucker for a book with dragons, and Elowyn's bond with them was one of the drivers of the plot (she literally mentions it in almost every chapter). All in all, I really enjoyed Fear the Flames and I will 100% be reading book 2. Fear the Flames is basically exactly what I look for in romantasy, so I am grateful to have the chance to read this early. Thank you so much to Darling and Dell for hooking me up with an early copy in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book so much! I read the indie version of Fear the Flames first, but I am also so in love with the traditional version now! Every part of this book hooked me in; the dragons, romance, adventure, the found family, everything. I'm so excited to see where the rest of the series goes from here!

just finished and i am in awe. fear the flames has easily climbed the ranks to become one of my favorite fantasy books ever. the best feeling in the world is falling head over heels in love with a book, and that happened for me with this book. i have so much love in my heart for the fantastic five - elowen, cayden, ryder, saskia, and finnian. maybe one of my favorite core groups ever?! the plot of this book is so engaging. i was invested in court politics, romance, success of the siege, and the entire last 100 pages of the book that had me tripping over words with excitement. the ending of this book was fantastic and i cannot wait for more. mark my words, olivia rose darling is on her way to make WAVES in the world of romantasy.

I absolutely adored this book when I read the indie version last year. So when I was invited by Dell Romance to read the arc of the traditionally published version, I was honored, and completely floored- but honestly, wasn’t sure if I could love it any more than I did the first go round. Welp- I was wrong. Olivia took her beautiful diamond in the rough, and polished it to absolute gleaming brilliance.
✨If you read the indie version, you’ll find everything you loved from the original book, with the added bonuses of more in-depth world building, more dragons, and a bit more spice.

✨My initial reaction when I read this the first time, was that it was like Throne of Glass & Six of Crows had a baby… and that baby wrote a dragon. And I stand by that!!! Guys- 🐉There's a damn Dragon Heist!!🐉

✨Princess Elowen was forced to flee from her tyrannical father as child, and leave behind the 5 dragons that are bound to her. She's presumed dead, ruling over a hidden kingdom made of refugees.
✨Cayden is the commander in a neighboring kingdom. He & Elowen form an "enemy of my enemy is my friend" alliance. Together, they hatch a plan to take back her dragons- aka the dragon heist.

You can expect:
🖤Morally grey MMC, who's a mix of CASTEEL, FLYNN RIDER & HAN SOLO
🗡️Stabby FMC who's a mix of Aelin, Daenerys Targaryen, and Princess Leia (with a dash of Nesta for good measure)
🔥There is legit Han and Leia bickering throughout most of the book. Which I absolutely lived for.
⚔️Political intrigue
🐉Dragons bound to their queen
👑 Lost princess FMC who suffers from anxiety, and is addicted to caffeine and romance books
🌶️Slow burn, with eventual spice. And the dirty talk is sexy as HELL. 🥵

When this book drops on 9/17, RUN, do not walk, and get into it.
THANK YOU to Dell Romance, Netgalley & Olivia Rose Darling for my advance reader copies. 🖤🖤

This book was EVERYTHING! I read the indie version and was lucky enough to get an ARC for the traditional version. I was not disappointed! I LOVED the new content and the changes to the dragons! If you love romantasy and dragons, do not wait on this book. It does have spice, but it does not overtake the plot and the tropes were TOP TIER. 1st book in a four book series - don't miss Elowen and Cayden's story!

Read if you love:
- Single POV
- Morally grey FMC & MMC
- Reluctant allies to lovers
- DRAGONS
- Royalty
- War
- Found Family
- Touch her and die
- Anxiety Rep

I felt like I was waiting the entire book for something to happen. The blips of action we got barely kept me engaged (it literally took me a month to get through ok).

The world building was lacking and again, not a whole lotta plot.

Elowen is your stabby ask questions later queen in hiding fmc. By all means things I should love. And I do think her character was my fav part of the book because I really do love a strong fmc. My main problem was with the extremely fast insta lovey romance with Cayden who I literally feel like I don’t even know. All I got was he has a tragic past and loves to kill anyone who looks and touches Elowen. Maybe have a personality outside of the romance, hm?

The ending was more engaging and once I hit about 85% I didn’t want to put it down.

3.5/5

Thank you Delacorte Press and NetGalley for an arc.

An idyllic fairytale storybook about a lost princess, her dragons, a love story...but for adults. Fear the Flames has a similar atmosphere of Assistant to the Villain but less un-serious. Elowen is born a princess of her kingdom. Upon her birth, a rarity occurs and five dragons hatch, bonding to her. This should be a gift, a miracle, a beacon of light and honor for her and the kingdom. A few years later, Elowen is locked away by her father in the castle dungeons, separated from her dragons. Queue the revenge tour.
I enjoyed this book! The story highlights all the reasons we love to read: romantasy, politics, strong FMC with a dark past, a classic MMC, found family, dragons, etc. I was invested in the story and the characters. The writing was very atmospheric and vivid. I will definitely be reading the next book.
I agree with many readers that the pacing was off at times. However, I also believe that the pacing was realistic since the first half of the book is focused on politics. There were a few times where the inner monologue of the FMC became monotonous regarding her childhood.
<3 “Happiness is my favorite thing he’s even worn.”
<3 “I didn’t know I had a soul until you stole it from me…”
<3 “It’s you and me until the end – whatever end that may be. If you’re to die with a blade in your hand, then I’m to die by your side with a sword in mine.”
<3 “You have to keep going. Never let the flames that make you who you are burn out.”
<3 “I’ll happily be the villain for you if it ensures your safety. I’ll watch this kingdom burn to the ground if it means you live.”
<3 “I’m yours. All of me, every darkened part. Until the moon crashes into the sea and all the stars blink out of existence.”

If you are looking for a little adventure in a fantasy world, instalove AND dragons, Fear the Flames is your book!

The story follows Elowen, a princess who was imprisoned by a person who was supposed to love and protect her. Everything changes when she meets the possessive Cayden, a commander who helps her work on recovering what was lost to her and embark in a path of revenge.

The beginning of the story wasn’t what I expected. I struggled understanding who was Elowen and what was her purpose, which was usually summarized as “revenge”. We love a vengeful queen, but we also love enough details to get emotionally attached to the characters and understand their motives. I would have preferred to have more time with Elowen and dive deeper into her past life connections sooner.

From there, the adventure picks up and we begin to put the pieces together. Accompanied by some shopping and pastries because why not! Everyone seems to have their own agenda involving Elowen and I feel for my girl. I really hope to connect with the main characters on a deeper level in the upcoming books and get more world-building, politics, interactions with the dragons and secondary players in the game.

Overall, a solid 2.5 stars for me and a promising debut for the author and hoping to see what else she has in store for us!

PS: LOVE the fact that the main characters are not teenagers!

This book is so so not for me. Only after reading did I find out this is a traditional publishing of a indie? Self? published book and I don't know why but you can kind of tell. Like I was not surprised to find that out. The writing, while not bad, is certainly not refined. I could see myself reading future books from this author because I think they will get better. It just lacked the depth and development I expect from books.

I was excited to read this book especially because I enjoyed the way the prologue was written, but I ended up stopping around the 22% mark. My brain did not want to focus on the story, and I was starting to skim the book. I thought there would be more dragons early on, but they were not present because they are imprisoned. I may try and pick up the book again once it releases, but at this point I will not be continuing.