"𝑩𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒂𝒍𝒍"

A princess and a commander of an army form an alliance, setting out on a mission to free her dragons in exchange for her fighting alongside him in the war. The only problem? They’re supposed to be enemies.

This book is perfect for anyone looking for an introduction to romantasy. It has it all—world building, an easy-to-follow plot, a fierce warrior fmc, a protective "I will kill anyone that touches you" mmc.

I recommend this book to anyone looking for an easy romantasy read, especially if you love a man with villain vibes who's secretly cinnamon roll for his woman

Thank you Netgalley, Olivia Rose Darling, and Random Penguin House (Delacorte Press) for a eARC & physical copy in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you Random House Publishing Group for the eARC of Fear the Flames.

I enjoyed this book and thought it was a nice fast paced read. I liked the plot, world building, and banter between characters. I also thought this was an excellent enemies to lovers with ~perfect~ smut.

A book with dragons is a book I'm going to eat up every time! Elowen grew up with her dragons taken away from her, but know that she is older, its time to get them back.

Here enters the MMC, Cayden. Elowen and Cayden have to align themselves, even though they are enemies, in order to take back her dragons and prepare people for the imminent war. As they start working together, it is impossible to deny the chemistry between the two. These two bond and become extremely close, but Elowen has to keep reminding herself of her main goal here. One way or another, she is going to take back what is hers.

I give this book 4/5 stars. I still feel like some of the content of this book could have been shorter or taken out. Some parts, especially in the middle felt a little too dragged on and became unnecessary filler. Nevertheless, I am very excited to pick up this trad published version September 17th!!

I originally fell in love with Fear the Flames during its indie release and was lucky enough to receive an ARC for this newer and updated traditionally published version. I was nervous if any of the magic would be diminished and let me just confirm it was NOT.
I love how unapologetically bloodthirsty Elowen is. She is a true lost princess who wants her dragon babies BACK and she damn well is gonna do it. I actually think the added scenes made her bond to the dragons stand out even more as an important part of her story.
Now, Caden. Caden Caden Caden. The man that you are. Find you a man who will just simply [beat the ever loving shit out of a person who hurts you.. We truly love to see it.

DNF at 6%. Choppy writing, plus no semblance of world building to immerse me in the story meant I felt lost and jerked around for no purpose.

2.5 rounded down to 2

A prophesy leads to Elowen being separated from her dragons, and she's waited years to find them. A new alliance might give the princess just what she needs to get them back. But can she trust the ruthless Commander Cayden?

Read if you like:
-Dragons
-Fate/Prophesy
-Quests/Danger
-Ruthless MMC who is soft for her

Fear the Flames was entertaining enough, but there wasn't much in the way of tension. Everything came easily to Elowen. There was never any question for me as a reader that she would succeed. Even her 'failures' were thinly veiled victories. I wish there had been more character development for Elowen. And Cayden - while delicious in theory - was very one dimensional as a morally grey book boyfriend.

Good premise lacking in execution.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Reluctant rivals to lovers + just the best found family! Enjoyed this book a lot. While not perfect, it’s reminding me at points of what fourth wing could be if it went in a different direction.

I loved this so much! I love the feisty stabby FMC, the MMC who will do anything to not only protect her but will fight alongside her and strengthen her. I loved all the friendships as well. Strong found family! Finn and Elowens friendship that is basically brother and sister is so strong and its nice to see a platonic relationship not have to go anywhere romantic. I previously read the Indie version and I loved all the changes made to this one, especially having more with the dragons! So excited to see where the series goes!

Both the writing and the story were amazing! The pacing allowed for the book to not have a lot of dragged out moments.

If you love epic fantasy romance and dragons, you'll probably love this book. It has all the tropes we love: only one bed, enemies to lovers, insta-lust/love, found family, morally gray burn the world for her MMC, and who doesn't love a good heist (though to be clear, that happens toward the end of the book)? Add in a little betrayal, and you have a romantasy that will leave you wondering what happens next!

Fear the Flames by Olivia Rose Darling follows the journey of an exiled princess who reluctantly joins forces with the last person she ever expected to trust. This marks the beginning of a mesmerizing and unforgettable epic fantasy romance series. The captivating narrative immediately drew me in and left me yearning for more.

Me jealous of El because she gets someone like Cayden?? Haha….hahaha…..AHHHH!!!!!

This is exactly what I mean when I tell people I read fantasy for the plot but fantasy romance for the romance. Yes the plot has to be at least somewhat reasonable/make sense to lead the relationship on but what I’m actually here for is the banter, the teasing, the spice, the romance!!!
But the plot of this was really interesting. The beginning was a bit slower but the last half/third really picked up - y’all know i love a good heist!!! This is trope heavy and cheesy at times but I ate it up. Giggling and kicking my feet and all. Plus the spicy scenes hit🫡

Overall an amazing amazing debut. Will definitely be reading more from this author

So I read the indie version and loved it. I got the ARC for the trad published version and I think I love it even more!

The story seems to flow better, we get some new beautiful dialogue and over all i really enjoyed the story more the second time around.

Olivia gives us some beautiful lines in this updated edition as well- I feel like she’s really grown into her writing style.

4.5⭐️ the perfect read for the romantasy girls!!! I had such high expectations for this one after seeing so many of my friends love it and it did not disappoint.

I didn’t read the indie version, but i loved the new traditionally published version. This book was everything you want in a romantasy. The romance, the banter, the tension, the spice was there. On the fantasy side, there was a really good plot, obviously i was living for the dragon content as well! The world building is not very extensive which i know some higher fantasy girlies may not like that, but I didn’t mind at all. I think you have to go in knowing that this is very much a romantasy! The world was super easy to understand and I’m hoping we learn more about the world in book 2.

I really enjoyed the reluctant allies to lovers trope in this one! it was refreshing because I feel like we get so much enemies to lovers in fantasy books. I loved both the main characters so much. Elowyn is so strong, resilient and just and all around bad ass. Cayden, oh my god. That man. He is the perfect morally grey, touch her and d!e, broody mmc.

I think fans of Jennifer Armentrout's writing style will really enjoy this book. The idea is solid, the plot moves quickly, there's lots of romantic tension and banter, and there are dragons. If you're looking for a romantasy that's easy to read with plain writing and plenty of dialogue, Fear the Flames is likely for you.

I am not the ideal audience for this book, because I feel that the author did more telling than showing, and it lacks the lyrical and atmospheric prose that I yearn for in romantasy stories. I also felt like the character's inner thoughts and processing - often one of my favorite things about first person prose - lack complexity and subtlety. I feel like I could have skipped over most of the non-dialogue parts of the book and still have an experience similar to what I got reading the whole thing.

I think this book will likely be popular and I'll recommend it to readers looking for an easy romantasy escape, but it's not for me.

Thank you to Random House and Netgalley for providing a digital copy for me to review.

A new all time favorite romantasy. Six of Crows meets Fourth Wing.

It was well paced. Kept me intrigued the whole way thru. Characters and plot were well developed.

The friendships and found family, stabby FMC, morally gray MMC. THE DRAGONS. This deserves all the hype.

I am so obsessed with this book! I love the added scenes and enjoyed reading this version of one of my favorite books! I love an adventure, dragons, and amazing FMCs 😍 The forbidden love, found family and one bed are the cherry on top! 🥰🥰 If you need a sign to read this book this is it!!

This book had me in a CHOKEHOLD! I finished this book in 24 hours, and I could NOT put it down. I was obsessed and stayed up until 2am reading it knowing full well I had work in the morning. There are some things I didn't necessarily love about this book but I feel like the pacing, the romance, and humor really made that not seem as important.
This book was chaotic but so good, there was not a lot going on plot and world building wise but the romance was the biggest factor in this book and boy did it stand out. The tension between Elowen and Cayden is palatable from the beginning. Their banter was always top notch and I cannot stop thinking about it. I felt that the length of tension was perfect when they finally got together it did not feel rushed and not like you were screaming "finally taken you long enough." The side characters really added to this story with their banter and humor, I found myself laughing many times at their comments and it felt super relatable. I felt that I was reading from the POV of someone around my age and their friends but not so modern I was off put by it. It has all the crowd favorite tropes/themes/things:
-Found family
-enemies to friends to reluctant lovers
-forbidden love
-grumpy sunshine
-stabby FMC
-equally violent MMC
-I would burn down the world for you
-touch her and you die
-Dragons / Dragon rider queen
-Heists
-partners in crime
-only one bed

I very much enjoyed this book but some of my critiques is that some of the dialogue felt a little juvenile and the plot and world building kind of fell to the wayside. I felt that in some descriptions I was being told more than I was experiencing through Elowen's eyes. It is in the first person and I would not be explaining to myself what things looked like. But overall I think the romance of this book kept the pacing moving at a high speed and made me want to know what happened at the end, which I must say I was very satisfied with. It was not so predictable that I was disappointed but happy it happened. I would 1000000% pick up the next book I was hooked and Olivia is a great romantasy writer. Cannot wait to see what she does next.


Thank you NetGalley and Delacorte Press - Random House Publishing for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Elowen, the princess of Imirath, is in hiding after escaping imprisonment in her home kingdom. She and her five bonded dragons were imprisoned by her father, the King when she was a child. Although she escaped, she remained in hiding for years and established a secret kingdom called Aestilian where she rules as the queen. That is until she meets Cayden, the commander of Vareveth, a neighboring kingdom at odds with her home kingdom of Imirath. Cayden is renowned for his ruthlessness and skill in battle. He convinces her to work with him to free her dragons and provide needed aid to Aestilian in exchange for her alliance with Vareveth in the war with Imirath. This story follows Elowen's time in this new land of Vareveth and her quest to rescue her dragons.

The early romance and banter were fantastic and I was invested early on. The main couple, Elowen and Cayden, have great chemistry at the beginning and the spice increases significantly as the story progresses. Both main characters are strong and morally grey. The side characters are very likable and there's a sense of 'found family' which I enjoyed. What fell short for me was the dialogue and plot holes. There is supposedly magic but we never hear much about it. There is a lack of explanation around why a war is on the horizon and also little context around why Elowen bonded to the only dragons in the world. Regarding the dialogue, at times, I found myself trying to figure out who was speaking; it wasn't clear based on how it was written.

Fleshing out the world-building and polishing the dialogue would make this story near perfection. The story is unique and the characters are intriguing. There's a lot of promise for this series!

I've never been a religious man, but I will worship you in ways that the gods will envy.

I read Fear the Flames when it was first published as an indie book and recently reread the trad ARC version. Let me tell you, this book was amazing to start out with and is, somehow, even better now!

The thing that stands out most to me is the overall vibe. It feels....cozy somehow?

All of the fantasy elements that I love are included: a broody, only soft for her MMC, a stabby baddy FMC, found family (this crew has become a favorite!), *dragons!*, touch him/her and die, political intrigue, to name a few.

While there is delicious tension between the FMC and MMC, there's none of the angst that can be a little too much sometimes. Even though the stakes are high for Elowen and Cayden, this book never raised my anxiety. Hence, cozy! Which is just what I needed recently.

In the newer trad version, I really appreciate how the plot was tightened up overall. The ending leaves us with a problem to be solved, but also doesn't leave off on a huge, painful cliffhanger which I really appreciate as well.

I'm anxiously awaiting book 2 and cannot wait for more of Elowen, Cayden and the whole gang!