Loved the new additions compared to the indie version! This book is very well done, can’t wait to see where it goes!

After all the hype I've seen for this book, my expectations were pretty high; I'm happy to say they were definitely met! I really enjoyed this story, and I loved the characters and their relationships so much! I especially loved the friendship between Elowen and Finnian. I enjoyed the development of Elowen and Cayden's relationship as well! The plot was pretty fast-paced, but I did find that it slowed down a bit too much at times. I liked the author's writing style, but again, at times, it felt a bit choppy. Overall, I still had a really good time reading this book, and I can't wait to see what happens in the second book!! :)

So this was a rough read for me, but a lot of it boils down to it needs thoughtful editing and that New Adult is a genre that is very hit or miss for my personal taste.

For the editing, I am willing to give some slack and maybe this version isn't the final version, but I got it after the pub date and honestly this reads like a unedited first draft which should never be something that is shared out especially from a Big Five Publisher. There are continuity errors, lack of chemistry, and pacing problems. The potentially just personal annoyance is that all the characters lack complexity/depth even when it would have been fairly easy to put in some layers the opportunities were just passed by.

The biggest error that I think should have been fixed with editing is the FMC's touch avoidance. It is mentioned multiple times, but is not conisistanly applied. I'll even wave that the MMC is an exception, but the biggest problem I saw (and almost abandoned reading because of) was that the FMC is completely fine when servants come to dress and prepare her for the ball. This doesn't make any sense - she lived independently in exile and if her touch avoidance is ALL touch because of PTSD from years of torture (to the extant that in the beginning the FMC mentions that she is still learning that not all touch is bad) then having others dress and groom her would have been unbearable, or at least notable. But it wasn't. It was never even a thought. A good editor would have caught this (and this isn't the only instant but in my opinion the most blatant) and instead of an interesting note of a character with a disability it just creamed red flags every time I read someone held her hand or glancingly touched her.

The lack of chemistry between the two main characters I think ties in with the more general problem I see which is that the characters are all very one note. There is one moment of enemies and then the two main characters are said (never shown) to argue and fight, but we never see what they fight about, how they are diametrically opposed in literally any way, or have generally anything to be in conflict over. There are many things that I assume they could have fought over (different agendas, different nations, different cultural morals, lack of trust, even personality clashes), but again and again the author just says they were fights but shows they are very very aligned in practically everything so there is no tension to be built. Again I think this is in part because there aren't layers to the characters to show disagreement but layered under that commonality. So we just see commonality, and banter.

Without character layering or development we instead end up with one of my biggest pet peeves the FMC that despite all logic is absolutely perfect at everything. She lived in exile in a foreign country, but is somehow perfect in a royal court setting, has no problems assimilating into a foreign country and acting as an ambassador, she is for some reason a perfect ruler despite her only training being from her uncle and her seemingly being in charge since she was a pre-teen (WHY there new country could have been ruled by literally any new government but we are supposed to believe a bunch of refugees saw an outcast princess as their only ruling option? She wasn't even trained to be a ruler by her parents according to the backstory she was literally only tortured by her parents for years? So again we are supposed to believe that this small child who should be crippled with PTSD and general trauma because she has been tortured by family since she was FOUR is now the only ruler and is somehow the best at it???). This could have been a great opportunity to add depth and character development but instead every obstacle she just glides over despite it not making sense for her to excel.

Lastly the pacing, there are so many mini side plots that are resolved so quickly while the overarching plot just languishes. It made reading very frustrating because the overarching plotline (dragons, war, revenge) was what the back cover sold and 80% of this book has barely anything to do with that. It reads more like an episodic story than one large interconnected long format story.

Like I said, a lot of this I think is just the NA genre and people will not notice these. But from a Big Five publisher I think so much of this book could be vastly improved with editing that should have been standard.

Fear the Flames gripped me from the start! Such a fun read with brilliant writing, plot, characters, and enough world building to keep the story moving without getting bogged down in details. I personally would have loved to explore more of the world, but this would be an ideal read for those who love romanatasy books that are heavier on the romance than fantasy.

One standout for me was the platonic relationship between Elowen and Finnian. The love, care, and banter between these two is something that is usually reserved for the love interests, so it was refreshing to see this play out platonically. In fact, the whole supporting cast was well-written, I only wish we had more of them!

The main downside was Elowen and Cayden’s relationship for me. While it was fun and enjoyable, it wasn’t anything new. Cayden felt like a bit of a copy-paste broody MMC.

Overall, this was a fun read that I absolutely flew through and I am excited to see where this series goes!

A big thank you to Megan Whalen, Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, and NetGalley for the advance copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I’m so obsessed with this one! Like truly OBSESSED!

Idk how Olivia knew the exact book boyfriend code to use but she cracked that code! My love for Cayden is up there with my obsession with my SJM trinity! I was giddy like a little school girl for most of his scenes! He is literal perfection, and I won’t take any criticism on him 😂

This book is action packed! It’s the next Fourth Wing/ Game of Thrones! Elowen is heir to the Imirath throne. When she was born she was gifted 5 dragon eggs. Up until this point dragons were long gone and these eggs were like rocks. Until they hatch for her before their eyes and thus starts her incredible, unbreakable bond with her dragons. Along with the gift of dragons a seer prophesies that Elowen and her dragons will either be the greatest strength to her kingdom or the destruction of it.

Her father the King does all he can to try to break the bond between her and her dragons. She finally is able to escape the torture she’s endured and makes it to a new land… far away from her dragons.

Elowen knows she must train and bide her time to get her dragons back. Enter Cayden (swoon) the commander of her father’s enemy’s army. The pair strike a deal to become allies and get her dragons back!

I literally am DYING to know what happens next! The banter, the relationships all around in this book are 👌🏻


Tropes:
👑 Princess x Bodyguard
🐉 DRAGONS
🗡️ Heists
💀 Touch Her and D!e
🏠 Found Family
🥷🏻 Partners in Crime
🛌 One Bed
❤️ Forbidden Love
💕 Reluctant Allies to Lovers

This book was so freaking good!!! I can’t wait to see where Olivia takes us next with Elowen’s story!!! This is a fast paced, action packed fantasy novel with a touch of dragons. I felt the writing style was easy to follow and comprehend. The author did a great job describing places and creatures when they were being introduced. It’s got great banter between the FMC & MMC, lots of tension filled scenes, great side characters, found family, slow burn, touch her and 💀, he’s soft for only her, feminine rage, and again dragons!!! The spice was also spicing 😏 I gave this a 4.5 star rating. Only because I felt like the ending was slightly rushed but it’s still an incredible story. Cayden had me blushing and kicking my feet at the same time throughout the entire book!! The dragons are a subplot and I’m hoping to get to see more of them in the next book.

I think I did myself a disservice by reading the old Indy version before this one. My brain could not stop comparing the two books. I think that this version suffers a little in the intro. In the Indy version, the reader is put right into the middle of the action and it was really engaging. The story in this version just didn’t flow as well as it did in the Indy version. Elowen’s backstory was nice but it felt awkward and didn’t match the rest of the writing. I could almost tell that it was written after the fact. In fact, a lot of the writing overall felt very clunky, which made it hard to get a nice flow. While reading, I had to pause multiple times to reread something because the pacing was off or because something was explained in a way that left me confused. The rest of this book wasn’t bad, though slightly repetitive. I did like the main male character, but the insta-love was sort of a bummer and I wish it would’ve been more of a buildup. The female main character wasn’t bad, but it was hard to love her because I felt that she lacked some depth. Overall, I would give this book 3/5 stars. Thank you for sending it to me and allowing my honest review.

#FearTheFlames:⁣
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Thanks for the gifted book @randomhouse @dellromance @prhaudio #RandomHousePartner #PRHAudioPartner ⁣
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“When wielded properly, words have the power to cut someone down with more pain and precision than any sword.” ⁣
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Today’s #MapMonday comes from this gem of a Romantasy Read!⁣
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First off, this book has such a beautiful dedication. I needed it last week, and it really touched my soul. ⁣
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Honestly, thank goodness for audio. Fantasy audiobooks for correct pronunciation is absolutely crucial for me. The audio is wonderful (even the raspy Cayden). Elowen was pure perfection. ⁣
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I am always down for dragons. But a heist to get back your own dragons?? I’m there, 100%. I’d fight someone for my dog, so I know I’d go to the ends of the earth for a draggie. Besides dragons, it has “touch her and die, “found family”, and “princess x bodyguard” tropes, so it’s definitely 10 out of 10 recommend.⁣
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I LOVED Fear the Flames. Absolutely loved. Out tomorrow, so so worth the wait!⁣
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QOTD: What are you reading today?

2.5 ✰

I bought the indie copy of this book earlier last year, but held off on reading it after finding out that it was being traditionally published and undergoing edits to both the writing and plot. I was very interested in the premise of the story and excited to read the new version, however the writing immediately threw me off. It was extremely difficult to get used to, and quite simply poor writing.

Despite this, I was still interested in the plot and characters, and found the first few chapters easy to get through due to this. However, as the book progressed, the romance and writing aggravated me. There were several random one-liners thrown in just for the sake of popularity (‘touch her and you die’ and knife to throat scenes), making the romance quite boring and annoying. I still enjoyed some dialogue and the dynamic between the two characters, but the romance just developed way too early for my liking. Additionally, the FMC was a poor copy of Daenerys Targaryen (which irritated me to no end as a fellow GoT fan who loves Dany).

The book overall just felt like a lot of telling and not showing, ordinary romantasy dialogue and characters, trashy writing, and inconsistent pacing. Also a very predictable and underwhelming ending. I’m still interested to see where this story can go, and plan on *maybe* reading the sequel.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc of this book! :)

I tried. I genuinely tried. I picked up this book so many times over the course of several months just in case it was a mood reader problem. I muscled through what I could of this book, but ultimately I could not finish it.

My main issues:
- The dialogue, the characters, and the prose were all cliched to the extreme. It felt like the author was aiming for TikTok sound bites more than writing a great book.
- The first person present tense POV felt very unnatural to read.
- The plot was tired. I know that there are no new stories under the sun, but the plot was so basic that it was almost like a game of “what other book did this idea come from?”

I’m quite sad because as much as us fantasy readers crow about loving dragon books, there really aren’t a TON of really great ones out there. I appreciate the effort to add to the draconic literature shelves, alas this one fell really short for me.

One of my favorite books!! Love the characters. It’s full of romance and adventure. Thank you NetGalley for sharing an advanced copy with me, can’t wait to read more from this author!! I loved this story very much.

✨Your new favorite romantasy is now available✨

𝕱𝖊𝖆𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝕱𝖑𝖆𝖒𝖊𝖘

Cassidy’s Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Have you ever wanted to pre-order an ARC before even finishing it? Yeah, me too. 😂

I am absolutely obsessed with this book. Like, telling my friends and family to read it. Screaming it from the rooftops. I cannot believe that this is @itslivdarling debut novel. Like WHAT?!

Fear the Flames is full of all of the romance & action that we love, and none of the miscommunication that we loathe. Oh, and did I mention it’s written in the 1st person pov? 🙌🏼 *swoon*

It’s a story about an absolutely incredible fmc who loves flowers, fashion, and vanquishing her enemies. She’s empathetic, sarcastic, hilarious, and has overcome absolutely devastating adversities. I believe there is a little bit of Elowen in all of us.

Fear the Flames is the ultimate book-hangover cure. If you’ve been stuck in a reading rut, I can almost guarantee that this book will pull you out of it. ✨

Run to your local bookstore & snag a copy today. You won’t regret it!

Thank you so much to @dellromance & @itslivdarling for providing me with this STUNNING arc in exchange for a fair and honest review. I am so honored to have been one of the first to experience this beautiful book. 💕

My Favorite Quotes:

❤️‍🔥 “But is it not the most unsuspecting people who do the most extraordinary things?”

❤️‍🔥 “Dreams can guide us out of our darkest moments”

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

❤️‍🔥 “For once in my life, I know I’m doing exactly what I need to do. I’m going exactly where I need to go.”

❤️‍🔥 “Sadness and pain are the price we pay for opening our hearts, but I’d rather die penniless than never know love.”

❤️‍🔥 “That little girl survived so she could become the woman I am today. I am more than the memories and past that plague me.”

❤️‍🔥 “You’re so much braver than you believe, and stronger than you feel in this moment.”

❤️‍🔥 “My life hasn’t always been easy, but all darkness must pass.”

EPIC!!! I loved this book. Once I really got into about 10 chapters I could not put this down. The adventure, the characters, the banter between Elowen and Cayden was just epic. And it has dragons!!!!! I was just perfect

The unfortunately was not a read I would want to finish. The world for me, although set in medieval times read too modern. I had many questions at the beginning of the book that were not answered that would explain how the main character ended up in her situation. Because of those things the story did not draw me in as much but other reads may enjoy that.

I think this book will be a hit for a lot of readers, especially fans of Romantasy. I had high hopes this would be a favorite for me and I couldn’t wait to immerse myself in dragons, war, and romance.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t it for me personally. I felt like the characters were too modern in a fantasy world and I didn’t understand El’s decisions, and it seemed like her thoughts revolved around pastries and Cayden. I don’t feel like I saw someone who built up any sort of army or had any sort of plan to save her dragons. The characters seemed at odds with their reputations, if that makes sense.
I got the feeling that this book was more a mash up of vibes and tropes than a fleshed out story. I think that’s what a lot of people will go for, honestly, and there are certainly quotable moments and scenes, but it just felt very surface level to me. If these characters had so many schemes and plans and also full time jobs… as a commander, for example, why is he dress shopping and eating pastries and never seems to be at work?
This just wasn’t the immersive fantasy I expected. I don’t understand any of the world building or politics or the why of anything, which might have been fine, but I also didn’t get a lot of that enemies to lovers vibe, either. Cayden was clearly fully team El from the moment he met her and just said all the right broody lines and smirked when she threatened to stab him.
Again, I think I’ll be the minority for not loving this, but it just didn’t work for me.

I always love an excuse to pick up a book with dragons in it, and Fear the Flames was no exception-the story opens with a lush tale of a princess bound to five different dragons, torn away from that inseparable bond by her power hungry father. The novel opens with a lush, poetic tale of our MC’s (Elowen) childhood and an ode to her five dragons. After fleeing her oppressive existence under her father, she becomes the self proclaimed Queen of Aestilian, a kingdom all her own. Our cloak and dagger wielding heroine, Elowen, navigates a realm full of power thirsty royals, clashing realm politics, a curious bond to a ruthless Commander Veles, and a penchant for vengeance on behalf of her dragons.

Considering this story was a two-day binge for me, I can confidently say that the story MOVES. From bargains, to deceptions, to heists, and undeniable chemistry—the plot kept my interest and intrigue for the entirety of the book. I had a lovely time speeding through this, and I have a deep appreciation for the amount of story tucked into this just under four-hundred page novel. Also, I LOVE a dagger wielding FMC with no need for basic training and a good dose of feminine rage. Here’s my modest (and very insistent) request to populate the rest of the fantasy book world with more of them.

Romantasy readers will enjoy:

- A bickering, banter-filled *enemies (more or less, a partnership of inconvenience) to lovers
- A found family
- Rich environments-taverns, castles, estates, lush landscapes
- Dragons….not one, not two—FIVE
- HEIST(S)
- A steamy, irresistible romance
- Mental health rep (really appreciated this)
- Commander Veles, ofc

I had a LOVELY time reading Fear the Flames, and I’m so grateful that Penguin Random House sent me an arc, and I’m excited to dive into more of Olive Rose Darling’s work in the future.

As always, please go in gently and check the trigger warnings at the beginning of the book. Our FMC is no stranger to violence, and there are a few graphic scenes depicting this.

✨𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰✨

“𝙄’𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙞𝙛𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩, 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚.”

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬: 32, 38, 43, & 46
𝐒𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧: 49%
𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬: Forbidden romance, reluctant allies-to-lovers, found family, political intrigue
𝐏𝐎𝐕: 1st person, Single POV
𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Single
𝐊𝐔: No

I was excited when I saw that this book was about a heist because I thought it would be a nice change from the fantasy books I’ve been reading lately. Unfortunately, I didn’t love this as much as I was expecting.

I would have loved a bit more world building in the beginning. I also would have preferred a slower burn for the MCs. They went from reluctant allies to insta-love very quickly, I wanted a smoother transition from one phase to the next.

I think fans of the romantasy genre will love this one. It has it all, dragons, plenty of banter and spice. Overall, I wish this had more world building, tension and found family dynamics…and less tropey with overused phrases like “touch her and die” or “I will burn the world down”.

*𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙂𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬*


⚠️𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬:⚠️
Multiple open door scenes with explicit descriptions
Strong language

Honestly saying it’s comparable to Fourth Wing is setting this book up for failure with such high expectations.

As an introduction novel and first for Darling, I understand the elements of the book and where the story is going because it pulls alot of popular themes. For example, The main guy lead who’s strong, commanding, but annoying handsome. However the execution of the writing is poor. Rushing to the point and pushing emotions and trying to establish a connection between the two main leads made them one dimensional. They just met and they are already agreeable with fake irritation. Everything was to fast and I didn’t understand the world building very well. Her character was also confusing how did she endear a town to make her queen? She doesn’t show any quality to garner such attention except being blood royalty.

Some of the sentence structure were also odd. Multiple times a question ask by a character was answered by said character in the same sentence.

Overall it was a struggle to finish this book. I had high hopes because it was indie turn trade but I think a lot of editing is needed and better editing, pacing, and story building needs to be emphasize moving forward.

This is one of my favorite books! I read the indie version last year and was lucky to receive an ARC of this version. Elowen and Cayden's relationship is just *chef's kiss* and the found family in this book is everything I didn't even know I needed. There are dragons and fighting and everything you could ever want in a book. This is a must read!

I want to start this review by saying that I loved the indie version of this book with my entire heart, the characters and the romance stuck with me as top tier romantasy relationships, this book has always been special to me. That being said - Olivia Darling has truly outdone herself with this rerelease of Fear the Flames. There were more changes than I expected between the two books but each and every one managed to make everything I already loved better and better.

The ROMANCE!!! HELLO?!?! THIS IS EVERYTHING I WANTED FROM A ROMANTIC FANTASY & MORE. The pining, the slow burn, the banter, it was as if she took the compatibility of Elowen and Cayden and ramped it up to 11. The way with words that this fictional man has should be studied and placed into the hall of fame. I was consistently highlighting quotes throughout this book. If you have not met Commander Cayden Veles yet YOU ARE MISSING OUT!!!!

The pacing of this story was beautifully done, I felt as though the action stayed consistent, but the moments that slowed it down focused on relationship development so I was still fully engaged. The stakes are high, and most importantly there are dragons. There is a very “mother of dragons” energy happening with this story that I was soooooo obsessed with.

The themes of revenge, strength, mental health, trauma healing, and so much more were potent throughout the character relationships. This series will continue to take over the romantasy world with the following books mark my words!

Thank you so much to Dell romance and NetGalley for the advance eARC of this book! ✨💚