If this is a bargain, then I am in. Liv is a never to me author but has fast become a must read anything she writes as the stories just like this one are amazing and capture your heart and mind. I feel like I fell for the characters and was left berreft once the book ended and want so much more. Please give me more.

An enjoyable tale with well-realized characters who you can truly watch mature throughout the book. It gives a traditional fairy tale a fresh and original twist while keeping you guessing right up until the very end.

Oh, how I love fairytale retellings! Spinning Fire is well-written and I really liked it. I have to confess though, that I didn't read the previous books, so I'm not sure whether I'm missing some connections that would make it even better.

Book Review: Spinning Fire: A Rumpelstiltskin Retelling by Liv Strom

Spinning Fire, the latest entry in Liv Strom’s Tales of Bones & Roses series, is a captivating reimagining of the classic Rumpelstiltskin tale, blending fantasy, romance, and dark intrigue into a unique retelling. From the first page, readers are drawn into a world brimming with high stakes, complex relationships, and dangerous bargains that push the limits of trust and survival. Strom's world-building, characterized by its mix of steampunk aesthetics and magical elements, immerses the reader in the tension and drama of a city on the verge of destruction.

The plot centers around Ansa, a woman caught in a web of political unrest, familial duty, and dangerous magic. When her supposedly dead husband Alexei reappears and inadvertently bargains away their child, Ansa is left with no choice but to tap into a forbidden power: the ability to spin fire into gold. This deadly talent, which she’s suppressed her whole life, becomes her only hope to save her family from the city's despotic ruler. The concept of spinning fire instead of straw, cleverly paying homage to Rumpelstiltskin, adds a fresh and fiery twist to the retelling.

Ansa's journey is one of self-discovery and empowerment. Her internal conflict over using her dangerous ability parallels her emotional struggle with Alexei, who has returned with his own burdens and secrets. Their relationship is fraught with tension, betrayal, and unresolved feelings, which slowly unravel through dual points-of-view. Strom’s use of a dual narrative allows for deep exploration of both characters’ emotional arcs, giving the reader insight into their motivations and vulnerabilities.

The heart of Spinning Fire is not just the magic or the bargains, but the rich emotional depth that Liv Strom brings to her characters. Ansa and Alexei’s relationship is a second-chance romance at its core, tinged with the kind of slow-burn intensity that makes every interaction between them feel charged. The stakes are personal and political, with the fate of their found family—adoptive and biological—always hanging in the balance.

Another notable strength is Strom's skillful handling of themes like identity, power, and the importance of names. In this world, names carry immense significance, and the concept of naming as a source of power echoes the original Rumpelstiltskin story, while offering deeper layers of meaning. Ansa and Alexei must grapple with their identities in a world where names, loyalty, and trust can be the difference between life and death.

The book is filled with vivid, imaginative descriptions, particularly of the fire-spinning scenes, which feel both magical and perilous. The steampunk influence—seen in mechanical hearts and the industrial backdrop of the city—adds an atmospheric, gritty edge to the story, making it stand out in the crowded fantasy genre.

However, Spinning Fire does take its time building up momentum. Readers expecting a fast-paced adventure might find the slow-burn romance and gradual unfolding of the plot a bit too leisurely. But for those who enjoy character-driven stories with intricate world-building and emotional complexity, this novel is a rewarding journey.

In conclusion, Spinning Fire is a spellbinding mix of dark fantasy, romance, and steampunk with a fresh take on the beloved Rumpelstiltskin story. It’s a tale of sacrifice, redemption, and the unbreakable bonds of family, skillfully crafted to keep readers on the edge of their seats. Liv Strom has woven a narrative full of heart, fire, and intrigue that will resonate with fans of romantic fantasy and retellings alike.

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5)

Recommended for: Fans of fairy tale retellings, slow-burn romantasy, and readers who enjoy stories of found family and second chances.

In this new installment of Tales of Bones and Roses we find the story of Alexei and Ansa and their reunion after a time apart.
With this novel, Liv Strom continues to enrich the world she created in the previous ones. However, there have been times when I felt a bit confused and disconnected from the characters.
It's not that I didn't like it, it's as entertaining as the previous ones, but for me it didn't have the magic that Dimi and Vanya had. Even so, I'm looking forward to read Zora's entry, which seems to be the next one, and it promises to be very good!

Book: Spinning Fire
Author: Liv Strom
Series
This is a Rumpelstiltskin retelling.
Spinning Fire is a series in the Tales of Bones and Roses, I have read this as a standalone but there is a novella Unlocking Fire which features our two main characters Alexei and Ansa. I would recommend reading that first as I found myself confused and find there was things not explained.
It took me a bit to get into the book but once I did I couldn’t put this book down, and I certainly didn’t guess the twist.
I love the POV for Ansa and Alexei but I was hoping to have a few more POV. The main baddie in this book wasn’t so bad he was just kind of annoying. I wanted a really strong bad guy.
I am not sure if it was just me but I did get a bit confused with the world building and trying to keep it all straight.

ARC Review
Spinning Fire
✨️7/10✨️

This imaginative, twisted retelling of Rumplestiltskin is a solid read. It kept me guessing in parts, and there are some really strong characters with satisfying arcs.

The world Strom has created is rich and vibrant. She drops casual references and details that make me want to dive further in. Especially with Zora - she seems like such a fantastic character & I'm excited to see more of her in other tales.

I haven't read the novella before this, which I think is why I didn't feel as strongly towards Ansa and Alexei's love story as I expected. Don't get me wrong, I was still invested, but I could feel that I was missing some of the emotion of their backstory.

It also meant that Ansa's reaction to Alexei's tale of bargaining away her daughter seemed very muted. I am assuming that's because of plot that happened in the novella - you get the context, but not the emotions behind it.

There also came a point where the only thing keeping them apart was a frank conversation. As a reader, that situation becomes a little draining to read. But we get out HEA, so I can't complain!

There was a twist that I didn't see coming - which I love! That's when the book really took off for me. I think the story would have benefited from faster pacing to reach that point. I'd also have liked to see the villain be more villainous - he felt quite small, and easily removed - only lack of murderous intent saved him.

Overall, Spinning Fire is a great story. Anda and Alexei are well developed, but I think it would be worth reading their novella before this book to get the full context.

Thank you so much Victory Editing, NetGalley, and the author, Liv Strom for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review. All opinions are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley, Victory Editing and Liv Strom for this ARC. All opinions are my own.
3.5 stars rounded up.

SPINNING FIRE is a story about courage and family, set in a world where magic is real and people are greedy for power. It's the third installment (fourth, if you count the UNLOCKING FIRE novella) in Liv Strom's TALES OF BONES AND ROSES series, but I have read it as a standalone. Ansa, a fire bearer, must save her home and her late husband's family from death by powering a quarry machine with fire. Meanwhile, Alexei, Ansa's not-so-late husband has made a bargain for his life and needs to return home to make it right.

As a note to future readers, I would recommend reading the novella before reading SPINNING FIRE, if not all the books in the series that come before it. It took me nearly a hundred pages to place myself in the universe, remember who each people was and what their role was, as well as have a grasp of the characters' history. It can absolutely be read as a standalone, but you need to be ready to spend nearly a third of it confused, as if it were written in medias res. It makes for a good narrative and leaves you waiting to find out the full picture, which is something I enjoy, but it's very clear that there is narrative bits you're missing out on if you haven't read the previous installments.

Strom's strongest suit, I believe, are the characters. They start off quite cliche, Ansa not fitting in because she wasn't a real noble and a fire mage where those are feared; and Alexei who stayed away for Ansa's protection, despite being in love with her. I'll admit I wasn't a fan of the way either of them were written at the beginning, but their character arcs were strong and well-developed, turning out to be very satisfying towards the end. Strom did a great job as even the less important characters had gone through their own character arcs, which was a pleasure to read. My favourite was, hands down, Alexei's younger sister Zora, and I will definitely be on the lookout for her installment in the series.

I couldn't put this book down. It was gripping, interesting, and most importantly, I didn't guess the plot twist (which I won't spoil, but it would make you want to read it more). It was a fun, light read. The romance was well done and had me rooting for it, even though at the beginning I didn't care for it much. The family love and affections, both by blood and by bonds, were the heart of this story and why I liked it so much. I'm a sucker for families.

However, I will admit that the writing itself isn't the best. There is quite a lot of repetition towards the beginning, of facts we've already heard, and some of the events happened purely based on coincidence. The big villain also didn't feel too threatening, only like a prick who managed to manipulate everyone into standing by his side. I also think this suffers from overwriting, and less would've been more. The whole novel could've been about 15-20% shorter without losing anything. This meant the pacing within scenes suffered, slowing down dialogue, as our POV characters kept thinking and noticing too much during intense moments. Pacing overall was good, but if it wasn't for Zora and how much I liked her character, these issues would've likely brought the rating down.

Overall, I enjoyed this quite a bit more than I expected from the first third. It's probably not going to change your life, but it will immerse you into an interesting world and you will have a good time. I understand why people would put it down within the first third - it really takes effort to remember everything - but the effort pays off.

And as I said, I'm looking forward to Zora's installment! I'm thinking maybe Pinocchio?

(Also, there's noteworthy disability representation. One of the characters is a wheelchair user and another one heavily dyslexic, both of which are done wonderfully. It was nice to see these kinds of things mentioned in a commercial fantasy novel.)

Spinning Fire is Liv Strom’s latest installment in her Tales of Bones & Roses series where she takes popular fairytales and reimagines them with her own original characters. There have been three novels prior to this, and this novel can either be read as a continuation to the Tales of Bones & Roses series or can be read as a standalone.

And unfortunately, this is where my problem lies with this novel.

I regret to inform that I had to DNF this story, which I am so gutted about as I genuinely loved the previous novella featuring Ansa and Alexei and fell for both characters. I started this novel not knowing it was part of a series, but saw it could be read as a standalone, which was why I requested the e-ARC. However, the author’s note suggested to read her previous novel as well as a novella featuring the two protagonists, Ansa and Alexei, titled Unlocking Fire, for a better reading experience, and so I had read the latter to at least gain some context to understand both our FMC and MMC better, how they met and the journey and development that they go through within that novella. I genuinely enjoyed it and thought it was sufficient enough knowledge to proceed with this novel.

I was looking forward to seeing their story continue in this novel, but unfortunately the world building was just too overwhelming and confusing for me to read on as I found there were still too many gaps in knowledge that hindered my reading experience and prevented me from continuing. There are too many events that I assume happened in the previous novel that this novel does not necessarily do well at explaining in a deeper context and expects the reader to connect the pieces as they go along. Minor spoiler – one example is Alexei being able to fly, and this was not touched upon in the novella nor did it explain with further context how he is able to fly. We are just expected to accept this knowledge as a matter of course. There are many instances of this as I continued to read, which left me feeling frustrated and DNFed early on in the story.

I believe “standalone” may not be suitable to market this book as I found it very hard to follow with the confusing worldbuilding. More context clues and elaboration would have been appreciated and I highly recommend interested readers to read the whole series if they are keen on picking this one up. I am giving this novel 2 stars as I enjoyed Alexei and Ansa and believe this story had potential, if not for the hard to follow world building.

Thank you NetGalley and Victory Editing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.