Pretty good 2nd book to the series. Read it in a couple of days and ended up disappointed the 3rd book isn't out yet! I don't usually like books/animes where the main character just pops in a new world but I really liked this one. Every character has been developed deeper. Waiting to read the next one!

Wow, so good! I was absolutely drawn into this book and had a hard time putting it down! The last 15% especially was so intense and consumed me!
This story had a lot of development for Blake I think, though it takes a while. His little unintentional confessions just had me wanting to cry! Loved watching their bond grow and change.
So thankful to have received an ARC for this book and looking forward to book 3 in spring, especially after that cliffhanger!
🌶️🌶️/5

Well this was quite the emotional rollercoaster! Briar Boleyn really knows how to deliver a fantasy romance that rips your heart out, stomps on it, and then hands it back with a bittersweet smile. This instalment in the series is packed with tension, drama, and just the right amount of swoony moments to keep you hooked.

The story picks up where the last book left off, with Aria and Kael facing impossible odds. Their bond is tested (hence the title!) in ways that are both gut-wrenching and incredibly satisfying. Boleyn dives deep into themes of sacrifice, loyalty, and the messy, complicated nature of love. The stakes are high, not just for our favourite couple, but for the entire kingdom...and believe me, you'll feel every single moment.

What I loved most is how much Aria has grown. She’s fierce, vulnerable, and refuses to back down, even when the odds are stacked against her. Kael is, of course, broody and complicated in all the best ways. Their chemistry? Off the charts. I found myself mentally yelling, “Just kiss already!” more than once because the tension there was HIGH!

The pacing is solid, though a few chapters in the middle dragged a bit with some very detailed (maybe too much so?) world-building. That said, the explosive climax and emotional ending more than make up for it. And can we talk about that ending? No spoilers, but it’s going to stick with me for a long time.

If you’re into angsty, magical romance with a side of kingdom-saving, this one’s for you!

4.5 stars...that extra half is for the ending alone!

This review will be published on Instagram (@kerryreadsbooks_) in January 2025.

Review of The Bond That Burns by Briar Boleyn
* * * * *
Tensions, magic and fires rise as the vampires crave for more power from their new rider, and the dragon she has brought forth. What secrets and truthes will be known as our warrior fights for the life of her friends and dragon.

Medra has done something that was believed impossible, and now, she is being demanded to control the ancient beast.
The vampires families are demanding her in their house and under the power, or have her destroyed.
Medra, however, is not taking their venom. She is fighting back, learning from her mistakes, and bonding with the dragon that could destroy them all or be her salvation.

Medra already has enough school work on her plate, and dealing with a-hole teachers and elder vampires. Now, she's packing in on her extra studies and dragon riding lessons.
Her bond with Blake has taken a turn after his betrayal, but Blake - though wishing to make her miserable one moment and craving her the next - will do anything to make sure she is aware she is his...thought he has his own problems.
Something strange is happening.
A new change.
Evolution? Magic? A sickness?
More betrayals. More death. More to come!!

"It felt good. So fucking good to know I could make her do more than hate me. Dangerously good."

Excuse me!?
EXCUSE ME
I FEEL LIKE IVE RUN A MARATHON. My heart is pounding, I’m shaky, I’m feeling all the emotions, I can’t breathe.
Ohmygod

“Magnificent. Utterly magnificent.” And it was his tone of voice that caught me off guard this time. Reverent. No, worshipful.

Okay, I got my shit together.

This was everything I wanted and more. Blake was perfect. Medra was perfect. Florence was a cute little bean. Tanaka was swoony. Theo and Visha stepped up. Neville has my whole heart and I would end the world for him.

“But you bring the fire. You make even the darkness shine. Even dragon fire can’t compete with the way you burn, Pendragon.”

This book picks right up where the last one ended, on the cliffhanger, and OH this one has a cliffhanger to, so get ready to DIE. I’ll be here to consol you in hell (babes, we’re not going to heaven at this point lmao).

"So, my girl was a princess. It wasn’t that much of a surprise, really. She’d always looked like a queen to me."

Medra takes absolutely no shit. I love it and her. She stands up for herself all the time and for her friends. There wasn’t a time where I got annoyed because she wouldn’t say anything, you know, when you’re screaming at a character to stand up for themselves, Medra was just great.

"I thought of how close we’d become last year. How good it had felt to think, just briefly, that she was on my side. The two of us against the world. Now I was alone again."

Blake, our little bully vamp turned into an obsessive bully vampire AND something is happening to him, some change that I won’t say to spoil it but OHMYGOD YES. AND TANAKA. YES. All the yeses.

"She was deep inside me now. Woven into my blood. Carved into my heart. But maybe these feelings were poison. Sweet but deadly."

I don’t think it’s gonna happen but I am rooting for MFM or MMF but I have a feeling I know where it’s going based on the ending now, so while I’m sad, I still like the how this is all playing out.

"I’m going to die, aren’t I?
You are not going to die, Nyxaris answered. You will not fall. I will not allow it. I will not permit you to humiliate me in such a ridiculous way."

Nyxaris. That’s all.

"Pendragon hated me. I already knew that. But what I hadn’t realized was that her dragon did, too."

What even is this review? What a fucking mess lmao

“You survived your first year because I allowed it. Don’t make me prove that to you now.” He suddenly pushed his chest up against mine, shoving me backwards. His breath was hot against my ear. “Why don’t you just fall in line, like a good little girl?”

Omg!!!!! I'm still so hooked lol. Definitely has some Fourth Wing vibes, and some Zodiac vibes. Bully romance, academy, dragons, betrothal, consort, and a vampire prince. Not much more you could ask for!!! Awesome book!

Part two of the Bloodwing Academy series sees Medra facing the consequences of awakening a dragon in a world in which they’ve long since been exorcised. We see the return of familiar characters in Blake, Florence and Theo among others, with some newer ones making an appearance too.

My thoughts? It was good…it wasn’t great.

As much as it pains me to say that as I adore Briar Boleyn, I have to be honest. The Blood of a Fae series is one of my all time favourites and On Wings of Blood (part one to this book) was excellent, I finished it desperate for part two, but this one just seems to fall a little short.

It felt a little rushed. The whole way through, everything seemed to just skim the surface and not ever get any deeper. I was really hoping to find out more about Medra and where she’d come from. What was her life like in Camelot and what happened there for her to end up in a whole new world? I felt like we just didn’t learn enough and too many questions from part one remained unanswered in part too also.

That being said, it’s not unlikeable, I did enjoy it and will look out for part three. I just felt like I needed more from this one.

Thank you for the ARC and I wish the book every success upon release.

Oh my Goddess! This was a perfect follow up! I allways get nervous when the first book is great, and then you start on the second, but the gripping story continues in The Bonds That Burns 🔥

We follow the tension-felt relasionship between Merda and Blake (A shout out to my man Blake!), we get more dragon-time and twists, turns and a tribunal hearing.

I personally don't know why more pepole are'nt talking about this series.
It has everything: Vampires, Dragons, Wolves, Dark academy, found family, spice and a great worldbuilding!
Need the next one ASAP

Post on IG the 15 of jan. 2025 with both On WIngs of Blood & The Bond that Burns

I was intrigued after book one. Unfortunately this just wasn't for me. I liked the academic setting, the basic outline of the plot, and some of the characters.

Maybe it's just timing and I'll have to revisit this book another time, but I started liking Medra less and less. I understand the betrayal, but the constant outward anger just didn't resonate for me. I'm not saying she's wrong, just the approach is something I would literally walk away from in the real world.

Rating 2.5 stars, rounding up

This book had a lot going on, which I gave kudos to. It was very fast paced, which I enjoyed. The story picked up RIGHT from book 1 and even though it has only been a few weeks since I read that one, I did appreciate how the author wove in reminders about what happened in book 1 and who was who. As there are a lot of side characters due to the various families involved in this book, those reminders were necessary for me to remember the significance of the families and who was involved. This book follows the consequences of the end of book one, which I really don't want to spoil. Blake and Medra's relationship continues to develop in its sort of very up and down rocky sort of way. There are lots of hints and foreshadowings that made me excited for the plot twists that were eventually revealed. If you want a combination of Zodiac Academy and Fourth Wing, I think you would really enjoy this book.

However, I was able to get around the bully romance from book 1 because we saw Blake grow as a character. It didn't excuse Blake's actions but as his feelings developed for Medra he backed off and took more of a protective role. Most of that I felt like went out the window, especially at the beginning of this book, with Blake now realizing his feelings and still going back to bullying and hurting Medra out of what - spite? No thank you. This book was also much spicier than book one, and some of the early spice scenes in this book felt a bit more like coercion to me than enthusiastic consent. She is actively saying that she doesn't want something to happen and he's like no, you know you want this. The fact it happened more than once left a bad taste in my mouth for the rest of the book. I don't think this series is for me and will likely not be picking up the remaining books.

Thank you Briar Boleyn and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC. All thoughts and reviews are my own and are voluntary.

Medra survived her first year at Bloodwing Academy, as the only dragon rider in the school, surrounded by vampires (highbloods) and mortals (blightborn) - and now, she has a dragon. Nyxaris, one of the four house dragons entombed in stone, has awoken, and Medra doesn't know how. She continues to wrestle with her toxic relationship with Blake Drakharrow, her betrothed, even as their relationship changes, with Blake relying on her more than ever. Blake becomes more awful than ever, fulfilling the bully romance trope completely, and it seems like things might never change.

I loved picking up Medra's story again - just like the first book (On Wings of Blood), this book is super easy to read and I just wanted to keep going! The story is well paced, the plot is planned well and there is plenty going on for the reader to think about.

I was anxious to find out what happened to Medra after the events of book one, and disappointed to find Blake was behaving worse than ever. Medra and her bestie Florence are closer than ever, with a few of their highborn friends remaining by their side. Medra and Blake's relationship is more twisted than ever and I found myself genuinely disliking his character and wishing she'd move on, but knowing she probably wouldn't. Blake finally starts to question himself and the way he acts, which had me cheering! Nyaxaris is the perfect grumpy dragon, who has no interest in being bonded to a rider, who Medra has to try to win over. Neville the fluffin remains a constant, cheeky, adorable presence in this story, I wish I had a fluffin! The characters are definitely a big part of the reason to keep reading this series.

Another excellent book in this series, and with a cliffhanger finish, I can guarantee I'll be reading the next one when it comes out!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Fake it til you make it…or until you die.

Read The Bond that Burns by Briar Boleyn if you like…

🌹 spice
🌹 enemies to lovers
🌹 political intrigue
🌹 forced proximity
🌹 dragons
🌹 women warriors
🌹 banter banter banter


🩷HER🩷
The one, the only unstoppable half fae prisoner princess. She was born to rule, but the men in her life are too stubborn to be her subjects. Medra won’t give up and is ready to fight.

💙HIM💙
The arrogant, mean, unfortunately sexy as hell vampire she’s bonded to (against her will) that keeps trying to control her house, her life, and fight as she might her heart.

📖 THEIR STORY 📖
Everyone thinks Medra, the only dragon rider in existence, can control Nyxaris, the only dragon in existence. So everyone wants to control Medra.

No one wants to control her more than her unwanted, annoying betrothed that is doing whatever it takes to hurt her at the same time. And their stupid bond keeps pulling her back to Blake, despite how much she hates him.

If Medra wants to stay alive long enough to break her bond and gain her freedom from the stubborn prince, she’s got to fake it until she makes the stubborn dragon agree to actually help her.

Thank you to Briar Boleyn and #NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of The Bond that Burns.

If you like intense battles of will with scorching romance thrown in, this is your next read.

The Bond That Burns continues on from book one as Medra is discovering a world where she talks to a dragon and the stakes are higher than ever. Well I need more of this series like yesterday! The author weaves a tantalising hot romance with extra heat and a dark and deadly fantasy world. The reader becomes immersed in life at Bloodwing and my favourite character is the cheeky Neville. How could anyone not love him? Bring on the next book!!

Thanks to Briar Boleyn and Netgalley for the ARC! All opinions are my own.

The Bond That Burns was the perfect follows up to On Wings of Blood and i am here for it.

Medra and Blake interacting in this book are *chefs kiss* for me i love them. But don't get me wrong there's a little something to be said about Kage hanging around 👀

But Ms Boleyn *ahem* please bring book 3s launch forward! That ending had me sitting open mouthed and I NEED to know what happens next, k tnx bye

The second book is even better! I couldn’t put it down. If you like fantasy with a spicy twist, epic betrayals, and big-hearted creatures, you’ll love it. It’s a wild ride. Briar outdid herself with this sequel. The Bond That Burns is a tale of betrayal and a dragon’s legacy.

I am obsessed with this series. When I read the first book, I enjoyed it but this book - I couldn't put it down. I LOVE books that get better as they go in this series. I enjoyed book 1, but this book blew it out of the water. The struggles that Medra had to conquer (which she did valiantly I might add) were huge compared to what she had to deal with in book 1, plus all the twists and spice. I do mean spice, my goodness the scenes were fire. Still not a huge Blake fan, especially at the beginning, but based on things going on and at the end, I think he finally is working on it and I have fingers crossed for the next book. I'm really enjoying this ride, and Nyxaris is such a stubborn Dragon that we can easily love.

Yet another fantastic book! Briar Boleyn just writes masterpieces.

I love how back and forth my love and hate for the male characters in this book goes. I've never gone from hate to love to hate to love to hate again so much than I do in this book 😅 it's very well done to be able to flip my feelings so back and forth. I also even though I'm at a hate stage with a particular character, I, at the same time hope there is some future where we will read about another male getting himself a lady........
That said, the main couple I love so much, even if I get ticked off a lot!

Also, we get a snarky dragon in book 2! Who doesn't love that ?!?!

This book also kept my attention at all times. It's very go go go and doesn't leave you to get through any dull or slow parts, which I know is important to some. The spice in this one was definitely upped from book one, and I LOVED it. Very well done.

I cannot wait for what book three brings !!!

I also was able to ARC read through Netgalley for my honest reviews :)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Bond that Burns was another great book from Briar Boleyn and a great addition to the Bloodwing Academy series. Like all of Boleyn’s books, The Bond that Burns immediately pulled me in and I couldn’t put it down. Medra is such an exciting character, especially now with Nyxaris in the equation. I can’t wait to for the next book in this series!

4.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫!

This was the perfect sequel to book 1!

I love that we got more Florence, Neville, and Nyxaris! The cute little illustrations of Neville throughout the book are the best 😍 I need him!

I also enjoyed getting to know Theo and Visha better! They are two of my favorites! Although, my heart is heavy for both of them right now 😭

One thing that surprised me the most was Blake's character development. I wanted to strangle him but that feeling lessened as the book went on. I feel like sometimes when they write a "bully", they've gone too far for redemption. I'm glad that wasn't the case with him.

Now, if we could just take care of the two fools that are trying to destroy everything, that would be great. Thanks!

That cliffhanger ending is killing my soul! I'm so happy that the next book is coming out in the spring. If I had to wait any longer than that I might freak out lol.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Briar for allowing me to read this book! I absolutely love the direction this series is taking!

Thanks to Netgalley and the author for an ARC of this book. Things are really heating up between Blake and Medra. Half the time, Medra hates Blake. Other times, she trusts him. Blake needs to fight his jealousy when Kage keeps getting closer to Medra. Meanwhile, Medra feels she can count on Kage, but if push came to shove, she’s more likely to trust Blake.

At the end of the last installment, Medra had accidentally awakened a dragon named Nyxaris. Although he didn’t kill her, he wanted nothing to do with her and flew away. The highblood houses are shocked by the awakening of a dragon and want to know how Medra did it. She doesn’t want to tell them it was through blood magic trying to move her mother from her mind to a knife (they can still communicate when in close proximity). They debate putting her to death, but eventually decide to allow her to “train” Nyxaris and show her what they can do together—with the understanding that both she and Nyxaris are to serve the needs and wishes of the highbloods.

Medra finds she has a mind connection with Nyxaris and can communicate over long distances, and they reach an agreement. He will pretend to follow her directions, and she will research everything she can find out about him because his memory is spotty. When he comes to see her during one of the Tribunals, he smotes one of the highbloods for not showing proper respect. I loved this description: “Dragon fire wasn't like ordinary fire. It was an overwhelming force, beautiful and terrible in equal measure. The fire that roared out of Nyxaris’s open jaws was molten light, impossibly bright. Streaks of crimson and gold spiraled like living veins, radiating into the air like deadly ribbons.”

What Medra discovers about Nyxaris is not good and when she tells him, he gets upset because his memories begin to fill in and he feels guilty about what he did. Discussing his actions with a trusted teacher, Rodriguez and Medra have the following conversation:

“He was a soldier in a highblood house. Are soldiers allowed to say ‘no’ when they're given an order?”
“Always.” Rodriguez narrowed his eyes. “Sometimes our children are all we have, Miss Pendragon. They define us, for better or for worse. Obedience doesn't absolve anyone of guilt. Not dragons. Not riders. Not you or me.”

This is a great answer because it demonstrates an integrity that is seldom seen. People like to blame others for their actions. Rodriguez makes it clear that’s not acceptable. Even under threat of torture or death, we always have free will. However, I might argue, in this instance, Nyxaris had lost his free will because his mind was being controlled, making him not entirely responsible. Nothing is ever black and white, and we should hesitate before judging the actions of others.

Medra and Blake learn, independently, that at least one of the highbloods is planning to soulbind her so that they will be able to control the dragon without her agreement. Naturally, they assume it will be Blake’s Uncle Viktor, perhaps the most powerful and evil highblood of them all. Both are terrified of what that will look like and make plans for how to avoid it. Medra confides in Rodriguez and he promises to look into it, but she continues her research. Meanwhile, Blake researches the same thing and confirms it’s his uncle’s idea. To complicate matters, Blake is experiencing some physical changes he doesn’t quite understand, but it seems like his uncle does and he’s gleefully watching Blake suffer. It also seems like Kage knows what’s happening. He tells Blake that if he survives it and cannot control it, Kage will help him.

This book is a page-turner, filled with vivid descriptions that made me feel like I was there. The characters’ emotions were coherently explained through changes in POV. We’re even treated to Florence’s thoughts a couple of times. I found it hard to put down. At the same time, I didn’t want to reach the end. And certainly not on a cliffhanger.

I don’t want to spoil anything so I’ll just say the plot is rife with danger and surprises. At the end, the looming specter of Medra being brought to Viktor is unresolved, likely to be soulbound to him. Eww. The cliffhanger happens exactly one year after the last one, at midnight on the night of their annual Dance of the Longest Night. It’s tense and dangerous. There are so many unanswered questions, which I hope will be answered in the next book—which I hope will come soon! I highly recommend the series.