FEAR THE FLAMES

In this debut fantasy romance, a princess in hiding teams up with an unlikely ally to take back what’s rightfully hers.

Elowen Atarah is not your average princess. When dragon eggs hatched for her, she was proclaimed to be “forged from the fire of the gods.” But instead of celebrating her dragon bond, her father put her in chains, seeing her as a threat. Elowen escapes after years of torment—but without her dragons. Exiled but finally free of her father’s cruelty, Elowen learns to fight and becomes a deadly force with the intention of getting her dragons back. This opportunity arrives in the form of Cayden Veles, commander of the neighboring kingdom. Cayden and Elowen have a common enemy—her father. An alliance is forged, and with the help of Cayden and her most trusted friends, Elowen seeks her chance at revenge and rebirth. Darling combines the thrill of the heist à la Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows with the dragon lore of Samantha Shannon’s The Priory of the Orange Tree while throwing in a lot more violence and sex. The premise of battling kingdoms fighting a revenge-seeking exiled dragon queen flies close to Game of Thrones territory—but this is romance at its core. Worldbuilding and warmongering take a back seat to the fire building between Elowen and her ally turned lover. Cayden is quick to use the threat of murder to protect Elowen as proof of his love—“Even if a man even hardly touches you, it’ll be the last thing he does in this life.” While the gratuitous violence may be a turnoff—heed the author’s note on trigger warnings—the first-person narration eliminates much of the discomfort factor. Elowen’s perspective is clear: Cayden’s darkness matches her own. For the first time, the dichotomies within herself make sense and she feels seen. The one thing more unbelievable than how quickly Cayden starts calling Elowen “love” is how often Elowen denies their relationship is anything more than an alliance. Clunky attempts at building tension aside, Darling deserves credit for managing to resolve this power struggle in a way that celebrates Elowen’s return to confidence and strength.

Quippy and crass with lots of passion but far from a light read—expect some emotional whiplash and the desire for more.