It was the title, the cover, and the authors that drew me in. A trifecta of bookish attraction. The author Kit Rocha is a pseudonym of authors Donna Herren and Bree Bridges. My first time reading them, and I’ll be waiting for book two of this new series, “Bound to Fire and Steel.”

The world is well developed and the characters are built on throughout the book, and I think this added to their intriguing personalities and the story. A woman, Sachielle of House Roquebarre, who grew up as an orphan - her handmaid the assassin and she’s cursed….but wait - there’s a dragon, yes a dragon god in fact, with a bad rep. Sachielle is due to become his consort, number 31; numbers 1-30 didn’t make it….

Quite an interesting story, let’s just say it’s not what you expect, it’s a different twist on the paranormal dragon relationship, with some heavy-duty steam on the side.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book!

All opinions and observations are mine alone. Thank you to Montlake for sharing this ARC.

Mix a dragon, a princess and her handmaid with magic and you get a new fantasy/romance from Kit Rocha. Sachi and Zanya are sent as Assassins who are tasked with killing the dragon. Strange things happen when you fall in love with your target. Ash the dragon is not what they have been told to expect. Lots of world building and smexy times with all 3 characters.

My thanks to NetGalley for making an eARC of this book available to me.

While I enjoyed Rocha's "Mercenary Librarians" series quite a bit, I found the world building in this new series to be even better. As the book unfolds we learn more about the conflict between dark and light and how the so-called gods fit into it all. The two female protagonists have a hard time of it, as they are trying to find a way and time to kill their intended victim, a god who can manifest as a dragon. Also, one of the women will die a horrible death if they are not successful in their assassination attempt. As this is a "romantasy", first one of the women actually falls in love with the dragon, then the other treads that same path. And to make things more interesting (and spicier), the two women are in love with each other. They are all on a difficult path.

The only thing keeping me from giving this five stars was that the sex scenes came too often (pun intended) and were a bit overly long, thus taking too much away from the rhythm and advancement of the plotlines. I'm sure that many others would disagree with this, but it's just my opinion for how I personally felt about the plot.

I am looking forward to seeing the next book in the series, which is already scheduled for publication in the next year.

Thank you to Montlake and Kit Rocha for letting me have an ARC copy of Consort of Fire to give a fair and honest review! From the pages spills an opulent fantasy world full of ancient magic, mighty gods, deadly curses, dangerous secrets and powerful fears to form a devastating fantasy romance racing against a ticking clock. Not to mention, this was one heck of a spicy read! Off the Richter scale for spice and the earth moving events!

The romance angle of this book was a first read for me, with the dynamics of a MFF relationship. I thought the author cultivated a wonderful subtleties of the love and affection between Ash (the dragon), Sachi and Zanya. The original sweet love and tenderness between Sachi and Zanya spills warmly across the page. While the intensity of chemistry brings Ash into this bond, their love strengths to encompass him. If you like your big declarations, you will be swooning over the perfect ways the character exchange ‘I love you’ affirmations. There are some seriously good heart-melting versions.

An exciting romantasy, setting up an incredible world for a series that is definitely going to be a page turning read, full of beautifully developed characters and an incredible world of adventure. I can't await to read the next in the series.

CONSORT OF FIRE by KIT ROCHA (#1 Bound to Fire and Steel)

From cult-favorite writing duo Kit Rocha comes a fiery novel set in a lush fantasy world brimming with ancient magic, dangerous secrets, and erotic connections.

For three thousand years, an ancient dragon god has protected the borders of the Sheltered Lands. In return, he makes only one demand: every one hundred years, the mortal ruler must send their heir to serve as his consort…for as long as they can survive.

Sachielle of House Roquebarre is the thirty-first consort to be sacrificed to the monster who guards the mountain passes. She is young, beautiful—and she has three secrets.

First: she’s a disposable orphan trained in seduction.

Second: her handmaid, Zanya, is an assassin and the only person she has ever loved.

Third—and most dangerous: she’s cursed. Sachi and Zanya have five weeks to murder the Dragon in his bed. If they fail, the mortal king’s curse will steal not just Sachi’s life, but her very soul.

The Dragon has only one secret: he is nothing like what they have been told. And he will do whatever it takes to possess them both.

REVIEW

I loved this new book by Kit Rocha and first in the series Bound to Fire and Steel. I’m a huge fan of Kit Rocha’s books and when I read about a new paranormal romance with dragons I was thrilled, but I couldn’t imagine how far they could go with the worldbuilding for this series.
I was stunned at first, it’s a mix between paranormal romance, magic, gods and somehow a little like the world of Greek mythology. Perhaps everything at first slow down the story, but it’s worth it, I was enthralled with the plot and the characters.
I loved the journey through the lands of the Dragon, Ash, after he exchanged his vows with Princess Sachielle. With Kit Rocha the romance in their story is never easy, or only between two people. It’s more complicated and this time at first is a slow-burn, then an intriguing game full of passion, erotism, secrets and betrayals, that involves Ash, Sachielle and her handmaid Zanya.
Ash is the character I loved the most, because of his immortal life he’s gone through a lot of pain, losses of loved ones, but his heart still has the strength to love and care, to protect the people he loves and his lands.
Zanya is an amazing character as well, her story, her loyalty and love for Sachielle is unconditional, she’s a fighter and I love her darkside.
I can’t say the same for Sachielle, I didn’t connect with her as the others.
There’s so much more to read about this story, and I can’t wait for the next book in the series, after the little cliffhanger at the end of the book.


**Thanks to Netgalley, ARC provided in exchange for an honest review**

RATING 4 STARS

Disclaimer! This was an ARC from Netgalley (but I have also paid to buy the book myself, after reading it). My opinions are my own.

Every one hundred years, the king of the Sheltered Lands has to send one heir to serve as consort to the ancient dragon god who acts as its protector and guardian. The previous consort went mad with fear not long after bonding with the Dragon, and Ash, the Dragon, worries that history will repeat itself. Ash has lived for over three thousand years, and even with successful unions, his consorts, being mere mortals, grow old and die. Yet the tradition must continue or the protective spells on the land can't be renewed.

The consort is obviously supposed to be of royal blood, but this time, the king has sent an impostor. Sachielle and her handmaiden Zenya were orphans, adopted, and trained to be the perfect weapons. Sachi has been trained to seduce and beguile, Zenya to be a ruthless and highly efficient assassin. Both young women have faced a very harsh and torturous upbringing, with the safety of the other used to keep them under control during training. Their secret mission is to murder the Dragon when he is most vulnerable, and they have only five weeks to complete their task. If they fail, the king's high priest has placed a curse on Sachi. She will die painfully and her soul will be consumed. Zenya has never known love in her life, except from Sachi, and will do anything and everything to keep her safe - even something as impossible as murdering a living god.

Of course, Ash turns out to be nothing like what the young women have been led to expect, nor are the other living gods of the pantheon, all of whom do their best to make the young women feel welcome. The Dragon is not the ruthless tyrant that they feared, he is beloved of his followers and treats both of them with kindness and solicitude. Nor is he even vaguely threatened when he discovers that his bonded bride and her handmaiden are lovers - he just becomes determined to seduce both of them. The more time they spend together, the more willing Sachi is to just give up on the assassination plot, but Zenya isn't going to let her beloved be consumed by the curse, no matter how charming and hot the Dragon is.

I've only read one previous book by Kit Rocha, and while it was entertaining, it was nothing like this. The Mercenary Librarians is a post-apocalyptic urban fantasy, this is pure fantasy. I found the world-building intriguing and loved pretty much all the characters (except the dastardly high priest - but he was clearly supposed to be pond scum). All the living gods were once mortals who did something great and self-sacrificing to protect the land and/or their people, and now they're like a big, vaguely incestuous family who tease each other and hang out at each other's palaces. The other gods are all aware of Ash's melancholy and worries about his new union. Sachi and Zenya are not the first to try to assassinate him either, so none of them are too worried until it becomes clear that if she gets her hands on the right weapon, Zenya could actually present a real threat.

If you are a fan of clean romance, this is not the book for you. This book is so steamy that it should possibly be kept in the freezer when you're not reading it. So many sex scenes, including an actual orgy at one point. Yet as is the case with good writers, every sex scene also furthers the plot in some way.

I wasn't expecting to be so completely engrossed by this. The second I finished the book, I went online to order the sequel, which sadly isn't out until August. I think the series was originally going to be a trilogy, now it looks like it may just be a duology. I'm not complaining, as long as I get more smexy fantasy in this world. I would love sequels featuring others in the pantheon as well.

Judging a book by its cover: As covers go, there is little here to suggest how steamy (and fun) the contents are. The hourglass with the red sand is very central to the plot, however. Each moment of Sachi's remaining life until the curse takes her is shown in a magical hourglass that Sachi and Zenya carry with them. Sachi prefers not to look at it too often, Zenya is almost obsessed with it.

I've tried to write this review three times but kept getting stuck on how much I loved the dang book.
As a dragon lover I am always going to try anything with dragons and I was SO excited to read another KR masterpiece. This time one that follows Sachielle, a princess who has been sent to fulfill an agreement where every 100 years, the Dragon gets a mortal consort.

Except in this case, Sachi has to kill him or she'll die, and that's not going to go well for her bodyguard/handmaiden/partner Zanya. Following Sachi (and Zanya) as they progress through the lands and meet all of the members of the Court of Dreamers is so much fun and I loved the detail put in the worldbuilding and getting to meet everyone (who we better see in the sequel)! Each character is important and nothing feels like it was just thrown in there, the sign of a good fantasy world. I /want/ to know more about each person that we met, even the bad guys.

The developing romance between Ash, Sachi, and then between Ash and Zanya is absolutely delightful and all of the moments between them feel well-earned especially considering that again, Sachi is gonna die if she doesn't kill him. Yikes!

It's also still so rare to see solid FFM romance and I am always going to be a fan of chaotic bisexuals figuring their ish out. I can't wait to read the sequel! It's also a joy to see that the authors got to find joy in writing this after being in the mind space for a dystopian series that was close to home, whew.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Lacks plot and pace. The characters are all very charming and the writing had a way of holding my attention, but sadly I grew increasingly bored as the story progressed - or rather didn't progress. This had the speed of an arthritic donkey out on a slow meandering walk to nowhere. I'm pretty sure the 66% or so I've managed to work through - it feels as though I've been reading this book forever - has been one big foreplay scene.

I am DNFing for now. If I do finish this I will update my review accordingly.

📣 a MFF PNR featuring a dragon god, the Princess who’s sent to bond with him, & her handmaid/secret assassin.

📖 what’s one of your Monday numbers? Mine: 1.5-days until winter break, 3-people I still have to get holiday gifts for, 1-puppy trying to chew my house apart.

(Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.)

Katee Robert writes on the blurb of Consort of Fire by Kit Rocha that this is “a primal scream of queer joy!” It also has a bazillion great reviews on Amazon & Goodreads. But alas, this one falls flat for me.

What I liked: the steam, the basic premise, the unapologetic pleasure the leads find in sex & companionship, the generosity of spirit, the lack of jealousy, the devotion of Princess Sachi & Zanya to each other.

It’s fun seeing where the imaginations of the two writers behind Kit Rocha takes them.

But I had a big problem with the power dynamics in this one between the leads. It doesn’t feel like they are all on equal footing & I get a bit of the ick in one scene.

Not to mention that the relationship between Dragon King Ash & Sachi feels rushed to me.

If you want to try Kit Rocha I totally recommend the first two books in their Mercenary Librarians series (haven’t read the third yet!). A fantastic series. But this one sadly has some big deficits for me.

3 ⭐️. Out now!

Please see a trusted reviewer’s list of CWs.

[ID: the ebook rests on a red table runner on a black table. A sprig of greenery is above.]

I'm a big fan of the Beyond series from this author duo, and so when I saw this, I wanted to check it out. In Consort of Fire, Kit Rocha has created a world in the year 2999 full of dragons and rulers and rules.

Sachi is promised to one of the dragon rulers but she has her own agenda with her handmaid and her best friend and woman she loves called Zanya. They are out to kill the dragon but first Sachi must pretend she is a willing consort in order to lure him in.

Ash, the dragon is an interesting character. He's intrigued by Sachi and Zanya and has his own agenda. There's plenty of erotic content here, which if you've read this author before, you know they can deliver with some super steamy scenes and they do not disappoint in Consort of Fire. Loved it!

I did have a bit of a problem with the language -- the chapters start with a date, reminding the reader it's the year 2999, but the language seems very "old english" to this reader and it threw me off every single time. I also found some of the early chapters verbose in descriptions that also kept me from sinking into the story. This all got better as I kept reader, but it was something I notices and it took me out of the story at times.

Overall, a great start to what looks like a terrific erotic romance / fantasy series.

I love romanasty so I was really excited to get this but it was such a disappointment. It's not really romance, it's just sex. There's no build up, no longing, no will-they-won't-they. And it's not really fantasy either. The worldbuilding was poor and confusing. Plus not much happened. The characters just travelled from meeting to meeting. It felt like the entire book was a narrative device just to write erotic sex,

DNF @50%

This book was just so, so horny. So horny. And it was horny at the expense of every other aspect of the book. It felt like the only thing that was happening or being talked about was sex. And not even just between the three characters in the throuple set up. It felt like this was the only thing being talked about by other characters too. And if I wanted to read something that was just sex scenes I'd go to AO3 or a KU novella. If I'm picking up a full length novel I need....something else to happen. Literally anything else.

There was theoretically an assassination plot in the story but it felt like it got dropped pretty quickly from being referenced at all. The gods figured it out pretty quickly and were just like *shrug* whatever. And then on Sachi and Zanya's side it felt like they stopped thinking about it and didn't seem to be doing anything to further this plot at all. And I acknowledge there is a whole second half of the book during which this could change but I hit the halfway point and just found myself incredibly bored because there was no plot to be following. And beyond the plot I didn't feel attached to the characters or their romance threads at all either, which barring an engaging plot could have kept me invested long enough to come back around to the plot.

Sachi and Zanya were an established couple, but because of that I missed out on all the buildup of the relationship that I personally need in a book to be invested in their relationship. And then I didn't care about Ash's relationship with either of them because it felt like just sex. And I need a romantic buildup to care about the sex scenes between characters and it was lacking that because all of the non sexual interactions between the three main characters felt manipulative and not genuinely romantic as they were all trying to figure out how to "get in" with the other characters as it were.

Overall a disappointment unfortunately, especially as this was an author I was previously interested in trying

This was a really interesting set up and premise, but I couldn’t connect with the characters. It might be one that I pick up later down the line and try again, but I just wasn’t gripped.

Ohmygod, can I say enough great things about this book? Nope. Everything about Consort of Fire was extra ... extra sexy, extra heart-racing, extra extreme characters. I love this duo of writers, and I love how their minds work. More, please!

Unfortunately, I did not finish this book! I did not do enough research, and did not know what I was getting myself into. It was too smutty for me, but that is a personal issue. Congrats on the release and thank you for the Arc!

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

Anyone who has enjoyed the Beyond series by Kit Rocha will recognize elements of the same style but in a wholly new well-built world of magic and dragons! I loved this book, and found it to be quite a page turner as heroines Sachielle and Zanya try desperately to figure out a way to defeat the death curse that is fast approaching its end. Ash, the God and dragon shifter they've been sent to destroy, knows that the human's who come to be his consort usually have another agenda (and it's often to kill him) so he's wary but determined to win them over. Lots of sexy scenes, action and camaraderie between Ash's other God friends make for a great story and I look forward to more in the series!

So it's an arranged marriage, intended assassination, poly, queer, dragon god type book. It's hot as blazes and I'm really interested in the world building.

Sachi is being married to the Dragon because of ancient laws. But she has a secret. So does Zanya, her handmaiden and lover. The Dragon has lived for thousands of years and is married to a mortal every hundred years. His heart is heavy. But Sachi is different. And Zanya is intriguing and dangerous.

The spice is super spicy. This world of gods and dreams is fascinating. I'm so looking forward to the next book in the series as Sachi and Zanya come into their own.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The story revolves around Sachielle, the thirty-first sacrificial consort, concealing secrets, including a dangerous curse. Partnered with her assassin handmaid, Zanya, they embark on a high-stakes mission to assassinate the dragon within a tight deadline. Rocha skillfully explores love, betrayal, and tension themes, delivering a surprising plot twist with explicit elements. The story artfully blends dragons, gods, curses, and royal intrigue, setting the stage for a promising series. I eagerly anticipate the next chapter in this polyamorous romance, enriched with compelling characters and a captivating plot.

Folks, I’m a pretty simple gal. When I saw this book on NetGalley and saw the name Kit Rocha, I immediately grabbed it. I didn’t read the synopsis, I had no idea what this was about, and I didn’t care 😁

Then I saw that this was a high fantasy romance, which is a bit different for them. I’m a little nervous now. But

I
LOVED
THIS
BOOK!

We have gods and goddesses and magic and shapeshifting and intrigue and battles…and smutty good times.
Here’s a prime example of why I love this book so much: Sachi arrives to be wed (sacrificed) to The Dragon, and her handmaid Zanya is with her. Then he finds out that Zanya isn’t really his wife’s handmaid but her lover. And he’s like “OK, that’s cool, I’ll make sure to introduce her to everyone as your lover from now on”. There’s no jealousy whatsoever, in fact, he’s happy that she has someone to love her 🥰 and I swooned

Thank you to NetGalley & Montlake for this advance reader copy. All opinions are my own.