Thank you to Netgalley and Second Sky for providing the e-arc in exchange for a honest review of this book.

After finishing this book, I felt plenty of contrasting emotions. I’m a huge fan of Nisha’s Artfefacts of Ouranos Series and I can’t wait to read the rest of it, but Heart of Night and Fire didn’t win my heart like I was expected. However it wasn’t disappointing, I really love the complex universe that Nisha built inspired to Indian mythology (I was really curious about that, this is why I wanted to read this book so bad).
About the characters, they displayed a lot of potential, Zarya and Rabin more than anyone, and I can’t wait to see how their relationship develops. For the records, Yasen is my fav. If something bad happen to him in the next books, I’m gonna cry my eyes out for years.

In conclusion, even if it might not have been the engaging fantasy journey I had hoped for, HONAF did succeed in offering several captivating moments, mainly when it comes to its plot twists. Am I gonna read the sequel? Of course, there are promises that it might be huger than this one and I’m really curious to know how Zarya’s journey continues.

Heart of Night and Fire is the first book in Nisha J. Tuli’s newest Fantasy Romance series inspired by Indian mythology. It has so many of my favorite tropes and I enjoyed reading it a lot.

After spending all her life hidden for unknown reasons, all Zarya dreams about is escaping her warden and venturing beyond his lands. When she gets that opportunity, Zarya escapes and is escorted by two soldiers she met in the forest into a beautiful city, quickly manages to find friends and thinks her life will change for the better. But when each day brings her more informations and secrets she never knew and a handsome stranger starts appearing in her dreams, Zarya will have to continue keeping her magic hidden and decide if remaining hidden in the forest wasn’t the better decision after all.

I must admit it took me a while to get fully into this book but the second half more than made up for the confusion I felt reading the beginning. I loved the world building, the author described the Indian culture in such vivid details I felt like I was watching it all instead of reading and the mythology elements were so interesting, I loved reading about them and hope we will get to explore them even more in the next book.

Our main character, Zarya, was really well-written. She was sheltered and annoyed me a lot in the first few chapters with her naivety, but it was amazing to explore this fascinating world alongside her and she grew a lot throughout the book becoming a strong and interesting FMC that I’m sure I’m going to love reading about in the next books in this series. When it comes to romance, I wish there was a bit more of it. It was a really slow slow burn with only a few scenes between Zarya and her love interest, but I loved the tension between them and can’t wait to get more of them in the sequel, having read Nisha’s other books I just know we are getting an amazing enemies to lovers romance in the next book. I also loved the found family trope here, with Zarya spending most of her life without any friends and in hiding, it was great to see her welcomed into a group of friends who became her family, their scenes were so amazing to read.

Heart of Night and Fire is a really great start to a Fantasy Romance series that I really enjoyed and already can’t wait for the next book. If you’ve read Nisha’s other books, I’m sure you’re going to enjoy this one too, and if you’re new to this author, this one is a great place to start, I definitely recommend it!

Wow! This was a fantastic read and this author now has a new fan. The dedication?! Loved it. I shall be checking out her other books.

The world building is really good with references to Indian mythology which I absolutely adored as there are very few fantasy books which explore this. It also helped to provide me with vivid imagery of the world in my head. The plot is well paced with plenty of action, drama, magic, secrets and twists. Slow burn in nature which suits this story well.

Loved Zarya as the main character. She is strong, sassy and fiercely independent. Loved rhe friendships that were formed with Vikram, Yasen and Amrita.

Can’t wait for book 2.

4.5 stars

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

I really wanted to like this book. I was excited to read a book based around Indian mythology but this book was so confusing that it took all enjoyment out of it for me.
I really liked Nisha’s other series - sun queen books so I was excited to delve deeper into her work but this sadly didn’t do it for me.

- I had no idea what was going on half of the time. The first half of the book is the most confusing. We’re introduced to so many different characters and creatures and the world building was all over the place. I couldn’t keep up with what and who everyone was or did and the systems they had.
- Our female MC reads very young. She’s supposedly in her twenties but this book is very YA and her decision making seems a bit juvenile. I expected to read a strong heroine but she was kind of grating.
- I feel like the romance aspect was forced too which is what Nisha did well in her other series I have read. The chemistry wasn’t there at all.
- I didn’t understand the dynamic between a lot of characters and it read like Nisha wasn’t sure who we were supposed to like or dislike either. I just ended up not liking or rooting for anyone really.

Sadly I won’t continue with this series.

I received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Things I liked:

-Zarya is confident. She’s a strong female lead with a “take no shit” attitude.

-This was very much a found family story and I really enjoyed watching her build those relationships (Yasen especially). The characters were well rounded and lovable.

-The twists. It’s so hard for me to find a book that truly shocks me but when I tell you I would not have at all guessed who the man in the woods was. It was so dramatic and angsty that I will be reading the next one simply because I need to know what happens.


Thinks I disliked:

-The world building was a little chaotic and I was VERY confused when I learned this spans several months.

-There was CONSTANTLY something going wrong and it made the plot feel scattered. I honestly couldn’t compile of list of everything that happened if I tried.

-There were a few points where Zarya went through a bit of character development but it was never mentioned again or it was randomly brought back up when it seemed most convenient. This left me feeling like…why? What’s the point?


Overall this was a good read and if you’re looking for something fast paced this is for you.

I was quite excited to receive the ARC for this book after reading the description on NetGalley, but I am quite sad that it did not live up to my hopes.
I found it too slow in the beginning and the world building felt a little bit confusing and the character development felt lacking as I could not connect with any of them nor get to care for them enough to continue reading the series.
I was quite interested in the beginning with the mysterious stranger appearing in her dreams, but that was not enough, I would have liked to see more of them rather than wait for the next book to see that development.
What I did like was that the writing was very descriptive, and I could get into the atmosphere. The fact that it was inspired by Indian culture and mythology was refreshing and interesting to read.

Plot-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Characters-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
World building-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice-🌶️🌶️

“Friendships are always temporary when death is your constant mistress”

My mind is already itching for the next book in this series, I love a strong, sassy and fierce FMC. There were unexpected twists and turn, I thought I had it figured out but boy was I wrong. This book was inspired by south asian mythology, which I know nothing about but it didn’t stop me from understanding what is going on. I love Zarya, she is strong and still fighting after all the terrible stuff she’s been through. It was great to see her grow a friendship with Vikram and Yasen, it was especially fun how much Zarya and Yasen bickered, it reminded me of siblings. Nisha really did a great job to bring the characters alive and give them each their own defining traits. I could see the world in my mind as I read.
All in all, it’s a great book, a great plot and great characters. I highly recommend this book to fans of fantasy, adventure and magic.

I was given this ARC and am leaving this review voluntarily.

An excellent and wonderful fantasy adventure based on Hindu mythology with a touch of the Grisha saga. I can’t wait for the next story!

The first third of this book was extremely rough for me. The opening scene was promising, but then it all went downhill because it felt like information was being dumped while the action was happening, with no context being given for why the characters and situation are the way that they are. I thought that Zarya read as naive, annoying, and immature, which, while realistic, made it difficult to feel like she was worth the story being told. The other characters felt flat and one-dimensional, exhibiting one emotion or defining character trait until ... they suddenly don't. Additionally, although the summary mentions the enemies to lovers trope, it is more absent than present throughout the book.

With that being said, everything improved 2/3 of the way in and the ending was extremely solid. Additional backstory was given on several characters, which gave some much-needed depth and insight into their relationships with one another (and Zarya become much more bearable to read). Although the first third dragged, the pacing and plotting improve after the 2/3 mark. The big reveals at the end were not disappointing and did a good job setting up for the sequel. The worldbuilding was also interesting; I enjoyed the food descriptions and the incorporation of all the monsters. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys slow-building fantasy and journeys of self-discovery and growth.

This was an engaging fantasy with some definite angst. Zarya has been locked away for years, with Row, her protector. Her magic is a secret. When she finally is free, she doesn’t tell anyone the full truth about her. Her magic becomes clearer as the book continues, but there are still some surprises up until the last page.

I need more steamy scenes with Rabin and Zarya in the next book. Vikram was such a red herring, and the twist on who Rabin is were both great surprises.

My first read from Nisha J. Tuli and I couldn't be happier. Booktok should definitely get on the The Nightfire Quartet train because this is a guaranteed best seller and an amazing read.
Heart of Night and Fire follows along Zarya's journey of self discovery as she abandons her seaside prison of nearly 21 years, along with Aarav. They stumble upon two handsome rakshasa warriors who bring them to the city where they have no idea of the future that awaits them.
A beautifully written tale of self discovery, found family and complicated relationship dynamics, Heart of Night and Fire depicts a strong and courageous woman who will go to any lengths to aid the ones closer to her and the helpless people of her new found home in Daragaab.
Personally, I found the book to be slow in the first half, which made it a bit of a chore to get through that 35-45% of the book, but as soon as things start kicking in the second half, I was not able to put it down.
Definitely keeping tabs on this series so I can read the second book as soon as it's out!

Loved the book, filled with magic, mythology, I need a part 2! I am officially a new fan of Nisha J Tuli. Did not see the twist coming at all! Thank you NetGalley and author for giving me a chance to read this wonderful
Book!

This wasn't a winner for me.

I really wanted to love this. I love getting to read more about Indian culture but the words that were thrown into this without context felt lost to me. Like the words Agni and Aazheri. You really need to know your Hindu terminology or mythology. I was constantly having to google a lot of terms to understand what the characters were talking about.

I found the writing style to be overly descriptive which came across as long-winded. There were a lot of words spent describing the clothing, the food, their actions, or the location. Not really much in the terms of development of the plot.

I felt like the whole plot of the story didn't really happen until well into the book. I didn't enjoy it because it felt like it took a while for the story to get actually interesting.

The romance was not what I was expecting in this one. The main character Zarya felt juvenile and didn't feel like her age. So if there was romance, I didn't really connect with it.

Overall, I have to admit, this isn't the book for me.

I am genuinely shocked at the difference between this novel and Nisha’s other series. Personally, this just wasn’t my cup of tea. However, there was great dialogue and world building. I wish romance took a bigger role and characters were explained more in depth and differently. I also wish the plot was more evident rather than to be thrown for a loop after 80% of the book. I want to know what happens next to our heroine and the predicament she’s currently in with the 2 brothers and mother. Overall I would still recommend!

Thank you netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

You say the words "enemies to lovers", "slow burn" and "fantasy" and I.AM.YOUR.GIRL. I'm going to pick that up and devour it, and devour this I did. This was a great intro to a four book series. It did a great job of introducing the characters and setting up the story. The tension was incredible. Cannot wait for the next book.

I love Nisha's writing so much, I was so grateful to have this opportunity to review her newest series. To start with Nisha kicked off the story strong with great character development for Zarya, this was a great hook into the storyline. There was enough mystery around Zarya to keep the story intriguing until the very end. About 15% in the story slows down as Nisha spends time world building and continuing other character's development. Her writing style is captivating, keeping me going right until the very end. It was full of everything anyone could ever want, found family, strong FMC, drop dead gorgeous love interests and all embedded into a beautiful Indian setting.

Wow. Just wow. This was one of the most beautifully descriptive stories I have ever read. The setting was so lush and vibrant, but at the same time full of demons and danger. Zarya was such a strong lead, not taking any BS from anyone and being an absolute delight while doing it. I LOVED the friendship between Zarya and Yasen, strong characters need strong supporters. I have so much praise to say for this book, but alas I don’t want to spoil anything so I’m going to leave it at this……. Dragon.

This is a no for me. I do really enjoy the Indian mythology side of this. But I feel we don’t get enough of that and I was excited to dive into this.

I feel like all we’re getting is repetition of this book. A lot of reminders of why Zarya is angry and that she hates being stuck at the cottage.

It also feels like the author is throwing in swear words randomly so we know this isn’t Ya. But it FEELS Ya to me.

I’m also not someone who can sit down and read something where everything conveniently happens. That’s how this feels. Things are happening just to move the story but it has no real purpose.

I saw someone say the characters feel like fanfiction characters. As it’s like we should already know them and I totally agree. Everyone is too comfortable when they all meet.

Anyway, I’m DNFing at 13% because I can’t keep forcing myself to read. Perhaps others will like this but it’s definitely not for me.

This book was amazing! The secrets, plot twists and the the slow burn romance was what kept me hooked ☺️ I highly recommend!

I need the next book now! This is a captivating story where there is a lot to learn about magic, monsters and the world in general. This story is about Zarya who has lived her whole life in a gilded cage and at the beginning of this book she can finally escape.

I love the found family, the mysteries about her magic and Row (her caretaker in the aforementioned gilded cage, who disappeared), the twists and turns, the romance and cool fighting scenes. It warms my heart to see her develop a relationship with an 'enemy' to best friends. Their conversations were heartwarming and hilarious, definitely the best part of the book.

I look forward to the next book where I expect we will learn more about her family by blood and the slow burn romance.

I am curious about the author's other books.
Thank you NetGalley and publisher Second Sky for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.