4.5/5 stars
1/5 spice

I was intrigued from the start and was never bored. I loved the world building and the clear explanation of the magical system that was unfolding.

Tropes:
Elemental magic
Chosen one
Indian mythology
Single POV
Cliffhanger

Anyone who loves a "chosen one" story will love this. I found that the Indian mythology inspiration is what made this story really jump off the page. In this instance (since I listened to the audiobook), the narrator brought every character to life, and it all sounded so colorful and rich in culture. I can't wait for the next book where I can see how the magic develops within Zarya but also the building tension between her and Rabin. This isn't closed door because there is some spice (just some self- pleasuring for the FMC), but it's more of a slow burn between her and the love interest... so chances are there will be more in the next book. I don't know, though... one can hope lol

Overall, I highly recommend for fantasy romance fans with the "chosen one" trope and diverse characters. It does end on a tiny cliffhanger...

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture Audio for the ALC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and offered voluntarily.

Trigger/Content warnings:
Violence, injury, fighting, minor sexual content

I received an ARC of Heart of Night and Fire via NetGalley.

To be honest, this was a weird read for me. I DNF’d around 30%. Zarya is understandably angry at her situation in the beginning since she spent her entire life trapped in a magic barrier with her two guardians. She calls her guardians her, ‘oppressors.’ And for a 21-year-old woman, she complains about her situation a lot like she was a YA character. This is fine, but almost 30% of her character is only comprised of her anger/resentment toward her guardians and the occasional mention that she was sexually inexperienced and longed for love.

I’m a YA reader, so it’s offputting when the book is advertised as an adult and the FMC acts like a teenager.

As the main character, Zarya is fine but the writing style is kind of tiresome to follow. The author describes every piece of clothing Zarya wears and everything she eats. I would’ve preferred if the descriptions were toned down a bit if the story moved faster, and if the characters were characterized better during the first 30%.

I’m sure the rest of the book is good, especially since a lot of people liked it. I think the book would’ve been better if it was YA and it had faster pacing.

2.5

Based on the cover and description I expected to really enjoy this book but after about 30% I was still struggling to connect with Zarya. The world was described beautifully but there were times where I felt like the emphasis on things like all of the meals was out of place. I was also expecting a slow burn romance with her enemy, Rabin, but I did not get the sense that he was her enemy in any way based on the interactions I read. I enjoyed the narrator but felt like it was harder to follow the story in audio format and kept not remembering who some of the side characters were. Unfortunately, the mystery was not strong enough for me to want to continue reading.

4.25 stars
 
This is the first book that I’ve read by this author and I’m quite impressed! Not only is the cover gorgeous, but the story is also fascinating. I loved that the author drew inspiration from Indian culture and as a desi person, it was refreshing to read this cultural heritage getting much deserved page time in modern day fantasy storytelling. I devoured every mention of gorgeous Indian attire and delicious food that made my mouth water even though I am no stranger to it. In my honest opinion, there is still a dearth of books inspired by Indian culture and I am glad that I had the opportunity to read this novel as it has a unique storyline and is evenly paced.
 
The story focuses on a 20-year-old Zarya who is kept hidden in a secluded swamp since birth, along with her guardians: Row and Aarav. She isn’t allowed to leave and when one of her guardian’s suddenly disappears, she manages to break free and stumbles upon two good looking rakshasa who take her to meet their queen and thus, offering her the golden ticket of freedom which she can’t refuse. I did think that Zarya was a little too trusting of her new friends at first but as I read further, I realised that she put her faith in the right people.

As the plot progressed, Zarya sought answers for who her parents were and why she was locked away in the first place. New revelations came to light which piqued my interest in the story even though I found some of the twists to be a little predictable. The writing style was easy to follow, and the plot had fast-paced action every now and then. I appreciated the mini cliffhangers at the end of every chapter which kept me interested and eager to know what happened next. The story wasn’t heavy on the info-dumps, things were being revealed at a decent pace and the descriptions of Dharati were beautiful. None of it felt bland or dragged.
 
The entire book is narrated from Zarya’s perspective, and since she was an intriguing character, I didn’t mind being inside her head. She was a fearless and determined main character who refused to back down in the face of danger.

I grew fond of the side characters too, especially Yassen. I really enjoyed his interactions with Zarya and their friendship was precious. I’m a sucker for well written platonic love as I always like those more than romantic couplings. He was by far, the most interesting side character, and I was hoping he and Zarya would become more than friends because they had good chemistry together. Nonetheless, the romantic/sexual tension between Zarya and two other male characters was palpable, but I hope there won’t be a love triangle between them as I’m not a huge fan of that trope. Anyway, it would be nice if the sequel had more than one POV as it would give the story a more well-rounded view.
 
On the contrary, I do wish some things were explained in further detail. For example, even though Zarya was raised by her guardians, she didn’t appear to be attached to them. Yes, it’s true that they imprisoned her but despite that, I was expecting there to be some form of internal turmoil that she may have regarding her feelings for them and the complicated situation of her imprisonment. Part of it (her fallout with Aarav) was explained around the 80% mark but I felt like it should’ve been described sooner to give readers a better idea of past events that lead to her eventually being cold towards him.

Secondly, I wanted to know more about her magical abilities and how they manifested in her. I felt like the explanation on that was rather simplified and would’ve been better if it had a more thorough clarification.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did a fine job at bringing the text to life and her voice was clear enough to identify different characters. Her pronunciation of every word was noticeable and crisp. I was able to follow the story easily without having to rewind or re-listen to any chapters. I listened at 1.75-2x speed as this is my go-to setting for all audiobooks and thankfully, the flow of the audiobook did not feel rushed or sounded as if the words were tumbling over one another. I was engrossed in the story from start to finish and my attention was rapt on what I was listening.
 
Overall, I had a great time listening and losing myself in the lush world of Dharati. I highly recommend this book to readers who have a penchant for diverse characters and well-written storytelling. I absolutely cannot wait for the sequel to come out and you bet I’ll be marking my calendar when the release date is announced.
 
***Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for providing me with the audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review***

THE LAST 50 PAGES!!! I'VE BEEN BRAIN FRIED
WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?
I want to read the next book RIGHT NOW. OHMYGOD.

My first ARC REVIEW:
Releases on September 15.
Firstly, the cover is beautiful.

-"For every brown girl who wanted to be the chosen one too"

I feel seen.


At first, it was a little hard to get into: random things happening, so many secrets
But when the plot hit!!!!!!!!!

As always the "author's note" of Nisha J. Tulli is the sweetest. She's one of my favorite authors.

Let's get the tropes in line first:
-Strangers to Enemies to lovers to Enemies?
-Found Family
-Slow Burn
-A lot of secrets
-Inspired by South Asian Mythology
-Indian world-building
-fighting dragons(or whatever those birds were)

She loved nothing more than losing herself in her beloved romance novels, hoping that someday she might find anything resembling that kind of yearning and passion and her eventual happily ever after.

Me too sis ME TOO.

The first half of this book was slow, but I somehow knew that it would be worth it. One reason for me not being able to actually be involved in the story could be that it's written from a third perspective but it doesn't really matter, the story is written really well. Another reason could be that there was so much world-building. It gave me a strange feeling of both familiarity and unfamiliarity all at once.
I am so excited to read about this in other books.

I really liked the character of Zarya as an individual. She was a little too much relatable at times.

I loved Yasen and Zarya's friendship. It reminded me so much of Kenji and Juliette😭😭
“You, Look out for her.” Yasen glanced over at Zarya, his expression unreadable, before looking back at Dhawan and placing a fist on his heart. “With my life.” Zarya gaped at Yasen.
“What?” Yasen scowled. “Don’t look at me like that. And don’t get any notions that I like you. I tolerate you.”


“Does this mean we get to ogle handsome men together?” ...
“You name the time and place, Swamp Girl.”


“Did you just call me your second-best friend right to my face?”
Yasen grinned. “Listen, I figure you’re lucky you made the list at all.”


Not Vikram randomly pulling the Locke card. Lmao But I forgive him. He was still wrong tho.

Let's talk about Rabin
“Who did this to you?” he asked

If he says stuff like this who wouldn't like him
“You look… beautiful,” he said, his voice jagged.


"She caught a glimpse of Rabin, his entire presence like a magnet pulling her in."


I was banging my head on the wall while reading that last scene.
He better have an explanation for it.
We didn't get much time with him, I would love to read some of his pov.

Overall a 5-star read.

Bonus quote:
Sometimes our destiny is not what we would have chosen. We can either seek to change it or learn to live with it.


see you soon with another review
Have a nice day!

This is my third Nisha Tuli book and I have been pleasantly surprised by all her books so far! While this book wasn’t perfect, it was a solid introduction to this new series and has piqued my interest for what is to come!

I had this as both an ebook and audiobook arc and loved being able to go back and forth between the two! The narrator for this was great, and I would definitely listen to something from her again.

The story includes a lot of South Asian mythology and is really beautifully told. Tuli does a great job with world building and settings, and progresses the plot at a good pace. While there is a lot of mystery to the story, due to Zarya not knowing what is going on and us discovering it with her, I felt like we were given snippets of information in a well placed manner that allowed the reader to gather information and start filling in the blanks, without it being too info dumpy. I really loved some of the twists we got at the end with certain characters and plot points. While I had a feeling it was the case, it was still fun to see how they come about!

I was intrigued by the FMC, Zarya. She presents as a tough young woman who can take care of herself, while also being just that. A young woman with sometimes immature thoughts or behaviors. However, I found myself excusing a lot of them or at least being understanding of it as they were something that a naive girl who was raised basically in isolation would think or do. I’m excited to see where her character goes and how she’ll grow in her magic but also her personality and hope she’s a little more mature in the future.

I really enjoyed the side characters we were introduced to in the book, especially Yasen’s character! He was such a curmudgeon at first and we slowly see him peel back the layers until he and Zarya form this touching friendship. I’d happily be his second best friend too. There was some romance in here, and what we got made it clear this series will be more NA/Adult, but it started out with less spice in this one and maybe? a love triangle. With the story not being as romance forward, I was intrigued by the MMCs, but I’m not in love with them right now. Again, I am very curious to see where we go in the future books!

This book definitely has book 1 of a series vibes, where we are getting a lot of character and world development and spend a lot of time focusing on the introduction to this new setting. The plot is enough to hook you, but I think the next books will be a bit more exciting (think ACOTAR vs. ACOMAF). I’m really interested in what we will learn in the next books and to see where everything is going after how it ended!

Lastly, my chai count was 7 by the time I finished. This is the number of times that I had to stop what I was doing and make myself chai because of how often it was mentioned in this book.

I received a copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

ⓣⓡⓞⓟⓔⓢ
South Asian Mythology
Elemental Magic
Magical Creatures
Found Family
Plot Twists

A fresh take on an old trope, <i>Heart of Night and Fire</i> is a romantasy rooted in South Asian mythology that tackles the Chosen One narrative. I did, however, have a few issues that hampered my enjoyment of this novel.

<b>PITFALLS IN THE PROSE</b>

The first issue is the writing. Specifically, the dialogue often feels unnatural. Characters oscillate often between emotions without proper lead up. This could have been remedied by inserting more of an inner monologue from Zarya, describing how she feels as she’s processing the different turns in each conversation, or by digesting how different characters react to the information she delivers. These descriptions are present in this novel, however, there needed to be more fleshing out of these descriptions to properly set the dialogue up for success.

Another writing issue that I came across is in the inconsistent and rather weak characterization of Zarya in the first half of the novel. There is a lot of telling rather than showing when it comes to how she feels about the other characters, particularly Aarav. He constantly pesters her in the beginning to go back to their home (a lot of this pestering also felt contrived and unnatural). Finally, when the pestering gets to be too much for Zarya and she is surrounded by friends who subdue him for her, she grabs him by the hair and basically tells him that she’ll kill him like she’s been dreaming to do for years if he tries to take her back home against her will.

Up until this point, Aarav just seemed to be a rather poorly written nuisance, and there was no indication in her innermost thoughts that she holds this kind of vitriol toward him. We are told, rather than shown, that she feels this way toward him in this scene instead.

To make matters worse, Zarya’s big bloodthirsty confession is all talk, no walk; Aarav endangers himself while aiming for a spot on what is essentially the city’s guard, and Zarya watches on in horror as he almost gets himself killed. This happens not very long after the “I’ll kill you like I’ve always dreamt of doing” conversation. Puzzling at best, inconsistent at worst.


<b>MESSY MIDDLE</b>

While we’re on the topic of the poor characterization in the first half of the novel, I did notice a big shift toward a lot cleaner, tighter plotting and characterization into the second half. In the first half, the story felt rather aimless once Zarya reaches Dharati, since things are now happening TO her rather than her taking an active role. Since she is in a new city and lived her life up to that point in relative solitude, I gave the story some slack, but ultimately wanted to see her consistently pushing and working toward more than just meeting new people and questioning her parentage. This made the story feel like a bit of a slog in what should have been the fun and games portion of the novel.

Once I reached the second half, however, things improved drastically. As soon as Zarya and Aarav are invited to the rakshasa party and onward, I was hooked. At last, things snapped into focus and the story actually began building toward something. Every hint we got of Rabin was more and more exciting and I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see how Tuli would finally introduce him in the flesh.


<b>ROMANCE</b>

This leads me to the romance portion of this romantasy review. Romance is the pinnacle of any romantasy, so it deserves its own header.

Rabin appears in this novel maybe four times. Most of these times are in a dreamlike sequence until the end, when he is introduced in the flesh. This disappointed me a bit because I saw this being marketed as a slow burn romance, but to me, slow burn requires the characters to be interacting with one another as the romance slowly forms. Instead, “slow burn” to this marketing team apparently means that the love interest is gonna take forever to make an appearance.

Another issue with the marketing is the “enemies-to-lovers” sell. Rabin and Zarya, as far as I can tell in what little we’ve seen of them together, are not enemies. They literally fight for the same side at the end of the novel. The extent of the “enemies” is just that Rabin is mean to Zarya when he first meets her, and that’s pretty much at the end of the book anyway, so that’s all we get. In my opinion, this should be marketed as “hate-to-love”, if even that. Maybe my opinion will change for future books, but I felt baited and switched by the marketing department on this one.

So aside from the issues I had with the misleading marketing, I can’t really make a definitive critique on this romance because we saw so little of it. I’ll need the sequel to really judge whether this series is worth a read.


<b>FINAL THOUGHTS</b>

While I wasn’t as enamored with this as I hoped to be, I’m extremely intrigued by this series and want the next book ASAP. As it goes with me and romantasy, I usually struggle with the first book in a series until the romance really starts to take center stage (as the romantasy genre promises). This one takes a page out of ACOTAR’s (literal) book and gives us a love interest in book one that isn’t endgame, with a hint at the true, potentially fated match toward the end. I don’t mind this setup, I just usually like to have the sequel on hand so I can fully evaluate whether the series as a whole is up to snuff based on the primary romance. Because of that, you best believe I’ll have my eyes peeled for news of book two.


<b>AUDIOBOOK REVIEW</b>

Shiromi Arserio has a steady, practiced voice that is pleasant and soothing to listen to. It was really fun to experience this book on audio because it exposes you to a lot of new names and terminology from South Asian myths, and Arserio’s pronunciation never wavered. Additionally, her overall performance was strong, and I found myself feeling Zarya’s emotions in the way she delivered the written words.


<b>Overall Rating:</b> 3 stars

<i>A big thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Bookouture Audio, for providing me with an advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review!</i>

There were elements here that I enjoyed and others I didn't. The use of magic and how it ties into the history and cultures being drawn from to tell this story. I didn't like the modern slang and isms used here. It didn't fit the world that the author is building. There is a mystery surrounding the main character that kept me intrigued, though there are characteristics that annoyed me.

The budding friendships and found family were also themes I enjoyed. I may continue this series.

Zarya has lives with Row for 20 years. He used magic to force her to be confined to his cottage and surrounding yard. He never would give her answers on who her parents were or why they had given her to him to protect. One day, Row disappears and the spell to confine her is removed.

Zarya is ready to run. As she is escaping, she run into Vikram and Yasen. In an attempt to save them, she is attacked and injured. They bring her to the City of Dharari. She starts to realize Row never told his friends she even existed.

In her dreams, she begins to see a man in a forest. This man is able to lift the lock on her powers. The final dream she learns his name is Rabin.

At Vikram’s wedding to the princess, Rabin shows up as promised. With her powers unlocked, Zarya saves them all from the demons. Row shows up after the fighting and Zarya learns where he has been the last few months and the truth about her parents.

I can’t wait for book 2 to see what happens between Zarya and Rabin.

DNF at the 33% because certain things about the mc and other aspects were way too corny for me. I'm not sure what the targeted age demographic is, and I know that mc is 20, but i still felt too old for it. I like the audio narrator for the most though.

This audiobook was wonderful! I do wish the pronunciations were a little more authentic but the narrator brought the story to life!

I had a really difficult time following this book regarding the plot and the characters. I am not sure if that was because it was an audiobook and maybe i'd have a different experience reading it in print version? But specifically as an audiobook experience, this was not for me. There were so many characters that i couldnt keep track of who they were and their descriptions. When it came to the plot and the storyline, i felt like things were jumping all over the place and i was getting confused easily. I would maybe reread this book again on my kindle, but at this time i did not have an enjoyable reader experience.

3.5 ⭐️

This story was really fun and exciting. It’s fast paced and action packed. There were no slow parts in this story. I feel like the plot has a lot of promise for the remaining 3 books but did leave a bit to be desired.

I felt like the transition between scenes was kinda choppy and didn’t necessarily flow coherently. I also feel like there were a lot of things introduced and then forgotten about (the book for example.) Even the ending felt like there were a lot of loose ends. It didn’t really end on a cliffhanger either which usually has me aching for the next book. I wish there was more here.

I still enjoyed reading this one and am hoping the next books give the characters a little more depth, the flow improves and we get a few more answers regarding a lot of things introduced in book 1!

3/5 stars!

This is my second Nisha J. Tuli book and I don;t know what it is but it seems as if there is always something missing from her stories in my opinion. It always has a solid concept and starts of strong but it always JUST misses the mark and this is the same for me.

I always like listening to the audiobook of a new fantasy book so I can settle myself in the world better without missing any details. I found this world fairly easy to follow and it held my attention throughout a majority of the book.

I also applaud the audiobook narrator! Fabulous job!

5 Stars
I really enjoyed this one, the ending left me shocked and now I need to know what happens next!!! The first half was a bit slow and I did listen to the audiobook of this so I definitely had to rewind way too many times because I missed something if I lost focus lol, but then it hit a point where I couldn't put this down until I finished it and now I'm obsessed. Great world building and characters (and character growth!!!) - Zarya and Yasen's friendship is my favourite thing ever and Nisha J. Tuli had me crushing on every character lol! This book was a lot of fun to read and I can't wait to continue Zarya's story.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the ARC!

HEART OF NIGHT AND FIRE By Nisha J. TULI

Nisha J Tuli is a Canadian fantasy romance author, and this title is the first in the new Nightfire Quartet.

This book is great for fans of:
✔️ vibrant magical worlds filled with gruesome monsters
✔️ battles between good vs evil
✔️ self-assured MC's who can beat you in a fight
✔️ slow burn romance with a bit of spice
✔️ a ton of family secrets and complicated relarionships
✔️ death-defying events
✔️ Sarah J Maas & Carissa Broadbent

Heart of Night and Fire is a solid start to this epic romantasy and I look forward to seeing how these characters will develop over the Quartet.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you @netgalley for the advanced audiobook. This title gets released Sept 15, 2023!

#HeartOfNightAndFire #nishajwrites #romantasy #romance #fantasy #canadianauthor #bookstagram #bookreview #canadianbookstagram #2023reads #audiobook

WOW!
Beautifully written captivating plot, well described fascinating characters. It gripped me & kept me hooked. I can’t wait for the next book.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture, and Second Sky for an ADC and ALC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Shiromi Arserio did a great job bringing Zarya’s story to life. I wish she differentiated more between the male characters in the story. I loved that the audiobook really helps with how things/people/places are pronounced. It was well narrated, Shiromi’s voice is soothing and truly created a fun listening experience. I was lucky to receive both the book and the audiobook.

This story follows 20 year old Zarya, a human girl that has been trapped by a magical barrier her whole life. She loves to read and dreams of family, friends, love and freedom. Her captor and magical barrier mysteriously disappears. Zarya escapes to Dharati, a city full of culture, people, (vampire) rakshasa and magic wielders.

The blight is spreading. The city and surrounding areas are being attacked by demons and unnatural disasters. It’s getting worse the more time goes on. Zarya finds that not everything is as it seems. As she fights to help the city and tries to learn about her past and her secret abilities she keeps hidden, relationships are made, casualties increase, and more questions are found than answers.

Are her new friends trustworthy? Is the man in her reoccurring dreams real? Who are her parents? What is causing the blight? Does she have abilities? Should she disappear again?

Cannot wait to find out!

The world building and the beautiful Indian culture infused in this story is a great experience. This is definitely setting a foundation to a great series. I love the mixture of demons, vampires, magic wielders, peril, politics and found family.

Yasen and Zarya’s relationship in this book is a major stand out for me. I also became very invested in Amrita. I also love how the magic is elemental and individually anchored. I cannot wait to see Zarya’s character development in the follow installments in this series.

I need more of Rabin! Where has he been? He can shapeshift? Row is back! I cannot wait to see Zarya train and grow her abilities.

This is the kind of story and world building that stays with you and lives rent free in your mind. Nisha J Tuli is a treasure.

“She loved nothing more than losing herself in her beloved romance novels, hoping that someday she might find anything resembling that kind of yearning and passion and her eventual happily ever after."

I was gifted the audiobook of this story, and it was well spoken, easy to get through, and perfectly paced.

Heart of Night and Fire follows Zarya who was forced to live her life in confinement by Row, her "parent" and his apprentice Aarav. Row keeps Zarya locked in the confines of a house using a magical boundary until one day he doesn't return to the house, the magical boundary has disappeared and Zarya sees it as her only way to escape and be free. Zarya as well as Row and Aarav have been living away from civilization secretly to avoid the blight that has taken over and has caused most people to flee to the north.

This book was so good. I will say that it dragged a bit in the first half. The first half was incredibly heavy on world building, which obviously is normal for the first fantasy book in a series. The beginning of this book was perfect set up for the found family trope. As Zarya escapes, she meets Yasen who at first I was unsure about, but came to love over time. He is sweet, caring, funny and the perfect friend for someone who has never had the pleasure of having friendship. Also, he calls her swamp girl and I think it's hilarious.

Now here is what is crazy for a romantasy book. Our love interest, Rabin, isn't introduced until nearly the end of the story. For the first part of the story I thought it would be someone else. The MOST slow burn romance I have ever encountered. We only get to see a bit of Zarya and Rabin in this book, as action unfolded as soon as they met. And I cannot wait to find out what happens betweeen them, as well as get some answers in the next book.

The tagline "An absolutely addictive slow burn fantasy romance" is well earned. As someone who devoured Sarah J. Mass and Jennifer L. Armenaunt's books, Heart of Night and Fire is in the same vein. From action to romance, this book was an absolute joy!