Hard to get into at first but stick with it you won’t be disappointed. Sachsen, Zanya and their dragon have a mission, to keep their world together. Can they do it? Or can the betrayer stop them!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you for allowing me to review

A solid follow-up to the Consort of Fire. The Betrayer plays (as expected) a huge role in this one - the world is expanded as we get a deeper look at its politics and history. The relationship between Ash, Zanya and Sachi deepens and it's quite interesting to see how they continue to navigate it together and separately. Still very steamy (and exploring the characters and their personalities through the sex scenes - which is great).

My favourite part was seeing Zanya finding not just love in Ash (and of course her endless devotion to Sachi), but also family in the small circle of the Dreamers. I also really liked the various dynamics between the Dreamers - great fun to read.

Like some other reviewers mentioned, the last battle was a bit too long for me, but I totally see how it would be fun to read for those who enjoy such scenes.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A exciting conclusion to the love triad of Ash, Sachi, and Zanya. After the death of the evil king and discovering the mechanisms of the Betrayer involved in the tortured upbringing of Sachi and Zanya, our group of lovers navigate their relationship together along with preparations with the war that exists on the horizon. Plenty of training for Zanya and Sachi really begins to shine in the second half of this book. The ending is exciting and nail biting. all in all an enjoyable conclusion to this arc.

Zanya has awakened into her new form and is learning how to control her new skills, but while she and Ash are away fighting battles Saichi has to stay home were she'll be safe. Until they realize that the war with the empire is inevitable and she starts exploring the power of the dream, but it is during one of these trials that she is stolen from Ash and Zanya...
As much as I'm a fan of Rocha, I have to say this is the first of their traditionally published novels that's hit as well as their self published stuff did. I loved the relationships in this and how strong the individual characters are, even the bad guy had his moments. I think they have more coming in this world as a different series and I can't wait to read it.

I received this ARC from NetGalley and Montlake Publishing

Heat Factor: Two sexathons, separated by many pages of extremely unsexy plot.
Character Chemistry: It was already love, now we’re going to make it deeper.
Plot: Sachi taps into her power.
Overall: It was…fine.

First thing’s first: you should 100%, definitely, absolutely read Consort of Fire before you pick up Queen of Dreams. This duology follows the same triad of protagonists as they work out the kinks in their HEA. Literally and figuratively. Actually, if you care about spoilers, you should read Consort of Fire before you read the rest of this review.

When we left Ash (the Dragon), Zanya (the Shadow Queen), and Sachi (the giant ball of sunshine that holds them together) at the end of Consort of Fire, Zanya had just tapped into her power. In doing so, she saved Sachi from dying, but now she’s all kinds of freaked out because it turns out she’s kind of a god. We had also learned that there was a big evil bad guy (henceforth BEBG) who was not only running the Empire on the other continent, but was also planning something Nefarious.

You’d think that given the set-up with said BEBG, this book would be off to a rip-roaring start, but it’s not. In fact, the first third is quite slow, especially compared to Book 1, which, while it had a lot of world building, also had a lot of tension right from the beginning. But here we spend a bunch of time with Zanya figuring out her powers and running away into the shadows any time there’s a hint of sex. And also have a scene where Sachi and Ash have some sexy rumpus in Ash’s bedroom. And there’s some politics going on and some war strategy stuff. Despite things happening like soldiers magically burning down villages, the stakes don’t seem all that high.

Things finally pick up a bit around the 40% mark, when Sachi is kidnapped by BEBG and brought to his creepy dystopian empire. Sidenote: I was so confused when I opened the book and there was a map where I recognized *nothing*. Like, did I forget the names of all the places? No, it’s a map of the other continent; that just doesn’t become clear until halfway through the book.

Anyways, there’s a whole thing where Ash and Zanya want to go rescue Sachi but need to learn to trust that she knows how to do things like survive in a hostile political environment—they fought their kind of war with swords and shit, now they need to cede the battlefield to her. Sachi might seem like a nice submissive ray of sunshine, but she was also trained in seduction and assassination. Unfortunately, we don’t see a whole lot of this soft power badassery, because Sachi might do better with the BEBG than her partners would, but she’s still very much over her head. She does finally achieve godhood but the process felt a bit hand-wavy.

Please note that the big climactic battle is not actually the climax of the book; instead, the high point of the relationship arc happens afterwards, when our friends are all in bed together and have the longest sexathon known to man. A literal climax, if you will. I like a good erotic romance but this was a lot. Just like, let’s go through every possible configuration of these three people in one really long scene. I know, intellectually, what work this scene is doing (especially since now they have a deeper bond because of sex magic), but it was frankly boring to read.

Honestly, I thought the first book in this duology was much stronger than this one. I didn’t feel like the romance developed much here, nor did two of the three main characters. Yes, Sachi did become more developed, which balances out her lack of growth in the first book, and all the plot about the BEBG sets the stage for broader upheaval in this world (and therefore sets the stage for future books). But the growth the characters underwent was not significant enough to change their dynamic. In short, while some stuff happened, most of the book didn’t have a ton of forward momentum.

Because of this lack of forward momentum, the message got a little heavy-handed. I know that the same ethos of care for others and with power comes responsibility was present in Consort of Fire, but I was so invested in the tension of the story that it simply permeated the background. Here, it’s much more explicit:

"He had failed Sorin, just as he’d failed the world beyond his castle. But every day was a chance to make a different choice. To try again, to do better. Ash knew what his choice would be—to use everything he was to protect the people he had harmed with his complacency. To be worthy of the gift he’d been given when the world entrusted him with the power to see his dreams made real. Maybe someday Sorin would make that choice, too. Until he did…The rest of them had an empire to save."

This is a nice message, but I don’t generally read romance for didactic purposes.

I’ve been very grumpy in this review—perhaps grumpier than is warranted. So in closing, I will state, for the record, that I did read this book quite quickly, and will probably read the next duology in this series as well. (Especially because I now know that the Kraken does, indeed, have tentacles.) Sometimes I just want some very sexy epic high fantasy romance in my life, and even when it doesn’t completely succeed, this fits the bill.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report.

I am sad to leave this world. I need more books. Maybe for the other gods? Please? As usual, Donna and Bree give us all the spice and all the girl badassery. I enjoyed reading Zanya's journey to embracing her full god power and Sachi being happy because she got to be useful and actually feel useful. I can relate to that feeling as I think we all can from time to time. All in all, this was a satisfying conclusion to the series but I really would love to revisit the world in the future.

I haven't fallen into a good fantasy world in a while and this series was so perfect. It has an amazing world of Gods and Political Intrigue and an amazing cast of characters. I love Ash, Zanya and Sachi. We got to see them find each other in the first book and we get to see them really solidify and become a true unit in this book. I love that we saw all of the characters grow, into their powers and learn to trust each other.
I love the battle season. They are gripping and I was on the edge of my seat (even know I knew love would win) .
I love a good villain and The Builder (Betrayer) was all that and a box of crayons. I almost felt sorry for him as he tried to rebuild his old life.
Sachi has always been just a background character to me from the first book as I loved Zanya but she really came into her own in this one. She was deep in the thick of the Betrayers court and she held her own. I think Zanya's training with weapons and her fighting skills are easy to see but Sachi was a true spy and kinda scary.

I love the world, I love the characters, I love the spice. I really hope there is more coming in this world. I was really moved by the Lover's story and in the last battle when he was cut off from the Dream, it was such a good start to a story. I really want him to find his love.
There are so many great stories that are yet to be told in this world. I really hope they write more.

I would recommend for those that like spicy romantic fantasy, with political intrigue, good overcoming evil where love conquers all.

This is book 2 in an MFF fantasy romance series that must be read in order, and so this review will contain some spoilers for Consort of Fire.

I loved reading Consort of Fire, finding it the perfect balance of fantasy and romance, and so was eagerly anticipating its follow-up. Second books in fantasy series can often struggle, but Queen of Dreams absolutely lived up to my expectations in every way.

Zanya and Ash take on a bigger role in proactively protecting their people, and combined with the intense training Zanya has to undergo this leaves Sachi feeling alone and unable to help. But when tensions start mounting with The Betrayer it's the power of dreams that is needed to help.

I loved how each of the three had their own character development, and that different aspects of their relationship deepened on different timelines. It was great to see the exploration of powers, ranging from the obvious developments for Zanya and Sachi to the more subtle emotion-based changes for Ash.

This is an incredible fantasy world, and I can't wait to see where things go in the next book.

The conclusion to the duology brings more adventure and war. And steaminess.

This is my dragon romantasy story, thank you. I was 1000% into the first book and this story, while there's slightly less spice for plot reasons, has more fantasy/adventure/subterfuge. We get to see what's going on in other parts of the world and how our MCs deal with it. And how they deal with their past trauma/current trauma in the process. The FMCs, in particular, complete their initial journeys.

I continue to be fascinated by the world building here, and am glad this isn't the last story we'll get in it. There's certainly tons more to explore.

Highly recommend you read the first book before diving into this one.

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

3.5

This was a really fun read. After reading the first in this duology I was expecting more from the world building. The myth was really interesting and the relationships felt genuine. It was a good time.

"There's only one thing to remember [...] Sometimes the world needs monsters."

I LOVED "Consort of Fire" and was elated to be granted an ARC of "Queen of Dreams." Sachi, Zanya, and Ash are perfection. The character development across all three was executed so well and even the side characters felt so rich. The pacing is fantastic - at no point did I feel like it was a struggle to get through or that I felt the desire to glaze over details.

The 🌶️ parts were well-placed and didn't feel forced. I loved the peek inside each of their minds of their 🌶️ preferences - it felt genuine and gave us even more insight into each character.

I did feel that Zanya/Ash's relationship left something to be desired. With Sachi far away, it really opened an opportunity to develop that plot point. My hope was that Zanya and Ash could have grown closer during this period.

I enjoyed book 1 (Consort of Fire) a lot so I had high hopes for this book and it did not disappoint! We continue to explore the politics and relationships of the world - expanding to what "the builder/betrayer" has been up to. I love the way the relationship between Zanya, Sachi, and Ash grows as they navigate changes in Zanya and Sachi's powers. They have such emotional and deep moments and then POW the spice is hot hot hot. The ending battle was a bit long for me but I am also known to not love a bit battle scene.

If you love fantasy romance with From Blood and Ash vibes this is for you!
I also love the LGBTQ+ representation in both main and side characters.

My favorite thing about this book and the entirely series?

This:

Ash, he was the top of this books, his decissions and acts make me fell in live once, twice and more than a thousand times.

The complex relationship within the three main characters Obviously Ash, Sachi and of course Zanya <3 (i love them) because there are many relationships of three that are very stereotypical and in this series it was not and I am very grateful to the authors for that (kit Rocha).


Although I would have liked the worldbuilding to have a little more magic and construction it managed very well, plus the magic system of these books was top.

That ending left me a little to be desired but still the sequel was delightful and for that I give it a 3.8⸸/5⸸.
I thank Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this incredible journey through this book and of course Kit Rocha. Thank you.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5.0

This is the writing team that is Kit Rocha’s second book in their “Bound to Fire and Steel” series. It is complex and compelling. As with the books in their other series, the world-building is stunning. Readers will sink into the unique world of the characters and feel like they are a part of that world. While readers don’t necessarily have to read the first book in this series, “Consort of Fire,” to enjoy this book, it may be something they want to do in order to understand the relationship between the characters, particularly the three main characters. That relationship is what helps make this book so complex and compelling even though Rocha gives us enough background information of each of the three characters, it is the depth of the relationship as it developed that will explain some of what goes on in this second book. This book has good winning over evil, a dragon, gods, and even a witch.

Rocha doesn’t hide the fact that this book falls squarely into the erotica genre as much as it does the fantasy genre so if you don’t like the romance in your books to include explicit sexual content, don’t read this book. But if you do choose to avoid this book, be aware that you will be depriving yourself of reading some of the best writing, regardless of genre, happening in publishing today.

Triggers: explicit sexual content and elements of BDSM.

My thanks to Montlake and NetGalley for an eARC.

Queen of Dreams returns to the adventures of Ash, Sachi, and Zanya. I really enjoyed seeing Zanya strengthen her relationship with Ash and gain a deeper grasp of her powers. Sachi remained one of my favorite characters with her sunshine personality and deep inner strength.

In Queen of Dreams, Ash, Sachi, and Zanya really work together to establish the boundaries and complexities of their relationship. I enjoyed the strong LGBTQ+ rep in a fantasy setting. The plot with the Betrayer felt standard and I was more invested in the relationships/mythology aspect.

Readers who enjoy fantasy with excellent LGBTQ+ rep and spicy romance will enjoy this conclusion to the duology.

Thank you to Kit Rocha, Montlake, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on Goodreads, Amazon, Storygraph, and Barnes & Noble etc.

QUEEN OF DREAMS was a little more on the fantasy side of romantasy (while the first installment was a little more of the romance side), but I enjoyed the conclusion to Ash, Sachi, and Zanya's story. The world Rocha has built is utopic in its vision of interpersonal relationships--I loved that the gods here were all too old to give in to petty jealousies, a nice contrast to some romantasy, which seems to think "immortal" means "gives in to the worst impulses of humanity." I would definitely read more books in this world.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
I’m very clearly going through a pretty intense reading slump at the moment where nothing I try is hitting, so that may have colored my opinions when it comes to Queen of Dreams, the second of what I believe (hope?) is a romantasy duology from author duo Kit Rocha. And this was a classic case of there being a lot of interesting ideas, but something getting lost in the execution.
There was a lot more world building this time around, complete with a full-on infodump at the back explaining a lot of “world stuff.” Most of it is just window dressing, however, and a lot of it feels like irrelevant backstory. And the world building that did make it into the main text, in the more political focus of this installment bogged the story down, resulting in a slog of a book, while the first one was a fun, sexy dragon fantasy romance. And where there was some relevance to it all, in terms of the developing political tensions, I felt like the story didn’t really “go there” by presenting a truly satisfying and epic battle and ending after all the buildup.
The characters and their relationships are fairly solid, and what kept me from throwing my Kindle in frustration and boredom. Zanya’s growth in her powers is particularly cool, and Sachi coming into her own and finding purpose was great. And while I didn’t care for all the political drama, giving Ash a connection to it all with his history with the villainous Sorin was great. The relationship dynamics between the three also developed in some interesting ways, particularly with Zanya and Ash, who still have more tension, and Sachi and Zanya’s codependent bond is challenged to an extent.
While I found this book underwhelming, I do think other readers would enjoy it, particularly if you enjoyed the first in the series and want more of the world and the characters.

This was my first time reading from this author. I enjoyed the storyline and characters, but something was missing. Personally don’t know if this book was for me but it would be still recommend to others who like fantasy and premise of this book

Queen of Dreams is the conclusion of the Bound to Fire and Steel Duet by the writing duo known as Kit Rocha. I enjoyed this second installment and felt that it gave me the wrapped up conclusion of the plot in this duet, but definitely left things open for the continuation of stories in this world.

This continuation of the story was more plot focused than romance compared to book one, however I found that I enjoyed that more. The world was also expanded more in this story, which did throw me off a little bit, however the expansion of the world was necessary for the plot to continue on from book one. I loved the whole cast of characters as always and I liked that the ending left things open for more stories in this world if desired.

I will say that this story is more focused on Ash and Zanya and I did feel that their relationship still feels up in the air for me. Sachi is definitely the glue between these two, and with her being out of the picture for most of the book, I was waiting for more of connection to develop between Zanya and Ash then did. I did enjoy the character growth that we got from both Sachi and Zanya during their separation, and I enjoyed seeing Zanya come into her own. However, I do think that the relationship still feels more like a V than a triad to me, but it still works regardless of my expectations of the relationship.

Overall, a fun, sexy, and action filled conclusion to this duet. I can't wait for more from this author.

You guys. YOU GUYS. Ash and Sachi and Zanya coming together in book 1 was so ridiculously good that I didn't think anything could top it. BOY WAS I WRONG. Because Sachi hadn't come into her power yet when things went down in book 1 and this is one unstoppably amazing trio when they're ALL firing on all cylinders.

But it took time for Sachi to believe in herself enough to embrace what she is. It took time and a separation from the two people who love her most. Seeing as she was dropped into the middle of the Betrayer's empire with only her wits and her training to survive and bring about his downfall, things were rough for a while. Rough for her AND for Ash and Zanya.

And the Betrayer? He was...awful. He surrounded himself with a twisted family and hammered his plans for a brighter future into something that became unrecognizable. His quest for bigger, better, best stripped away everything good from his land and his people. In the end Sachi had to choice but to dig deep and find herself.

While Sachi is working from the inside (as best she could), Ash, Zanya, and the rest of the High Court were preparing for war. Zanya needs to learn to control her powers. Ash is making plans. They're all prepared to do whatever needs to be done to end the Betrayer's reign in any way necessary.

Gods, monsters, newly awakened power, a twisted mirror court, and three individuals who have to hold tight to all their trust and belief in one another if they want to succeed.