I’ve very much been on a romantasy kick recently so when I received an email containing a Netgalley widget for a NA romantasy with dragons? Yeah, I definitely wanted to read that book. So thanks to Rachel Quin and HQ for this opportunity.

Tamsyn was raised as the palace whipping girl. Raised with the princesses and given anything she could ever want, you might think Tamsyn has it easy. But for every time one of the princesses misbehaves, she gets whipped instead in front of them. Still, they’re her family and she would do anything to protect them, including lying to and marrying Fell, a deadly warrior who insists on marrying a princess. Fell isn’t happy about it but he takes her along. The journey reveals a side to Tamsyn that she didn’t know existed though, and when she realises that she’s truly an enemy to her new husband, she has a decision to make.

This was definitely a fun read.

I’m not sure about the dragons seeming to have an almost human form, but other than that, it was fun to read and the book didn’t necessarily take the path I thought it would.

One of the plot twists was obvious fairly early on for me. But Tamsyn’s side? Yeah, I thought she was something else entirely. Something that still would have been very dramatic. So that was definitely fun.

I did appreciate the romance. It’s supposed to be enemies to lovers but it isn’t quite? Because of the marriage of convenience, they’ve had sex before they even really know each other. And just from that there were obviously some curious feelings. Yes, politically there are some questions about their relationship. But even then, their countries are technically on the same side. So, yes, there’s some dislike and questioning whether they want each other. But it’s not really enemies to lovers. Honestly, that would probably work better if Fell decided he was into Stig instead.

But despite that, I did enjoy the romance and I’m curious to see what route it’s going to take. I like that Fell was willing to support Tamsyn even when she wasn’t so sure about him. He seemed like a good guy and I liked that about him.

The smut was also pretty decent. There was a good balance of smut and story which I know many will appreciate.

Finally, the world building was interesting too. I want to learn more about the dragons and the witches, but due to the past, we’ll have to learn about them along with our protagonists. And I don’t mind that. It meant we were picking up the information at a good pace and that I still have questions going into the next book.

So overall, a very good read that I’ll definitely be getting my hands on a physical copy of. I can’t wait until book 2 comes out!

A Fire in the Sky by Sophie Jordan is a real treat in the enemies to lovers fantasy genre. It really has it all, dragons, magic and of course, the protagonists. Ms Jordan shows real skill at plot building and manages her cast with deceptive ease, an arranged marriage followed by a long journey over difficult terrain allows the relationship to develop and the reader is carried along with the newly weds. I thoroughly enjoyed this title and am looking forward to the sequel when it appears. Highly recommended to all who enjoy well written fantasy.

Dammit, I wanted to love this book – the premise was so interesting! – but sadly it fell flat on several aspects.

Firstly, the worldbuilding. Jordan somehow manages to write lots of it, yet not actually tell the reader anything important. We get that Tasmyn is the royal whipping girl, punished for her sisters’ transgressions because apparently genuine blue blood skin can’t be marked or something, but all the history is just dumped in huge paragraphs that I must admit to skimming.

There’s an unnecessary love triangle following Tasmyn’s “best friend” Stig declaration of love. I did like his character up to the point where he started telling her how she felt and that they ought to run away together. It felt very much like the nice man who thought he earned sex cookies by being nice.

Fell… oh gosh, where do I start? He’s known as the Beast. Okay, fair enough. Obvious inspiration is obvious, but I was onboard with that. I like fairy tale retellings and this seemed a nice flip on that. Until Fell and his cohort are described as having “dark curly hair, strong noses, and dark skin” and as “savages”. The racial overtones were very disheartening and have no place in fantasy. Find some other way to have the FMMC and MMC different. It’s 2024, for crying out loud.

Then there’s the “romance”. I was okay with the whole fake marriage thing and even Fell’s anger. I love a good enemies-to-lovers novel. Sadly, this book isn’t good. The journey to Fell’s homeland gave plenty of opportunity for him and Tasmyn to get to know each other. It’s not taken. She’s shunned by him and most of his soldiers, except for the times Fell decides she’s worth a shag. There’s no attraction, no chemistry. Just them shackled by a lie of a marriage.

I hate giving A Fire in the Sky three stars because I wanted to love it. I just didn’t.

Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read this book.

This is a book I'm unlikely to forget because the author liked to repeat points over and over. Whipping girl was mentioned in almost every chapter, to the point it lost its impact. And then the MC repeating phrases in her head after they been spoken, this happened almost constantly and became overly annoying.
The characters were lackluster and bland. The almost love triangle seemed like a weak attempt. And the sex scene was awkward to read.
I finished the book just to see if my prediction was right and it was. The book needed more magical backstory, more build up and less boring horse travel and court politics.
I don't recommend you grab this book.

This book is full of drama, surprises, and romantic tension, so of course I totally ate it up. It got off to a bit of a slow start as it was building up to the main plot points and developing the characters. It’s safe to say that Tamsyn’s ‘family’ aren’t likeable and her relationship with them is understandably complex, which we see most clearly at the beginning of the book. As the story progresses and Tamsyn’s left with an angry, deceived husband, the path is a rocky one and I absolutely loved seeing both of their perspectives in this time so we’re able to understand the emotional rollercoasters they’re both on and the undeniable draw between the pair. There are moments where this book took me by surprise, and some where it didn’t, but the high stakes and danger made it so easy to fall into. I was definitely rooting for Tamsyn and Fell, so I’d have liked to see more of them together in the book but I hope we’ll get that in the sequel. And with an ending like that, I don’t know if I can wait to find out what comes next!

I received a free copy of this book. All views are my own.

Wow wow wow wow!

This is hands down my favourite book of 2024. I devoured it, and fantasy books are usually a slog for me. It can take me weeks to finish some but this I flew through in a week!

I love fantasy books that aren't too heavy fantasy and I can connect to the characters and the story. This was exactly that. I was hooked from the start.

Tamsyn (fmc) lives in a palace with her "sisters" but she is not treated the way they are. She is the royal whipping girl. She takes all of their punishments and isn't quite a part of the family. She loves her sisters and will do anything to protect them which even includes going in her sisters place to marry Fell (mmc) ''The Beast of The Borderlands''

I instantly felt the tension between the two of them. They didn't know how to interact with each other other than to quarrel. I loved any time that Fell showed a softer side to Tamsyn. It gave his character depth and made him more than just a moody kidnapper.

I LOVED the dragon shifting part and I was so excited when this happened!!! I love dragons and this book introduced them so well! I LOVED the ending and I could kind of see it happening but i still enjoyed it. I can't wait for the next one and to see what this author does with this world and characters. More dragons please!!!!!!!

My husband kindly bought more of this authors books as he saw I enjoyed this so much so stay tuned for more dragon reviews!!!

Thank you to HQ Stories for sending me the beautiful special edition hardback. All opinions are my own and I am so grateful for the opportunity to read this!!

Dragons are said to be extinct and Witches were hunted to eliminate all magic in the world of Penterra…

While ‘A Fire In The Sky’ had plenty of predictability, I still loved the direction it took, with plot twist after plot twist. I must admit that ending…now that I didn’t see coming at all!

I practically devoured this book within 48 hours, so the fact it’s not officially out in the world yet is a problem, because I’m desperate to continue the triology

It’s rare I adore both the female and male mc’s equally, but Tamsyn being the strong women she is and Fell being the epitome of hard on the outside, but gooey on the inside, made it easy. The fact that there was duel pov’s from them both, as well as a few additional pov’s, was fantastic

I only hesitated giving this 5 stars because I feel like the ending has set book two up for that level of perfection. This was still easily ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

#AFireInTheSky #NetGalley

A Fire in the Sky is packed with romance and dragons - making it great one to read while waiting for Onxy Storm! It's well written, with plenty of twists and tension, but this one wasn't really for me and I don't think I would want to read the next in the series.

As a fantasy reader who loves stories involving dragons and witches, this book caught my attention the moment I heard about it and it didn't disappoint. Sophie Jordan gets the story moving right from the first chapter, and keeps it going at a great pace as she builds towards a cliffhanger ending.

It is primarily told through two POVs - Tamsyn and Fell. Both of these characters are well crafted and developed, meaning both perspectives are equally engaging to read. I especially enjoyed seeing both of their views with regards to each other and their relationship - a very fun enemies to lovers, starting with a marriage of convenience (with a twist) and developing into something more. While it doesn't take long for the attraction to develop, there are a number of obstacles for them to overcome which keeps things interesting, and I'm looking forward to seeing how they navigate some of these in book 2.

The world building is well done and the lore is interesting without being overly elaborate or complex, making it easy to understand and follow. As a result, this book is a pretty quick read and I found it really helped pull me out of a little bit of a reading slump.

A fun read which I think a lot of romantasy lovers will really enjoy, this is a great series starter and I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes from here!

5 fire-breathing stars!!

This book had me captivated from the start. The writing was well written with easy prose which made the story flow nicely from the first page. I'd never heard of a whipping boy/girl before and found this to be a worthy and fascinating arc for this story.

I had guessed where this story was going to lead, and I wasn't wrong. However, I was invested and wanted, no, NEEDED to see how it would play out in the end.
To which my only disappointment stems from the fact that the second book is not already available!!

Watch out Fourth Wing. There's a new dragon tale in the midst!!

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me access to this book via Netgalley.

I read it in about a day and the writing was engaging enough to keep me interested but at various points I was frustrated with the characters, plot and pacing. The story started well, got a bit slow and repetitive in the middle during the journey North but picked up after the transformation and once they were in the Borg. Tamsyn was a mixed bag for me I did appreciate her resilience in the face of a lot of what happened to her and that she did not fall apart but thought she was horribly naive and forgiving about the royal family (aside from Alise) and Stig (curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal). Fell felt like your typical romantasy mmc, strong broody and handsome with a cause but I found him a little boring. Despite this I thought Fell and Tamsyn had decent chemistry. I do think things went from zero to sixty with them during the crossing and would have like a bit more interaction/ communication and getting to know each other before Tamsyn went walkabout. I feel this would have made Fell’s desperation to find her and the yearning between them afterwards to have a proper marriage and what happens at the end a little more believable to me. I made a prediction at start of the story and was half right so am pleasantly surprised that the author had a few twists up her sleeve. Despite my issues with the book the ending did leave me wanting to see where the story goes so job done. Overall 3 🌟

Absolutely loved this book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to @netgalley @hqstories @harlequinaus @sosophiejordan for the opportunity to read this book before release day which is on ✨26.09.24✨


This is probably the first new release I have loved this year. It only took me 3 sittings to finish. Jordan’s writing reminds me of JLA it is so descriptive and lyrical.

As for the story. I loved our main character Tasmyn, she is a whipping girl who was taken in by the royal family. She was a very vulnerable character but I love how she grew into herself as the story went along. I’ll be honest I really hated Fell when we first got introduced to him. But as the story went along I learned to love him.

Overall the character, the enchanting writing style, the world, lore and the overall story with these character made this go into my top 10 for the year!!

#sophiejordanbooks #afireinthesky🔥 #afireinthesky #netgalleyreads #netgalley #netgalleyreviewer #bookstagram #booksbooksbooks #booklover #bookworm #bookaddict #readersgonnaread #reading

This is the first book I have read by this author and I really enjoyed it! I flew through it in 2 days! It was so hooked I couldn’t stop want to see what would happen next.
This was so beautifully written I felt like I was right there with the characters. So much detail I loved it!

The chemistry between Tamsyn and Fell was electrifying I was hoping for a little bit more but being the first in the series I can see why it’s a bit slow however the last 20% was awesome and I’m really looking forward to the next one! 😃

This book was definitely not what I expected. I have to admit, going into it my expectations were more on the side of action packed fantasy romance. By the time I finished this book, I didn’t quite know how to feel about it.

The plot, while slow to develop, was pretty intriguing towards the last 40% of the book. I haven’t read any of Sophie Jordan’s books prior to this so I was surprised when the book read more like a historical romance in a fantasy world. Personally I felt that the romance, whether or not due to the circumstances in which the characters got together, felt lust based and inauthentic. I didn’t feel connected to them and felt pretty passive while reading it. I am however, excited to see where the next book takes these characters after that ending.

Dragons
Touch her and 💀
Touch him and 💀
Enemies to lovers
Magic

I loved the worldbuilding and the MMC and FMC and thought it was a great spin on a dragon story. Loved how the quick burn the romance / lust was.

However I found the pacing difficult and lots of internal monologues that made it difficult to get into the story. Overall I enjoyed and it was probably more a 3.5.

There are some dark themes so check the triggers

This is book one of a new series, and it’s a wonderful mixture of romance and fantasy, that really had me hooked from the first page.
Tamsyn is a whipping girl for the Royal Princesses of Penterra. She is a foundling, taken into the Royal household, given the same education as they had, but without the expectation of a titled husband. Her closest friend is Stig, Captain of the Guard.
When Lord Dryhten, AKA The Beast comes to the court looking for the hand in marriage of one of the princesses, Tamsyn experiences feelings of fear, danger and violence from this man. When she is ordered to marry The Beast instead of the Princesses, she is thrust into a whole new world of dangerous experiences.
Fell, Lord Dryhten discovers his new bride is not Royal. He needed a titled bride to provide money for his poor kingdom, he wants to prevent famine and disease there. The Wedding ceremony is sealed in blood, both have crosses scored across the palms of their hands, Tamsyn and Fell both feel warmth and surges of electricity between them, and the wedding night sex is passionate, with an all consuming tingling of body and the soul. No bad sex awards here!!
A Fire in the Sky is exactly what it says, but think magical beasts that were thought to be extinct, with a compliment of Witches, Wood Spirits, Temptresses, Magical spells and astonishingly written good sex. There are many twists and turns, powerful stuff indeed.
Genuinely cannot wait for book two, it’s going to be a real treat. This book has been so good. A five star read.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers, HQ Books for my advanced copy, freely given in exchange for my honest review.
I will leave reviews to Goodreads and Amazon UK upon publication.

This book's premice is really interesting and unique, I was so intruigued by it, however, unfortunately did I not love it. I found it really hard to connect to the characters and root for them. I also did not care one bit about Stig, I understand his purpose in the story but it did not do anything for me. Also the start was very slow and it took a good while for things to happen. I did love the tension between the two main characters and the fms, dicvoering all these new things about her. I thought that was very intruging. Overall I did like it but I dont know if I will continue the series sadly.

As someone in my 40s, I was there for the big fat fantasy books of the noughties (and before and after) and now I'm trying to catch up to the big fat romantasy that's here today - and it's a challenge to the senses! Does that mean any problem with the books in this genre is a me-problem? Probably, so take this review with a pinch of salt.

This book definitely has romance at the forefront, and by that I mean in the proper genre sense. The book is laser-focused on the hero and heroine, what they're thinking and feeling - and mostly just what they're thinking and feeling about each other, and each other's genitals. The trope is essentially a forced/arranged marriage.

It felt like half the book was leading up to the wedding. In ye olde days, this would've been done and dusted by chapter 3, but I need to face facts - things have changed. And maybe it's okay if in romantasy-world we spend chapter after chapter thinking about the wedding night or riding on a horse. I suppose I just wanted the plot to get going a little faster.

Despite the obvious signs, it took me a while to guess what was happening to the heroine but I guessed the other half of it.

I'm not sure yet if I'd come back for a return book. There's some promise but I'm not sure I find the thing that connects them to be plausible. Or the sudden love they have for one another after barely a moment together. An easy read but a few issues for me personally.

What a book

Writing gripped me,
Characters drew me in
i cannot wait to see what Sophie writes next

A Fire in the Sky, the first book in Sophie Jordan’s adult fantasy series, has left me DESPERATE, for the next book. This is one of those books where it’s both a privilege and a curse to gain early access to read it; it was so very good but now I can’t wait to see what happens next!

In A Fire in the Sky we find ourselves in the kingdom of Penterra, where dragons are extinct, witches are outcasts and where magic is dying. Within the castle lives Tamsyn, the royal whipping girl, who is tasked with the ultimate sacrifice of pretending to be a true princess and marrying Fell, the Beast of the Borderland and son of the great dragon slayer. She accepts her fate, even if it means deceiving the great warrior. But not only does Fell now have a false wife, one that he can’t seem to resist despite himself, he will come to learn she harbours secrets, buried so deep that even Tamsyn doesn’t know they exist. For magic is not dead … it is only sleeping. And it will take one ordinary girl with an extraordinary destiny to awaken it.

There is so much I could say about this one but I feel that it’s the kind of book that you’ll enjoy more for going in blind. There were some wonderful twists and turns and whilst I had an inkling about Tamsyn the reveal took me totally by surprise and was not what I’d expected. I will say though that the world building and magic system was excellent and I cannot wait to spend more time in this world. I really liked Tamsyn, I mean how can you not love the feisty underdog and enjoyed seeing how Fell’s feelings towards her grew. This is a multi POV book, though predominantly Tamsyn and Fell, and it worked perfectly for it.

This was such a brilliant start to what I’d imagine is going to be one heck of a wild ride of a series.