A Fire in the Sky follows Tamsyn who is the whipping girl for the royal family in Penterra. She ends up forced to marry Fell who is the Beast of the Borderlands. They have great passion during their wedding night but Fell feels cheated when he sees who she is. Tamsyn is more than she seems and it won’t be easy married to a man she doesn’t know.

This was just okay. Personally I found the storytelling to be quite weak and it felt quite childish. I was intrigued in the first chapter but then I lost interest in it. The romance wasn’t great and I just don’t think this is the best fantasy romance out there.

I loved this story. The characters drew you in and the book left you wanting more. Great for those who love dragon stories however it is more than just that; a lovely story with enough twists and turns to keep your interest

I need book two already.

Going into this the only thing I knew was it had dragons. While this is a very clear book one. I do wish there was a little more world building. But this is a relatively short fantasy book. So I'm hoping book two fixes that part.
The characters themselves intrigue me. It still feels like I barely know them. Which again is due to the books length. But what we do learn is interesting enough that I want to pick up future books in the series.

I was sent a copy of this book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.....for a full review please see my Amazon and Goodreads accounts

An epic new story. A whipping girl brought up as a princess, but the world has a fascinating twist in store. An amazing new dragon story, hopefully with plenty more to com. I was hooked from the very start. Beautifully written and just the right amount of heat

ᴡʜᴇɴ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ғᴏᴜɴᴅ ᴀ ᴅʀᴀɢᴏɴ, ɪᴛ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ɴᴏᴛ ʙᴇ ᴅᴇɴɪᴇᴅ

📚[arc review]

Thank you so much to @hq and @sophie for the arc of this book which I totally loved.

Dragon fire no longer blisters the skies over Penterra, but inside the lavish palace, life is still perilous – especially for Tamsyn. Raised in the glittering court alongside the princesses, it's her duty to be punished for their misdeeds. Treated as part of the royal family but also as the lowliest servant, Tamsyn fits nowhere. So when she is tasked with the ultimate sacrifice of pretending to be one of the true royal princesses and marry Fell, the Beast of the Borderlands, son to the great dragon slayer, Tamsyn accepts her fate even if it means tricking the deadly warrior…

Tamsyn has no idea of her potential or of the power she has until she does and she’s cared of what she is.
Her and Fell don’t really get along that well, especially after he finds out what she did. But their chemistry and lust run way deeper and. They will starting to see each other as their “maybe future”

Fell is seeing as such a a hard person and just a soldier, which is understandable especially after everything that happened to him, but we don’t even know entirely his story.
He has a weak spot: his wife.
He doesn’t know why or how but she becomes someone important for him and he actually care deeply about her.

She’s scared to cross that line with him because of things she found out about her self, but love and attraction is more strong than using your brain. 💓

In this book you have
🐉Enemies to Lovers
🐉Marriage of Convenience
🐉Magic
🐉Dragons
🐉Witches
🐉He tends to her wounds

I don't often read romantasy books, preferring fantasy over the romance aspect, but this book gave me everything that I could possibly want for a book in its genre; an arranged marriage despite a potential love triangle, a hidden identity (both known and unknown) and hinted soul mates with confirmation towards the end due to them both being Dragons/dragon shifters.

The initial half of the story gave me massive Under the Oak Tree / Marriage of Convenience vibes, with the demand of a princess as a reward for massive war deeds, and the medieval time period it seems to be set in. I also must admit I saw a pretty big spoiler for this book, but it didn't take away from the experience and actually had me seeing signs right from the very beginning. Not only that, but I didn't expect this book to focus so much more on the fantasy aspect and experiences Tamsyn went through over the steamy scenes that romantasies are usually more known for, but I thoroughly enjoyed it all.

Despite all the above, I was not prepared for the ending at all. It definitely left me wanting, and I will be eagerly awaiting the sequel because there are just too many unanswered questions.

A Fire In The Sky is a great read for lovers of spicy romantasy!

In a classic fantasy setting with extinct dragons and hidden magic we follow our main character Tamsyn. From her time as the whipping girl for the monarchy to seeing her grow into a more independent woman as the book progresses. She was rather naive in the beginning and led a sheltered life even with her circumstances. I really enjoyed her dynamic with Fell, the Border King, and felt their relationship was very believable. Fell wants more for his people, fiercely protective of his kingdom and wanted a seat at the table to be able get the support of the monarchy. I’m looking forward to seeing them navigate their challenges as the series develops.

I did feel like the writing could fall into the trap of telling and not showing and the twist was so heavily hinted at that it was a bit underwhelming. It was still entertaining and a rather quick and easy read. I would recommend it to lovers of the romantasy genre.

This book is the perfect mix of fantasy and romance ........... where an abandoned child is raised to take the
punishment of the misdeeds of a Royal Princess . The ultimate sacrifice is to replace the Princess and marry Fell , The Beast
of the Borderlands . The ultimate betrayal that ends with an enemy to lover relationship , one that ignites the dormant magic
within our heroine that could transform the Kingdom .
This is a thoroughly enjoyable book , the plot and relationships kept me turning to the next page to see what happened next
But I must say I HATE !! cliff hangers -I will have to wait a while to see what happens next !

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

First things first, I cannot WAIT to read the sequel to this book when ever that may be released! I loved the mystery behind the magic aspect, and the two major twists which I never saw coming. A really good romantascy read with spice that didn’t make me cringe!

I absolutely loved this book. The twist was unexpected and I love it! I will be keeping an eye out for more books from this author!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the eARC!

A fresh take on romantasy. A genuine character, plenty of action, and a good explanation of the plot twist, that leaves you hungry for more.

Tamsyn is a not-perfect heroine and that makes her real, believable. She’s stronger than her sisters, who have been shelter all their lives, but she still can be overpowered by a man. She doesn’t know martial arts, she is not a perfect hunter, fighter, or political plotter. She is exactly who she has been raised to be: a whipping girl. A poor child who’s only job was to get beaten for the transgressions of the processes. She’s a bit brainwashed at the beginning, never seeing a different future for herself, and not understanding the world behind the walls of her cage. She’s smart though, loyal, and has a strong fighter’s spirit.

The love interest is dark, brooding, typical hero, certainly better than other men, stronger, better hunter, with perfect eyesight, sixth sense for Tamsyn and the danger. The true merit of the story: there is a reason why he displays abilities above an ordinary person. He’s not special just to satisfy the sighs of the reader, he’s uniqueness is valid for the plot.

And the plot itself is pretty good too. A whipping girl set up to marry a fighter. Forced to keep up the ploy to protect her ‘step’ sisters and the safety of the kingdom. A soldier, a leader, betrayed by his king, driven by his desire to rid the world of the blight of the dragons. Lots of known tropes: <spoiler>arranged marriage, one tent, who hurt you</spoiler>. A couple of great twist <spoiler>suspected him to be a dragon but was so sure she was a witch not a dragon (woop woop 🥳) the childhood friend turn boyfriend turn traitor and murderer - that one had it coming</spoiler>.

The book reads easy; quick smooth chapters, that push the narrative further and just beg you to keep on reading.

My favorite aspect of the entire book is the development of the main character, I love how she start to stand up for herself and fight for what matters the most.

The ending <spoiler>with the long lost brother</spoiler> oophff, can’t wait for book two.

From the blurb, this book had me 100% sold since it seemed to contain absolutely everything that I want in a story. Frustratingly though, it wasn't quite what I'd hoped. The plot was slower than expected and I didn't think the characters were particularly great. Things picked up around the middle, but still not to the point where I was desperate to see what was going to happen. A solid 3 stars, even though I really wish it had been higher.

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Romantasy + Dragons is a win-win for me. I loved it more than I expected to. There's really not much I can say without spoilers, but I implore you to READ THIS BOOK!

It has multiple POV, forced proximity, enemies to lovers, dragons/magic/witches. The world building was good and not too intense. The witch element was not as prominent as I expected, and I wish there were more dragons, but the story was intriguing, and I hope it will go more in depth in the next books. The FMC, Tamsyn, is interesting, and I really enjoyed her character arc. The MMC, Fell (The Beast of the Borderlands) is strong, intimidating but caring and gentle - a pretty perfect MMC. There is an interesting dynamic with Tamsyn’s best friend also. There were lots of surprises which I really enjoyed, and the pacing of the story was well executed.  

I will definitely be looking to read more from this author, and I can not wait for the next book! 

Thank you to the author, Sophie Jordan, the publisher, HQ, and Netgalley, for providing me with the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

*ARC received from Netgalley - all opinions are my own*

| 3.75 bumped up to 4

TLDR: A solidly good read that I don’t think most will be disappointed with but be warned that there is certainly some clunkiness that I didn’t expect from Jordan.

I read A Fire in the Sky within 2 days which should tell you how gripped I was, it completely left me to make notes while I was reading as well which I’m paying for now!

I thoroughly enjoyed the story and I love a good, true enemies to lovers which this was hitting the spot for. I will say that the chemistry is definitely lacking a bit between our two main characters and I would prefer some real relationship developments between the two instead of the, what I assume, is the “mate bond” or some variation of it.

Sophie Jordan had be in a chockhod the whole way through the book until we get to the, no spoilers, “basket” scene which ripped me out of the story so fast as I tried to comprehend the anatomy and logistics of the whole thing and as silly as it sounds, kinda ruined the ending a bit as it really just kills the immersion. It just seems like the strangest thing for an editor or someone to not point out and seems like a very silly mistake from an author so well established.

Generally though, I had a good time and would definitely recommend!

Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book.

I enjoyed this book, but I think I spent most of the book waiting for the story to properly start. I felt like we didnt really get into things until about 45% in and then it all fell flat again until the last 10% of the book.

I loved learning about Fell and Tamsyn. Their chemistry was off the charts but Tamsyn was a tad stupid and annoying sometimes- I wish she made some more selfish decisions when it came to Stig.

Overall, I liked this book and I would read the sequel.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Loved this book!

Tamsyn is the main character and you find yourself rooting for her from the beginning. She is a whipping girl for the royal princesses but she is strong and resilient. Whilst loyal to the royal family, she still has her own mind and protects those around her.

The book contains a perfect level of spice and you're left wanting more.

Fell is a huge hunk of a man and is referred to as 'The Beast'. Tamsyn isn't intimidated by him at all and it leads to a great dynamic between the two.

She is betrayed but the twists leave you guessing as to where it will come from! It ends on a cliff hanger and leaves you wanting more.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

My review will be posted in the following location on the 25th June.

https://www.instagram.com/hf.payne/

Firstly, thank you NetGalley, HQ, and Sophie for allowing me to read an early release of this wonderful book!

I was immediately on Tamsyn's side in all things - a girl found abandoned and used as a whipping girl for the princess's bad behavior, forced into marriage through trickery to the Lord of the Borderlands.
Although at first, I didn't like Fell, his character development meant that I understood and liked him better about halfway through the story.
Stig - no, I didn't like him - he gave me Dain in fourth wing vibes.

I loved this book, and finished it in a weekend, not even realizing I hadn't moved for the whole day to get a coffee. The world-building, the character development, the magic lore, and the beautiful writing make this enchanting and enthralling.
Already on my Amazon WL for release and recommending to friends to do the same.

A Fire in the Sky is the first book in a high stakes romantasy series that interweaves deception, magic and dragons. It is a fast paced story that is full of twists and turns that kept me on my toes. As soon as I saw the gorgeous cover, I had very high expectations and I am delighted that this book lived up to them all.

Tamsyn is a whipping girl, raised alongside the princesses of Penterra and punished for their misdeeds. When Fell, the Beast of the Borderlands, arrives with the intent of taking one of the princesses to wife, Tamsyn helps to decieve him by marrying him in their place. I absolutely adored the romance and I instantly warmed to Fell.

The world felt brutally real and I absolutely adored the lore and history of the dragons. The plot was incredibly intriguing and was perfectly mixed with the romance.

This was my first book by Sophie Jordan and I was absolutely hooked! I am very eager to discover more books by her in the future.

This book was good, it appears to be a destiny/fate story for Tamsyn and Fell. They cannot seem to keep themselves away from each other. I am eager to find out more.

The Royal Family are unbelievable, I can't decide if they are evil or just plain idiots <spoiler>At one point it does seem like Fell killing Tamsyn never even entered their minds, also that they think he would still fight for them after being tricked?</spoiler>

The beginning was very promising but then when they started to travel roughly half way through, it became very slow only picking up a few times here and there, then the ending felt very rushed. Which is a shame because of how well the first half of the book sucked me into the story.

At first I thought I knew where the story was going but then things happened that changed my mind, so I was not expecting the ending and it has just opened up so many questions that I now need answering.

I really like Fell and Tamsyn together, I wish we got to see more of them actually working together so this is what I wish to see in book two. It has definitely intrigued me enough to look forward to the next book in the series.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.