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hmmreads's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
Above average writing but the logic of the story dragged it down.
The book opened up with the sisters' mother, Serafina, being hunted down by a dragon king, Pytheios. As mating a phoenix allows a dragon to be acknowledged as high king, Pytheios was butthurt that Serafina chose another king to be her mate instead of him. He killed off Serafina's mate and now he's after her too. Before she died, she enacted the escape plan she'd mapped out for her daughters by teleporting them individually to unknown locations. We then follow Kasia's story in this book, the eldest.
The book never explained why a phoenix is such a lucky charm for the dragon kings and why they even have to mate. There's nothing about power transference or anything. And even if a phoenix has all these cool powers--that can be different for each phoenix and also seem limitless because new powers just keep popping up for our dear Kasia--so what? Just have the phoenix be loyal to a dragon clan no?
When Kasia's phoenix powers were starting to manifest, she checked herself into a doctor's care because she'd burst out into flames and have visions of the future that came with side effects of blinding pain, quite literally. The doctor was loose-lipped and tipped off anyone who was looking for the phoenix.
Brand was a rouge from the gold clan, who was now working under the blue clan's king, Ladon. He was tasked to find the phoenix and bring her to mate with Ladon. From the get-go, Brand realized that Kasia's his mate as he felt the pull in addition to being able to control her fire by giving her pleasure. She didn't know this because as a phoenix, she'd have to choose her mate instead of being given one by default. Any dragon not of her choosing will die if he attempts to mate with a phoenix.
Brand went under the guise of a private investigator who was there to help her find out what she was. The book seemed to constantly be scared of committing to a bit because this whole secret identity stick didn't last past the chapter. He figured out immediately that she's a phoenix, and the readers don't get the suspense of not knowing that Brand was the rightful heir to the gold clan. Which made the "reveal" to Kasia of his true identity in the future chapters so underwhelming.
Kasia ran off once he told her that he was a dragon shifter because her mother had it instilled in her brain that all dragons are bad and just want to exploit phoenixes, but Brand quickly caught up with her. Oh and Kasia had seen Brand appear in many of her visions so she wanted to trust him but was unsure, eventually the doubt soon solidified to actual trust as they fought Pytheios's underlings along their way to the blue clan. They also had sex during a particularly bad fire episode.
Some of the stops they made and the introduction to side characters were kinda irrelevant? They stopped by a biker club that Brand's only father figure ran. There's also a bunch of wolves who were protecting the youngest sister, Angelika. Albeit, the wolves were involved in the final showdown for no reason.
Once they reached the blue clan, Kasia and Brand distanced themselves because they knew that having Kasia mated to Ladon would be the best course of action. Ladon will be an established high king following his recent overtaking of the previously corrupted blue royal family, and Brand will finally be accepted to the blue clan and no longer be a rogue. Brand kept saying that he's been meticulously planning his revenge on Uther and that he really needed a clan on his back, all the while not planning to get his throne back honestly doesn't make sense. How on earth is that revenge? His last-minute impulsive decision to kill Uther during the final battle made more sense to be considered as revenge.
The book also did that half-baked thing going on with Ladon, seemingly unsure of how to portray him (evil or good?), then settling to be good. There's a difference between writing a morally grey character or an attempt to subvert readers' expectations and a character who doesn't know who they are.
No matter how hard Brand and Kasia tried to ignore their feelings, they impulsively decided to mate with each other. Again with the half-assed attempt, they started out a semi-passionate sex following a not-so heated conversation on Kasia endangering herself, then turned into a "do you want to be my mate?
Above average writing but the logic of the story dragged it down.
The book opened up with the sisters' mother, Serafina, being hunted down by a dragon king, Pytheios. As mating a phoenix allows a dragon to be acknowledged as high king, Pytheios was butthurt that Serafina chose another king to be her mate instead of him. He killed off Serafina's mate and now he's after her too. Before she died, she enacted the escape plan she'd mapped out for her daughters by teleporting them individually to unknown locations. We then follow Kasia's story in this book, the eldest.
The book never explained why a phoenix is such a lucky charm for the dragon kings and why they even have to mate. There's nothing about power transference or anything. And even if a phoenix has all these cool powers--that can be different for each phoenix and also seem limitless because new powers just keep popping up for our dear Kasia--so what? Just have the phoenix be loyal to a dragon clan no?
When Kasia's phoenix powers were starting to manifest, she checked herself into a doctor's care because she'd burst out into flames and have visions of the future that came with side effects of blinding pain, quite literally. The doctor was loose-lipped and tipped off anyone who was looking for the phoenix.
Brand was a rouge from the gold clan, who was now working under the blue clan's king, Ladon. He was tasked to find the phoenix and bring her to mate with Ladon. From the get-go, Brand realized that Kasia's his mate as he felt the pull in addition to being able to control her fire by giving her pleasure. She didn't know this because as a phoenix, she'd have to choose her mate instead of being given one by default. Any dragon not of her choosing will die if he attempts to mate with a phoenix.
Brand went under the guise of a private investigator who was there to help her find out what she was. The book seemed to constantly be scared of committing to a bit because this whole secret identity stick didn't last past the chapter. He figured out immediately that she's a phoenix, and the readers don't get the suspense of not knowing that Brand was the rightful heir to the gold clan. Which made the "reveal" to Kasia of his true identity in the future chapters so underwhelming.
Kasia ran off once he told her that he was a dragon shifter because her mother had it instilled in her brain that all dragons are bad and just want to exploit phoenixes, but Brand quickly caught up with her. Oh and Kasia had seen Brand appear in many of her visions so she wanted to trust him but was unsure, eventually the doubt soon solidified to actual trust as they fought Pytheios's underlings along their way to the blue clan. They also had sex during a particularly bad fire episode.
Some of the stops they made and the introduction to side characters were kinda irrelevant? They stopped by a biker club that Brand's only father figure ran. There's also a bunch of wolves who were protecting the youngest sister, Angelika. Albeit, the wolves were involved in the final showdown for no reason.
Once they reached the blue clan, Kasia and Brand distanced themselves because they knew that having Kasia mated to Ladon would be the best course of action. Ladon will be an established high king following his recent overtaking of the previously corrupted blue royal family, and Brand will finally be accepted to the blue clan and no longer be a rogue. Brand kept saying that he's been meticulously planning his revenge on Uther and that he really needed a clan on his back, all the while not planning to get his throne back honestly doesn't make sense. How on earth is that revenge? His last-minute impulsive decision to kill Uther during the final battle made more sense to be considered as revenge.
The book also did that half-baked thing going on with Ladon, seemingly unsure of how to portray him (evil or good?), then settling to be good. There's a difference between writing a morally grey character or an attempt to subvert readers' expectations and a character who doesn't know who they are.
No matter how hard Brand and Kasia tried to ignore their feelings, they impulsively decided to mate with each other. Again with the half-assed attempt, they started out a semi-passionate sex following a not-so heated conversation on Kasia endangering herself, then turned into a "do you want to be my mate?
witchy_book_babe's review
5.0
This book is such an underrated Fantasy series! I’ve read both the physical copies + Audiobook (which was really well cast in my opinion!).
I loved this book the first time I read it and like getting coffee with an old friend, I love it just as much each time I reread/listen to it. There is a ton of entertainment packed into this book and I personally think it is constructed extremely well.
The journey Abigail takes readers on includes heavy action, suspense, spice, a strong female lead who I personally love so much, an MMC that is delicious, and a large cast of paranormal beings (wolves, vampires, demons, hellhounds, dragons of course, etc.) that I think make this world so much fun. It does end with a HEA, but there are parts that are left unfinished that will pick up in the next installment.
This is a Dragon book I will always recommend and continue to reread.
I loved this book the first time I read it and like getting coffee with an old friend, I love it just as much each time I reread/listen to it. There is a ton of entertainment packed into this book and I personally think it is constructed extremely well.
The journey Abigail takes readers on includes heavy action, suspense, spice, a strong female lead who I personally love so much, an MMC that is delicious, and a large cast of paranormal beings (wolves, vampires, demons, hellhounds, dragons of course, etc.) that I think make this world so much fun. It does end with a HEA, but there are parts that are left unfinished that will pick up in the next installment.
This is a Dragon book I will always recommend and continue to reread.
alejandra_guerrero's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I really liked it! There are dragons, there are dragon fights, lots of fire and magic. The romance is cute, if a bit cheesy. Very fast paced. Well written characters, and an interesting plot.
bf9288's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I started reading this series at the beginning of the pandemic. I'm happy to reread these books. The author is rereleasing the books with all new covers. If you enjoy fated mates and paranormal romance, you'll like this. Brand is a dragon-shifter mercenary sent on an assignment that will end up with him in love or death. Brand learns that he's so much more than a rogue mercenary dragon along the way. The world-building in this book is top-tier. The story is spicy, and engaging, and it has me ready to read the next book to continue reading.
mefromson's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this! The worldbuilding and the different things that made each Kasia and Brand special were really epic. I loved the way she tried to escape first thing, it really sold her mindset from the start. I don't always buy the protective alpha male crap, but with these two, it fit together well. The more she learned, the more things felt out of control, and the more trouble they got into. Wonderful story, lovely fantasy world, and a great start of a series!
Kinda wish they weren't switching characters every book, but it is what it is.
Kinda wish they weren't switching characters every book, but it is what it is.
holleysings's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
cactusmagknit's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
karissafeese's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.75
Very flat book. Characters had no depth as well as the relationship between them. The plot was predictable and had very little elements of surprise. Felt like so many other fantasy romance books where the plot is the female being some special person with special powers and an alpha male who has no depth and just wants to protect. If this is what you are looking for this is the book for you.
Don't get me wrong, I love a book that has those elements, but it needs to have something more unique added to the book.
Don't get me wrong, I love a book that has those elements, but it needs to have something more unique added to the book.
ameserole's review against another edition
4.0
I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Yes, this had all the smuttiness that I needed.
The Rogue King was such a fun book to dive into. Wasn't expecting all of that sexiness to just be shoved into my face but I'm also not complaining one bit either. In it, you will meet Kasia and Brand. What Brand - like Hershey's? No, his name is just Brand. Weird - I know.
Now these two had amazing chemistry, like right from the start. Plus, this is a dragon shifter book so I was of course down for everything that was happening around Brand. Besides all of that, the bantering was on point and all the lovey-dovey stuff was too. Ugh, not a lot to complain about - other than the fact that it is over.
I look forward to the next book in this series!
Yes, this had all the smuttiness that I needed.
The Rogue King was such a fun book to dive into. Wasn't expecting all of that sexiness to just be shoved into my face but I'm also not complaining one bit either. In it, you will meet Kasia and Brand. What Brand - like Hershey's? No, his name is just Brand. Weird - I know.
Now these two had amazing chemistry, like right from the start. Plus, this is a dragon shifter book so I was of course down for everything that was happening around Brand. Besides all of that, the bantering was on point and all the lovey-dovey stuff was too. Ugh, not a lot to complain about - other than the fact that it is over.
I look forward to the next book in this series!
inscribedinklings's review against another edition
5.0
When I first saw this book, I was sceptical about it. This is not the kind of book I generally read. But man, am I glad I took a chance on it. I absolutely loved the book and I'm definitely reading this series ASAP. The Rogue King is the first book in the Inferno Rising series by Abigail Owen.
The latest installment of the book just came out in October, it is called the Cursed King. The book is paranormal romance/ shifter romance. It's a love story between a Phoenix and a Dragon. I mean come on, isn't that enough reason to read the book. Those 2 are my favorite magical creatures. So I was totally hooked from the start.
The magic aspect of the book was lovely. The book was steamy but it also had a solid story line and plot. I finished the book within 2 days. It had so many twists and turns. I felt a sense of urgency to know what happens in the end. In this book we get to read about Kasia and Brand, who are fated to meet. I loved how their relationship evolved. I can't wait to read the next book.
If you like shifter /paranormal romance, this one is a must read.