Published: November 28, 2023
Publisher: Montlake
Series: Bound to Fire and Steel #1
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 398 (Kindle)
My Rating: 3.5 Stars
Synopsis:
From cult-favorite writing duo Kit Rocha comes a fiery novel set in a lush fantasy world brimming with ancient magic, dangerous secrets, and erotic connections.
For three thousand years, an ancient dragon god has protected the borders of the Sheltered Lands. In return, he makes only one demand: every one hundred years, the mortal ruler must send their heir to serve as his consort…for as long as they can survive.
Sachielle of House Roquebarre is the thirty-first consort to be sacrificed to the monster who guards the mountain passes. She is young, beautiful—and she has three secrets.
First: she’s a disposable orphan trained in seduction.
Second: her handmaid, Zanya, is an assassin and the only person she has ever loved.
Third—and most dangerous: she’s cursed. Sachi and Zanya have five weeks to murder the Dragon in his bed. If they fail, the mortal king’s curse will steal not just Sachi’s life, but her very soul.
The Dragon has only one secret: he is nothing like what they have been told. And he will do whatever it takes to possess them both.
I saw a fellow blogger review this sooo many months ago and their review intrigued me enough that when I saw this go on sale I decided to buy it. It took many more months until I finally decided to pick it up, but that’s just life sometimes. Consort of Fire is a romantasy book that leans toward the spicier side of things and boy was it entertaining!
Consort of Fire follows Sachielle, a princess and the next consort to the god known as the Dragon, as she takes on this new and seemingly doomed role. Sachi is all things beautiful and good and the Dragon is said to be fearsome, terrible, and cruel and from her youth Sachi was trained to seduce the Dragon and then kill him. Accompanying her is her handmaid and lover, Zanya, who was trained in the art of assassination and will protect Sachi with her life and kill the Dragon should Sachi fail. What the two women don’t expect is that Ash, the Dragon, is actually kind, beloved by his people, and terribly handsome. Ash can’t help but to want both of the mysterious and beautiful women that have come to him and he and the earth his magic is aligned with feel that Sachi is the answer to a prophesy long awaited.
Consort of Fire is definitely a character driven story and while there is plot, the nitty gritty actually focuses on the dynamics between Sachi, Zanya, and Ash. This is to be expected with a romantasy, but I do think this one is a little lighter on the plot than I typically love. Of course, Sachi and Zanya are determined to kill Ash and therefore save Sachi from a curse placed on her by the High Priest of her kingdom to ensure she completes her dark task. The group are also traveling across Ash’s lands in a marital progression – essentially a meet and greet across the kingdom and during this, the trio slowly come together and begin to look for answer to their problems. There is a broader plot that begins to develop toward the end of the book, so the next installment may be more plot forward which I would appreciate. As I mentioned, this is a spicier romantasy with quite a few explicit scenes, so your mileage may vary depending on your preference for spice in your books.
Overall, Consort of Fire was an entertaining read set in a world that I’d love to see more of and know more about. I am considering picking up the next installment just to see if the plot that began to develop toward the end of this book continues to progress into something a bit deeper. It does have a higher average rating on Goodreads, so I’m optimistic.
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