Of Flame and Promise: A Weird Girls Novel (Weird Girls, #5.5)

by Cecy Robson

• ISBN10: 1947330284
• ISBN13: 9781947330283
• Publish Date: 15 June 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Cecy Robson, LLC
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 202
• Language: English

Reviews

[Nadz@Totally Addicted to Reading]

I am fairly new to the world of the Wird sisters. I began my journey with Gone Hunting, which ironically wasn’t the first book written, but was a prequel to the series. I followed this up with A Curse Awakened and Wird Girls all novellas that gave me a taste of the sister’s world and the challenges they faced.

When I discovered that book 9 would soon be released, I enquired if I needed to read the previous books prior to jumping into the new book. It was then I discovered that books 6 to 9 told Taran’s (the second oldest of the Wird sisters) story. Therefore, continuing my journey with Of Flame and Promise, book 6, would not be an issue.

Based on my research, I have discovered that the events of this installment occurred somewhere between book 2 and book 4.

In this installment I got a close-up view into Taran and Gemini’s relationship. Gemini a werewolf, so named as he had the ability to split into two wolves.

Taran loves Gemini, but she fears commitment, a fear which intensified after seeing her sister experience her share of heartbreak. So, when Gemini asks her to meet his parents, the poor girl freaked. She is a powerful and tough character, but meeting the parents was scarier than facing down demons and vampires. Her vulnerability and insecurity leapt off the pages.

Gemini was such a sweetheart. His patience with Taran, despite her many attempts to avoid commitment, was remarkable. His hurt at her avoidance was palpable and I couldn’t help but empathize with him.

Taran was a riot. The words coming out of her mouth had me laughing. However, what had me in stitches were the scenes where she tried her best to impress Gemini’s parents. Everything that could go wrong did and her lack of filter did not help the situation.

I enjoyed the romance, which was passionate, sweet and genuine. It was clear their love was of the forever kind, only Taran failed to see it.

Besides the pressure of meeting the parents, Gemini and Taran faces danger, resulting in near death situations. Intense action scenes kept me on the edge of my seat.

Despite this being a novella, it treated me to a fully fleshed out story.

Conclusion/Recommendation
Of Flame and Promise was a great read. It provided danger, action, humour and romance. I can’t wait to read more of Taran’s story. I will also go back to read Celia’s story. (Celia is the eldest of the Wird sisters.) Fans of urban fantasy would not want to miss picking up this series.

[EBookObsessed]

I love the idea that Cecy Robson has switched from Celia to Taran in her narrative of the series. I am frustrated that she has taken a step back in time since we left Taran injured and floundering with her powers and self-esteem. Now it might take books and books before we start to unravel how she deals with her injury and all that comes with it.

Taran is the focus of this latest novel in the Weird Girls series. Not only did Cecy Robson twist the narration around but she took us back in time to between Cursed by Destiny (Book 3) and A Cursed Bloodline (Book 4). It also seems that Taran and Gemini’s relationship will be no smoother in the telling that Aric and Celia’s.

Gemini wants to complete the mating ritual with Taran. He is certain she is his mate and his wolves want it official. No matter how confident and put together Taran looks on the outside, she’s a hot mess on the inside. Taran’s biggest fear is to end up like Celia. All the Wird sister’s have had a hard life but Celia and Taran seemed to have endured the worst of it. It took a lot for Celia to open her heart to Aric and become his mate and yet he still walked away when ordered to by his Elders. (At this point in the story, Aric is engage to the pureblood werewolf bitch.) Deep down Taran knows that Aric is suffering as much as Celia, but that doesn’t change the fact that they were mated and Aric walked away.

Taran is afraid that is she drops all her defenses and allows Gemini in, truly trusts him never to hurt her or abandon her, and he walks away, she will be absolutely destroyed. Taran isn’t brave enough to face that kind of soul-withering loss. Not yet. But after a conversation with her sister, Taran is willing to give in to one thing that Gemini wants from her. He wants her to meet his parents.

Taran knows when she walks into a room, people don’t think “what a hard-working and self-sacrificing nurse.” They are too busy thinking “How much does she charge? Or “Will she do a threesome?” She knows that Gemini’s parents will take one look at Taran and drag him away for his own good. But for Gemini, she will do her best to make an impression.

And make an impression she will, just not the type of impression she really was hoping for. It’s a supernatural version of Meet the Parents. No matter how hard Taran tries to impress his traditional Japanese parents, luck is just not with her. When they are all attacked by the Tribe, will Taran finally be able to impress them with the her bravery or will they not live long enough for it to matter?

THOUGHTS:
I love the character to switch to Taran. I loved Celia but after all those books of her torturing herself about Aric (especially when she has hot Misha drooling over her), I was ready for this change up. There was so many great characters in the series and sometimes they did no more than breeze through a scene or two. I like that one short story, A Cursed Moon, told by their friend Bren and we were able to learn a lot more about his backstory and friendship with Celia.

Unfortunately, we might have changed narrators but Taran has more hang ups than Celia so this might just become another group of stories dedicated to how Taran and Gemini can’t get it together either.

My biggest complaint about the switch is that we took a huge step back in time. When we left Celia and Aric at the end of A Curse Unbroken (book 5), there was finally puppies and rainbows and the possibility of a happy future for these two kids. But in the final battle in A Curse Unbroken, Taran is seriously injured and needed to be healed by magic rather than Emme and because of that, her ability to shoot lightning and fire has gone wonky and her self-esteem, which is already low, has plummeted. How many book will it be before we finally see what happens after this injury and how it will effect her mindset and her relationship with Gemini.

Received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[kimbacaffeinate]

I was excited to get Taran’s story. I love how feisty, foul-mouthed and outspoken she is. Taran has some seriously badass abilities and the temper to match. This softer, more vulnerable side of Taran surprised me. While, there were moments in Of Flame and Promise that I wanted to bitch slap our girl and snap her out of some things- ultimately I had a blast reading her story.

Gemini or "Tomas" as Taran affectionately refers to him is second in command of the local werewolf pack. His wolf has already chosen Taran as his mate but the idea of marriage or bonds freaks Traran out. I love Gemini and felt his hurt when Taran gets nervous about meeting his parents. The man is a saint in the patience department and I loved how he tried to please everyone. The scenes involving his parents had me laughing. Taran is outrageous and the things that come out of her mouth..oh lord!! The man kept his cool and I loved that he stood by his girl.

The romance is sizzling hot, and we know even if Taran does not that their love is a forever kind. Their interaction were sweet, hot and felt genuine. Taran’s jealously and parental encounters were hilarious. I hid my face, laughed aloud and wanted to crawl into a hole right along with her. It was brilliant and lightened the darker themes of the story.

Of course, this would not be a Weird Girls book without danger, near death experiences and intense action scenes. Robson does such a great job creating balance and skillfully bringing the danger to life as it unfolds. It is creeptastic, and had me holding my breath particularly with the author's penchant for ripping my heart completely out.

Of Flame and Promise falls between a novella and full length novel but we were given a completely fleshed out story. The timeline for this coincides with the past when Celia and Aric are apart. This took me by surprise, and despite returning to the scene of past crimes, it worked.

Copy provided by publisher, This review was originally posted on Caffeinated Book Reviewer