Angie
Proceed With Caution:
The author includes the following content warnings: past quid-pro-quo sexual arrangements, a man hitting a woman (non-spousal), slavery discussions, mind control, murder (spousal/partner), pregnancy, authorities abusing their power, pandemics, and dubious consent.
The Basics:
Dark Fire is the tenth and final installment of the Fireblood Dragon series. It follows Azar, our villain, and Melina, his mate and healer of Fort Dallas. I would highly recommend reading the previous books as this one does wrap up the overarching plot from the entire series.
My Thoughts:
I could not wait for Dark Fire! Not just because I wanted to know how the series ends, but I was eager to see how the author pulled of giving the main villain a romance. Azar has been not-so-nice throughout the series. We've seen him do some awful things, the main one being holding drakoni hostage through mind control. But obviously there's more to him as he does have a mate, and he can't be all bad if he gets his happily ever after.
Dark Fire spans the length of the entire series, so we do get a recap of all of the important events from Fort Dallas. But there's also several time jumps, and some of them skip over important details. If you haven't read the previous books, or it's a been awhile, it might get confusing. The main part where I was like "wait, what?" was when it jumped a few months and suddenly everyone is dying from eating those giant bugs falling out of the Rift. I immediately remembered those pesky creatures, but found it strange that the author skipped over their appearance and went straight for the aftermath.
As for the romance, I did really enjoy it! I tend to be fascinated by the villains anyway, and I think the author did a great job of keeping him a villain, but also redeeming him. Azar is by no means perfect in his journey. He screws up, but I believed his changes. Sure, they're mostly motivated by not wanting to lose Melina rather than true remorse, but that can come later. He's a completely different species from a very different culture. Change doesn't happen overnight.
He's absolutely smitten with Melina from the very beginning when she heals his burns. But it takes quite a while for him to win her over. Melina does not want to be romantically (or sexually) involved with a slavemaster, which is esentially what Azar is even though he convinces her otherwise with pretty lies. Her feelings for him develop slowly as she's cared for and spoiled by him. He does try hard to give her things that she wants and needs and enjoys, whether that's supplies for her clinic, hair products, or a foot rub. Or a good licking...
In the end, I think Dark Fire was a great ending to the series. The villain is mostly redeemed and claims his mate. They handle the dark creature in the Rift and we find out why human-drakoni babies are so important. Everything seemed to be tied up nicely and things are looking up for the planet.