A Promise of Fire (The Kingmaker Chronicles, #1)

by Amanda Bouchet

Kingmaker. Soothsayer. Warrior. Mage. Kingdoms would rise and fall for her . . . if she is ever found

In the icy North, where magic is might, an all-powerful elite ruthlessly guided by a glacial Queen have grown to dominate the world. Now rebellion is stirring in the rough, magic-poor South, where for the first time in memory a warlord has succeeded in uniting the tribal nations.

Stuck in the middle is Cat - circus performer and soothsayer - safely hidden behind heavy make-up, bright colours and the harmless illusion of the circus. Until someone suspects she's more than she seems . . .

Captured by the Southern warlord Griffin, Cat's careful camouflage is wearing thin. For how long can - or should - she conceal the true extent of her power? Faced with dragons, homicidal mages, rival Gods and the traitorous longings of her own heart, she must decide: is it time to claim her destiny and fight?

An award-winning fantasy debut with an unforgettable heroine, set against a luminous world on the brink of battle, this is for those who love Ilona Andrews, Laini Taylor or Victoria Aveyard

'This book is utterly breathtaking!' Darynda Jones, New York Times bestselling author of the Charley Davidson series

• Publish Date: July 2023 (first published 2 August 2016)
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Edition: Dark and Quirky Exclusive
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 448
• Language: English
• Special: Exclusive Design Signed Sprayed Edges

Reviews

[marciemarie]

This man deeply struggles with jealousy, boundaries and anger management. If anyone I knew in real life were dating this dude I’d tell them to run—BUT the books is a great time, fast-paced, and I finished it in like 72 hours, and will absolutely be reading the sequel. I just had to remind myself it was originally published in 2016 quite often, because the over-possessive attitude and relentless pursuit periodically pulled me out of the story

[jojo_k]

I was enjoying first 30% of this book regardless of cheesy dialogs, never ending sexual tensions. It got boring without any plot movements or twists, and repeated sexual tensions with same results. I could've read 50% of this book and move on to the next series because nothing really happens.

[Kate (Blogging with Dragons)]

I was pleasantly surprised by A Promise of Fire. There's a lot to like in this romance fantasy novel--a strong heroine named Cat with powerful and unique magical abilities, Greek Gods, interesting world-building, and a mostly likable romance. I found to be one of the best fantasy romance novels I have read yet, despite its somewhat lacking character development and unbelievable magic at times and predictability at others, and even purchased the rest of the trilogy because of how fun of a read it was. Frankly, A Promise of Fire is a great quarantine escapist read.

What I really like most about A Promise of Fire is its unique setting. It takes place in a fantasy world called Thalyria, but it’s home to familiar gods--the Greek pantheon. This is the first time I have ever read a novel that combined fantasy with recognizable religion and I think the author does a good job of pulling this interesting amalgamation off. Although I am fairly rusty on my Greek mythology so I can’t speak to how accurate it really is. But I certainly enjoyed details like the travelling characters having to maneuver around cracks in the land caused by Zeus’s lightning bolts. I also thought it was great that the author balanced the Greek Gods with her own almost god-like original characters who ruled the land with their own terrifying powers. 

“The mark of Zeus stretches as far as the eye can see in both directions, a charred scar cutting across dust, stones, and yellowed grass, proof that the Gods are never far from Thalyria.”>

Main character Cat has perhaps the most interesting mixture of powers I have ever read about in a book. Not only can she turn invisible, but she can tell when someone is lying (think Safi in Susan Dennard’s Truthwitch), something that gives her the designation of Kingmaker,  and she can also steal and absorb the magic of others. I felt like this combination of powers was kind of weird, unbelievable, and over the top, with one of these powers alone being more than enough. It requires a certain suspension of disbelief that Cat’s absorption of magic makes her able to take a dragon’s power and breathe fire, but I guess in a world of Greek Gods, anything is possible when a character has the favor of these gods and their oracles.  And let’s be honest, we don’t always read these types of books for believability, we read them for the fantasy and the fun. I think I’m just so used to reading the works of Brandon Sanderson, who masterfully explains all of his magical systems and powers in such great detail that I feel his worlds and magic systems are completely realistic and plausible, that it gives me pause when other authors don’t do this. 

who divines the truth through falsehood? The most coveted diplomatic weapon in the realms? The Kingmaker?”

But it wasn’t Cat’s strange and completely overpowered mixture of  powers that I liked the most about her--it was her sassiness and stubbornness. Though kidnapped for her powers by the male lead, Griffin, she gives him and his companions hell every step of the way. I like that she isn’t helpless without her magical powers either, she’s an expert knife-thrower, and is intelligent and resourceful. She also puts her friends’ safety first no matter what. I did find it somewhat hard to believe that someone as strong-willed as Cat fell for her kidnapper, but no one is perfect.

And her love interest, Griffin, as well as their developing romance, is anything but perfect. The novel does not do an amazing job at the kidnapper turned true love trope, with it mainly being insta-lust, but it takes long enough for anything serious to happen that it’s still enjoyable. I still think Cat has been through too much trauma to ever fall in love with anyone so quickly, let alone her kidnapper, who literally bound her to him with a magic rope--but that’s basically the point of a romance novel--falling in love--so I feel that I can’t fault A Promise of Fire too much for serving its purpose. Though I did honestly wish the novel had taken more time developing the characters outside of their romantic relationship and focusing more on the interesting world-building, which is probably a sign that the romance is not the strongest or the best part of the novel, a bad thing in a book focused on it.

I’m not your enemy, Cat.’ I scramble back as far as the rope will let me. 

‘Everyone is my enemy.’”

What made it lacking for me the most, other than the whole lifelong trauma angle for Cat, was that Griffin does not have much development as a character standing on his own two feet and what he does is fairly predictable. He does not really exist outside of Cat, except as the perfect brother, son, and warlord-who-is-not-like-other-warlords and has noble ambitions to change the world for the better--something with which Cat can just so happen to help him. Despite being boringly perfect, he’s attractive, the right amount of possessive of Cat, and fits the romance mold, so I can forgive him for being so bland. His family, on the other hand, is too perfect for my liking. They all welcome Cat with open arms, and are everything she never grew up with. They’re basically The Brady Brunch of rulers and Cat puts aside all of her trust issues to settle into her new home with far too little issues for my liking. Griffin's family is also extremely dismissive of the problematic nature of Cat’s arrival into their home:

"“He abducted me. He threatened my friends. He kept me tied to him with a magic rope. I couldn’t even pee by myself. He’s awful.’

‘You’ll get over it….See you at dinner.’’’

But the biggest issue for me by far in A Promise of Fire was that in Cat’s new home, she finds a very contrived new enemy in Griffin’s wildly jealous ex-lover, Daphne. Daphne is not only extremely petty but murderous and the pun intended, cat-fights that ensue felt so silly, pointless, and incongruous to all the Greek God, fire-breathing, Kingmaking stuff. I really don’t feel that two women, one of which seems to have no redeeming qualities, fighting over a man in such a shallow, middle-school-esque way is something that fits in any fantasy novel, let alone this one. I really wondered at the fact that the author could not come up with a better conflict in a world so filled with Gods and magic.

 

Despite the novelty of Greek gods in a fantasy world, parts of the novel are extremely predictable. These include book are not limited to the hints to Cat’s true identity she's obviously the lost princess of Fisa, and the often seen trope of blood burning, and the kidnappers to lovers trope, None of these tropes are very subtle at all and I can’t imagine a single reader not figuring out who Cat really is. Sometimes this predictability is part of the fun of novels, and I think that is the case in A Promise of Fire. However, it does kind of ruin the impact of the reveal and I wonder how epic it would have been if the author had laid her bread-crumbs a little more sparsely.

Promise of Fire is not perfect, with its predictability and sometimes weak character development, I really enjoyed reading it. It’s a great escapist novel, with a female character who is not afraid to speak her mind, and Greek Gods meddling in the affairs of humans. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a light, fun read with romance and fantasy mixed in.

[nitzan_schwarz]

Well, that wasn't an ending! Lol

So, this is a high fantasy romance story set in a world that has the Greek Gods but a completely different human history. There is magic, dragons, cyclopes, giants, and more! I absolutely loved the world and the cruel politics depicted in it, and I loved hope actually HOPEFUL this whole thing is. Like, no, we're not going to lie down. Yes, we are going to change the world with kindness and good rulers.

As for our main characters, I loved Cat and Griffin and Flynn and Kato and Carver and the whole gang. They are a lot of fun, though I admit sometimes Cat frustrated me with how she kept going back and forth about almost everything. And Griffin sometimes annoyed me with his high-handed ways, and the way I did think Cat was allowed some of her responses (she was kidnapped, for gods sake!) and yet everyone treated her as if she's crazy and weird for it.

I am really interested with how things are going to go from here, and when will some secrets be revealed??

This book reminded me a bit of Twilight. The first book not the rest of the messed up series. I loved the first Twilight. But I couldn't really tell you why. The plot wasn't great. The characters were stupid. The writing was average but there was just something that worked for me. Whether because it was just the right time, right mood I don't know. This book was much the same. The plot was pretty average. The characters were all over the place. The writing was average. But something worked and I just really enjoyed it. So much so, I'll likely read the rest of the series.

[wyvernfriend]

Issues but overall good I have read a few reviews that have issues with the kidnapping and I agree, consent is damned important, a god declaring that he's her prize for being good still isn't consent. However, overall the story drew me in and kept me reading and made me want more.
 
Griffin is an interesting character and good foil to Cat (whose patron god, Poseidon, apparently gave him to her for healing). Maybe he should have put some effort into seduction then maybe, just maybe, things might have been a bit easier all round, though the sarky reaction to the kidnapping is entertaining.
 
About eight years before the beginning of the story Cat ran away from her abusive, powerful family and joined the circus and now she reads fortunes.  Sometimes she knows a little too much about what's going on with a person but she dismisses it as coincidence, mostly. She also can tell when you are lying.  In a world with Magic users who have most of the power and the commons who are starting to question the world order, she is straddling both sides, not really interested in power but often forced to use it.  Powerful enemies on all sides and she has to try to find the least worst.
 
Despite issues I enjoyed the read, Cat is fun, even if she does protest a little too much occasionally. She also is deeply aware that she can't ignore the problems around her.

[Leigha]

This first book in a new adult fantasy romance has a young woman taken captive to ensure the survival of a new regime.

Oh boy, cliches abound in this book – the special snowflake, Cat; the alpha male, Griffin; the high risk stakes of kingdoms; the mysterious pasts of several characters (including our snowflake). And yet, it all worked for me. Sometimes all I want in a book is something easy to digest – consider it my version of chicken soup in book form. It allows me to drop seamlessly into the world and devour it in one quick reading session.

Cat is a lovable, snarky badass fully capable of fighting her own battles with words or her own mighty powers. I enjoyed her interactions with the secondary characters, especially Griffin and his men. I was less enamored with the kidnapping plot, although it was similar to my favorite book, Snyder’s Touch of Power. Instead of men using their muscles, their sidekicks, and their special Wonder Woman lassos/ropes to kidnap the main female protagonist, how about they negotiate with words for the main heroines help? I wouldn’t mind the “kidnapping ” trope disappearing from the romance genre all together.

My favorite part of the entire story is not the characters or the plot, but the setting. I adored the mixture of fantasy and Greek mythology. Surprisingly, I’ve never seen another story mix the two successfully. Cat and company interacting with mythological creatures and multiple gods was highly entertaining.

tl;dr An entertaining romance with a phenomenal setting mixed with familiar tropes.

[Ashley]

BEYOND PERFECT!!!

[Melanie]

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

One of the problems with reviewing audiobooks is that you see and sometimes read reviews of a book for several weeks and sometimes months before you get the audiobook. This audiobook was released after the release date of the original print/ebook release date. So for months, I saw all of these reviews of how great this book was. I was actually very scared to start this book. I was worried that the book wasn’t going to live of to the hype that I was reading. I had this book on my iPod for almost a month before I finally forced myself to start it. I found that my fears were unfounded. This is a great start to a new fantasy series.

This series is about a realm with three different kingdoms, Fisa, Tarva, & Sinta. The old Sinta ruler, the alpha, has been overthrown by a non-magical family. The warlord has his sister as the new Alpha Sinta. He is the new Beta Sinta. As a non-magical family, he knew that he would need help to hold onto the kingdom. He sets out to find someone. He stumbles upon a circus where he meets Cat. She’s working as a soothsayer. When she doesn’t go willingly with him and his Beta team, he abducts her. Now, this doesn’t sound like the way to start a relationship, but Beta Sinta is ever the gentleman. Even though he does have feelings for her, he doesn’t take advantage.

Cat has some really big secrets about her past. Some of these come out throughout the story. Some we know as readers, but those around Cat don’t know them. These secrets make things very hard on the rest of her team, but not as much as it does for her relationship with Griffin, Beta Sinta. She fights the relationship for a very long time. While she has very good reasons for not wanting to be close to anyone, it was still frustrating at times. As I was listening, I really felt for Griffin. He could see that she cared for him, even if she didn’t want to admit it, but she was holding herself back so much.

I really enjoyed the Greek Mythology in this book. There is talk of Zeus, Cerberus, Hades and Poseidon, just to name a few. They even go to a temple of Poseidon to offer their offerings. Poseidon is the god that Cat prays to the most. She also has a relationship with Cerberus. She’s one of the few who isn’t scared of him.

There is some great snark between Griffin and Cat. Also between Cat and the Beta Team, the group of warriors who travel with Griffin. They are a pretty amazing team. Not only are the loyal, they also work great together. While Cat’s relationship with Griffin’s sisters isn’t as good as the Beta Team, she does seem to make a connection with them.

Cat is an interesting character in that is both mature and immature. She is very mature in the fact that she’s seen more than most. She had to grow up quickly, because of the situation she was in as a child. But, she is also very immature in her socialization. Especially when it comes to the moves that Griffin is making on her. She talks like a second grader and he has cooties. Other times, she talks more mature (see quote below).

This is a good start to a series. This book is full of everything you would expect to see in a light fantasy. There’s a great cast of characters, but not an overwhelming number of them. There’s also a great world built around these characters. The author did a great job of mixing in the Greek Mythology while making it her own. There’s plenty of action and just the right amount of romance. I’m very eager to see what’s next for Cat and the gang.

“Now that that’s settled, you’re coming with me.”
“Never in a billion suns. Not even if Zeus showed up as a swan and tried to peck me in your direction. I wouldn’t go with you even if my other option was Hades dragging me to the Underworld for an eternal threesome with Persephone.”

Narration
I think this is the first full length novel that I’ve listened to by Mia Barron. I’ve listened to her narrate some of stories in a few anthologies by Kelley Armstrong. I have to say that she does just as good of a job with this full length story. She nails the larger cast of characters. I like both her male and female characters. I think she handled the pace and tones of the many different action and sex scenes really well. I will be staying with the audiobooks for this series going forward.

[Cocktails and Books]

3 3 3 Greek mythology in a kick ass fantasy romance? Yes, yes, yes! I absolutely adore Cat. She's a bad ass, sarcastic but unselfish and loyal, you can't help but get behind Cat the moment you meet her. For someone that's suffered as much as her, you want her to find someone(s) who help her believe in family (even if it's not blood). She finds that in warlord Griffin and his Beta team. Despite forcing Cat to join their little group, they see Cat as more than the pawn she believes she is. Her discovering that this band of men is her family is part of the fun of this book.

I can't wait to jump into book 2. I see more trouble on the horizon.