Smoke and Fire (Dark Kings, #9)

by Donna Grant

[stacey_is_sassy]

They should have trusted their love.

What a bunch of knuckleheads. In Smoke and Fire we have Kinsey and Ryder who both know deep down they’re meant to be together, but didn’t trust their love. Don’t really blame Kinsey to be honest. Ryder is a douche waffle who doubted his love and paid for it BIG TIME. It is obvious to me that men, doesn’t matter their age, fight the lovebug. In this case, Ryder is in love with Kinsey but is afraid of committing to her because a mortal, thousands of years ago betrayed one of his fellow Dragon Kings. Wow, talk about jumping to conclusions. Well, maybe it wasn’t that. It could have been because there was a spell cast that said that all the Dragon Kings wouldn’t be able to fall in love??? Hello!! You devastated yourself and her by separating for THREE YEARS!! Jeez Louise…I wish they had a few female dragons in their midst to slap them on their heads and tell them to wake up to themselves.

Well…that was the story in a nutshell. Sort of, not really. We meet Kinsey who has been living in a bit of a fog since her boyfriend, love of her life, left her three years ago. Then, she has a really bad day where Edinburgh is under attack by weird guys with red eyes…and some DRAGON changes to her ex-boyfriend and saves her life. WOW!! I’m thinking her screaming and running away was a pretty normal reaction and I can’t believe anyone expected her to act differently. ESPECIALLY, considering the love of her life forgot to mention he wore scales part-time. A few nightmares later…and a new assignment from her employer sees her trying to get back to normal. Bah…bow. No chance of normal when the door slides back and who should be waiting?

Ryder can’t believe Kinsey is in front of him. He never stopped loving her and regrets all of the mistakes he made in pushing her away. Unfortunately, he’s still not trusting that cupid’s arrow that is firmly lodged in his heart. Between him and his fellow dragons, they’re all very, very suspicious of her and her appearance. Best to find her guilty, and she can prove her innocence. KNUCKLEHEAD!!!

It probably doesn’t seem like it, but I actually really enjoyed this story. Yes at times I was frustrated, but the majority of the characters we deal with in Smoke and Fire are male, so not really surprising. There was intrigue, passion and a storyline that kept me riveted from beginning to end. We get different points of view throughout the story, and not just from the main characters. We see into the baddies and the goodies minds. Most of the dragons are goodies, with only a couple who are on a path of revenge. We also get to meet some of the Dark and Light Fae. The dark ones are bad and the light are mostly good.

The most frustrating character through the whole story is the King of the Dragon Kings, Constantine. I do not like him at all, but I think he’s being portrayed as a baddie, but MAYBE there might be some good in him. I won’t write him off fully…YET.

This is the first story I’ve read by Donna Grant and considering this is #9 in the series, I think I’m going to have a lot of catching up to do. I really enjoyed Smoke and Fire and while I know it probably would have been easier to follow if I’d read it in order, I still managed to be thoroughly enthralled.

I received a complimentary copy of Smoke and Fire via Netgalley for an honest review.

To purchase Smoke and Fire (Dark Kings #9) from Amazon - http://amzn.to/1Yd8Fv5


I’m an Aussie chick who loves to read and review romance, drink coffee, be a Style Setter and stalk David Gandy. To see more of my reviews, fashion, food and pervathons -