Dragonfire (Dark Kings, #14)

by Donna Grant

[chymerra]

Sabina is a Gypsy living with her brother near the Carpathian Mountains. When she was a child, her grandmother told her a story and made her promise to remember it. The story was about a kind Dragon King who’s sword was stolen by her ancestors. Because of that theft, her family was forced to leave their homeland and becoming Romani. She thought it was a legend until she met Roman and Vlad. Roman is helping his friend V find his stolen sword. Traveling to the Carpathian Mountains, they stumble upon Sabina and her brother Camlo. With urging from her brother, Sabina realizes that she needs to help the Kings find V’s sword. Their journey takes them to a mountain in Iceland where V’s sword might be. But there are wrenches thrown into their plans. A mysterious alliance between Druids and Fae threaten their quest. Can Sabina and Roman find the sword? Will they give into their attraction to each other? Or will everything fail?

I was pretty excited to read Dragonfire. I had read and reviewed Heat and enjoyed it. So I figured that I would like this book also. And I did. What I didn’t know was that Donna Grant is writing other series at the same time she is writing the Dark Kings series. I figured it out when Eoghan and Thea from Dark Alpha’s Hunger were mentioned a few times in this book. As was the Light Elf Queen and the new Dark Elf King. Along with Rhi, Con, Ulrik, and Mikkel. Then a lightbulb went off over my head and I went “No, freaking way“. I am in awe that someone can do that. I have issues with keeping one thing straight in my head. So forget many series of books with many plotlines and characters.

I liked Sabina and Roman together. I will admit that at the beginning of the book, I was a little confused at who Sabina was supposed to be with. And yes, I didn’t read the blurb…lol. I thought it was going to be V for some reason. Because the book started off with the story that Sabina’s grandmother told about him. But once Roman and Sabina met, the sexual attraction and chemistry came off the pages. There was one point when they were in the caves, where I was chanting in my head “Kiss the girl. Kiss the girl” (and no, I didn’t sound like Sebastian from The Little Mermaid when I was saying it to myself).

When they finally did have sex, it was amazing. I will never look at hot springs in the same way again. What I liked, even more, was that the author didn’t let the sexual tension down. She kept it up. Which meant that the other sex scenes were amazing.

I also liked Sabina and Roman as people. They both had gone through some tough times. Sabina’s was losing her mother and stepfather and taking care of Camlo. She had to be strong and wary. Because of Camlo’s disability, she always needed to be on the defensive. Seeing her open up and trust Roman and V was powerful. Roman’s tough times were when he became Dragon King. When he told the story about how he became Dragon King and who he had to defeat, my heart broke for him. But, what made me like him, was his gentleness with Camlo.

I do wish that the author got more into Camlo and Sabina’s abilities. Sabina had the Sight. But what did that consist of? What could she see (other than people being dishonest)? I know that it came into play when she touched V in the cave but still, I would have loved a better explanation. Also, I would have loved a better explanation of Camlo’s abilities. I was also frustrated when it came to getting information out of him. I know that he had the mind of a child but man, that whole scene dragged out when Roman and Sabina were deep in the caverns. What other abilities did he have (other than talking to animals and the Sight)?

The plotline involving V and his sword was amazingly written. The author did a great job at keeping me guessing about where the sword was. Also the neat twist she put in that storyline, I liked. I wasn’t expecting it. But it did explain a whole bunch.

I also liked the storyline with Sabina and Roman’s journey to get the sword. Dangerous doesn’t even begin to describe it. And with the Others magic making it even more dangerous, my heart was in my throat during the entire journey. The end of that storyline had me in tears. But I forgot one thing. Only another Dragon King can kill a Dragon King.

The secondary storylines were good but man, they were vague. Take Con losing the weapon. That was a first for me. What was the weapon? It was something that Con and the other Dragon Kings feared. Because the “Oh Crap” factor went up when V and Roman got the message. The storyline with the Others infuriated me. Why were they doing what they did and how did they know what was going on it the future. Also, the book that Usaeil found in the hidden library. What is with that? And the very last chapter. I wanted to scream with frustration about that.

Like I mentioned above, I wanted to scream at the end of Dragonfire. But, I did like how the author ended or didn’t end the storylines. She ended Roman and Sabina’s happily and gave a hint about who her next book might be about. Which I can’t wait to read!!

I gave Dragonfire a 4-star rating. This was a well written 14th book in the Dark Kings series. I connected with the characters. The plotlines were well written with no lag or dropped storylines. I did wish that more explanation was given about Camlo and Sabina’s powers. And the end frustrated me. I enjoyed reading this book and cannot wait to read book 15.

I would give Dragonfire an Adult rating. There is explicit sex. There is language. There is violence. There are no triggers. I would suggest that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Dragonfire. I would also recommend this book to family and friends.

I would like to thank St. Martin’s Griffin, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Dragonfire.

All opinions stated in this review of Dragonfire are mine.

I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**