What the Beast wants, the Beast gets.Dare’s savage nature has made him an outcast among his kind. The silver-scaled Dracheon warrior can’t control his inner beast. It’s too strong. When his primitive instincts told him his destined mate was on Carinae E, he had no choice. He had to travel to the outlaw planet. There, he hoped to meet a female powerful enough to survive his Drache.He finds Faylee, … Drache.
He finds Faylee, a delicate little human.
Faylee is the best thief on the planet. Everyone she encounters mistakes her for a young boy…except for a tall, shiny warrior from off-planet. When she gazes into Dare’s flame-filled eyes, he makes her feel, for the first time, like a desirable female. The fire-breathing male has her yearning for hot kisses, fierce embraces, and a future filled with love. She doesn’t realize mating with him might be the last thing she ever does.
Dare’s beast isn’t the only danger on the planet. An enemy from the past has returned and he’s determined to stop Dare and Faylee…permanently. They’ll need luck and the assistance of every warrior in the Refuge to stay alive.
Dark Fire is a STANDALONE SciFi Romance set in a gritty, dark world.
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5 Stars
Dark Fire is the fourth book in the Refuge Series by Cynthia Sax. Even though it is the fourth book in the series, it can be read as a standalone, which is what I did. I loved this book so much that I will definitely be going back to read the other books in the series to see what they are about. This is a superb sci-fi romance- with a gritty, erotic, dark story- full of action, adventure, danger, passion, the paranormal, dragons, alien beings & species, modified humanoids, warriors, battles, suspense, acceptance, and finding where you belong. Ms. Sax created a very realistic and believable world in which to set her story- her world building skills are quite masterful, and her story is completely captivating. It’s a little like Oliver Twist meets the Lost Boys, then crossed with Mad Max and Star Wars. The story has emotion and heart-warming and tender scenes which help to give the story depth, as well as balancing all the action.
Faylee is living on a distant planet, where she’s pretty much a slave- indebted to a boss who makes here earn her keep. Even so, she lives in appalling, soul-crushing and squalid conditions. She’s one of the best thieves in the settlement and enjoys going unnoticed. She dreams of buying her freedom and leaving the place- to go somewhere new and start fresh. Until the day she pick-pockets the wrong person, and her world turns upside down.
Dare is a Dracheon Warrior, an outcast amongst his kind for being too primitive. Little does he know that his latest assignment to help a rebel agent, will change his life forever. Finding his Mate on the Outlaw planet turns both their worlds upside down. But with a dangerous enemy on the hunt their battles have only just begun.
Such a great story and well worth the read!
Thank you, Ms. Sax!
3 stars – I liked it
Dare is an outcast among his own kind. The silver-scaled Dracheon warrior can’t control his beast. While searching for his mate in the Refuge, Kralj tasks him with escorting a rebel warrior to the settlement. He meets his mate Faylee, who is a thief and everyone thinks she is a boy.
This was another good alien romance. I liked Faylee a lot. She was an extremely skilled thief but she also is very giving and kind. She looks out for those around her, especially those who struggle to survive. Her thievery was amusing once she was in the Refuge and I like that she will keep Dare on his toes.
Dare has been an outcast to his people all his life. He is an alpha male who is terrified of losing control of his beast and hurting someone, especially his mate. Now that he has a mate he is determined to return so he isn’t permanently exiled. But as more time goes by he realizes that having a family you can rely on is more important than claiming his heritage.
This was another enjoyable fated mates romance in the Refuge. I really enjoyed this couple and their adventure. The side characters in this one were quite enjoyable too, especially Vicuska (her book is Dark Arsenal). I love how diverse and dangerous the Refuge is.
Balvan’s arms, you won’t believe this!
Dare is a being of honour, but has no control over his beast. He left his home planet of Dracheon for Carinae E to find his mate, but will the female want him? Faylee, a little human female, has been a thief all her life, that’s the only way she could survive, she likes shiny things … Dare is covered with shiny silver scales …
DARK FIRE is book 4 in Cynthia Sax’s fabulous Refuge series, and while it’s more fun if you have read the previous books, it stands perfectly as a standalone. And readers who enjoy dragons will definitely want to read DARK FIRE because Dare is unlike any other being I have ever read before. And he is HOT, for real! Ms. Sax’s imagination knows no bounds, and in DARK FIRE, she is at her most creative. The romance is fierce, and amazing; the characters fascinating as always, and some secondary characters really impressed me: Overclocked (what a name!), and Vicuska.
The world of Carinae E and the Refuge is so incredibly dark, yet I often find myself smiling because the writing is so witty and clever; a good example is Faylee’s first attempts at seduction. DARK FIRE has romance, action, fabulous beings, and it is also a story about acceptance, about fitting in, about what is considered normal, and most of all about unconditional love and undying friendship. Cynthia Sax never misses the mark!
I’ve read all of the books in Cynthia Sax’s Cyborg/Refuge universe, most of them multiple times. They all draw me in and hold me captive until I’m done reading them. I just can’t put them down and can’t not read them. When I saw that this one had showed up on my Kindle in the wee early hours, I had to start reading it and only put it down because my Kindle fell on my face when I fell asleep reading. The second I woke back up, I grabbed it so that I could finish it. There are very few books that I’ve ever done that with, but Faylee’s and Dare’s story was so all-enveloping that I couldn’t do otherwise.
I think that part of it is that I can really relate to Dare for feeling like I don’t fit in and that I’m an outsider. It really makes Dare be such a connectable character because we’ve all felt that way. And with Faylee, we’ve all felt like we have to hide some part of ourselves and that we won’t find the person who can truly accept us. They are everything together and it makes us all feel so good that they are everything.
I think that this couple is now in my top 3 favorite couples in this verse by Cynthia Sax, and it’s going to take a whole lot to knock them out of it.
Cynthia is one of my all time favorite authors. I do believe Faylee and Dare are my favorite so far. Let’s just say Faylee loves shiny things and Dare is very shiny.