A Promise of Fire

I’ve had A Promise of Fire on my TBR list for a while now. I borrowed the book from the library to finally read it, but then I also decided to borrow it from the Audible Romance Package subscription, so I can listen to it as well. I loved this book from beginning to end, and I have a feeling that Amanda Bouchet is going to be one of my auto-buy authors now since this is the second book I’ve read by the author. I loved her latest book Nightchaser, and now I love the Kingmaker Chronicles so far after reading/listening to the first book.

This book is a Fantasy Romance book, so it has mythology elements to it mentioning Gods/Goddesses. I loved that part of the book so much since I loved studying Greek/Roman mythology when I was younger. The author did a fantastic job with the first book with the world-building, and I adored the female heroine, Catalia “Cat” Fish, so much in this book. She is beyond funny, and I loved how kick-butt she was in the book. She’s been living her life disguised as a soothsayer in a traveling circus, and unfortunately, her disguise is about to be given up when a sexy warlock finds her and wants her for his newly conquered realm. He believes she’s the Kingmaker he’s been looking for to help him. She’s a powerful weapon, and he will do anything to have her. He’ll even keep her prisoner, but Cat is one character that is very interesting and irresistible. She doesn’t make it easy for warlock Griffin, which is one of many reasons why I adored her. There is quite a bit of mystery with Cat to in the story too. She’s keeping a secret hidden, and the author does bring forward some past instances of Cat and her wicked mother in the story. There are also others that want her as their Kingmaker and some that even want her dead.

I loved the warlock too, Griffin. He’s a fascinating character in the story, and he didn’t know how to handle Cat at first. The tension between the two characters Cat and Griffin was unbearable at times in the story, even though Cat tried to play it off so many times in the book. The whole time I was reading/listening to the book I was going ‘just do it already and get together.’ Dang! I loved it though.

Let’s say this book is full of adventure, suspense, action, and even romance. I’ve already borrowed the second book in the series and plan on listening to it as well since I want to find out what is going to happen next in the second book. I’m so glad I decided to read/listen to this book. I love fantasy novels and to have romance in it as well is a plus to the story/series.

Story Rating: 4.5 stars
Steaminess Rating: 3.5 stars
Standalone or part of series: Part of the Kingmaker Chronicles and I recommend reading in order.
Do I recommend this book? Yes, most definitely.
Will I read other books from the author? Yes. She’s become one of my auto-buy favorite authors.
Tropes/Elements: Mythology elements (Gods/Goddesses); Adventure; Angst from the main female character and main male character in the story.

Once in a while a book makes the reader catch her breath in surprise and then forget there is a world outside the book. The author’s heroine blazes off the first pages with color and fire assaulting the reader’s senses with her wild indomitable spirit and that has been battered, bruised and beaten down, but never conquered until she meets her match in the warlord who comes looking for the prize- The Kingmaker!

The story opens with young Cat, one of the magic wielders of Fisa working as a soothsayer in a circus that performs throughout the predominately magic-less lands of the south and west in the country of Sinta. Those hunting for her will never find her because she wisely keeps her head down, draws no attention and goes about in the guise of a much older woman. She has been running since she escaped the cruelties of home and with the circus she has found a family with the other performers. All that changes when a brawny warlord and his men come to the circus. Cat is captivated by the warlord’s bearing, appearance, and that quality of strength and leadership that marks him. Then she is captured by him after he tricks her into a ‘test’ of her gift. She fights hard trying to escape, but she is also terrified because he seems to know too much about her even to how to keep her his captive.

But then this is no ordinary warlord, but Griffin, the Beta Sinta who with the help of the united tribesmen of the south rousted out the old corrupt regime and put his sister on the throne starting a new family of rulers in Sinta. Cat is amazed at their audacity to put a non-magoi on the throne and hope to hold it. But in the days spent with Griffin and his men, she has a good idea how they won and that there is a slender chance Griffin’s family will stay and do good. Cat is cynical, but a part of her is rooting them on for the good of the people. That said, she doesn’t want to be a part of this because it will draw attention to her that she does not need. She is the key because of her abilities that will be the difference maker when the royals and nobles of the other lands turn their eye to what they consider a weak Sinta. Can Cat help protect the Sintans and still stay one step ahead of those who are hunting her even while resisting that pull of attraction toward Griffin that if acted on would seal his fate?

Alright, this is a fantasy and so the worldbuilding is a crucial part of the story-at least for me. The author does a wonderful job of offering her own creative ideas blended with a classical Greek mythology. The reader is slowly fed the details of the fantasy world beginning with a smaller setting of the circus and it’s performers and then broadening out with each new encounter for Cat and Griffin and his men. There were no dumps of information just a steady flow so I felt I had a good grasp of the setting and players in the story. The pacing varied from exciting fight or flight scenes and scenes that were slower and took the time to develop the characters and new forming relationships.

Cat is the sole narrator and this is told first person point of view so this is her story. The other characters are introduced and gradually known as Cat gets to know them. The reader is privy to more insight than Cat has about the people and situations because Cat’s own disposition (roughly that of a teenage hedgehog) and her brokenness from her abusive past color her thinking and perception. She was brought up in a dog eat dog world. Literally. Her own family are the cruelest and worst so she has no trust for anyone, relies only on herself, doesn’t believe in camaraderie and love. Seeing Griffin and his men together for days on end and then encountering Griffin’s loving, supportive family are not just eye-openers, but unreal to poor Cat. She has fought so hard and so long to survive that fighting is all she knows. She’s like a wild beast with a thorn in her side that thrashes and won’t let anyone near to help remove the thorn so she remains in pain. I felt sad for her, but there was also a part of me that wanted to swing her over my knee and paddle her britches or stick a sock in her young, arrogant smart mouth that was always running. It was part of her defense system and Griffin’s snatching her from the circus and keeping her captive at first did nothing to inspire trust- I get that, but long after the average distrustful person sees how things really are and behaves accordingly she’s still thrashing about and antagonizing everyone in sight. It’s a little amusing, but a lot annoying. But I was definitely rooting for her and wanted to see her heal and find some happiness when all was said and done.

The overall plot is quite complex and is a mixture of series plotting and plots just for this book. There is a lot of intrigue going on. There is the immediate plot of Griffin needing Cat to use her magical gifts to help keep his sister on the throne and help their family win over all the nobles and shore up the weaknesses. While this is going on, someone is trying to get rid of Griffin or maybe Cat and someone else is trying to recapture Cat. Some is revealed while other stuff is kept tantalizingly hidden with just flashes of what is happening behind the scenes. I felt an excitement growing for the series and not just for this first book. ‘
There were exciting fight scenes. The magical battles with dragons and magicians, regular humans, mythical beasts, and of course the Greek gods interventions were riveting stuff. There is something more special than what has been revealed so far about Cat as she seems to have the attention of all the gods and she has their ears.

There are some sweet moments, some heated ones, some tragic ones throughout this story. Cat and Griffin have a very slow-burn relationship that starts as an enemies to armed neutrality to sticky friendship to finally something more. But she is keeping grave game-changing secrets from him and she is so damaged that a relationship like what Griffin wants seems out of the question at first and then pretty tentative long into the story. Griffin is a hardened warrior and is used to command. Cat antagonizes him from the beginning and the fireworks ensue each time they clash. But Griffin loves her fire and fight even as he slowly grows tender when she slips and reveals her past little by little. His focus goes from wanting to keep her so he can use her magic to needing to keep her because he realizes she is his everything.

All in all, this was one exciting and engaging series opener and I can’t wait for more. Those who enjoy action packed, intriguing suspense and passionate characters in a fantasy setting will want to grab this one as quickly as possible.

3.5 stars

I need more books like this in my life! A Promise of Fire was packed full of action, magic, dragons, hot ass Warlords, Gods and sexual tension in spades. Can’t go wrong with that! Well, you can, but Bouchet didn’t.

My only gripe would be that Cat wore me down and not always in the best of ways. While I mostly adored her moxie and smart ass ways, there were a few too many times when I wanted to pull her hair and make her see reason. By the end of the book she seemed to be opening her eyes though, so on to book 2!

Fascinating world, strong main characters, slow burn love story. I can’t wait to dive into this world again!

I loved, loved, loved this action filled story with lots of heart and a fantastic, feisty and fierce heroine with her large, powerful, handsome hero who will do anything for her. Cat has been hiding out with a circus, after escaping the clutches of her psychotic, brutal mother and siblings. When the warlord Griffin discovers she is the Kingmaker, with the magic and power to help him keep safe the realm he has just conquered with his family, he abducts her. During the course of the journey to his stronghold, they encounter plenty of adventures, getting to know each other in the process. Cat is determined not to care about anyone, since caring only gets those people killed, but she has a hard time resisting the determined and dependable Griffin. Once she meets his family, who are so different than the royals she knows, she’s enchanted with this loving group, despite her best efforts to keep them at arms length. With interfering gods, friends and family, plenty of humor and lots of touching moments, I adored this outstanding story and I can’t wait for the next book in the series to see what happens next for this adorable couple.

I really enjoyed this book! Fun, and interesting.