Ruthless dragon king Ladon Ormarr must keep his throne–and his people–safe from the cruel High King at all costs. With war on the horizon, he’ll need a miracle to protect his clan. Luckily, the fates have dropped the irresistible Skylar Amon right into his lap. Or so he thought. Because the last thing this phoenix wants is him. A phoenix mate is the ticket to securing his throne, but this … securing his throne, but this fiery Amon sister detests Ladon, doesn’t stick to protocols, and regularly offends his warriors and advisers.
Skylar also has no intention of sticking around, nor does she believe in the whole destined-mates thing. But if it means taking out the High King who murdered her parents, she’ll put up with the too-sexy-for-her-sanity Ladon…temporarily.
Their mating bond may make them want to tear off their clothes, but outside the bedroom…well, Ladon is positive the fates hate him. Just as he starts to win over the mercurial phoenix, everything goes to hell when the High King makes his final move. And Ladon will burn down the world to keep the mate he is unwilling to live without.
Each book in the Inferno Rising series is STANDALONE:
* The Rogue King
* The Blood King
* The Warrior King
* The Cursed King
more
I was happy to hear more about the sisters. Can’t wait to see what goes on with the other two. Skyler is only there to rescue her sister. She couldn’t have willingly mated herself to a dragon shifter. When she sees how happy her sister is, how can she tear her away from her mate? What she didn’t expect was Ladon. Ladon is a reluctant king and he is arrogant, but he isn’t cruel like she thought he would be. She agrees to be his mate, but plans to walk away when things calm down. The more she is around him, the more she comes to respect and admire him. He is willing to walk away from being king if it means that she will stay with him. How can she leave him now?
The second book in the Inferno Rising series, The Blood King centers around Skylar, one of the quadruplets whose mother was the last know phoenix of their time. Now deceased, she passed her powers onto her daughters. At the start of The Blood King, Skye attempts to save her sister Kasia (the protagonist in the first book), who she believes is being held against her will. Skylar finds out quickly that her sister is actually happily mated to a dragon shifter. She also meets Ladon, the handsome blood king.
Legend says that the dragon who mates with a phoenix will become king, so Skylar is suspicious of Ladon’s intentions. Ladon knows that mating with a Phoenix will solidify his standing as leader, but that isn’t the only reason he wants Skylar. He won’t deny their chemistry. Skylar knows that an alliance with Ladon will protect her and her sisters from the villain who killed their mother. Can she put her prejudices and suspicions aside to help those she loves, and can she embrace the fact that she may have found her mate?
This is an exciting and fun romance. I love Skylar’s sarcastic, impulsive, and tough demeanor. Fiercely loyal to her sisters, she is a no-nonsense, honest, and stubborn woman who is used to being in control, and she doesn’t like the whirlwind of emotions she feels when she’s with Ladon. No one has ever affected her the way he does, and she struggles to keep her feelings in check.
Ladon is patient, strong, and confident. He knows when to act and when to listen. His relationship with his sister and his followers show what an amazing leader he is. He trusts and depends on them implicitly, and their unfailing loyalty to him says much about his capabilities and his leadership. He puts his people above everything else and is willing to sacrifice for those he loves.
It is clear that Ladon is the first to realize how amazing he and Skylar could be together. In her, he sees a partner and equal, one who he can share his life with. He just has to convince the reluctant phoenix that they were made for each other. His patience and understanding with Skylar throughout their blossoming relationship endears me to him even more.
The antagonist in the story stands in sharp contrast to Skylar and Ladon. He is vicious and ruthless, willing to sacrifice anything for power. His ambition corrupted him long ago, and he commits some horrific deeds in the name of power. He is a loathsome, vile dragon-shifter who does some pretty terrible things, and I’m curious to see how the quadruplets and their mates deal with him in the next book.
The Blood King is a well-paced and interesting story filled with nail-biting action, excellent character development, amazing world-building, and some really cool powers. I love the sisterly bond and how important the quadruplets are to each other. Dragons, witches, shifters, evil villains, and epic love stories make this a series worth reading! Thanks so much to Netgalley and Entangled for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.
Fiery and fiesty is how Skylar arrives to save her sister from an evil dragon she’s mated to. She’s obviously wrong about her sister, as she’s very happily mated to Brand (book 1 of series).
Landon is another dragon king, he is drawn to Skylar as soon as she arrives, but verbally claiming her was a bit forward lol
I do like a strong woman, one that appreciates her own strengths and isn’t coy in the bedroom.
Landon and Skylar make an arrangement – a mating of convenience! Matings are not that simple and passion sizzles between them, even if Skylar tries to deny things are changing.
There is a battle going on in the dragon world, so expect a few grisly moments along the way.
I liked Skylar’s introduction, but then found it a slower start, but it soon revved up and turned into an enjoyable read. Two fiery stubborn leads, lots of sizzle and of course some angst and danger mingled in to the storyline.
3.75 fiery stars
Book 3 warming up nicely in the last few pages.
The Blood King is book 2 in Abigail Owen’s Inferno Rising series, directly following (as in the last scene of book 1 is the first of book 2) The Rogue King. Though you could slog your way through and understand the premise of the series as well as gather the events of the last book, this series really should be read in order. They would not standalone well as they are essentially telling one story from the four sisters’ perspectives. Besides, Rogue King was phenomenal-you should read it.
The book is done in third person omniscient style (for those whom that matters *cough:me:cough*) and from multiple characters, though mostly the leading two. The tone of the book was very different than that of Rogue King in that our two leads’ personalities were so vastly different than Brand and Kasia. It carries on the serious undercurrent of the world situation, but Ladon and Skylar are far more the doers than the dreamers; guardians and fighters more than planners and leaders.
Ladon, the Blood King himself, is a hard as nails, die hard warrior who has known nothing but fighting for his cause (freeing the blue clan and all dragon shifters from the oppression of the rotting king) in his half a millennia of life. He is dedicated and driven to a fault, and the addition of Skyler to his life throws him into a tailspin like he’s never known.
Skyler, for her part, is the daredevil of the quadruplets. The ‘crazy one’ as she herself puts it with a heaping helping of daring and a dash of recklessness thrown in for good measure. She’s a perfect match for Ladon’s stubbornness and determination, that’s for sure. That very similarity causes them both headaches as well as provides middle ground.
The pairing is an interesting one for me: far from opposites attract, this is a fine example of rock meeting hard place and finding a kindred spirit instead of an obstacle. Don’t get me wrong, they were definitely their own obstacles and their relationship was hard won, but they did finally win. Unlike with Brand and Kasia, the bonding happens early in the book and the story is much more about the pair finding their way to making that bond whole and real and becoming a true partnership. The opposite of the first book, but well done and done in such a way that it felt right for our couple.
I enjoyed the book and found myself very happy that the two of them found each other and made their own way in the end. I don’t think I loved either as much as Brand or Kasia, but we all have our favorites. 😉 I am dying for the next installment (Meira’s book) and will hate waiting a year or more to see it! The overarching story progresses significantly (great points to the author for managing to spread it out well and not leave a book lacking in that arena) and we find more reasons to hate the Rotting King, as well as meeting new allies and interesting persons. Also: more lovable hellhound time. Who doesn’t love that?
If you’re into contemporary parallel worlds (happening alongside modern times, though in secret), stubborn characters with more pride than sense sometimes, steamy romance, great sibling relationships, powerful dragons, amazing paranormal creatures, and a story that will leave you begging for the conclusion to come sooner, this is definitely a book for you.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The Blood King (Inferno Rising, #2) by Abigail Owen … I’m loving this series..The first book THE ROUGE KING was great and this book is also. They can be read as a stand alone but I suggest you read them both. This is dragon king Ladon Ormarr and Skylar Amon’s story. This book has everything..danger, angst, evil, goodness, action, attraction, and steam all getting us to a HEA. But wait there will be one more book and I can’t wait to find out what happens next.
Before I begin my review for The Blood King by Abigail Owen, I would like to personally thank Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this ARC in return for an honest opinion.
Return to the epic Inferno Rising series by Abigail Owen, with a new steaming mateship. The second instalment, The Blood King, is flaming hot with a sassy, kickass female, a hulking mass of impassive dragon shifter, sizzling sexual tension, humorous comebacks and non stop excitement.
The Blood King features, but is not limited to, the following themes:
Dragon shifters
Phoenixes
Royalty
Battles
False King
Smut
New Adult Fantasy
Kickass, sassy protagonist
MPOV
Mates
Enemies to lovers
My overall rating for The Blood King is…
4 stars!
This book was incredibly exciting! I loved the enemies to lovers trope with a kickass female and alphahole dragon. The sexual tension was infuriatingly hot and the overall storyline was engaging and unpredictable.
The Blood King is the second book in the Inferno Rising series and we continue with Skylar and Ladon’s story. I would definitely suggest you read this as a series as parts of this story pertain to book one. Also, you would miss out on Brand and Kasia’s brilliant story if you didn’t read book one!
Abigail Owen has managed to write a story that focuses on the main characters whilst also giving you updates on those you already know, plus giving new information on characters yet to share their story. This is, without any doubt, Skylar and Ladon’s book and yet we’re kept up to date with Kasia and move forward with Angelika and Meira – whose books I CANNOT WAIT FOR!!!
The settings and individual characters remain absolutely brilliant. I loved how this story wove together Sky and Ladon, highlighting how good they are for each other even though neither of them expected it. The story moves along at a fair pace and the overall story arc is just getting more interesting!
A fun, hot, and gripping book that I have no hesitation in recommending.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian – I Dig Good Books!
The Inferno Rising series continues with The Blood King. Skylar and Ladon burn up the pages with their chemistry, no matter how hard they try to fight it. The future of the dragon clans hang in the balance. Having a little taste of what’s to come with the dragons and their phoenixes, I can’t wait to see what will happen with the 2 remaining phoenixes!
5 stars!!!
I’m excited because I have found a new author who does PNR really well. I love dragon shifter books and I felt like this was a fresh take on dragons.
The heroine was awesome! I love a female lead who can kick butt just as much as the male lead. There is one particular fight scene that I got suck a kick out of and thought her gift was used creatively.
The male lead character had a great mix of tough, possessiveness along with a softer side for the heroine. It’s not a mix that is always easy to find. I enjoyed his character very much.
I haven’t read the first book but I had no problems understanding what was going on. I will go back and read it since I ended up liking the heroine for that book as well. She got a lot of play time in this one.
The next book that was cued up at the end of this one has a softer heroine, so I will be interested to see where the author will take this after two books with strong heroines.
This is book 2 in the Inferno Rising series and I would absolutely read the first book before reading this one or you will be confused as to what is going on in this one. Ladon Ormarr is trying to keep his throne and his people safe. In order to do that, he believes he needed to mate the phoenix. But he doesn’t know that there is more than one. Skylar Amon thinks her sister has been brain washed, and she is going to save her. Even if it’s from herself. She doesn’t believe in destined mates, nor does she trust any dragon-believing they are all dangerous. But if sticking around Ladon and his dragons gets her close enough that she may take out the dragon who killed her parents? She will do what she can to help with that task.
I really liked this one although I think I liked the first one better. Skylar is definitely kick butt and take no prisoner’s which I liked. She also loves her sisters something fierce, which I also loved. I just felt like she had a hard time looking beyond her prejudices to understand that not all dragons are bad just as not all humans are good. Ladon had always struck me as someone who was willing to mate someone not truly his mate just for power. It was nice to actually understand his reasons and understand where he was coming from in everything. As usual I loved the side characters and I definitely cried over some of them. I also loved the appearance of a new side character and would love to know more about him!! I will be honest, this series has me hooked and I need to know about all the sisters and the side characters as well!
In the Blood King, the 2nd book in the Inferno Rising series, the story features some of the characters we meet in The Rogue King, Landon Ormarr the ruler of the Blue Clan and the 2nd Phoenix sister Skylar. To be honest I did not know how I was going to feel about this book. I didn’t care much for Landon Ormarr in the first book, but in his and Skylar’s story, we really learn how much his people and clan means to him and how far he will go to keep them all safe.
Landon definitely meets his match in Skylar, she is fierce and wants nothing to do with any type of mating, especially with dragons. Dragons were the cause of so much heartache in their lives, but Landon is determined and ruthless. Even though Landon was reluctant to take the role of King, he wanted to help his people and if being ruler of the Blue Clan was what was needed, he would do whatever he needed to to make that happen, even taking on a very stubborn phoenix.
As much as I love a strong heroine, Skylar did rub me the wrong way at times. I can understand her reasoning of why she was so dead set against mating with Landon, but it was too much at times. Even though she gave in to the mating she was not willing to stick around. They both were really not in the mating for love but the chemistry from the beginning was undeniable.
Overall, I did enjoy reading Landon and Skylar’s story, it was action packed, fast paced and very intense at times, especially the battle scenes. The steamy scenes with the two of them were off the charts. And once their true feelings were revealed to each other, their love for one another was all consuming. We also see glimpses of the two remaining sisters, I am looking forward to reading their stories.
Thank you Netgalley and Entangled Amara for giving me the opportunity to read this complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.
**I received a copy of Blood King from Entangled Amara and Net Galley in exchange for a voluntary and honest review. My opinions were not solicited in any way.**
Blood King by Abigail Owen is the second book in her Inferno Rising series. I highly recommend reading the first book as it picks up right as the Rogue King ends. This is Ladon Ormarr and Skylar Amon’s book and with two more sisters left I can’t wait to see who gets paired with Meira and Angelika.
Skylar Amon had always protected her three sisters so when she feels Kasia needs her she goes to the Blue Clan of Dragons little does she know that she’ll find her future mate King Ladon who soon admires her tenacity and of the fact she’s a Phoenix helps a lot. They will have to find a traitor, take on the White and Gold clans as well as Pytheios and his followers. There are epic mid air Dragon battles and a surprise ally found in a dungeon plus who can resist the families hellhound Maul. But will it be enough?
Ladon Ormarr knows that if he can mate Skylar it will help not only the Blue Clan but the others prepare for taking in Pytheios. But convincing Skylar will be a daunting task especially since she’s guarding her heart making sure that he’s her true mate. When she steps up when he needs her the most will it be enough for them to finally cement their bond as mates?
I truly can’t wait for the next book in the series so I give the book a 4.5 star rating.
Ooh, it would appear I’m on a roll with enemies to lovers, dragon shifter romances at the moment. I must say I’m very much feeling the supernatural vibe, and I got all the feels with these male dragon shifters and female Phoenixes as they truly lit up the skies. Ruthless alpha Ladon Ormarr is tested to his limits when feisty, stubborn and extremely sexy Skylar Amon lands in his lap. She could be the answer to all his prayers, but she’s currently giving him a headache, amongst other things. She’s just as pig headed and strong willed as he is, together they could be a force to be reckoned with, sparks definitely fly. Fab story, following the rise and fall of the dragon shifters as they fight for power amongst themselves. A sexy supernatural, action packed and completely addictive read. I am sad I missed reading the first in the series, but I’m definitely going to be reading any future books.
The Blood King (Inferno Rising Book 2) by Abigail Owen
I am now so hooked on dragons! I loved the chemistry between the ruthless but hot and sexy Dragon King and the sassy and impudent Phoenix Warrior. It was off the charts steamy! The storyline was engaging, exciting, and action packed, with great world building and charismatic characters that you love and love to hate. I can’t wait for the next book in this series!
Happy Reading
Content Note: This tantalizing story is adult rated with strong language and steamy sex scenes.
Well its been 14 months since I read book 1 (which I really liked), but sadly I don’t remember much. I really do think this series is best read in order to get the whole set of the story. Abigail only slightly touched based with book 1, but the main couple from that book were immediately key players in the beginning of this book. To be honest I really didn’t like Skylar at all. Its just that I’m not sure what went wrong for me that prevented me from liking it. It could be how the story moved in this one that I wasn’t connecting with. Book 3 is set up to be interesting.
I received this book at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
4.5 stars
Who doesn’t love a good dragon tale?!
Picking up where The Rogue King left off, The Blood King was just as jam packed as it’s predecessor! Enemies to lovers, sarcasm and snappy conversations…I loved the gradual build up between Ladon and Skylar as it showcased the growth of their feelings towards one another. It also gave me time to wrap my brain around their relationship and believe they could actually work out!
The side characters also play a strong role. For starters, I’m hoping Samael gets an HEA and Mal the Hellhound deserves all the treats for his part! I think Owen has found a nice balance juggling everyone on the page, because the potential for future characters is vast..hint, hint 🙂
Ladon and Skylar’s story has everything I love-dragon shifters, edge of your seat battle scenes, smexy chemistry, wacky politics, and two intensely crazy, yet wonderful main leads-what’s not to love?!!
I received an advance reader copy from Netgalley/Entangled Publishing. This is my honest review.
Skylar has snuck into the Lair of the Blue Dragons and is determined to rescue her sister. Trouble is Kasia doesn’t want to be rescued because she’s quite happy right there with Brand, her Dragon Mate .Things quickly escalate though when the somewhat reluctant King of the Blue Dragons Ladon realises that another Phoenix has fallen into his lap and this time he’s prepared to risk everything to hold onto her no matter what his Clan might think.
This is a fun world that the author has created with fated Mates, Dragons, magic and of course not just one Phoenix but four ! I quite liked that we got a lot more of the evil High King and those around him as it made him much more three dimensional. The romance is incendiary as this couple truly are drawn together and whilst love isn’t instant as a reader it certainly had all the feels that I desire. Characters are introduced that I sincerely hope the author reprises and its pretty clear that the next sisters book is not too far away. Romance, action and world building with great characters all fighting for a happy ending what is there not to like ?
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair
Skylar is on the hunt for her sister. She must have been misinformed – her sister mated a DRAGON!!! After everything they’ve been through surely not. But when she sneaks into the Dragons hideaway in Scotland she finds the truth. Her sister is happy, in love and very, very safe with her mate!
Skylar is a fighter and not above using dirty tricks to win Ladon is the leader of the Blue clan but only because no one else stepped up. He’d happily hand off all the politics to someone else, he’d much rather fight his way to peace. But will he mate a Phoenix just to ensure peace for his people?
Sexual attraction and tension aplenty. Dragon politics and back-stabbing, enemies to lovers, dragon v phoenix. The intense action, adventure and passion are well thought out and the pace is fast and furious.
The Blood King is a high octane epic level paranormal romance. It is sure to surprise and delight all paranormal fans with it’s non-stop action and heart wrenching journey. Nothing says fabulous more then a deeply passionate romance that was fought for every step of the way. What you find within these magical pages will never you the same again.
Landon and Skylar’s love story was perfect and messy, and a beautiful sight to behold. They didn’t apologies for who they were, and they did t try to change the other. All they did was sow the other person who they were. It was up to them to decide if they could love them or not. Theirs was a hurried paring, and yet they still had the time necessary to get to know the other. Their love and their hearts intertwined naturally and oh so beautifully. Their is a story of pain, determination, and so much heart.
I am truly in awe of this incredible series by Abigail Owens. It has everything I savor in a great story with relentless love, hard won hope, and a breathtaking world. My heart was ready to drown within this stunning world and never come back to reality. This series is truly the stuff of legends come to life! Do not miss out on even one second or you will regret it!!