“I’m not scared of you.”He meets my gaze. “You should be.”All of England knows his name.Saxon Priest.Savage. Ruthless.A man bent on all-out destruction.His target? The royal family.I’m not looking for a knight in shining armor when I approach him for a job—but I never anticipated how my heart might quicken when faced with London’s most notorious killer.His eyes are cold.His mouth scarred and … notorious killer.
His eyes are cold.
His mouth scarred and sneering when he dismisses me as fragile, weak.
He couldn’t be more wrong.
I have blood on my hands and hate in my heart—just like him.
But with England on the brink of war, Saxon is my last hope. And when he risks everything to save me, I succumb to the ice in his veins and the blistering heat that tethers us together.
He may be the devil in disguise but I’m Isla Quinn, and I killed the king.
Road To Fire is the first book in the Broken Crown series. Intrigue. Grit. Soul-wrenching love. This is not your average royal romance. Enter if you dare.
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I AM SHOOKETH.
AND THIS IS ONLY BOOK ONE IN THIS SERIES.
The plot, the twists, the HEAT (holy smokes, the heat), the action, the adventure, and did I mention the HEAT?
Saxon and Isla are fire and ice, thorns and roses, a beautiful chaos that I couldn’t get enough of. Both characters are beautifully broken and deserve happiness – even though they don’t think they do – and when they finally realize that, I swear I saw fireworks coming from the pages. Also, be prepared for some SERIOUS steam; there were points where I was expecting my Kindle to spontaneously combust. The pull between these two is off the charts.
There is so much to absorb from this story that I finished it and have already gone back to start reading it again. This is an absolute must-read. I’ve loved every book of Maria Luis’, but this one has skyrocketed to the top. I’ll be sitting on the edge of my seat until the next installment comes out!
YOU WILL LOVE IT. READ IT NOW.
I’m not scared of you.
I meet her gaze. “You should be.”
Saxon & Isla are LIVE and Free to read with KU. Road To Fire is a dark and gritty royal romance like you’ve never read before. It’s the first book in the Broken Crown world.
What You Can Expect:
A brave AF heroine who is a fierce warrior
A broken anti-hero with the SWOONIEST heart
A brand new world of murder and mayhem, twists and betrays
The royal romance no one ever expected
And allllll the bring-me-the-fan heat you could ever ask for!
Are you ready to meet your next anti-hero obsession?
Road To Fire by Maria Luis is the first book in her brand new Broken Crown Trilogy . A new spin on a royal romance, where the royalty is on the outskirts and the main characters are part of a struggle between those loyal to the crown and those struggling to break free from the chains of the monarchy. Enter the Priest Brothers, their anti-loyalist pub, and a woman desperate for steady income and a way to keep fighting the crown.
Told in dual POV between Saxon Priest, the middle brother, scarred at a young age and intolerant of most people and Isla Quinn, oldest sister, raising her siblings since her parents tragic death, and willing to fight hard for what she believes in.
Dark and twisted with shifting loyalties and questionable ethics, this book was amazing. Quite possibly my favorite read of the year so far and the book hangover was a doozy. I need more of the Priest brothers STAT! This book does not end on a cliffhanger, it is the story of the romance that builds between Isla and Saxon, and it was amazing and absolutely unputdownable!!! Enjoy!
1st book in The Broken Crown trilogy.I have read every book of Ms.Luis twice and have to say this one is a little different from her normal books .The storyline takes you to England and Scotland where the Priest brother’s set up shop for their family business as pub owners for anti-loyalists.Take my word for it ,you’re going to have sleepless nights because this book is a real page turner.The Priest brother’s are the men you want for of 2020. Honestly if I could give this book 10 s I would.
This is a very difficult review to write because everything I want to say starts with, “My jaw dropped when … and then again when …” Or I want to say, “I literally gasped when she …” The whole plot is one twist after another, and I didn’t see most of it coming. Maria Luis has been promising that this series would be a thrill ride, and she completely delivered in this first book. I am thoroughly hooked on all these characters. They are gritty and intense. If you liked the Blood duet by this author, you are absolutely going to love this book because it has a similar feel but with even more intensity. The author’s love of British history is all over this, too, and I know that I will pick up even more of that when I read it again. Because I have to read it again to get the bits I missed while I was busy being shocked at each twist. I am so here for the next two books!
I am not a huge fan of anything “Royal”, nothing against them, I was just never really very interested. Low and behold, Maria has gone and changed my mind because this is a book about Royals unlike any other. There is Murder & Mayhem and plot twists you don’t see coming. I loved everything about it! Isla and Saxon are everything you want in a hero and heroine. She’s fire and he’s ice and together they are smoldering!!! This book is action-packed from start to finish and you won’t want to put it down. So take a chance on the Isla and Saxon and the rest of the Priest brothers. You will be so glad you did. I anticipate this being one of my favorite series of 2020.
What do you think of when you hear “dark, gritty, romantic suspense”? Whatever it is, throw it out the window. Road to Fire is so totally unexpected and different from what I thought it would be, in the very best ways possible.
From the very first page, this book grips you and tosses you head first into a world of dark, gleaming mystery and sinister secrets. Where a country skates on the razor edge of civil unrest and the monarchy’s most important contribution is whether it inspires loyalty or revolution. People are divided and the division is stark, with almost no room for ambiguity. Deceit and double-crossing is everywhere and it leaves you wondering just what side people are on.
“We’re burning together, willingly, and chasing the flames with everything that we are.”
Saxon and Isla are totally breathtaking. They’re so different – Isla is fire that burns bright with her rage, while Saxon is ice that freezes everything in him. More than that, their different loyalties in the political landscape (and the secrecy that obscures their real opinions) creates a palpable tension as they weave a web around them of lies, half-truths, and mystery. It makes everything they do explosively hot and overwhelmingly emotional.
For all his icy exterior, Saxon is loyal to his core and will do anything to keep the people he loves safe. And Isla … well, it’s no wonder she’s a perfect match for him. She is fiercely loyal and lets her emotions be her strength, rather than her weakness.
“Tears bleed to the surface. I feel them and do nothing to wipe them away. Sometimes warriors cry too.”
You can feel them slowly peeling away their shields and you find yourself asking … how much would you compromise your views for the person who sets your soul on fire?
“If I have a heart at all,” I husk out, feeling my face heat, “it’s only because you’ve put it there”
Wanting that answer keeps you engaged and flipping the pages just waiting to see how it all plays out. For all the tension and angst that keeps a vise around your heart, there are also surprising moments of humor. They make you laugh before gripping the book as you realize it was to lure you into a false sense of security before unleashing even more twists and turns.
“I breathe, you inhale, and we both go up in flames.”
Saxon and Isla will keep your head spinning, your heart flipping, and your stomach twisting. The suspense is non-stop and their chemistry is so flammable they just burn up the pages. The mystery is still ongoing and I can’t wait for SOM to see what the next brother brings!
*I received an ARC from the publisher and voluntarily reviewed*
This is a really good start to a new series with complex characters. It has suspense and romance.
Saxon is fiercely loyal to the Crown. His family’s service and loyalty to the monarchy goes back 5 generations. It’s what they know, what they are.
“502. The fifth generation of spies in my family to work alongside the Crown under the umbrella of Holyrood, an off the books agency that was originally named after the Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh.”
So it’s safe to say Saxon and his brothers are well versed in the ways of deception and cunning. When a bright light of a woman walks herself into his bar looking for a job, he’s more than a tad suspicious. And intrigued. And VERRRY attracted. But Saxon’s life isn’t one he wants to drag his beautiful Isla into, even though something about her makes his life brighter, fills him with warmth he’s been missing nearly his entire life.
“This life has molded me, broken me. Only one light has graced my darkness: Isla Quinn.”
My God but I was not expecting this story!! It is by far the best royal romance I’ve ever read – it’s so intriguing and suspenseful, all wrapped up in a love story for the ages. Isla and Saxon are so perfect together, their individual baggage fits the other’s, and they fit seamlessly. I love how even though Saxon’s so completely a broken man, Isla heals him and brings him back to life. And the physical chemistry – simply put, SMOKIN!!
“I love you for reaching into the darkness and pulling me back to the light.” …”This is yours, and you…You are my only, sweetheart. I breath, you inhale—”
“—and we both go up in flames”
Swoon! Yep, Saxon is swoony af, with his hard, stoic outer layer, and fiercely beating heart for his one and only love, Isla on the inside. Isla is his equal in every way – soft to his hard, but strength to his strength, and loves him as fiercely as he does her.
I am dying over this suspenseful, sexy royal world Maria has created, and so cannot wait for the next installment so I can find out what happens after that doozy of a cliffhanger. Have no fear, it’s not a cliffhanger for Saxon and Isla, they are clearly about to start their HEA at the end, but the overarching royal storyline is now very much up in the air.
“Long live the queen.”
If you love a cold hearted alpha who is brought to his knees and softened by a smart mouthed, badass girl then you need to give RTF a chance because Isla and Saxon are right up your alley!
This is a mysterious, dark, gritty, thrilling, romantic suspense full of twists and turns, lies and murder that will pull you in from the very first page. Maria writes with such vivid detail this book will play out like a movie in your head.
Saxon is mysterious and definitely an alpha who is cold and hardened by the life he has lived since he was a young boy. He was born into the Holyrood and is therefore tasked with keeping the Crown protected.
Isla definitely holds her own. She isn’t a timid girl at all and she goes after what she wants and does what she needs to do in order to protect the people she loves. Isla is that badass woman that we all wish we were!
From the time Isla and Saxon meet at The Bell & Hand, a pub that he owns, they butt heads. Isla thinks he is “an arsehole” and “savage” and Saxon thinks that Isla is naive and that she is impolitic. Soon, despite their differences, they find themselves working together and there is an undeniable sexual tension between the two. Saxon soon realizes he underestimated Isla and Isla starts to see his cold heart thawing little by little.
“I’m me and you’re you.”
“And that means what?” he bites out. “Good and evil?”
“No, fire and ice…”
“I breathe, you inhale, and we both go up in flames.”
When they finally give into their desires they definitely burst into flames. They are HOT. HARD. FIRERY. PASSIONATE.
While Saxon and Isla appear to be complete opposites they in fact are kindred spirits and that is what draws them together. They’re both broken and fighting for what they believe in, only Isla doesn’t really know they fighting for different things.
RTF will have your feelings all over the place and is going to leave you wanting so much more!! This is definitely a book that is going to leave you hungover but in the best way possible! Road to Fire is only the first in a trilogy so we’re left with a cliffhanger as far as the plot goes, but we do get a HEA for Saxon and Isla and their love story is by far one of my favorites that Maria has written to date!
What isnt to love about Road To Fire?! There’s mystery, suspense, action, darkness and heat. I couldn’t get enough of strong scarred Saxon and bada** Ilsa. I loved the characters and the story build up and how Maria Luis adds in some great history into this book. I tried to take my time and read Road To Fire slowly, but I couldn’t put it down! It just sucked me in from the beginning, it was that good!!
4.5 Dark and Gritty Stars!!
I’ve heard so many good things about Maria Luis and her writing and when this book hit my radar, I decided to take the plunge and dive into her writing head first! And what an introduction this has been!!
This book is filled with grit, intrigue, passion and when it calls for it, murder! Saxon is a man that has grown up in a London most don’t understand or participate in and it’s driven his existence starting from when he was a small boy. And to say there’s some resentment involved is putting it mildly, but this is his life and he’s going to do what’s necessary.
Isla is a woman that he wasn’t expecting to be in his life but events that need explanation cause these two to be brought together. There’s a fierce determination to get answers for what’s happening in this volatile city and if anyone can do it, it’s these two. There’s a very obvious draw between them and when the give into the passion it’s explosive!
This book is so well laid out bringing the reader into what is happening in London and the discord between the two parties as well as giving some of the history how this happened. There’s such an attention to detail which is needed with this book so we can understand, or at least try to understand, the what’s and why’s. Just when I thought I knew what was going to happen next, I was thrown for a loop! I loved that about this book because I couldn’t predict the next moves!!
I’m so looking forward to the other books in this series because there is so much story to be told with these three brothers!!
“I breathe, you inhale, and we both go up in flames.” This book will make you BURN! It is absolutely incredible! It has all the intrigue, the suspense, and mystery you could want… while you fall unsuspecting in love with Isla & Saxon. This isn’t the lighthearted romance novels you typically get from Maria, one of my favorite authors. It’s more, it’s EVERYTHING, it’s dark & tortured & absolutely beautiful. This will be one trilogy you don’t want to miss!!!
I just finished Road to Fire and I have no words, I’m going to try and find them though. This book was everything and so much more. I stayed up reading multiple nights, wanted so desperately to call out from work to read more. Maria Luis has such an amazing ability to tell a story, I’ve loved each of her books. This book though, it ruined me in the best way possible. It has it all, twists, turns, jaw dropping moments and so much heat between Saxon and Isla I worried my phone was going to catch fire! If you like Maria’s books or if you’re new to her and like dark romance please read this book. You’ll be so glad you did!
I’ve read everything Maria has published, from her sexy and fun loving Put a Ring On It series to the crazy world of the Boston Blades to NOLA Hearts and the Blood Duet, which showcase two very different sides of New Orleans. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that an author of such great romantic comedy and one dark duet could pull off this amazing, murderous plot full of twists, turns, and one heck of a cliffhanger.
Isla Quinn is a product of circumstance. After losing her parents and her job, she finds herself wrought with grief and guilt, charged with caring for her two younger siblings in a London that’s fraught with political unrest.
Saxon Priest was born into a world that he would never choose, but nonetheless one that he can’t escape. Bookended by brothers very different from himself, he struggles to find who he is underneath what his birth has destined him to be. Saxon is a hero like no other. He can best be described by one word – enigma. On one hand, he’s a ruthless killer, never hesitating to eliminate whatever is in his path. Conversely, his life is marked by a striking innocence that endears him to the reader in unexpected ways.
Isla and Saxon coming together is nothing short of explosive. Think Romeo and Juliet…star crossed lovers the world wants to tear apart. Is it their fate to be together, or are their destinies, loyalties, and consciences set on paving them in paths that travel in opposite directions?
As a former English teacher and lover of Shakespeare, I’m a huge, huge fan of dramatic irony. Not surprisingly, Maria uses it masterfully in RTF. The reader knows things about both main characters that the other doesn’t, creating a tension beyond the sexual and inciting a conflict that seems utterly impossible to overcome.
Maria’s use of London is beyond that of a typical setting. London comes alive with her description, becoming akin to another character in the book. As someone who has been fortunate enough to spend time in that city, I felt an odd sense of nostalgia at its description. The book feels authentic in all ways possible, including using British slang that I had to look up (baps and bellends…fabulous additions to my vocabulary!)
The themes of testing seemingly infallible loyalty and the dangers of seeking revenge made this book impossible to put down. I am on the edge of my seat waiting for the next installment in this fantastic trilogy.
“Breathe for me, sweetheart, and know that somewhere, I’m inhaling and taking up the torch for us both.”
Hands down best book of 2020.
I just finished this and I’m here to tell you, I am totally ruined. This book is so emotionally gut-wrenching! Non-stop action, tortured hearts, ice that turns into fire, murders, betrayals … oh my, I just don’t know how to put it all into words!
Isla and Saxon are just everything. He’s the most tortured anti-hero I’ve ever read, and my heart damn near bled for him. Isla is the warrior woman we all wish we could be, and I seriously have a girl crush on her. If I was ever going to be in a threesome, it would be with these two! LOL
There are plenty of seriously romantic scenes in this book, too. Their relationship doesn’t take a traditional trajectory, but the emotional intimacy just brings on all the sighs and oh boy, no one does hot and steamy like Maria Luis.
I couldn’t pull myself out of this book once I started. You’re going to need to kiss your family goodbye for as long as it takes to read all 123,000+ words, because once you start, nothing else is going to matter.
It’s a standalone romance but the first of a trilogy that will cover Saxon’s two brothers and their family’s relationship with the royal family and their responsibility to the crown. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.
4.5-gripping stars!
Road to Fire by Maria Luis is the first book in her new Broken Crown trilogy and it was emotional and heart stopping and so freaking captivating. I could not put the book down. It was a bit different than I am used to from this author, but it was everything I love in a story. It was dark, angsty and full of intrigue.
Saxon Priest and Isla Quinn were everything. Their connection and chemistry was off the charts intense. There is a lot going on in this book, as it is setting the underlying story of the series, but Saxon and Isla blew me away. Their story was gripping and steamy. I am so excited to read more of this series!
Read and reviewed for Sultry Sirens Book Blog.
Happy reading!
ROAD TO FIRE (Broken Crown Trilogy Book 1) By Maria Luis
This is a different type of book than what we have come to expect from Maria Luis, (as it is very dark and very gritty) but wow it is a brilliantly, great read! I could not put it down and read all night long! This is book 1 in the Broken Crown Trilogy and it is the tale of Saxon Priest and Isla Quinn. This story has everything, murder, intrigue, angst, drama, lies, explosive on fire chemistry, family loyalty with twists and turns.
Saxon is branded, scarred, bitter and one of three brothers who, as well as their ancestors have had the secret responsibility of the safety of the royal family through the years. He is the owner of the anti-loyalist pub where Isla goes to try to get a job. He pretty much throws her out of the pub. Isla is a young woman who is raising her brother and sister after the deaths of their parents. She definitely has tremendous secrets she is keeping that she can tell no one, not even her siblings. Saxon ends up rescuing Isla a few times, and they are drawn together. We get a cliffhanger, but also an HEA. I am not going to say anymore as I don’t like spoilers, but READ THIS BOOK! I cannot wait to get my hands on book 2. This is a definite 5 star read.
Maria Luis is an unbelievably talented writer! She just has a way of making you feel the things she is writing about, and when you feel the words, there is no way you can stop until it is finished. This book is about Saxon and Isla, and the entire book is set in England. I really don’t want to write much more, because, to give anything away would really spoil it for anyone who picks it up! With Maria’s books, you don’t just read them – you experience them. I would recommend this to anyone who loves dark and mysterious heroes, and unbelievably kick-ass heroines. It does get pretty dark, so if that is something that bothers you, this is not the book for you. (Her NOLA Heart, Blades or Put A Ring On It series are much lighter, romantic comedies that are so, so awesome!) Maria, you have blown me away, yet again!!
Wow! Murder, mayhem, intrigue, lies, deceit, torture, fights, brotherly love/hate, tough choices and LOTS of drama. Twists, turns, pain, hurt, love, loyalty….long live the queen!!! Can’t wait for the next story in the series