Song of Smoke and Fire

Song of Dragonfire #1

by Megan Linski

USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR Megan Linski writes a medieval fantasy romance of dragon shifters, epic battles, and breathtaking magic.

I am Fliss, a slave to the king. When a local dragon demands payment, I am offered by the king as a sacrifice to the monster, though the dragon is more than what I expect.

The dragon is actually a gorgeous man, a curse cast upon him by a beautiful enchantress. Only one pure of soul can end the spell upon him. The dragon will set me free if I end his curse for good. But the closer the dragon and I become, the less I want him to let me go.

I will either tame the tortured beast inside… or my life will be consumed by smoke and flame.

Song of Smoke and Fire is an historical fantasy romance that takes place in ancient Poland. Dragons battle for dominance in this supernatural fairy tale re-imagining of the legend of the Wawel Dragon. Now a complete series!

Genres: Fantasy, Dragons, Romance, Audiobook, Ebooks, Magic, Paranormal

Paperback

First published August 2, 2017

About the author

Megan Linski lives in Michigan. She is the author of more than fifty fantasy and paranormal novels which feature themes of friendship, community, and healthy romantic relationships. She has over fifteen years of experience writing books alongside working as a journalist and editor. She graduated from the University of Iowa, where she studied Creative Writing.

Her passions include ice skating and horseback riding. In her free time she enjoys dancing in the snow and drinking fancy coffee while at her natural habitat, the mall.

Megan advocates for the rights of the disabled, and is an activist for mental health awareness.

Megan co-writes the Hidden Legends Universe with Alicia Rades. She also writes under the pen name of Natalie Erin for the Creatures of the Lands series, co-authored by Krisen Lison.

Awards Megan has won include;

Best Fantasy Book of the Year 2019 by Once Upon a Book

Best Co-Authored Book of the Year 2022 by Once Upon a Book

Author of the Year 2022 by Once Upon a Book

Keynote Speaker at Once Upon a Book 2023

Best Book Friends (Ava and Kallie) 2023 by Once Upon a Book

Featured in the FOX Teen Choice Awards Gift Baskets

Two-time Reader's Favorite Five Star Read (Bronze Medal Finalist)

Winner of Amazon's Kindle Scout Competition

Reviews

[Chels · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got this book for free on stuff your kindle day, thinking this would be a fast and fun read. It wasn’t so bad until you’ve reached halfway through and then the plot started jumping all over the place. I felt like I was reading this story at 3x speed. The characters lack depth, Fliss is a super naive and shallow 16 year old who stomps her foot when she’s mad and blindly throws her life away because she believes she has no self-worth. And I’m not sure if it’s a cultural thing but I hate how she’s constantly being called a slave!! She’s a servant with nowhere else to go. Smok is a grumpy coward who decided he was done being lazy and lied and manipulated Fliss this whole trip.The plot twists were not twisting like they should. And I read from the reviews for the 2nd book that it turns into RH with Fliss getting down with Smok’s brothers?? In every other universe I’d stay for this ride but I’m getting off this train here. Thank you for the free entertainment though.

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I paid 99¢ for this book. And, more than likely, I'm going to pay the four fucking dollars for the next one. Why? Because the preview at the end of the book made me laugh. I can't take this book seriously. It's like "Beauty and the Beast" meets Game of Thrones meets a Disney Channel original movie circa 2001. The world is some dark ages type shit, but every one speaks super casually. The plot is super jumpy, and everything just happens all at once. Which makes sense, since the whole book (including the preview of the next one) is like, less than 170 pages. But it held my interest, and I want to see where the poly comes in, so I guess I'm sacrificing $3.99 to the ebook dumpster fire.
OH and Fliss is a reincarnation/half siren, apparently powerful enough to summon not one, but TWO separate dragons from miles and miles away. (both with the promise of putting out)

[Marianne Morency · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook

[Tyffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really adored this book. The concept was fantastic, and I loved watching the relationship grow between Fliss and Smok. Again, I was captivated and read the entire book in a matter of hours-Megan has some wonderful ideas and this was definitely one of the more unique takes I've seen on a very beauty and the beast tale. I certainly recommend.

The cons came in the form of somewhat disjointed writing, and in that I still had a lot of unanswered questions by the end. But! I could see a sequel wrapping those all up perfectly so I can't hold my questions against it too much 😉

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fliss is a slave, and bound to fulfill the king’s every whim. When a local dragon demands payment, Fliss is offered by the king as a sacrifice. She has no choice in the matter.
Yet what the dragon wants is more than Fliss expects. A curse has been cast upon him by a beautiful enchantress, and only one pure of soul can end it. If Fliss breaks the curse upon him, he will grant her freedom.
But there’s a man behind the monster, and as Fliss unveils the mystery that surrounds the dragon’s hidden past, she finds herself falling in love— despite it being forbidden.

Heather's Notes
I enjoyed this story. I liked Fliss for the most part and thought Smok was a nice hero. I was not surprised at the ending and am not sure why Fliss didn't figure it out sooner. I am not sure if I will read more or not, I am happy with where they are.

[Cali Jewel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly entertaining, emotionally gripping, action packed romantic adventure filled with mystery, danger, betrayal, true loyalty and forgiveness.

A local dragon that lives under the village demands a sacrifice to save the village and the King selects Fliss as the one to be delivered to the dragon. However the dragon is not what he seams to be, a cursed creature that was once a man he is looking for a way to end his misery and finds so much more than he intended. A thrilling, emotional and entertaining tail of love and loss.

[Arianna Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very predictable but cute nonetheless. I immediately like the main character, Fliss. She’s funny, stubborn, and curious. She kind of reminded me of myself. She also sings a lot!

The book begins with the town being attacked by a dragon. Fliss fights the dragon and was about to die when the King cuts off the dragon’s head. The king has a bargain with the dragon that lives in the cave nearby the kingdom. If he gives it money, the dragon won’t attack the kingdom. When Fliss was younger, her village was attacked by a dragon and her parents were killed. When the dragon turned to kill her, the King killed it. So that’s twice now that the king has saved Fliss from being killed by a dragon. He brings her back to the palace and makes her his daughter’s slave. The two become close friends. The princess, Wanda is actually really nice! She gives Fliss money to buy herself something nice to wear to the ball and also stands up against her father the king for Fliss and her dragon to escape at the end of the book.

Fliss is out getting her dress for the ball when a cloaked man is giving money to the poor. She tries to stop him to thank him and he runs. She follows him but he went into the dragons cave. No one goes in there. Fliss is also curious about dragons. Are they all bad? Do they have feelings? Are they all killers? So she follows him. She would love to get a look at the dragon until she sees a wall of fire coming at her and she just escapes the tunnel of fire.

She goes to prepare for the ball when she walks in on Wanda about to kill herself. Fliss stops her. Wanda says a German prince, Reinhold wrote if she doesn’t marry him, he will come to attack her kingdom. Fliss says she’ll be alright, her father would never agree to such a thing. They attend the ball and the dragon appears. He tells the king he tires of gold and wants a virgin pure of heart as a sacrifice instead. The king declares Fliss will go. So she goes to the cave (again). The dragon welcomes her then interrogates her.He asks if she truly is a virgin and wonders why she was in the cave earlier that day. He admits that he wouldn’t have asked for a sacrifice if she didn’t come. He fears that if a slave girl is willing to sneak up on the beast, the king will have no trouble coming and killing him. He tells her his name is Smock, which means dragon. He changes into his human form and explains he is cursed by a sea witch as punishment for his sins. He needs a virgin to meet the Queen Witch to break the curse and asks her to join him on his adventure to the Baltic Sea to free him from his curse then he’ll give Fliss her freedom. She asks why he wants to break the curse. He says he doesn’t want to stay a monster forever. She agrees and cuddles up to him for warmth.

In the morning, he tells her to hop on his back and they start flying to the Baltic sea. On the way, they are attacked by another dragon named Zunitra. He is the biggest dragon she’s ever seen. They fight and hide in the forest. They continue on foot. They stop to bathe. Fliss gives Smock privacy when she is beckoned to a cliff by a fairy and jumps into a river and starts to drown. Smock rescues her. Smock asks a water nymph to help them get to the sea. The nymph asks Fliss to sing to her then agrees to help. They reach the sea. Smock says they must swim around and Fliss tells him she can’t swim. He tells her to hop on his back and he swims them to an island. He warns her to stay away from the water for their are creatures that will attack. She is stubborn and doesn’t listen and a creature attacks. Smock saves her again and the creature returns to the sea.

The next morning Smock says they need to swim underwater to find the palace of the witch sea queen. He says he’s going to perform a spell on her and kisses her. The kiss transfers, his magic to her, and they both can swim under the water and breathe. He warned her that if she gets out of the water that the spell will be broken. They swim down and cannot find palace. They start to swim more when they get caught in Norsemen nets. They want to kill Smock. Smock gets Fliss free but he is still trapped. Fliss hops on board breaking the spell and grabs a knife, to free Smock. With her last breath, she frees Smock, he quickly gets to the surface so she can breathe and they fly away. When they get to another island, he asks why she saved him. He wants to die. She tells him that they can travel together once she’s freed and he’ll never be alone. Smock is surprised by this and leaves her alone for the night. In the morning, he has found the sea queen’s palace. He kisses Fliss again but this time fast and without emotion just to cast a spell so they can breathe underwater again. They get to the palace and there is a spell that keeps water out.

The Baltic sea queen is surprised Smock is there. She reveals Smock’s lies and calls him a coward. Fliss was never going to be free. The real bargain was the spell can be broken if you bring a virgin girl to me to be my slave. The queen says Smock doesn’t deserve Fliss. Fliss is heartbroken and distraught. She begins crying. Smock hates to see her like that and decides he doesn’t want to go through with the bargain. The Queen won’t have it. The guards attack and Smock grabs Fliss and they escape. Back on the island, he gives her her freedom and apologizes for putting her through that. He asks for forgiveness. He says Fliss reminds him of his first love, Alaska. She was drowned by Zunitra and Smock was too cowardly to fight and save her. For he was a mere man, so that’s why the sea queen turned him into a dragon. He chose to save his own life instead of going to help his beloved. So she turned him into the thing he hated most. The thing that killed his love. Fliss realizes she is Alaska (somehow?). Fliss forgives him for one not saving her and two lying and almost selling her to the sea queen. He begs her to kill him. He can’t stay a monster forever. She tells him he’s not a monster to her and they kiss. She tells him to never try to kill himself again. She tells him she needs time to think about all that has happened.

On a walk she gets kidnapped by the Germans. The German prince, Reinhold wants to invade Poland and kidnap Princess Wanda. They want to use Fliss to do this. At night in her cell, a siren comes to Fliss. She tells Fliss she felt her call for help and Fliss is confused. Turns out Fliss is a siren! Her mother was well known for her songs to travel a great distance. Fliss has a lot of powers and the siren shows her a few. She tells her how to pick the lock of the cell with her voice. Fliss races to the palace to warn everyone.

She reaches the palace and everyone is baffled. They thought she was dead or with the dragon. They ask how she escaped. She warns them the Germans are coming. They are terrified. Fliss realizes that the only thing that can save them is a dragon. She sings a song to call Smock to her but he doesn’t come. She thinks he gave up on her since he probably thinks she abandoned him when she was kidnapped. She is out of options and wants to save her people. She sings out to Zinutra. He comes. They strike a bargain. He kills the German army and she will be his. He agrees.

Fliss runs to tell Wanda the good news when the Germans attack the palace. They come and Reinhold takes Wanda. Fliss is confused, where is Zinutra. Why isn’t he fighting the Germans? She goes out to see what is happening. No dragon in sight. Then a dragon scoops her up and sprays fire on all the people Germans and Polish. Zinutra decided a god doesn’t have to do what humans want. He is a god and will take whatever he wants. He says he wants to marry her. She uses a knife to cut his claw and she falls to the ground. Just then Smock comes and starts fighting Zintura. Smock almost kills Zintura and lets him get away. Smock runs to Fliss and they embrace. Fliss asks if he heard her song and why he didn’t get there sooner. He heard her song but he was so far away looking for her that it took him a long time and she should have been patient instead of turning to Zintura. She asked how he was able to defeat him this time when he’s tried so many times in the past. He said it’s because he was fighting for her. She gave him courage to become the man he always wanted to be.

Then they hear a cry! Reinhold still has Wanda. Smock turns into a dragon and eats Reinhold. The rest of the German army runs away at the sight of the dragon. They have won! The king decides they should have a feast in Smock’s honor. At the feast, the King poisons Smock. He dies. The king tells Fliss you got the dragon on our side and brought him here so I could destroy him. Now we don’t have to be plagued or scared of dragons anymore. Fliss is distraught! Smock is dead. She tells the king she loved him and he loved her. The king says beasts can’t love. Fliss can’t believe she fell for the trap. She got her love killed. She starts to sing a song of smoke and fire. “What love has created let death not separate forever our Fates may be entwined please do not forget my song a song of smoke and Fire”. The song held her siren magic and turned it into a spell. She find their lives together and Smock was alive again. The king orders them dead for being a witch and a dragon. Wanda puts herself in between them and her father. She tells them to go. Smock turns into a dragon with Fliss on their back and they escape.

Smock brings her to the cabin he built for Alaska. He said he wanted them to live in it together. Fliss says it’s perfect as long as they can still travel and go on adventures together!

I loved all the legends, folklore, and myths That were used in this book.

[Jessica Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Smoke and Fire
Megan Linski

A journey of fire, smoke, love and magic. A second chance romance wrapped up in all the dressings a book would need to be a great start to a series. Honestly I would hope for a second one of this. Loved it. Megan Linski does it once again.

Fliss is a handmaiden to princess Wanda daughter of king Krakus.  An orphan due to the mad rage of a dragon. She owes the king her very life for saving her. But she also believes that she is cursed for surviving the attack. So being a slave to the king isn't all that bad as it could be. Though she wishes for freedom, she is happy. Her days are spend doing chores and looking after Princess Wanda. Who becomes her friend of all things. The only thing lately anyone fears is dragon attacks and the demands of the Wawel Dragon. Who lives in the hills nearby. The events she starts off with being nosy, will lead her on a journey of adventure and love.

[Shinyfox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just ok

The writing feels very to the point, lacking emotion. If a fight happens, I understand how the fight went. But tell me about the feelings!

Tell me about the smells and sights! The way fear makes your stomach suddenly drop to your toes and the scent of lightning making the air acrid or the way the characters hands are sweaty from the heat of Smok's flames! I want to be in the fight, right in the thick of it! Especially in a first person POV book! But the writing never took me there, I never got lost in the world or swept up in the emotions.


Also, Wanda is bland and overly dramatic about everything.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: I received a copy of this book for an honest review!

This story has such an interesting concept. I really loved the dynamics of people and dragons. Love and loyalty. The story itself really pulled me and got me to finish it. But the dialogue. It drove me crazy at times. Well written by it had a cheesy romance feel often that made me want to stop reading at times. The story itself is strong so if you love dragons I say give this a try!

[Christina Luberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will say this book was sweet revenge. I loved all the different characters in the story. Love and adventure. I love dragons and this shows both sides of evil and lovable sides. it also shows how humans can be both ways. I will say that it was slow in the first couple of chapters and I felt in a few spots like I read it in another book, but I would recommend this book to read. I received an arc for my honest review.

[Addeline Ansley · Rating 1 out of 5]

All I have to say is no Thank you. This wasnt worth the time it took to read and I only gave it a chance because it was free with Prime. The plot was scattered and all over the place. I didnt care for Fliss at all, she is very bland. Also there were a misspelled words. I really don't see how this could have been written by a bestselling author. I guess I know now why it was a free book.

[Kaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

HUH?

This book had some decent ideas within it, but because it was so short it had such bad pacing issues. It starts running right out of the gate and only becomes more preposterous as time goes on. Again, there are some good ideas in this book, but they never got to be properly introduced or fleshed out because of the pacing in the novel.

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 -3 stars I can't make up my mind the story is very juvenile but it's funny and sometimes sweet, it made my eyes roll a lot off times but it also made me laugh.
So if your in the age of 12-16 you will probably love this book.

[Brittany Duszczyszyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I only listened to this book because it was free and thank god I didn’t pay for it my 12 year old could of written a book book! It’s so juvenile and the countries with the Poles and the Germans was weird it would have been better if they had fake names.

The whiny princess was unbearable and our female protagonist being her “slave” didn’t sit well at all.

Our female protagonist I tried to like but she just seemed kinda stupid & the dragons weren’t much better maybe because the writing over all was very weak.

Hey he can turn into a hot human man, the first man I’ve ever seen without clothes this must be love! 🤦‍♀️ oh not to mention when this book starts she says she’s almost 17 🤢🤮 lots of talk if maidens and virgins and he even asked her if her Hyman is still intact! Oh but it’s love!

My parents died by dragon fire but I’m instantly in love with a dragon 🤷‍♀️

[Nikki · Rating 2 out of 5]

That's 5 hours of my life I'm never getting back. I listened to the audiobook and it was hard to tell if it was the narrator or the author that made the main character Fliss come across as an annoying, unlikeable person.
The story seemed like it was some kind of retelling of a Polish fairy tale that I've never heard of. It consisted of a lot of fast action, mostly lacking believability, and the whole thing without any real emotions attached or character depth. There was supposedly romance going on, but all I felt was cringe.
Also Fliss kept going on about how she was a slave, when she seemed like a servant - a servant who was outspoken and reckless.
I really hate books that advertise how the author is a USA Today bestseller and then deliver up a poorly written tale.

[Louise · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a bit too predictable for my taste.
I really liked the premise of the story, but it felt a bit too insta lovey for even me, which is rare...

I liked Bliss but she seemed to act without thinking of the consequenses, which was annoying when something bad happened right after. And I wasn't a huge fan of the 'plot twist' of her being a siren..

I really wanted some backstory about Smogs curse because it was always mentioned, and it was revealed in the end, but I would've loved a prologue of that story.
And I had already seen it coming that the King would find a way to kill Smog and that it would be poison...

So with all that said I have already decided that I won't continue with this series.

[Jess Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75

This was a hard one for me.

The adventure within the book was amazing, fun, fast paced , so much so i zoomed through it within a few hours but to me there didnt feel like there was a genuine connection between the characters as a couple.

I loved the characters growth together but it seemed more friendship than an actual realtionship,

There were also alot of peices that didnt connect or didnt make sense that should have been expanded more on.

Like the sirens and the past life thing.

All in all i wasnt a huge fan of the execution on the relationship side but loved the action packed adventure it took us on.

[Patricia A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Puzzling

I really enjoyed this story but I don't understand the title. It's supposed to be a reverse harem or multiple males but there's only one male and one female protagonist. Despite that blip it was a charming, amusing little story which made for a delightful couple of hours. The plot was unique, totally unexpected and had several unexpected twists. I think what most delighted me was the chance to experience more of the Slavic culture, an unusual mythology in today's writings. Even though the storyline was definitely 5 stars, I took one off for the sloppy proofing/editing-- poor word choice, non sequiturs, and incorrect pronouns which jerked me repeatedly to a halt.

[A Belle & A Book · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since this was my first dragons book, I really wanted to enjoy it but unfortunately it fell short. I like the author's concept but not her delivery. The individual parts of the story did not mesh well. It seemed to weave in different time periods. Think of it this way, remember the movie A Knight's Tale with Heath Ledger? Great storyline but they weaved modern day speech and music into it which just threw the whole thing off.

I have heard great things about this author so I am not giving up on her. Will be checking out other works from her soon.

[Maggie Jackson · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story was interesting but the pace of this book was so quick that I felt like there was no information. It almost felt like reading spark notes of a book. Without the details that were needed i didn't care about the characters or the love story. I got this book on free Kindle day so I didn't expect it to be all that great.

[Sky P · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series soo much! The world building and character development are 5 star! Fliss and Smok together are amazing! There is romance, dragons, magic, sirens and of course, fast paced adventure! This is free on Audible and I had never read this author before. As a fantasy and romance reader and lover of dragons this is AMAZING! So excited I found this one!

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked this book a bit, but the writing was amateurish and some of the points didn't make a whole lot of sense. Characters were artificial and dialogue was poor. I probably won't be reading any more in this series.
It was clean, though.

[Camila Barrio de Mendoza · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5⭐️

No tenía ninguna expectativa para este libro, y la verdad es que tuvo algunos thropes que no suelen gustarme, pero para una historia corta y simple no estuvo mal. Al final me encariñé con algunos personajes (Wanda, me sorprendiste mas que nadie), así que creo que sí continuaré la saga.

[Sylene · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started out well....ended predictably.

[Jessica Willoughby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Series

This series was frustrating at times but the characters really grow on you. I loved the plot line and the nod to mythology and the Polish!!!

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (12/12/2019)! 🎁

[Abigail · Rating 2 out of 5]

Predictable, derivative, and needed a proofreader.

[Margaret Overholts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read.

Very good story that keeps your attention. Can't wait to start next book. Will watch for more by this author.

[✨ Lauren ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

The “betrayal” was predictable but for once, the reincarnation wasn’t as obvious