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The Ballad of Fire #1
SCORCHED
A romantasy filled with a FMC riding a fire horse, cursed with the ability to burn men to ash, and leaves her yearning after the man she loves, yet can never touch.
Serene is on a journey to find her sister, Tilly, after she disappeared from their home in Seattle, Washington. After touching the stones and transporting to the Realm of Azure, she realizes there's more to this world than she ever knew. Along with finding her sister, she must stay alive with the two princes who protect her from those who want her dead. Especially the ninety-nine men she is thrown into the battle games with, which is forbidden by the Gods. As the first woman to compete in the deadly battle games, Serene must live to be one of the chosen eight or die trying. Serene has to face fire-breathing dragons, unrelenting Royals who would love to see her die, and most importantly, darkness that is descending upon the Realms, including the man she will die to protect.
But little does she know that very man is the only one capable of destroying her.
Will she win the games and be granted the Light Stone to get rid of the curses placed upon the Realms by the Gods? Or will she fall to the one person whom she should be able to trust the most?
SCORCHED is a book filled with banter, tension, and yearning.
Gladiator-style battle games but with dragons & horses of the elements.
Fans who love the series, House of Dragon, Outlander, Reign, Vikings, and Fourth Wing will love SCORCHED.
Serene is on a journey to find her sister, Tilly, after she disappeared from their home in Seattle, Washington. After touching the stones and transporting to the Realm of Azure, she realizes there's more to this world than she ever knew. Along with finding her sister, she must stay alive with the two princes who protect her from those who want her dead. Especially the ninety-nine men she is thrown into the battle games with, which is forbidden by the Gods. As the first woman to compete in the deadly battle games, Serene must live to be one of the chosen eight or die trying. Serene has to face fire-breathing dragons, unrelenting Royals who would love to see her die, and most importantly, darkness that is descending upon the Realms, including the man she will die to protect.
But little does she know that very man is the only one capable of destroying her.
Will she win the games and be granted the Light Stone to get rid of the curses placed upon the Realms by the Gods? Or will she fall to the one person whom she should be able to trust the most?
SCORCHED is a book filled with banter, tension, and yearning.
Gladiator-style battle games but with dragons & horses of the elements.
Fans who love the series, House of Dragon, Outlander, Reign, Vikings, and Fourth Wing will love SCORCHED.
695 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 15, 2025
62 people are currently reading
3337 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 233 reviews
September 23, 2025
I was really, really excited to receive this ARC. With a story that sounded absolutely incredible and such amazing cover art, it sounded perfect for me. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite land the way I had hoped.
The concept in this book is really cool. Not unique, sure, but fun and cool nonetheless. It was however not executed well. The writing in this book felt a bit unfinished. I struggled to connect with the characters or find the emotional depth I was looking for. It simply did not resonate with me as a reader.
The worldbuilding in this book felt incomplete. There was a lot of info dumping through the ”cheat lists” and such in the beginning of the book, and I felt like it couldn’t all be woven into the story.
I also couldn’t feel the romance at all. There was no chemistry, and no buildup. A lot of their feelings and ”chemistry” was assumed and all of the flashbacks were just confusing.
Overall, I think this story has potential, but I would have loved to see it go through a few more rounds of editing.
Thank you to the author for providing me with this eARC.
The concept in this book is really cool. Not unique, sure, but fun and cool nonetheless. It was however not executed well. The writing in this book felt a bit unfinished. I struggled to connect with the characters or find the emotional depth I was looking for. It simply did not resonate with me as a reader.
The worldbuilding in this book felt incomplete. There was a lot of info dumping through the ”cheat lists” and such in the beginning of the book, and I felt like it couldn’t all be woven into the story.
I also couldn’t feel the romance at all. There was no chemistry, and no buildup. A lot of their feelings and ”chemistry” was assumed and all of the flashbacks were just confusing.
Overall, I think this story has potential, but I would have loved to see it go through a few more rounds of editing.
Thank you to the author for providing me with this eARC.
October 23, 2025
“Scorched” has everything you could hope for in a romantasy: dragons, curses, powers, battle games, a prophecy, a MMC that is delicious, banter, good side characters, personal growth of the FMC, an ending that leaves you turning the last page back and forth frantically because it just CANNOT end like that.
The most amazing thing was that this book right here is exactly the reason why I love to be an ARC reader.
First of all the author is the sweetest and most humble person alive, someone who actually listens to her readers and acts on the feedback she receives - she went out of her way to change the surname of the FMC in all her new copies because she didn’t know it actually had significance in Indian culture! Yes, some may say she should have made her research before, and I agree, but we are only humans at the end of the day, and if it was an honest mistake that she later apologized for and corrected I don’t see how this may be perceived as offensive or even “disgusting”, as some people have said. Being able to have an open line of communication with such a wonderful person is amazing!
Moreover, this book has something I had never read before, which would probably have deterred me from reading it, had I known it beforehand, and that is the exact reason why I’m glad I was an ARC reader for it, because it made me try something outside my comfort zone, you know? Something I wouldn’t have chosen because I had no experience with it, so I wasn’t sure if I would like it. It helped me broaden my horizons!
So, let’s talk about this thing: this book is a puzzle. I’m used to knowing (or at least thinking to know) what is happening from page 50 or so of a fantasy book. Like, I usually have the situation clear at a certain point. Then maybe something comes up further on in the book that leaves me gasping because it completely overturns everything, making my beliefs crumble, but I’m used to having a very precise idea on why things are happening. In this book I was completely lost and confused till about the 50% mark, and we are talking about a book of 700+ pages. I literally had no clue what was happening. I had a million questions and no answers, my brain filled with theories I couldn’t prove, and for this reason it took me a moment to get into the book. But then some pieces started to click together, one by one, and I was like “wait. Does this mean…? No. Oh. Maybe…No, but it wouldn’t make sense… but…WAIT. Oh. OH!”. So, yeah, I think this summarizes it quite well 😂 It’s been a very interesting ride for me!!
I do think the confusion - and consequential frustration - I felt for about the first half of the book could have been mitigated by explaining some details better and maybe earlier in the story, because I honestly struggled a lot with that, and I would understand why some readers may abandon the series because of this, hence my rating. But who knows? Maybe they were left like that on purpose to be explored in the second book? I really hope so, because there are still a lot of missing pieces here.
Finally, this book is sometimes advertised as an “enemies to lovers”, but I honestly don’t see that. The main characters initially dislike each other, then they don’t, then something happens for which maybe they SHOULD become enemies, but, once again, they really don’t.
That said, I will continue the series, I’m quite curious!
The most amazing thing was that this book right here is exactly the reason why I love to be an ARC reader.
First of all the author is the sweetest and most humble person alive, someone who actually listens to her readers and acts on the feedback she receives - she went out of her way to change the surname of the FMC in all her new copies because she didn’t know it actually had significance in Indian culture! Yes, some may say she should have made her research before, and I agree, but we are only humans at the end of the day, and if it was an honest mistake that she later apologized for and corrected I don’t see how this may be perceived as offensive or even “disgusting”, as some people have said. Being able to have an open line of communication with such a wonderful person is amazing!
Moreover, this book has something I had never read before, which would probably have deterred me from reading it, had I known it beforehand, and that is the exact reason why I’m glad I was an ARC reader for it, because it made me try something outside my comfort zone, you know? Something I wouldn’t have chosen because I had no experience with it, so I wasn’t sure if I would like it. It helped me broaden my horizons!
So, let’s talk about this thing: this book is a puzzle. I’m used to knowing (or at least thinking to know) what is happening from page 50 or so of a fantasy book. Like, I usually have the situation clear at a certain point. Then maybe something comes up further on in the book that leaves me gasping because it completely overturns everything, making my beliefs crumble, but I’m used to having a very precise idea on why things are happening. In this book I was completely lost and confused till about the 50% mark, and we are talking about a book of 700+ pages. I literally had no clue what was happening. I had a million questions and no answers, my brain filled with theories I couldn’t prove, and for this reason it took me a moment to get into the book. But then some pieces started to click together, one by one, and I was like “wait. Does this mean…? No. Oh. Maybe…No, but it wouldn’t make sense… but…WAIT. Oh. OH!”. So, yeah, I think this summarizes it quite well 😂 It’s been a very interesting ride for me!!
I do think the confusion - and consequential frustration - I felt for about the first half of the book could have been mitigated by explaining some details better and maybe earlier in the story, because I honestly struggled a lot with that, and I would understand why some readers may abandon the series because of this, hence my rating. But who knows? Maybe they were left like that on purpose to be explored in the second book? I really hope so, because there are still a lot of missing pieces here.
Finally, this book is sometimes advertised as an “enemies to lovers”, but I honestly don’t see that. The main characters initially dislike each other, then they don’t, then something happens for which maybe they SHOULD become enemies, but, once again, they really don’t.
That said, I will continue the series, I’m quite curious!
September 7, 2025
Okay I'm updating this one because I really feel I was trying to be nicer about it and that is just not fair. Even though I'm sure with more work this can be a good book - the writing needs a lot of work.
I’m kinda in the middle with this one. The story moves fast-like blink-and-we’re-already-there fast. The plot itself is really interesting though, and I actually enjoyed Serene and Koen’s love story. Their banter was really good I liked the forbidden edge.
The magic powers were definitely intriguing, and there were a few scenes that made me think, “Okay, I need more of this.” That said, the pacing made it feel a little rushed, and because of that, I couldn’t fully connect with the characters the way I wanted to.
Overall, though, it’s a solid premise. If you’re into badass FMCs, forbidden love, fantasy creatures, and fast-paced action that doesn’t slow down to breathe, this is a book you should check out.
Favorite Quote:
“The Gods won’t decide when my last breath will be. Neither will you. Only I can.”
Thank you so much for this ARC, these are my honest thoughts.
I’m kinda in the middle with this one. The story moves fast-like blink-and-we’re-already-there fast. The plot itself is really interesting though, and I actually enjoyed Serene and Koen’s love story. Their banter was really good I liked the forbidden edge.
The magic powers were definitely intriguing, and there were a few scenes that made me think, “Okay, I need more of this.” That said, the pacing made it feel a little rushed, and because of that, I couldn’t fully connect with the characters the way I wanted to.
Overall, though, it’s a solid premise. If you’re into badass FMCs, forbidden love, fantasy creatures, and fast-paced action that doesn’t slow down to breathe, this is a book you should check out.
Favorite Quote:
“The Gods won’t decide when my last breath will be. Neither will you. Only I can.”
Thank you so much for this ARC, these are my honest thoughts.
September 3, 2025
Disclosure: I received an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of this book in exchange for an honest review. As someone who loves supporting indie authors, I always aim to share thoughtful, fair feedback. While I have personal reading preferences like a love for fantasy, horses, or specific tropes, I never let that impact my rating unless it is relevant to the book’s intent or audience. I review with the genre and readership in mind.
I really wanted to love the book as it has absolutely stunning and extensive artwork that really pulled me in, grabbed my attention and got me hooked. Unfortunately the story itself didn't hold up and I struggled reading through it.
There is clearly a world with expansive culture and history, but as a reader it was incredibly hard to follow the details and piece together the puzzles. It was much more scattered than what I normally expect from an epic fantasy with even double length. Having memories, and time jumps involved made it that much more difficult.
I was incredibly conflicted about the main character. She grew up in our world, but her whole person felt like a juvie thug or gang member, filled with aggression, not even slightly decent manners, horrible hotheadedness without critical thinking that kept putting me off. There is a difference between Badass FMC and an explosive dinamite. In addition I felt often that she knows more of the world and how it works compared to what she should know based on the storyline.
There is no enemies to lovers in the book, they slightly dislike each other based on minor prejudice and within 100 pages they have burning eyes for each other. I would rather see the book advertised with dislike to obsessed.
I didn't expect too much about horses, but since so much art had horses and they have such an important role in the book I expected the minimum, which is correct terminology. Just asking a nice horse interested person would have helped in this so badly much. Depth to important elements in books mean so much, I don't understand why this was a complete miss. Grabbing and squeezing that rein does nothing. That's not how a horse gallops faster, that's not how a horse start s moving and I could add a complete list here filled with expressions that were just horribly wrong.
I expected Indian culture or anything based on the blurb and the use of Indian names, however there was nothing about it, which was quite weird but I brushed it off.
I expected more from a book that the author worked years on, I think you should lean more on research and help. An alpha reader would be very useful helping you to create a world that is not this badly a nightmare to follow and definitely look into sensitivity readers for things like horse related expressions. I know it seems so small and bothersome but it really help a ton!
I will not continue the series but I wish the best of luck to the story and to the author! I hope other readers have a better time with the book!
I really wanted to love the book as it has absolutely stunning and extensive artwork that really pulled me in, grabbed my attention and got me hooked. Unfortunately the story itself didn't hold up and I struggled reading through it.
There is clearly a world with expansive culture and history, but as a reader it was incredibly hard to follow the details and piece together the puzzles. It was much more scattered than what I normally expect from an epic fantasy with even double length. Having memories, and time jumps involved made it that much more difficult.
I was incredibly conflicted about the main character. She grew up in our world, but her whole person felt like a juvie thug or gang member, filled with aggression, not even slightly decent manners, horrible hotheadedness without critical thinking that kept putting me off. There is a difference between Badass FMC and an explosive dinamite. In addition I felt often that she knows more of the world and how it works compared to what she should know based on the storyline.
There is no enemies to lovers in the book, they slightly dislike each other based on minor prejudice and within 100 pages they have burning eyes for each other. I would rather see the book advertised with dislike to obsessed.
I didn't expect too much about horses, but since so much art had horses and they have such an important role in the book I expected the minimum, which is correct terminology. Just asking a nice horse interested person would have helped in this so badly much. Depth to important elements in books mean so much, I don't understand why this was a complete miss. Grabbing and squeezing that rein does nothing. That's not how a horse gallops faster, that's not how a horse start s moving and I could add a complete list here filled with expressions that were just horribly wrong.
I expected Indian culture or anything based on the blurb and the use of Indian names, however there was nothing about it, which was quite weird but I brushed it off.
I expected more from a book that the author worked years on, I think you should lean more on research and help. An alpha reader would be very useful helping you to create a world that is not this badly a nightmare to follow and definitely look into sensitivity readers for things like horse related expressions. I know it seems so small and bothersome but it really help a ton!
I will not continue the series but I wish the best of luck to the story and to the author! I hope other readers have a better time with the book!
September 1, 2025
1⭐ - 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦.
I want to preface by saying that I am entitled to my own opinion as a reader. I never usually write long reviews for a one star book — much less a review but due to circumstances, I needed to write a review for this book.
I had an extremely hard time reading this book. I literally had to push myself to continue reading and finishing it. The more I kept reading, I found more things that's disturbed me that I haven't shared here. Writing positives about this book was a stretch for me because I didn't really feel there was anything positive to say from my side.
This book had such an amazing concept but the execution was more than horrible. I despised the entirety of this book the more I kept thinking about it. The world-building was just too messy, everything all over the place like sudden changes and inclusions to the plot. There was no clear path where a plot point would follow and it was either completely useless by the end or forgotten.
The pacing of the entire book is uneven. Nothing seemed properly planned and felt like it was executed on a whim. The timelines and memories were so confusing. The incorporation of the flashbacks was expected but its execution and the way it was written was very messy and confusing. There was no indicator to what was a flashback or a present scenario which added another level of confusion to the plot.
There wasn't any proper explanation of the history of the whole. Despite being the first book of a trilogy, there should be at least enough to help us understand world-building. I was extremely confused about the magic system, how the Queen became the Queen, and even the curses
One of the biggest issues was the glossary. It was in the beginning of the book with TOO MUCH information that should have been better explained in the narrative. The extremely scattered and confusing world-building detered me away from wanting to continue reading this book. Random tidbits are included in the most confusing times while other times it's over explained.
Alas, the book was just TOO LONG. At least 300 pages could have been easily cut down. There was too much filler and unnecessary scenes the entire book.
The Forced chemistry between the leads made the romance feel flat and uncomfortable.Koen and Serene barely had any chemistry. Their intimate scenes felt so forced. She had so much better chemistry and banter with Florian and a better dynamic with her friends. She flirts with both Koen and Florian — and the reception from both sides made it confusing. For a book that was marketed as romantasy — where there is equal balance in romance and fantasy aspects— this part failed terribly.
Serene, the female lead, came across as childish, and it felt like everything she did was on a whim and when she was in brink of heavy emotions in her. She's shown as if she's clever or witty but really, she's just childish and stupid. She makes stupid decision all around the book and her actions are extremely unrealistic. She's in a world she barely knows off and gets angry, which was understandable but her actions didn't quite attune with her character. Her overconfidence made me laugh out loud from the idiocity of her behaviour because she knows nothing of the world and believes herself to be somewhat invincible when she truly is stupid and doesn't know how to manage herself — much less try to survive without pissing off or killing people because she didn't know how to control her powers.
One of the other bigger issues was the curse and how the glossary had more information than the actual narrative explaining it. The glossasy was useful but it made no sense to barely explain things in the plot and felt like lazy writing because the glossary had a lot of information that would have been better explained in the plot.
The shallow characters depth irked me a lot. All the characters were plain and one-dimensional and nothing stood about them that made them unique or wanted me to root for them. Their actions were either fairly and understandably predictable or out of character that would make no sense with their behaviour a few sentences ago. Unrealistic characterization was too much with the main female character whose characterization was unbelievably and baffling, and played out in a naive way.
Another shady thing to mention — using an Indian surname for your character and not knowing its history and nonchalantly continuing to use it even after being informed about its cultural significance is disgusting. Using the excuse 'I thought I made it up' isn't valid because the author worked on this book for three years apparently. Just because the author pronounced the name differently doesn't change the cultural identity. The blatant ignorance and dismissive attitude to the topic has me pissed and feeling disgusted.
This has made me feel uncomfortable and I've talked about this situation to a few of my South-Asian friends and they agree with me. A white woman ignorantly using a cultural Indian surname to her book and being dismissive and using the excuse of 'I thought I made it up' is revolting. Erasing the significance and culture of a culturally significant name and changing the pronunciation for your pale skinned character with no South-Asian roots is disgusting.
[The author has confirmed that the FMC is not South-Asian and does not have any roots nor is she 'white' because she's made by 'gods' — which is just another shitty excuse].
Desai is a Desi last name - if you use it you acknowledge it's roots - the fact that she's also leaning into the whole "oh she's made by the gods" thing is also so offensive because we're exhausted with Asian cultures as a whole being used to represent the alien or otherworldly beings.
And it’s infuriating because the author doesn’t realize that mysticizing a name like this opens pathways to MORE white authors to do so.
Will be reading the next few books? No. Will I be reading anything else from this author? Also no.
𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧 𝙍𝙚𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙎𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙍𝘾. 𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙡𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙮.
𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘖𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.
I want to preface by saying that I am entitled to my own opinion as a reader. I never usually write long reviews for a one star book — much less a review but due to circumstances, I needed to write a review for this book.
I had an extremely hard time reading this book. I literally had to push myself to continue reading and finishing it. The more I kept reading, I found more things that's disturbed me that I haven't shared here. Writing positives about this book was a stretch for me because I didn't really feel there was anything positive to say from my side.
This book had such an amazing concept but the execution was more than horrible. I despised the entirety of this book the more I kept thinking about it. The world-building was just too messy, everything all over the place like sudden changes and inclusions to the plot. There was no clear path where a plot point would follow and it was either completely useless by the end or forgotten.
The pacing of the entire book is uneven. Nothing seemed properly planned and felt like it was executed on a whim. The timelines and memories were so confusing. The incorporation of the flashbacks was expected but its execution and the way it was written was very messy and confusing. There was no indicator to what was a flashback or a present scenario which added another level of confusion to the plot.
There wasn't any proper explanation of the history of the whole. Despite being the first book of a trilogy, there should be at least enough to help us understand world-building. I was extremely confused about the magic system, how the Queen became the Queen, and even the curses
One of the biggest issues was the glossary. It was in the beginning of the book with TOO MUCH information that should have been better explained in the narrative. The extremely scattered and confusing world-building detered me away from wanting to continue reading this book. Random tidbits are included in the most confusing times while other times it's over explained.
Alas, the book was just TOO LONG. At least 300 pages could have been easily cut down. There was too much filler and unnecessary scenes the entire book.
The Forced chemistry between the leads made the romance feel flat and uncomfortable.Koen and Serene barely had any chemistry. Their intimate scenes felt so forced. She had so much better chemistry and banter with Florian and a better dynamic with her friends. She flirts with both Koen and Florian — and the reception from both sides made it confusing. For a book that was marketed as romantasy — where there is equal balance in romance and fantasy aspects— this part failed terribly.
Serene, the female lead, came across as childish, and it felt like everything she did was on a whim and when she was in brink of heavy emotions in her. She's shown as if she's clever or witty but really, she's just childish and stupid. She makes stupid decision all around the book and her actions are extremely unrealistic. She's in a world she barely knows off and gets angry, which was understandable but her actions didn't quite attune with her character. Her overconfidence made me laugh out loud from the idiocity of her behaviour because she knows nothing of the world and believes herself to be somewhat invincible when she truly is stupid and doesn't know how to manage herself — much less try to survive without pissing off or killing people because she didn't know how to control her powers.
One of the other bigger issues was the curse and how the glossary had more information than the actual narrative explaining it. The glossasy was useful but it made no sense to barely explain things in the plot and felt like lazy writing because the glossary had a lot of information that would have been better explained in the plot.
The shallow characters depth irked me a lot. All the characters were plain and one-dimensional and nothing stood about them that made them unique or wanted me to root for them. Their actions were either fairly and understandably predictable or out of character that would make no sense with their behaviour a few sentences ago. Unrealistic characterization was too much with the main female character whose characterization was unbelievably and baffling, and played out in a naive way.
Another shady thing to mention — using an Indian surname for your character and not knowing its history and nonchalantly continuing to use it even after being informed about its cultural significance is disgusting. Using the excuse 'I thought I made it up' isn't valid because the author worked on this book for three years apparently. Just because the author pronounced the name differently doesn't change the cultural identity. The blatant ignorance and dismissive attitude to the topic has me pissed and feeling disgusted.
This has made me feel uncomfortable and I've talked about this situation to a few of my South-Asian friends and they agree with me. A white woman ignorantly using a cultural Indian surname to her book and being dismissive and using the excuse of 'I thought I made it up' is revolting. Erasing the significance and culture of a culturally significant name and changing the pronunciation for your pale skinned character with no South-Asian roots is disgusting.
[The author has confirmed that the FMC is not South-Asian and does not have any roots nor is she 'white' because she's made by 'gods' — which is just another shitty excuse].
Desai is a Desi last name - if you use it you acknowledge it's roots - the fact that she's also leaning into the whole "oh she's made by the gods" thing is also so offensive because we're exhausted with Asian cultures as a whole being used to represent the alien or otherworldly beings.
And it’s infuriating because the author doesn’t realize that mysticizing a name like this opens pathways to MORE white authors to do so.
Will be reading the next few books? No. Will I be reading anything else from this author? Also no.
𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧 𝙍𝙚𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙎𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙍𝘾. 𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙡𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙮.
𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘖𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.
September 11, 2025
“You are the air I breathe. You are the very thing that keeps my heart beating. You will be the one that will bring me back from the darkness.”
This novel’s plot is addictive and I’m obsessed with the world and the horses! Elemental horses? Fire horse?! Are you kidding me? That’s so friggin’ cool!
Although it took me forever to read this book — I went on vacation — I was constantly thinking about how excited I was to read it whenever I wasn’t able to and that’s such an amazing feeling to be anticipating a book!
I love me a good badass and fierce FMC! Serene was sometimes annoying, but overall I liked her. She was quite realistic…aside from receiving all those painful injuries and being only slightly affected haha.
I adore male yearning! Koen is SO Jane Austen coded with his little longing and romantic notes.
The romance had SPARKS;)! Koen’s and Serene’s banter was so good and the tension between them was THICK!
Florian oh Florian! How I loathe second male lead syndrome!
Lykia and Skie were SO detestable! Stupid jealous rats over men who could actually care less about them!
Tilly pissed me off so bad!
I love the side characters and how protective and sweet they all were to Serene!
The story does move pretty fast, especially the trials…and whenever there are any sort of trials in fantasy books I love for them to be dragged on — my personal preference.
There was A LOT that happened in this book and sometimes things got complicated, but I enjoyed it a lot and I became very attached to the characters! I definitely need a second book because that ending left me UNWELL!
Biggest thank you to Miss Reese Sherron for giving me the opportunity to be one of your ARC readers🫶
This novel’s plot is addictive and I’m obsessed with the world and the horses! Elemental horses? Fire horse?! Are you kidding me? That’s so friggin’ cool!
Although it took me forever to read this book — I went on vacation — I was constantly thinking about how excited I was to read it whenever I wasn’t able to and that’s such an amazing feeling to be anticipating a book!
I love me a good badass and fierce FMC! Serene was sometimes annoying, but overall I liked her. She was quite realistic…aside from receiving all those painful injuries and being only slightly affected haha.
I adore male yearning! Koen is SO Jane Austen coded with his little longing and romantic notes.
The romance had SPARKS;)! Koen’s and Serene’s banter was so good and the tension between them was THICK!
Florian oh Florian! How I loathe second male lead syndrome!
Lykia and Skie were SO detestable! Stupid jealous rats over men who could actually care less about them!
Tilly pissed me off so bad!
I love the side characters and how protective and sweet they all were to Serene!
The story does move pretty fast, especially the trials…and whenever there are any sort of trials in fantasy books I love for them to be dragged on — my personal preference.
There was A LOT that happened in this book and sometimes things got complicated, but I enjoyed it a lot and I became very attached to the characters! I definitely need a second book because that ending left me UNWELL!
Biggest thank you to Miss Reese Sherron for giving me the opportunity to be one of your ARC readers🫶
Want to read
May 28, 2025CANT WAIT FOR THIS BOOK!!!
It has literally everything I’m craving for in a romantasy book 🤭
── ⋆⋅ ୨♡୧ ⋅⋆ ──
- Yearning
- Strong FMC
- Deadly battles
- Dragons
- Hate to love
- Slow burn
- He falls first
- War
- Fighting for the throne
જ⁀➴ House of the dragon x GOT x Gladiator x Vikings
with The Witcher, Outlander and Reign romance vibe
It has literally everything I’m craving for in a romantasy book 🤭
── ⋆⋅ ୨♡୧ ⋅⋆ ──
- Yearning
- Strong FMC
- Deadly battles
- Dragons
- Hate to love
- Slow burn
- He falls first
- War
- Fighting for the throne
જ⁀➴ House of the dragon x GOT x Gladiator x Vikings
with The Witcher, Outlander and Reign romance vibe
October 14, 2025
My rating: 2.5 ⭐️⭐️✨️
This book had great potential — it has original worldbuilding… but for me, all of that was overshadowed by the excessive drama and the constant reminders of the FMC’s powers and her feelings for the hero.
Thank you to Reese Sherron for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book had great potential — it has original worldbuilding… but for me, all of that was overshadowed by the excessive drama and the constant reminders of the FMC’s powers and her feelings for the hero.
Thank you to Reese Sherron for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
August 23, 2025
Um, I don't know what just happened. I just finished the book (technically it finished me), and I'm in shock.
---
(this part was written 15 min. later)
So, what an amazing read! Thank you, Reese Sherron, for the chance to be an advanced copy reader. I do not regret not sleeping so I could finish reading Scorched. I haven't been in a reader coma (when the only thing you can do is read) in a very long time. Not only that, but I can't wait for everyone else to experience Serene's story, so let's start the review.
---
I'm amazed by the huge world-building for this series (each chapter felt like it was in a new surrounding). The design is intricate and pulling for the reader. What I mean by this is that it doesn't tire the reader by giving every detail of the fantasy world-building (names of places, their importance, mythical creatures, etc.), but we learn of it through the MC's narrative; it helps so we don't get stuck on the first few chapters and for the reader to live the plot, not just read it.
---
About the character and their design for the plot,
I liked how the characters don't illustrate the classical good guy versus bad guy; it's much more like there is good and bad, but the characters live in the scale of gray; all of them are living the consequences of their decisions, and they all feel loss and love (some in their own twisted way), which makes them feel real and relatable for us, the readers.
---
Now, it's amazing how the author allows us, the readers, to feel Serene's anger. I mean, she could do so much more to make people afraid of her, but the ironic thing is the only thing she ever did was ask for the truth.
Her character development is so much more than romantic love or jealousy; it's her standing up for herself without needing the MMC to protect or defend her honor. I enjoy FMCs that are honest. Yes, yes, women are emotional, and yes, we may get distracted by love, but that's a strength, not a weakness; like Serene, when we love someone (friends, family, or a couple), there's nothing we wouldn't do for them.
---
I enjoyed that the dynamic between Koen and Serene isn’t completely dependent on them loving each other romantically. What I mean by this is that even though their romance isn’t in a good place, Koen seems to always consider Serene's safety first, and Serene wants to learn and care for Koen even if he's dangerous or untrustworthy in her perception. Their mutual respect isn’t dependent on their emotions or romantic love for each other.
---
Plot twists, oh man, prepare to have your emotions stirred and tossed around by the extraordinary narrative. The story keeps us, the readers, hooked because the narrative isn’t linear or simple; it kept me on my toes while I read. On that note, be prepared for the last part of the book. When I finished (15 min. ago and still processing), my emotions were chaotic (in a normal reader way).
---
To finish my (very, very) long review, I believe this is the best way for an author to start a book series. Normally I don’t like the first book in a series because they're full of details without much plot, but, boy, this was awesome. Tip! Read it with the playlist; it gives the finishing touches to the experience of reading Scorched.
This reminded me of The Red Queen (political and royal style), War Hour (characters dynamic), and Fourth Wing (the badass MCs and epic cliffhangers), so, Reese Sherron, you have the next hit in the fantasy romance genre, brava.
---
(this part was written 15 min. later)
So, what an amazing read! Thank you, Reese Sherron, for the chance to be an advanced copy reader. I do not regret not sleeping so I could finish reading Scorched. I haven't been in a reader coma (when the only thing you can do is read) in a very long time. Not only that, but I can't wait for everyone else to experience Serene's story, so let's start the review.
---
I'm amazed by the huge world-building for this series (each chapter felt like it was in a new surrounding). The design is intricate and pulling for the reader. What I mean by this is that it doesn't tire the reader by giving every detail of the fantasy world-building (names of places, their importance, mythical creatures, etc.), but we learn of it through the MC's narrative; it helps so we don't get stuck on the first few chapters and for the reader to live the plot, not just read it.
---
About the character and their design for the plot,
I liked how the characters don't illustrate the classical good guy versus bad guy; it's much more like there is good and bad, but the characters live in the scale of gray; all of them are living the consequences of their decisions, and they all feel loss and love (some in their own twisted way), which makes them feel real and relatable for us, the readers.
---
Now, it's amazing how the author allows us, the readers, to feel Serene's anger. I mean, she could do so much more to make people afraid of her, but the ironic thing is the only thing she ever did was ask for the truth.
Her character development is so much more than romantic love or jealousy; it's her standing up for herself without needing the MMC to protect or defend her honor. I enjoy FMCs that are honest. Yes, yes, women are emotional, and yes, we may get distracted by love, but that's a strength, not a weakness; like Serene, when we love someone (friends, family, or a couple), there's nothing we wouldn't do for them.
---
I enjoyed that the dynamic between Koen and Serene isn’t completely dependent on them loving each other romantically. What I mean by this is that even though their romance isn’t in a good place, Koen seems to always consider Serene's safety first, and Serene wants to learn and care for Koen even if he's dangerous or untrustworthy in her perception. Their mutual respect isn’t dependent on their emotions or romantic love for each other.
---
Plot twists, oh man, prepare to have your emotions stirred and tossed around by the extraordinary narrative. The story keeps us, the readers, hooked because the narrative isn’t linear or simple; it kept me on my toes while I read. On that note, be prepared for the last part of the book. When I finished (15 min. ago and still processing), my emotions were chaotic (in a normal reader way).
---
To finish my (very, very) long review, I believe this is the best way for an author to start a book series. Normally I don’t like the first book in a series because they're full of details without much plot, but, boy, this was awesome. Tip! Read it with the playlist; it gives the finishing touches to the experience of reading Scorched.
This reminded me of The Red Queen (political and royal style), War Hour (characters dynamic), and Fourth Wing (the badass MCs and epic cliffhangers), so, Reese Sherron, you have the next hit in the fantasy romance genre, brava.
September 17, 2025
✨Scorched✨
Author: Reese Sherron
Release: October 15, 2025
Series: A Ballad of Fire, book 1
This was an INTENSE read. Reese definitely knows how to get those emotions roiling and boiling! In this first installment of her latest series, Scorched begins as a portal fantasy where our FMC, Serene, is trudging through the snow drifts of Alaska in search of her missing sister. When she enters a cave full of glowing stones, one touch has her in an entirely new world: one of magic, dragons, betrayals, and a secret she is desperate to uncover.
Our girl Serene is wild and fiery with no sense of self-preservation but she’s funny as she navigates this new realm where death is readily available by many beautiful and strong men. 😅 She is hit over the head with a branch, imprisoned, chased by sand dragons, antagonized by two princes (some love triangle vibes but not a love triangle), and thrown into the battle games as punishment for her presence (and her mouth). Prophecies point in her direction, but she’s certain she is not from here.
As Serene goes through the arena, more and more is revealed, friends become enemies and enemies become traitors and/or friends. It’s chaos and the emotions are high and man, does Reese know how to keep me hooked. I truly struggled to put it down because I was distraught and I needed answers. 😅 With feminine rage, dragons and magical horse bonds, a forbidden and doomed love, and so much TENSION, this slow burn definitely had the elements of an epic Romantasy. However, I did feel a bit of a disconnect between timelines/character relationships. Like she had known them forever yet had just met them; that she could do and say whatever she pleased without repercussion. And yet, she had me chained to the pages seeking answers.
Tropes you may find in Scorched are Star-crossed lovers, enemies to lovers?, these men are SIMPS, slow burn and tension, he writers her letters, secrets, unrequited love, betrayals, prophecies and plot twists, elemental magic and kingdoms, court intrigue, forced proximity, forbidden love, no spice, 🔥 the world for him/her, touch her and 💀, and a CLIFFHANGER that ripped my heart out.
Thank you so much, Reese, for this gifted arc. I definitely need some time to recover. 😅
Author: Reese Sherron
Release: October 15, 2025
Series: A Ballad of Fire, book 1
This was an INTENSE read. Reese definitely knows how to get those emotions roiling and boiling! In this first installment of her latest series, Scorched begins as a portal fantasy where our FMC, Serene, is trudging through the snow drifts of Alaska in search of her missing sister. When she enters a cave full of glowing stones, one touch has her in an entirely new world: one of magic, dragons, betrayals, and a secret she is desperate to uncover.
Our girl Serene is wild and fiery with no sense of self-preservation but she’s funny as she navigates this new realm where death is readily available by many beautiful and strong men. 😅 She is hit over the head with a branch, imprisoned, chased by sand dragons, antagonized by two princes (some love triangle vibes but not a love triangle), and thrown into the battle games as punishment for her presence (and her mouth). Prophecies point in her direction, but she’s certain she is not from here.
As Serene goes through the arena, more and more is revealed, friends become enemies and enemies become traitors and/or friends. It’s chaos and the emotions are high and man, does Reese know how to keep me hooked. I truly struggled to put it down because I was distraught and I needed answers. 😅 With feminine rage, dragons and magical horse bonds, a forbidden and doomed love, and so much TENSION, this slow burn definitely had the elements of an epic Romantasy. However, I did feel a bit of a disconnect between timelines/character relationships. Like she had known them forever yet had just met them; that she could do and say whatever she pleased without repercussion. And yet, she had me chained to the pages seeking answers.
Tropes you may find in Scorched are Star-crossed lovers, enemies to lovers?, these men are SIMPS, slow burn and tension, he writers her letters, secrets, unrequited love, betrayals, prophecies and plot twists, elemental magic and kingdoms, court intrigue, forced proximity, forbidden love, no spice, 🔥 the world for him/her, touch her and 💀, and a CLIFFHANGER that ripped my heart out.
Thank you so much, Reese, for this gifted arc. I definitely need some time to recover. 😅
September 26, 2025
**OK back for the full review - I finally finished it!**
My god. Q3 is coming in hot with some of the best books I’ve read all year, and SCORCHED is absolutely on that list. The plot is plotting. The slow burn is slow burning. The banter is bantering. The trials are trialing. And that ending?? GOD, IT IS NOT ENDING.Reese, please—give us book 2, like yesterday.
We follow Serene, who’s trekking through the Alaskan mountains with her bestie Alice on a mission to find her missing older sister, Tilly—but instead, she stumbles into an entirely different realm. Suddenly, she’s a reluctant (yet wildly powerful) contender in the deadly Battle Games and more connected to the Realm of Azure than she could’ve imagined. Serene is the definition of the reluctant heroine—you want to root for her, and for the most part, I did.
But damn, she can be frustrating. Like, ma’am… you are the Scorched Queen . If you’re going to burn someone, turn them to ash and move on. All that power and you're out here hesitating? That said, I mostly liked her as an FMC. She’s powerful (with all that untapped elemental magic), lowkey sarcastic, and doing her best while navigating an identity crisis, impossible choices, and a very chaotic life in a realm she doesn’t fully understand. But sometimes she acted like a damn kid—and I needed her to lock in.
Now let’s talk Koen. Broody. Dark. Tortured. Chef’s kiss.
Prince Florian’s half-brother and keeper of a thousand secrets, he’s the kind of morally gray dreamboat anyone who loves a broken MMC will fall for. At first, his connection with Serene felt a little forced (he did knock her out when they first met...), and I wasn’t sure he was even the main love interest. But as the story went on? The banter, the tension, the soul-snatching quotes??
"There is no light without you, Spark."
Okay, Koen. Calm down or I’ll fall for you too.
Florian, on the other hand, felt like the safer, more stable option. I actually liked their dynamic more in the beginning—but as the story unfolded, it made sense why Serene was torn between the two. This isn’t just about romance—it’s about fate, power, and the weight of each choice in a realm and kingdom that’s on the brink of destruction.
Serene flips back and forth between Florian and Koen like… girl, pick one. Or both.
(And honestly? I wouldn’t be mad either way.)
It’s not full-blown enemies-to-lovers—more like dislike-to-obsessed. A lot of misunderstanding and miscommunication. You’ll see what I mean.
The secondary characters?
Some of them I wanted to strangle (I say that lovingly, actually do I? I think I would've turned them to ash immediately). Others, I wanted to hug. Solid mix overall.
The history of Azure and the Battle Games gave me everything I love:
✨ Mystical creatures
✨ Chosen-one energy
✨ Banter
✨ Forbidden love
✨ Angst
✨ Morally gray characters
✨ And that sweet, sweet slow burn.
The worldbuilding was solid, but I think it could’ve been fleshed out a bit more. Like I know what happened to her mother, but what about her father. The first 30% dragged a bit and felt a little hard to follow in places. I liked the cheat sheet at the beginning, but I would’ve loved to see it woven more naturally into the story through character dialogue—kind of like the history of Azure in the chapter headers.
That said, once I hit the 35% mark? FULL SEND.
And that twist at 60%?? Even with the hints, it still hit like a freight train.
This book gave me everything I didn’t know I needed: elemental magic, sibling rivalry, dragons, pining, betrayal, and some seriously swoon-worthy lines I’ll be thinking about for weeks. It’s not perfect—Serene tested my patience, and the world could use some polish—but the vibes? Immaculate.
Thank you, Reese, for giving me the opportunity to be a part of your ARC team. This is my own honest opinion and review of SCORCHED. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25 Stars
If you’re into slow burns, morally gray characters, mystical creatures, and a plot that refuses to stop escalating, SCORCHED is a must-read. I’ll be impatiently waiting for book 2… with a dragon and an elemental horse ready to ride.
Some of my favorite quotes:
“There is no light without you, Spark.”
“The light inside me has always been because of you.”
“I’d die over and over for you to live, my Spark. I viewed that to you the night I gave you my light, and I honor my vows to you, love. My light in the darkness. Thank you for returning to me.”
“You will never lose me…you are my memory. You are my soul. My heart. You are the air to my lungs. You are the light to my darkness. Only you, Spark.”
“You are the one distracting me. You are the very thing that is inside my head. You will be the death of me.”
“You know once the light inside of our hearts darkens, we die…I wonder if somewhere deep inside me, there is a flicker of light I am holding onto just to be here to help you.”
#Scorched #ReeseSherron #Romantasy #MorallyGreyCharacters #MysticalCreatures #Bookstagram #Magic #ChosenOne #Prophecy #ARC Review
My god. Q3 is coming in hot with some of the best books I’ve read all year, and SCORCHED is absolutely on that list. The plot is plotting. The slow burn is slow burning. The banter is bantering. The trials are trialing. And that ending?? GOD, IT IS NOT ENDING.Reese, please—give us book 2, like yesterday.
We follow Serene, who’s trekking through the Alaskan mountains with her bestie Alice on a mission to find her missing older sister, Tilly—but instead, she stumbles into an entirely different realm. Suddenly, she’s a reluctant (yet wildly powerful) contender in the deadly Battle Games and more connected to the Realm of Azure than she could’ve imagined. Serene is the definition of the reluctant heroine—you want to root for her, and for the most part, I did.
But damn, she can be frustrating. Like, ma’am… you are the Scorched Queen . If you’re going to burn someone, turn them to ash and move on. All that power and you're out here hesitating? That said, I mostly liked her as an FMC. She’s powerful (with all that untapped elemental magic), lowkey sarcastic, and doing her best while navigating an identity crisis, impossible choices, and a very chaotic life in a realm she doesn’t fully understand. But sometimes she acted like a damn kid—and I needed her to lock in.
Now let’s talk Koen. Broody. Dark. Tortured. Chef’s kiss.
Prince Florian’s half-brother and keeper of a thousand secrets, he’s the kind of morally gray dreamboat anyone who loves a broken MMC will fall for. At first, his connection with Serene felt a little forced (he did knock her out when they first met...), and I wasn’t sure he was even the main love interest. But as the story went on? The banter, the tension, the soul-snatching quotes??
"There is no light without you, Spark."
Okay, Koen. Calm down or I’ll fall for you too.
Florian, on the other hand, felt like the safer, more stable option. I actually liked their dynamic more in the beginning—but as the story unfolded, it made sense why Serene was torn between the two. This isn’t just about romance—it’s about fate, power, and the weight of each choice in a realm and kingdom that’s on the brink of destruction.
Serene flips back and forth between Florian and Koen like… girl, pick one. Or both.
(And honestly? I wouldn’t be mad either way.)
It’s not full-blown enemies-to-lovers—more like dislike-to-obsessed. A lot of misunderstanding and miscommunication. You’ll see what I mean.
The secondary characters?
Some of them I wanted to strangle (I say that lovingly, actually do I? I think I would've turned them to ash immediately). Others, I wanted to hug. Solid mix overall.
The history of Azure and the Battle Games gave me everything I love:
✨ Mystical creatures
✨ Chosen-one energy
✨ Banter
✨ Forbidden love
✨ Angst
✨ Morally gray characters
✨ And that sweet, sweet slow burn.
The worldbuilding was solid, but I think it could’ve been fleshed out a bit more. Like I know what happened to her mother, but what about her father. The first 30% dragged a bit and felt a little hard to follow in places. I liked the cheat sheet at the beginning, but I would’ve loved to see it woven more naturally into the story through character dialogue—kind of like the history of Azure in the chapter headers.
That said, once I hit the 35% mark? FULL SEND.
And that twist at 60%?? Even with the hints, it still hit like a freight train.
This book gave me everything I didn’t know I needed: elemental magic, sibling rivalry, dragons, pining, betrayal, and some seriously swoon-worthy lines I’ll be thinking about for weeks. It’s not perfect—Serene tested my patience, and the world could use some polish—but the vibes? Immaculate.
Thank you, Reese, for giving me the opportunity to be a part of your ARC team. This is my own honest opinion and review of SCORCHED. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25 Stars
If you’re into slow burns, morally gray characters, mystical creatures, and a plot that refuses to stop escalating, SCORCHED is a must-read. I’ll be impatiently waiting for book 2… with a dragon and an elemental horse ready to ride.
Some of my favorite quotes:
“There is no light without you, Spark.”
“The light inside me has always been because of you.”
“I’d die over and over for you to live, my Spark. I viewed that to you the night I gave you my light, and I honor my vows to you, love. My light in the darkness. Thank you for returning to me.”
“You will never lose me…you are my memory. You are my soul. My heart. You are the air to my lungs. You are the light to my darkness. Only you, Spark.”
“You are the one distracting me. You are the very thing that is inside my head. You will be the death of me.”
“You know once the light inside of our hearts darkens, we die…I wonder if somewhere deep inside me, there is a flicker of light I am holding onto just to be here to help you.”
#Scorched #ReeseSherron #Romantasy #MorallyGreyCharacters #MysticalCreatures #Bookstagram #Magic #ChosenOne #Prophecy #ARC Review
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 23, 2025
Omg, this book was an amazing read. In my top 3 books of this year. I really can’t thank Reese enough for allowing me to be apart of this arc team.
This book had all of my favourite things, amazing characters, amazing world building, amazing creatures. Everything I could ask for was in this book. Scrap what I said about it being top 3 this is definitely my favourite book of the year.
I really just couldn’t stop reading it. Yes the last 2 days I spent very late nights reading (shhh) but so worth it.
I just really enjoyed the characters mostly the relationship between Koen and Serene, it’s very different from what I’m use to reading not that whole lovey dovey kinda love it was honestly a very mature sort of relationship. (Sort of) times where I was like. Guys chill lol.
There are some books that will be burned in your brain forever this is one of those. And we’ll koen, not gonna lie this MMC I will forever be talking about he’s just well, he’s just koen I don’t think I need to explain. (You’ll understand)
This isn’t a very long review i apologize, I’m not great this these type of things. Normally just a yeah it was good kinda person. Lol.
Even though I read the arc for this book I will definitely be grabbing a physical copy for the bookshelf.
This book had all of my favourite things, amazing characters, amazing world building, amazing creatures. Everything I could ask for was in this book. Scrap what I said about it being top 3 this is definitely my favourite book of the year.
I really just couldn’t stop reading it. Yes the last 2 days I spent very late nights reading (shhh) but so worth it.
I just really enjoyed the characters mostly the relationship between Koen and Serene, it’s very different from what I’m use to reading not that whole lovey dovey kinda love it was honestly a very mature sort of relationship. (Sort of) times where I was like. Guys chill lol.
There are some books that will be burned in your brain forever this is one of those. And we’ll koen, not gonna lie this MMC I will forever be talking about he’s just well, he’s just koen I don’t think I need to explain. (You’ll understand)
This isn’t a very long review i apologize, I’m not great this these type of things. Normally just a yeah it was good kinda person. Lol.
Even though I read the arc for this book I will definitely be grabbing a physical copy for the bookshelf.
August 24, 2025
WOW. This book completely captivated me from start to finish. The writing is immersive, the plot feels refreshingly unique, and the characters are unforgettable. The FMC is a total standout fierce, layered, and complex. If I had to compare her, I’d say she’s a unique mix of Celaena Sardothien, Bryce Quinlan, and Daenerys Targaryen.
The real highlight for me, though, was the relationship between the FMC and MMC. It’s rare to come across a romance that balances tension, banter, and true yearning so authentically. Their connection felt raw and electric, and the MMC had me absolutely weak in the knees multiple times.
This book made me feel all the emotions from laughter to heartbreak to pure joy, while keeping me glued to the pages the entire time. I’m officially a Reese fan for life, and I CANNOT wait for book #2!! Thank you for the ARC!!!
The real highlight for me, though, was the relationship between the FMC and MMC. It’s rare to come across a romance that balances tension, banter, and true yearning so authentically. Their connection felt raw and electric, and the MMC had me absolutely weak in the knees multiple times.
This book made me feel all the emotions from laughter to heartbreak to pure joy, while keeping me glued to the pages the entire time. I’m officially a Reese fan for life, and I CANNOT wait for book #2!! Thank you for the ARC!!!
October 4, 2025
First, thank you to Reese for the eARC! I’m grateful to have read this one in advanced!
This was a good read! I liked it but didn’t love unfortunately.. this was more of a 3.5 ⭐️ for me. I really loved the tropes this book has and I would still recommend this to others as this story has potential!
However, I had a hard time connecting with this one.. I didn’t get into it as much as I wish. You got a good feel of the world building and plot from the beginning but something was just missing it for me and I’m still trying to figure out what was missing. I think it just didn’t flow right for me as it felt a little scattered and got me a little confused. And it started to feel really slow half way through to where I was losing interest 🥹
But I did think the realms were very cool and enjoyed how those were described in this story but overall it wasn’t for me.
This was a good read! I liked it but didn’t love unfortunately.. this was more of a 3.5 ⭐️ for me. I really loved the tropes this book has and I would still recommend this to others as this story has potential!
However, I had a hard time connecting with this one.. I didn’t get into it as much as I wish. You got a good feel of the world building and plot from the beginning but something was just missing it for me and I’m still trying to figure out what was missing. I think it just didn’t flow right for me as it felt a little scattered and got me a little confused. And it started to feel really slow half way through to where I was losing interest 🥹
But I did think the realms were very cool and enjoyed how those were described in this story but overall it wasn’t for me.
August 25, 2025
Serene had me laughing so hard she was funny as well as badass. Koen was to die for he was so protective and caring. My mind was whirling with all the secrets that came to light. If you’re into a slow burn fantasy book this would be a good choice.
October 16, 2025
What to say? I really enjoyed this. I was hooked from the beginning. Definitely looking forward to the next one!
The tension and the banter?? I’m here for it
Definitely an enemies to lovers vibe with kings and queens..
Plus that plot twist and that cliffhanger?!
The tension and the banter?? I’m here for it
Definitely an enemies to lovers vibe with kings and queens..
Plus that plot twist and that cliffhanger?!
December 19, 2025
DON'T BUY FROM THIS AUTHOR. SHE SCAMS PEOPLE AND TAKES THEIR MONEY IN EXCHANGE FOR SHITTY PRODUCTS.
August 29, 2025
ARC Review for “Scroched” by @author_reesesherron 🔥 ⚠️ Some Slight Spoilers Ahead! ⚠️🔥
First, I want to say, that ending?! Reese… girl… we need that book two 🫣
Now for the review: This book reminded me of Hunger Games meets fantasy book world. I love the perfect blend of modern to this whole other world. Our FMC goes on an adventure to Alaska to try and find her sister and end ups in this whole fantastical world where she’s captured by these two princes (who, by the way, become pretty close 😉) and is eventually thrown into these survival type games by another royal (let’s not ruin the surprise here…). Throughout the story we get to hear about all sorts of magical beasts (we’re talking elemental horses, dragons, etc).
Overall, this book was a fun read! A huge improvement in writing and a big round of applause on the growth of this author. She really truly put her heart and soul into this. 🤗
Rating: 4/5 ✨
First, I want to say, that ending?! Reese… girl… we need that book two 🫣
Now for the review: This book reminded me of Hunger Games meets fantasy book world. I love the perfect blend of modern to this whole other world. Our FMC goes on an adventure to Alaska to try and find her sister and end ups in this whole fantastical world where she’s captured by these two princes (who, by the way, become pretty close 😉) and is eventually thrown into these survival type games by another royal (let’s not ruin the surprise here…). Throughout the story we get to hear about all sorts of magical beasts (we’re talking elemental horses, dragons, etc).
Overall, this book was a fun read! A huge improvement in writing and a big round of applause on the growth of this author. She really truly put her heart and soul into this. 🤗
Rating: 4/5 ✨
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 4, 2025
I was terribly lost in this one. My mutuals kept giving it five stars, so I was desperate to grab a copy of this book. I feel like I read a vastly different book than my mutuals.
I was confused half the time. We were moving so fast and so much was not explained. For a book of its length, you’d think everything would be explained clear enough, but I felt like chunks were missing. We could’ve removed portions of unexplained things in this book to explain other things and I still would’ve been lost.
Their writing just wasn’t to the standard that I am used to. I’m a big supporter of indie works. I read significantly more indie works than traditional published ones. Yet this one felt like it just wasn’t near the standard as the others. The writing was clunky, the story didn’t feel fully thought out, and like I said, I was lost so often.
Thank you to Reese Sherron for an ARC of this book.
I was confused half the time. We were moving so fast and so much was not explained. For a book of its length, you’d think everything would be explained clear enough, but I felt like chunks were missing. We could’ve removed portions of unexplained things in this book to explain other things and I still would’ve been lost.
Their writing just wasn’t to the standard that I am used to. I’m a big supporter of indie works. I read significantly more indie works than traditional published ones. Yet this one felt like it just wasn’t near the standard as the others. The writing was clunky, the story didn’t feel fully thought out, and like I said, I was lost so often.
Thank you to Reese Sherron for an ARC of this book.
August 23, 2025
4.5 🌟 I was lucky enough to get an ARC of Scorched, and I absolutely devoured it. I read the entire book in one sitting. The characters are interesting, and the depth and development is nice. I really like some of the friends the FMC makes, and some of the characters are very appropriately hateable. Some of the storyline is obvious, but some of the twists I didn't see coming at all, and the ending was WOW. Can't wait to get a chance to read the next book and see where the story goes.
November 5, 2025
I followed along the authors journey, on instagram, while she was writing this book for some time so I was very happy to receive an advanced copy. It was a very long book. The magic system was interesting, it had a decent plot and there was a lot of information about the world. Sometimes it was a little confusing because of that. There's trials, magic, prophecies and more.
Actual rating: 3.5 stars
Actual rating: 3.5 stars
September 8, 2025
I am thankful for the ARC opportunity, but sadly the book wasn’t for me and I DNFed it.
The writing was bad and I had a hard time following the storyline, and it just made me confused. Like suddenly they’re in a cave and then they are in a forest, and I am just sitting there wondering how did they get there?🤣
The writing was bad and I had a hard time following the storyline, and it just made me confused. Like suddenly they’re in a cave and then they are in a forest, and I am just sitting there wondering how did they get there?🤣
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 18, 2025
Cool concept and the vibes were strong…definitely some unique worldbuilding going on. But the pacing felt uneven and I didn’t fully connect with the characters. Still, I’m curious enough to keep going with the series.
Read
September 5, 2025I really wanted to love this book and I wish the author the best, but this book just didn't hit the mark for me. I am DNFing at 23%.
Things that bothered me:
The FMC speaks in a non-modern way, but is supposed to be from Seattle.
The FMC and her half-sister were hiking in a snowstorm in Alaska and seemed highly unprepared. They have iced eyelashes and probably frostbite, but are magically ok once they get into a cave.
The portal to a fantasy world didn't work for me.
I didn't connect with any characters by 1/4 of the way through the book.
The writing felt rushed and choppy. I didn't get the world building, the storyline was confusing, and it felt as it things needed to be researched more. Perhaps it would've made sense by the end, but I wasn't engaged enough to continue.
Thank you Reese Sherron for the eARC. These are my honest opinions.
Things that bothered me:
The FMC speaks in a non-modern way, but is supposed to be from Seattle.
The FMC and her half-sister were hiking in a snowstorm in Alaska and seemed highly unprepared. They have iced eyelashes and probably frostbite, but are magically ok once they get into a cave.
The portal to a fantasy world didn't work for me.
I didn't connect with any characters by 1/4 of the way through the book.
The writing felt rushed and choppy. I didn't get the world building, the storyline was confusing, and it felt as it things needed to be researched more. Perhaps it would've made sense by the end, but I wasn't engaged enough to continue.
Thank you Reese Sherron for the eARC. These are my honest opinions.
October 8, 2025
i have a lot of thoughts
arc rating & review:
🌟🌟🌟🌟
first of all, i might have some frustrating points that i make, but i really did enjoy this overall. the four stars is not even close to a bad rating and it was a really good book! i was so greatful to have been added to the arc team for this book and it still was one of my most anticipated books this year!
let’s start with the good:
first of all, our fmc?!? LOVE HER!!!! she is so strong and will never back down from a fight. she gets thrust into this new world and even not knowing where she was or who the people were, she was still fighting them at every turn. she fought tooth and nail for herself and the ones she loved. god forbid you even mention someone she loves and she will turn your ass into ASH (iykyk). she was also kind and loving. i could FEEL her frustration and hurt throughout the entire book. and the betrayals? the plot twists and the slow reveals? absolutely stunning (but also not because a lot of them hurt my Heart)
I also really loved the side characters and the found family we get. Kaine and theon 🥹 I LOVE THEM! they barely knew serene and they were already standing up for her and their friendship made my heart so happy. i love both of them so dearly and if anything ever happens to them…IM RIOTING!!
and the world?!?! the magic?!? i absolutely adored the world and how the magic worked. at times it was really confusing but i got a good grip on it eventually. it was unique and tied in some really interesting magic and curses that you don’t see often. and the dragons!!! i loved all the different dragons and how serene was so connected to them all. i liked the world a lot and i think the aspect of all the realms being cursed was interesting.
now for the not so good:
first this was reese’s debut and was almost 700 pages so i definitely give her so much credit for what she was able to create in this book.
i really think this could have benefited from being shorter. i think around 500 pages would have been the perfect amount for this. at times, it felt like we were going no where and we would just constantly reiterate a plan that doesn’t even happen until the last 50 pages. the overarching plot was good and i really did like this, but it definitely needed to be a bit shorter for me.
now the relationship. i loved both koen and florian. i feel as though the enemies to lovers was done well, but the back and forth is what frustrated me. one minute she absolutely wanted to murder keon and burn him where he stood, and then 2 pages later she was ready to burn anyone who even looked at him sideways. idk if just got to a point where the miscommunication really started to take me out of the story. and the way they ALL kept their own secrets from serene got old, very fast. i understand why it was set up that way and when you read it you’ll understand, but it got to a point where we just kept getting slammed with new information during battle scenes or even a stupid argument. if just took me out of the story a lot and began to be too much. i feel like if she condensed it a little more, it’d be a bit better. and would make more sense.
now some of the plot twists also did irritate me. it was like we got slammed with all this new information the last 40% and it was one thing after another, after another. i think if it was more evenly spread throughout the book, it would have definitely been a better structure.
honestly with all my complaints, i still had a great time with this. i was so lucky to be part of the arc team and i definitely will pick up book two next year. i just had a lot that frustrated me and i want to be HONEST. i don’t want to withhold my feelings because this is an arc and it was her debut. i truly deeply enjoyed this and im glad i got to read it early. thank you reese for the arc!!! release day is next week ❤️🔥🙂↕️
arc rating & review:
🌟🌟🌟🌟
first of all, i might have some frustrating points that i make, but i really did enjoy this overall. the four stars is not even close to a bad rating and it was a really good book! i was so greatful to have been added to the arc team for this book and it still was one of my most anticipated books this year!
let’s start with the good:
first of all, our fmc?!? LOVE HER!!!! she is so strong and will never back down from a fight. she gets thrust into this new world and even not knowing where she was or who the people were, she was still fighting them at every turn. she fought tooth and nail for herself and the ones she loved. god forbid you even mention someone she loves and she will turn your ass into ASH (iykyk). she was also kind and loving. i could FEEL her frustration and hurt throughout the entire book. and the betrayals? the plot twists and the slow reveals? absolutely stunning (but also not because a lot of them hurt my Heart)
I also really loved the side characters and the found family we get. Kaine and theon 🥹 I LOVE THEM! they barely knew serene and they were already standing up for her and their friendship made my heart so happy. i love both of them so dearly and if anything ever happens to them…IM RIOTING!!
and the world?!?! the magic?!? i absolutely adored the world and how the magic worked. at times it was really confusing but i got a good grip on it eventually. it was unique and tied in some really interesting magic and curses that you don’t see often. and the dragons!!! i loved all the different dragons and how serene was so connected to them all. i liked the world a lot and i think the aspect of all the realms being cursed was interesting.
now for the not so good:
first this was reese’s debut and was almost 700 pages so i definitely give her so much credit for what she was able to create in this book.
i really think this could have benefited from being shorter. i think around 500 pages would have been the perfect amount for this. at times, it felt like we were going no where and we would just constantly reiterate a plan that doesn’t even happen until the last 50 pages. the overarching plot was good and i really did like this, but it definitely needed to be a bit shorter for me.
now the relationship. i loved both koen and florian. i feel as though the enemies to lovers was done well, but the back and forth is what frustrated me. one minute she absolutely wanted to murder keon and burn him where he stood, and then 2 pages later she was ready to burn anyone who even looked at him sideways. idk if just got to a point where the miscommunication really started to take me out of the story. and the way they ALL kept their own secrets from serene got old, very fast. i understand why it was set up that way and when you read it you’ll understand, but it got to a point where we just kept getting slammed with new information during battle scenes or even a stupid argument. if just took me out of the story a lot and began to be too much. i feel like if she condensed it a little more, it’d be a bit better. and would make more sense.
now some of the plot twists also did irritate me. it was like we got slammed with all this new information the last 40% and it was one thing after another, after another. i think if it was more evenly spread throughout the book, it would have definitely been a better structure.
honestly with all my complaints, i still had a great time with this. i was so lucky to be part of the arc team and i definitely will pick up book two next year. i just had a lot that frustrated me and i want to be HONEST. i don’t want to withhold my feelings because this is an arc and it was her debut. i truly deeply enjoyed this and im glad i got to read it early. thank you reese for the arc!!! release day is next week ❤️🔥🙂↕️
October 15, 2025
I’m not going to lie there was a lot of excitement for me going into this ARC read and I’m definitely in the middle on how I feel about it.
I’d like to say a huge congrats to this author for her debut and a thank you for allowing me to read the story. I’m putting my true and honest opinions both good and not so good into this review.
It truly kills me that I didn’t love this book as a whole because some of the quotes and the characters truly were so incredible (love you Koen, you carried). I just needed a little more fluidity and editing, less confusion, errors and plot holes.
The plot line is very high stakes and intense. I felt like every minute of this story was filled with something crazy happening to the MCs and their friends. I was at the edge of my seat a few times reading that and I enjoyed trials the FMC had to go through as well as some of her character growth that shown through.
The premise of this story is really good, the characters all had their own unique personalities and the author tried to show that through their communication instead of telling.
However, I feel like the banter kind of felt forced with most of the relationships the FMC had developed. The love interest was incredible (the man himself) but their relationship felt awkward. A lot of back and forth and although it’s advertised as enemies to lovers I didn’t feel that much. You can say you “hate” someone but that doesn’t make them an “enemy” per se. The beginning “enemy” parts would have been a bit better elongated out maybe.
The world building was very cool, I was definitely interested in the fact that our FMC is from our world and was able to be transported. I also really enjoyed the aspect of shifters and the horses given by the gods. I wish there was definitely more on those details because I felt like it was mostly brushed over.
There were a lot of random flashback info dumps that I feel like could have been threaded throughout the text better. There’s also a huge cheat sheet in the front which I usually like for reference but it was a lot of information all at once and I felt like that also could have been written into the story a little more fluidly. I felt confused a lot. Like maybe things were spliced together at the wrong moments even though the information was good.
Also, although I did enjoy a lot of the high stakes moments, I felt like it wasn’t all needed to get certain points across. There was a decent amount of repetition when it came to talking about certain things the FMC knew/didn’t know and needed to do but less so the actions of them getting that information.
I didn’t really love the FMC character herself, she felt very aggressive and angry always. Extremely rude at times to people in higher power than her and less curious or scared of random creatures and almost dying than I would expect from someone from our world instead of a fantasy world. Especially the moments at times where the language was modern and then would awkwardly shift to “I shall” do this and that. It felt off every time I saw a moment like that…
BUT I did really enjoy watching her character grow. I liked how during the story I could feel her pain and her anger even if I couldn’t connect to her as a whole and I enjoyed watching her get stronger and no longer relying on the men to help guide her. It was a gradual transition and it happened without me realizing which is pretty true to normal life. She didn’t hide from her emotions or rage, they were a part of her and that I can respect.
All of that being said, the book is a decent time. I felt confused and I wish that the author was able to go through a few more rounds of edits when it comes to dialogue, worldbuilding and developmental moments but for people maybe a little less nitpicky and rely more on plot than character emotions and can overlook some things, I definitely got emotional at the end.
I think I’d probably be interested in reading the next book because I was just getting into the romance and I’d be curious to see how things play out and how the author progresses in her writing. I do see a lot of potential in this story and her ideas in general, but I don’t know that I’d be chomping at the bit for it.
I’d like to say a huge congrats to this author for her debut and a thank you for allowing me to read the story. I’m putting my true and honest opinions both good and not so good into this review.
It truly kills me that I didn’t love this book as a whole because some of the quotes and the characters truly were so incredible (love you Koen, you carried). I just needed a little more fluidity and editing, less confusion, errors and plot holes.
The plot line is very high stakes and intense. I felt like every minute of this story was filled with something crazy happening to the MCs and their friends. I was at the edge of my seat a few times reading that and I enjoyed trials the FMC had to go through as well as some of her character growth that shown through.
The premise of this story is really good, the characters all had their own unique personalities and the author tried to show that through their communication instead of telling.
However, I feel like the banter kind of felt forced with most of the relationships the FMC had developed. The love interest was incredible (the man himself) but their relationship felt awkward. A lot of back and forth and although it’s advertised as enemies to lovers I didn’t feel that much. You can say you “hate” someone but that doesn’t make them an “enemy” per se. The beginning “enemy” parts would have been a bit better elongated out maybe.
The world building was very cool, I was definitely interested in the fact that our FMC is from our world and was able to be transported. I also really enjoyed the aspect of shifters and the horses given by the gods. I wish there was definitely more on those details because I felt like it was mostly brushed over.
There were a lot of random flashback info dumps that I feel like could have been threaded throughout the text better. There’s also a huge cheat sheet in the front which I usually like for reference but it was a lot of information all at once and I felt like that also could have been written into the story a little more fluidly. I felt confused a lot. Like maybe things were spliced together at the wrong moments even though the information was good.
Also, although I did enjoy a lot of the high stakes moments, I felt like it wasn’t all needed to get certain points across. There was a decent amount of repetition when it came to talking about certain things the FMC knew/didn’t know and needed to do but less so the actions of them getting that information.
I didn’t really love the FMC character herself, she felt very aggressive and angry always. Extremely rude at times to people in higher power than her and less curious or scared of random creatures and almost dying than I would expect from someone from our world instead of a fantasy world. Especially the moments at times where the language was modern and then would awkwardly shift to “I shall” do this and that. It felt off every time I saw a moment like that…
BUT I did really enjoy watching her character grow. I liked how during the story I could feel her pain and her anger even if I couldn’t connect to her as a whole and I enjoyed watching her get stronger and no longer relying on the men to help guide her. It was a gradual transition and it happened without me realizing which is pretty true to normal life. She didn’t hide from her emotions or rage, they were a part of her and that I can respect.
All of that being said, the book is a decent time. I felt confused and I wish that the author was able to go through a few more rounds of edits when it comes to dialogue, worldbuilding and developmental moments but for people maybe a little less nitpicky and rely more on plot than character emotions and can overlook some things, I definitely got emotional at the end.
I think I’d probably be interested in reading the next book because I was just getting into the romance and I’d be curious to see how things play out and how the author progresses in her writing. I do see a lot of potential in this story and her ideas in general, but I don’t know that I’d be chomping at the bit for it.
September 27, 2025
Scorched is for the fans of hate to love, epic battles with magic, magical horses, dragons and a smart mouthed FMC ready to BURN THE WORLD!
Scorched is about Serene, the FMC, who thinks she comes from Seattle and when her sister goes missing, Serene touches some magic stones which are a portal to another realm. When she comes to in Azure (the Fire realm) she meets brothers Koen and Florian. She becomes entangled in a prophecy of Azure known as the Scorching Queen. I don't want to wreck the plot for you because this book has a lot going on and the adventures that Serene, Koen and Florian go on, whether through battle trials or in trying to uncover the truth of Serene's past, are so fun to read. But be prepared for lots of hardships and suffering and uncovering traumas from the past as well as epic battle trials to try and become one of the Azure Queen's chosen eight warriors.
At first Serene and Koen seem to hate each other. He is arrogant and seems to be despicably nasty to Serene just for fun. Florian also seems to fancy Serene and shows extreme protectiveness over her, but he is just that type of guy. Serene gets a bit of romantic whiplash when all of a sudden Koen's hatefulness seems to turn into tension and the way he BURNS for her. She can't deny any longer that she is completely and utterly drawn to him. Koen definitely gives touch her and die vibes and he longs to kiss her. The romance in this book is all about the tension and yearning and the way they slowly buuuuuurn for each other. Don't expect more than one 🌶️ spice but there are a few good one horse moments!
There is some great banter and flirting between Serene and Koen:
"I thought you said you'd never touch me again? And now your hands will be wrapped around me once more as we ride through the Realms together".
What I really enjoyed in this book was the found family of best friends, Kaine and Theon, and one time enemy Klara. Throughout the battles trials and Serene training to be a warrior and to wield her magic, Kaine and Theon had her back and their quips made me laugh.
There is a lot of world building going on. To explain the realm of Azure, in the prologue there is lots of information about the curses upon the Realms which also explains a little about which element is related to each realm and also the different types of horses of the Gods. This becomes important when Serene enters the Queen's battle trials. I also loved the God's elemental horses and the different types of dragons.
Serene is very outspoken and really has the type of personality where she says the first thing that pops into her mind, so if you don't like that well maybe this story isn't for you. The romance between Koen and Serene is definitely hate to love in my opinion, but when you have such strong feelings, you're usually trying to convince yourself that person is not a good idea 😂
Full list of tropes:
❤️🔥 Yearning and slow buuuuurn
🧨 Strong FMC who can burn people to ash
🐉 Dragons and dragon shifters
🖤 Hate to love / He falls first
🐎 Magical elemental horses
⚔️ Battle games and trials
☠️ Magical curses
🔥 Elemental Gods
🌎 Travel between worlds
👑 Game of thrones
🪄 Magic system with dark magic
🐴 One horse / one dragon
💬 Banter + smart mouths
🧑🧑🧒 Found family
🔮 Prophecies
🔪 Touch her & die
This book was a good introduction to the series. It ends on a really intense cliffhanger and I am a bit scared to see where things go in book two 🫣 Reese that was mean!! I enjoyed the tension and slow buuuurn between Koen and Serene ❤️🔥 and I look forward to both their characters being fleshed out more in book 2.
"I still hate you," I exhale. "Why are you doing this? Let me hate you."
"Because loving you, knowing I can never touch you... will be my forever hell."
Thanks to Reese for providing me a copy of the eARC and this is my honest review.
Scorched is about Serene, the FMC, who thinks she comes from Seattle and when her sister goes missing, Serene touches some magic stones which are a portal to another realm. When she comes to in Azure (the Fire realm) she meets brothers Koen and Florian. She becomes entangled in a prophecy of Azure known as the Scorching Queen. I don't want to wreck the plot for you because this book has a lot going on and the adventures that Serene, Koen and Florian go on, whether through battle trials or in trying to uncover the truth of Serene's past, are so fun to read. But be prepared for lots of hardships and suffering and uncovering traumas from the past as well as epic battle trials to try and become one of the Azure Queen's chosen eight warriors.
At first Serene and Koen seem to hate each other. He is arrogant and seems to be despicably nasty to Serene just for fun. Florian also seems to fancy Serene and shows extreme protectiveness over her, but he is just that type of guy. Serene gets a bit of romantic whiplash when all of a sudden Koen's hatefulness seems to turn into tension and the way he BURNS for her. She can't deny any longer that she is completely and utterly drawn to him. Koen definitely gives touch her and die vibes and he longs to kiss her. The romance in this book is all about the tension and yearning and the way they slowly buuuuuurn for each other. Don't expect more than one 🌶️ spice but there are a few good one horse moments!
There is some great banter and flirting between Serene and Koen:
"I thought you said you'd never touch me again? And now your hands will be wrapped around me once more as we ride through the Realms together".
What I really enjoyed in this book was the found family of best friends, Kaine and Theon, and one time enemy Klara. Throughout the battles trials and Serene training to be a warrior and to wield her magic, Kaine and Theon had her back and their quips made me laugh.
There is a lot of world building going on. To explain the realm of Azure, in the prologue there is lots of information about the curses upon the Realms which also explains a little about which element is related to each realm and also the different types of horses of the Gods. This becomes important when Serene enters the Queen's battle trials. I also loved the God's elemental horses and the different types of dragons.
Serene is very outspoken and really has the type of personality where she says the first thing that pops into her mind, so if you don't like that well maybe this story isn't for you. The romance between Koen and Serene is definitely hate to love in my opinion, but when you have such strong feelings, you're usually trying to convince yourself that person is not a good idea 😂
Full list of tropes:
❤️🔥 Yearning and slow buuuuurn
🧨 Strong FMC who can burn people to ash
🐉 Dragons and dragon shifters
🖤 Hate to love / He falls first
🐎 Magical elemental horses
⚔️ Battle games and trials
☠️ Magical curses
🔥 Elemental Gods
🌎 Travel between worlds
👑 Game of thrones
🪄 Magic system with dark magic
🐴 One horse / one dragon
💬 Banter + smart mouths
🧑🧑🧒 Found family
🔮 Prophecies
🔪 Touch her & die
This book was a good introduction to the series. It ends on a really intense cliffhanger and I am a bit scared to see where things go in book two 🫣 Reese that was mean!! I enjoyed the tension and slow buuuurn between Koen and Serene ❤️🔥 and I look forward to both their characters being fleshed out more in book 2.
"I still hate you," I exhale. "Why are you doing this? Let me hate you."
"Because loving you, knowing I can never touch you... will be my forever hell."
Thanks to Reese for providing me a copy of the eARC and this is my honest review.
October 23, 2025
A Bookish Co. Review
Scorched
4.25⭐️
by Reese Sherron
🦖 2025 Book 53/150 📚
Outdoorsy Seattle Girl Serene Quinnell has had a happy life. Her best friend Alice and sister Tileatha, “ Tilly” are inseparable. When Tilly goes solo hiking in Alaska, and doesn’t return- Serene and Alice jump on the first flight to the Great Outdoors to find their missing trio member. While searching for Tilly, they get trapped on a mountainside in the middle of a snowstorm and separated in a cave. The cave appears to magically call to them- and they stumble upon a mysterious set of 5 colored stones which transport them to a realm the inhabitants are horribly cursed.
Upon waking, Serene is captured and discovers that she may be the long lost last descendant of the gods’ chosen royal family. The current Queen has no intention of letting her gain power or assisting her. In order to find her missing sister and friend, she is left with 1 choice- survive a fight to the death in the Gods’ trials and games with 99 battle hardened warriors who have trained their entire lives. Two princes who have been promised to other kingdoms to keep the balance of power, quickly become enmeshed with Serene. One is the future King of the Realm, the other is the Bastard brother who would do anything to get out of his vowed mission to keep Serene from finding her sister and the truth about her past. She is more powerful than any other person alive and only has to remember it.
What doesn’t this book have?
Tropes We Love-
⏳Time Travel 🧳
♥️Doomed Love
⚔️Trials & Games
🌌Magic Realms
☠️Cursed Kingdoms
🫦 Slow Burn Banter
🐦🔥Mythical Creatures 🐉
👇Touch Her & Die Vibes
My loves about this book- the magic system, magical creatures and whirlwind of the character realizing that she was originally part of this world. I love the idea of a forgotten love that wrecks the world. I love the almost love triangle and the unrequited love from one side. I also love the sacrifice for family that is evident throughout. I also would love to know about the healers and the healing waters.
I wish there had been more depth on how and why they got through the stones. Who smuggled them through? Who took their memories and how/why? I want to know what in the heck happened to Alice? I can’t BELIEVE she “cliffhanger”ed us. Reese, come ON, man… I was over here in the library, just finishing the last page on my Kindle when I gasped SO LOUD that the whole library turned to see if I was ok. The gasp I GASPED 😂 The story is an awesome idea and world. I would love more world building, history, redemption for certain characters, and revenge upon all of the problem children - you know whom they all are. Anyways, looking forward to Book # 2 in 2026. The cliffhanger is rude, but I will let that slide!
I had the absolute pleasure to be an ARC reader for this book!
Scorched
4.25⭐️
by Reese Sherron
🦖 2025 Book 53/150 📚
Outdoorsy Seattle Girl Serene Quinnell has had a happy life. Her best friend Alice and sister Tileatha, “ Tilly” are inseparable. When Tilly goes solo hiking in Alaska, and doesn’t return- Serene and Alice jump on the first flight to the Great Outdoors to find their missing trio member. While searching for Tilly, they get trapped on a mountainside in the middle of a snowstorm and separated in a cave. The cave appears to magically call to them- and they stumble upon a mysterious set of 5 colored stones which transport them to a realm the inhabitants are horribly cursed.
Upon waking, Serene is captured and discovers that she may be the long lost last descendant of the gods’ chosen royal family. The current Queen has no intention of letting her gain power or assisting her. In order to find her missing sister and friend, she is left with 1 choice- survive a fight to the death in the Gods’ trials and games with 99 battle hardened warriors who have trained their entire lives. Two princes who have been promised to other kingdoms to keep the balance of power, quickly become enmeshed with Serene. One is the future King of the Realm, the other is the Bastard brother who would do anything to get out of his vowed mission to keep Serene from finding her sister and the truth about her past. She is more powerful than any other person alive and only has to remember it.
What doesn’t this book have?
Tropes We Love-
⏳Time Travel 🧳
♥️Doomed Love
⚔️Trials & Games
🌌Magic Realms
☠️Cursed Kingdoms
🫦 Slow Burn Banter
🐦🔥Mythical Creatures 🐉
👇Touch Her & Die Vibes
My loves about this book- the magic system, magical creatures and whirlwind of the character realizing that she was originally part of this world. I love the idea of a forgotten love that wrecks the world. I love the almost love triangle and the unrequited love from one side. I also love the sacrifice for family that is evident throughout. I also would love to know about the healers and the healing waters.
I wish there had been more depth on how and why they got through the stones. Who smuggled them through? Who took their memories and how/why? I want to know what in the heck happened to Alice? I can’t BELIEVE she “cliffhanger”ed us. Reese, come ON, man… I was over here in the library, just finishing the last page on my Kindle when I gasped SO LOUD that the whole library turned to see if I was ok. The gasp I GASPED 😂 The story is an awesome idea and world. I would love more world building, history, redemption for certain characters, and revenge upon all of the problem children - you know whom they all are. Anyways, looking forward to Book # 2 in 2026. The cliffhanger is rude, but I will let that slide!
I had the absolute pleasure to be an ARC reader for this book!
October 8, 2025
Thank you to Reese Sherron for an advanced reader copy of this book!
4.5 stars - I finished this half an hour ago and have been staring at the wall since, what an ending! Serene has solidified herself as one of my new fave fmc’s! She’s so fierce, protective, strong, and resilient!
This story follows Serene, who’s looking for her sister Tilly with her friend Alice, who disappeared in the mountains in Alaska. Upon entering a cave she gets lulled by a voice and accidentally passes through into the magical, cursed realm of Azure, where she’s abruptly kidnapped and taken to the dungeons. She has no idea where she is, why she’s here, and neither do her kidnapper Koen or Prince Florian. But there’s something about Serene they can’t shake. The Prince drags her along with him and after receiving a prophecy, he takes her to the Queen to find out what to do with this mysterious woman who’s passed into their realm. The Queen decides she could be a potential threat and throws her into the yearly trial (to let fate handle her) that breaks one of the cursed realms temporarily after a final eight is chosen, that no woman has ever entered. How will Serene navigate the threats coming her way, while trying to find her sister, all while protecting herself and her heart from the dangers around her?
I don’t want to spoil any of this even in a summary because I think it’s better to read as you go but WOW! This had so much that I look for in a book: curses, an actual forbidden love, trials, loveable side characters, a fierce fmc, and so much tension! This kept me hooked every chapter and I loved uncovering more of the story and having my questions answered as more was revealed! I loved the realm of Azure and the magic system that Reese built, and of course the elemental horses and dragons!
That ending though???? I need Submerged ASAP because I can’t be left hanging like that!
4.5 stars - I finished this half an hour ago and have been staring at the wall since, what an ending! Serene has solidified herself as one of my new fave fmc’s! She’s so fierce, protective, strong, and resilient!
This story follows Serene, who’s looking for her sister Tilly with her friend Alice, who disappeared in the mountains in Alaska. Upon entering a cave she gets lulled by a voice and accidentally passes through into the magical, cursed realm of Azure, where she’s abruptly kidnapped and taken to the dungeons. She has no idea where she is, why she’s here, and neither do her kidnapper Koen or Prince Florian. But there’s something about Serene they can’t shake. The Prince drags her along with him and after receiving a prophecy, he takes her to the Queen to find out what to do with this mysterious woman who’s passed into their realm. The Queen decides she could be a potential threat and throws her into the yearly trial (to let fate handle her) that breaks one of the cursed realms temporarily after a final eight is chosen, that no woman has ever entered. How will Serene navigate the threats coming her way, while trying to find her sister, all while protecting herself and her heart from the dangers around her?
I don’t want to spoil any of this even in a summary because I think it’s better to read as you go but WOW! This had so much that I look for in a book: curses, an actual forbidden love, trials, loveable side characters, a fierce fmc, and so much tension! This kept me hooked every chapter and I loved uncovering more of the story and having my questions answered as more was revealed! I loved the realm of Azure and the magic system that Reese built, and of course the elemental horses and dragons!
That ending though???? I need Submerged ASAP because I can’t be left hanging like that!
September 29, 2025
This book had me so hooked right from the start! It is a ride in the best way. It has dragons, magic from gods, realms and wars that raged, battle games and first woman to be in the games and FMC who is strong, burns enemies to ash, will do anything for those she loves, rides the last fire horse, MMC who is top tier touch her and die, do anything for her including die for her! Just all the feels and emotions and even laughed at her bond and relationship with found family in the chosen. Last 10% is a whole lot of emotional mind f*uck so strap yourself in for that.
A couple of my favourite quotes and parts:
“You are the Queen,” she whispers. “It’s time for you to start acting like one. Rise, my Scorching Queen. Rise for the dragons. Rise for your people."
My lips part before tightening into a trembling line. “I can’t have you die over this.”
“Together.” His breath brushes against my head. “When your heart stops beating, so does mine.”
I pull away, eyes flickering between his emerald eyes that are glazed as a tear escapes. “You can’t.”
“I will have nothing more to live for.” He leans closer. “You are my life. My heart. My air. A life without you could never be a life,” Koen exhales. “I’d give you my heart, over and over again, just so you could live. I’d give you my heart in every single life if I could protect you.”
“Koen,” I exhale.
I cannot wait for book 2 which I NEED like now 😫
A couple of my favourite quotes and parts:
“You are the Queen,” she whispers. “It’s time for you to start acting like one. Rise, my Scorching Queen. Rise for the dragons. Rise for your people."
My lips part before tightening into a trembling line. “I can’t have you die over this.”
“Together.” His breath brushes against my head. “When your heart stops beating, so does mine.”
I pull away, eyes flickering between his emerald eyes that are glazed as a tear escapes. “You can’t.”
“I will have nothing more to live for.” He leans closer. “You are my life. My heart. My air. A life without you could never be a life,” Koen exhales. “I’d give you my heart, over and over again, just so you could live. I’d give you my heart in every single life if I could protect you.”
“Koen,” I exhale.
I cannot wait for book 2 which I NEED like now 😫
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