Capturing the King of Flames

Kings of Disaster #1

by Lola Glass

I woke up in a magical world with a hot fae king who thinks I’m his mate.

One moment, I’m asleep in my crappy apartment, having nightmares about the stack of overdue bills on my table. The next I’m in an entirely different world, being told I’ve been magically married to a gorgeous, insane fae king who keeps looking at me like he wants to eat me… in one way or another.

He thinks that I belong to him, and says that if he has to, he'll burn the whole world down to keep me.

I may not be from this place, but it's looking like I’m the only one who can tame the king. And if I can’t… well, then we're all going to go up in flames.

Genres: Fantasy, Fae, Romance, Paranormal, Fantasy Romance, Romantasy, Magic

234 pages, ebook

First published December 12, 2022

About the author

Hi, I’m Lola! I’m a book lover with a *slight* romance obsession. My books are all steamy romantic fantasy or paranormal romance, and there is always a happily ever after.

Stop by my Facebook group, Lola's Book Lovers, for updates, giveaways and other fun!

For a full list of my work, check out my website https://www.authorlolaglass.com/

Thanks for reading!
All the love,
Lola Glass <3

Reviews

[Sweet and Salty Reviews by DD · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ivy got on my nerves.

Yes, that is the line I chose to open with. She became redundant.... " I wasn't a small girl", and "he made me feel small" .... too much focus on making it clear Ivy was a big girl. For me it's like so what. Sure, make a clear description but then own it. Make it sexy. Women of all sizes are sexy. Just got icky for me.

Tariq was a cool character. The world build was interesting. Honestly, I will pick up book 2 with hopes of a turn to the positive.

Happy reading,
DD

[Stillbelieveinnightmares (busy) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

Honestly? I devoured this. Tariq changing from being all rough to growing softer with Ivy? I melted, same as her. Definitely my weak spot. Having a body positive plus size FMC? Yes please! 🙌🏻

Sometimes the pacing felt rushed, I think the story would've profited from more detail at a point or two.
What irked me the most was that there were 2-3 phrases the author seemed to enjoy using, and unfortunately that felt very repetitive to me. But seriously, I'm complaining on a high comfort level here (except the "brutalizing my mouth" thing, that's just 100% cringeworthy to me).

Tropes
🌊mates
🔥he falls first
🌊touch her and die
🔥found family
🌊and the old time classic: wake up in another world mated to a supernatural being you didn't know existed, who needs to be kissed to keep his magic in check and not lose his sanity

[2TNWalkers · Rating 1 out of 5]

30% in and barely any conversation between FMC and MMC and are the only characters so far. Lost interest before it got interesting?

[Leah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh well... 🤡

Rating: ⭐⭐.5
Spice Meter: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Chemistry: 🔥

[Kat · Rating 2 out of 5]

F for Ivy

The story started off fresh and intriguing with the intro, but Ivy's inner monologue and shallow personality quickly overwhelmed the good.

Here's a snip from early in the story to give you an idea of Ivy's thought process throughout the novel:

𝘐’𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐’𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘥. 𝘈 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨… 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦. 𝘔𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘥.

Ivy doesn't like to be told she's wrong. She is massively insecure but refuses to better herself in any way, especially when it comes to her weight. Oh, and her mother is "bad" because she is vocal about her thoughts on health. Therefore, the majority of Ivy's time is spent trying to "love" things about herself that she expects others to immediately love — even though she personally can't. I mean, I could have supported it had the story not taken such pains to describe her every flab.

If this had been the only turn-off, I could have easily rated the story much higher, but all the positivety Ivy has gets flushed down the drain by her insecurities. I mean Tariq, even while out of control due to the excessive magic takes care of this woman nonstop, if he didn't she'd be dead dead — and rightly so. For instance, this bish is talking up her curves one moment only to say that "they shouldn't expect a person like me to run faster" the next. I just can't take it seriously. There's not 1 moment this woman isn't a liability. She's completely pitiable and horrendously unattractive at the same time. The descriptions given to her aren't complimentary in any way, and they don't behoove Ivy's image by having her naked right after all those less than appealing descriptions.

I'm sure this was supposed to be a body positive romance novel, but it's not. There's 0 subtly in the opinions shared throughout arguments and inner monolgues. The basis for most of the narrative preached by Ivy is "because MY feelings".

I mean in one story, all men are made out to be chronic cheaters while women are saints. And then directly after that, Ivy lies to Tariq about being a virgin. So even though she doesn't plan on being faithful to him, she wants to use him to sate her lust despite being soul bound. The double standards would be funny if they weren't 100% dead ass.

There were moments in the story that were pretty funny, and several unique ideas that would have been very solid if it weren't for the weak FMC Ivy. The men were strong characters, even Harper was stronger than Ivy in my opinion — though instead of being Insecure she was just combative for the sake of fighting.

Consequently, the novel suffered from blatant bias and the near dogmatic approach of writing style. This could have been so much more, but the gems got lost in all the 💩

[Neusitas · Rating 3 out of 5]

6,75 / 10 ⭐️
Romantasy / Compañeros predestinados

Ivy se despierta en un otro mundo con un atractivo hombre encima. Pensando que es un sueño erótico lo besa. El rey fae del fuego está ‘maldito’ y sus besos son los únicos que pueden devolverle la cordura.

Bueno, me recordó un poco a los Ice Plante Barbarians pero con faes. Aunque los libros de esta saga son más cortos y menos hot. Pero ya veo que serán muy entretenidos y rápidos de leer.
A por el siguiente 😉

A nadie le amarga un dulce ni un par de faes buenorros 😜

[Luna ♡ · Rating 2 out of 5]

one word: a mess

[Mira · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book just wasn’t good. I don’t like to DNF, so I finished it thinking maybe it would get an actual plot… but not really.

[Yarrow · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I appreciate a chubby fmc, it's rarely done well, and this wasn't it imo. As a fat woman, I don't constantly think about my body and disparage it. And while we all have moments of self consciousness, this felt over the top. Ivy's mood came across completely unregulated, and needing a partner of balance her codependency. Can I get a fat interdependent fmc please?

I also felt like there was a moment where things were going to turn into a feeding kink. Forcing food into someone's mouth because they're losing weight, isn't any different than taking food away from someone because they're gaining it. Let women eat. Let women's bodies get bigger and smaller.

I will still give the next book in this series a try, whenever it comes out. But this one missed the mark for me.

[Snow Books · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tiene muchos errores estructurales y argumentales. Teniendo en cuenta que se basa en un mundo fantástico y este es su primer libro, lo importante sería describir el escenario, pero no se ha logrado

Además, la relación amorosa, lo principal del libro, tiene comportamientos tóxicos que no creo que sean muy recomendables de representar en un libro.Hay escenas spicy pero se relatan de una forma brusca.

Es una pena porque en el fondo la historia parecía buena, pero en la práctica se queda muy flojo.

[sairs_readsandreviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this, I would say it was a good little palate cleanser for me!

I enjoyed the relationship between the main characters and their spice but I will caveat that I think the plot was a little silly in a way and you kind of had to suspend belief quite a lot 😂
(Even though it’s a fantasy!)

What I mean by that is that this book is not working super hard to make you believe in this couple’s journey or building up a slow burn, this is insta lust / insta love and it’s very clear the other couples are being added as set ups for their own books. There’s not masses of work to convince you as a reader about what’s going on, you are dropped in right away and getting it on is a key factor immediately to the progression of the story. Is it verging on non-con? To begin with it’s kissing but it is essential and all the female characters have to do it for survival. So I related to Ivy in that - hot man gotta kiss him? Yeah if I was her, I’d be all over that but when we came to the other characters who had different experiences it was a bit cringey and not hot. It’s a convenient way to just open up the door for spice and relationships I suppose and Ivy had no problems with that 😂
I’m intrigued to see how that plays out in the other books, those other characters were not focused on and were just sort of there for a lot of the book so you do need to probably read the other books to flesh their experiences out. I presume we will get different scenarios and not just their version of events!

There were a couple of things that I didn’t appreciate which included Ivy’s self loathing at times and her unhealthy views of relationships. Her thoughts were relatable about her size and I didn’t mind that but when she said something along the lines of not minding suffering for the type of love she wanted that really felt like a hard pill to swallow. No one should have to suffer physical pain to be loved and I wish that was counteracted in some way to challenge her thoughts about that.

I’ve read some of this author before and they are definitely lighter than some of my usual reads and feel a bit more casual and light hearted which I quite like from time to time. I did enjoy the world building and the mythologies created, names of the male characters? Hmm not so much..

I don’t tend to overthink books too much and I do forgive a lot whilst reading, but I could definitely see how this fmc and her personality are a little problematic at times.

So whilst the premise is a little… silly shall we say, that didn’t detract from the story for me, it was a fun story whose characters I enjoyed, they were hot and I found the journey endearing.

[Jennifer Moreno · Rating 2 out of 5]

¿Podemos hablar de por qué ahora todo tiene porno?

Es que ni siquiera es romantasy es porno, porno y más porno 😭 basta, me arruinan la fantasía

[bella fazzati · Rating 3 out of 5]

another silly goofy time with miss lola glass, i'll probably never stop to reading her books, they always works for me ❤️‍🩹✨

[Lizzie McNally · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was an easy read but i enjoyed it.

[Helena · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was not a winner for me - I don’t want to include any spoilers, so I will just say that forced proximity/insta lust plot device wasn’t convincing for me and didn’t engage me. And at the same time we have a fish out of water FMC whose reactions to the situations she is in just didn’t resonate with me.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got half way through reading this book to realize I have I have already read this book before 🤦🏻‍♀️

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seems to be a promising start to a series

*May contain spoilers*

Likes:
Elemental magic
Curvy girl representation
The human females aren't cookie cutter, they all bring their own experiences (positive and negative) into the story.
New (to me) dynamic of how the MMC and MFC find each other/have to interact to communicate
Visually impaired person representation as well as someone who has a prosthetic limb.
Some characters learning to overcome their past, more difficult for some than others.
The banter
The spice

Aspects that either felt "off" or had me confused:
The characters that brought the humans to this world. Who are they? Where are they? How did they do it? They're briefly mentioned but that's all.

Aside from a couple fights and the spice, the majority of the time throughout the book the characters were walking. Alot. Beginning, middle and end, they were walking. I get they were traveling to find the people and places they needed to find, but no horses, no carriages, there was one time the MMC magically transported the MFC but (due to circumstances) couldn't for the remainder of the book. So they and everyone else with them walked. Lots of walking.

Magic is present but not nearly as much as what I hoped for. Fingers crossed that the second book provides more.

I'm not against cussing and I know some characters are written to do so. That said, it felt like overkill and as if the f bomb was being dropped every other line.

The MMC showed kindness and a loving nature to Storms niece, Dove, when we are first introduced to her but he doesn't seem to interact with her at all afterwards.

Quake's sister is said to have kept him and his mate in the situation we find them in when first introduced to them. However, once Quake and the mate are rescued, the sister runs up to hug him and ask what the plan is. Her character specifically seems to disappear shortly after she's introduced. Mentioned, brief interaction here and there and then forgotten.

After Ivy is injured, she describes the room she wakes up in. I figured from the discription it was Flame's residence. And I know they stayed there for several days. I believe it was five? They were going to leave and continue their journey. In the following chapter, it's mentioned as they are getting ready to sleep on the ground, that after sleeping in beds at the inn, it was an adjustment. I thought, "when did they go to an inn? This is the first time they mentioned an inn". Then I went back and figured that's where she woke up at.
Additional Inconsistencies or lack of context clues.

All that said, the pros do outweigh the rest and I kept in mind this is the first book of the series. I was able to still enjoy most of the story enough to where I grabbed book two. I'd like to see where this goes. It's a promising storyline and has diverse characters. So, definitely give it a shot.

[Allison Ripley-Duggan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it!

It was so enticing that I couldn’t put it down, this book grabbed my interest from the very first page. I had to know what happened next. The story is well written with a very good storyline. This series has five books. They are recommended for ages 17+ due to language and sexual content. Each book in this series is steamy connected standalones and follows a different couple with their own happily ever after, and the stories can be read in any order (but recommended to read them in order for best understanding) for they each end with a lead-in to the next couple's book. This is the first standalone book in the Kings of Destruction series. This a story about a woman named Ivy (Vriva by her mate) and a man named Tariq (Flame by his people and Torch by his mate when his magic possesses him), who is the King of Flames. She woke up in a magical world with a hot fae king who thinks she’s his mate. One moment, she’s asleep in her crappy apartment, having nightmares about the stack of overdue bills on her table, and the next, she’s in an entirely different world, being told she’s been magically married to a gorgeous, insane fae king who keeps looking at her like he wants to eat her, in one way or another. He thinks that she belongs to him, and says that if he has to, he'll burn the whole world down to keep her. She may not be from this place, but it's looking like she’s the only one who can tame the king, and if she can’t, well then they're all going to go up in flames. So with all that and more this story pulls you in and holds you tight. I can’t wait to read the next story in the series. I highly recommend to everyone.

[Ava · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don’t even know why I read this. Probably because it was a fairly short one and I hate dropping books, but woooow, what a waste of time!!!!!
I had so many issues with this!

1st - the book starts with a female man character, that’s just has to go on and on and on and on and on (you get the point) about her full figure. I understand this is tough and impacts a lot of your everyday, but seriously…. It was so much it was just annoying

2nd - the main male is for 80% of the book not quite there. He is an “insane state”, as the main female keeps repeating, but is really more like a weird comatose state that follows her every step. There is no character to get to know

3rd - the main female is so very happy to get off on his finger several times, night after night. So much so that she falls in love with him because he doesn’t expect her to do the same - where do I unpack this. I mean - really?!? While you may enjoy the fun of it, wouldn’t you kind of enjoy to get him off too? Doesn’t it feel kind of wrong to again and again, night after night not do it? And is that really something to fall in love over?????? I mean there is seriously no chance to fall in love for character reasons, so this is really the only tour the book CAN take, but is it really a story worth telling then????

It’s also kind of boring to read….
All he ever does is grope her ass, get her off with his fingers and catch her before she falls… excitement is supposed to come along by the others overhearing them (often). She thinks she oh so great, because she figured out that kissing him makes him sane for a while, but that’s really her only achievement throughout the book - woo freaking hoo… 😒

[Jona]

¿Lo mucho que he disfrutado todo lo que he leído de Lola Glass y lo mucho que me ha disgustado éste? Ivy me ha parecido un personaje molesto cuya personalidad y pensamientos se resumían en "Oh soy gorda nadie me quiere" "Puf, estoy súper caliente siempre porque este rey es sexy y además llevo mucho sin sexo porque estoy gorda" "Mi vida era una mierda, me iban a desahuciar y todo porque estoy gorda" "Uy, pero si este rey sexy me trata bien aunque estoy gorda, cuánto lo amo". Y Flame tampoco es la gran cosa más allá de alguien que gruñe, que quemaría a cualquier persona o cosa por ella, que está caliente 24/7 y que quiere cuidarla y protegerla por encima de todo... Al menos él tiene una historia interesante, pero se comenta de pasada y poco más, tal vez podría haber estado bien si le hubieran dado más líneas que "Eres mía ungaunga" "Quiero probarte" "Eres mi todo".

La idea de que los reyes hayan tenido que tomar más magia y no puedan controlarla así que necesiten la ayuda de sus compañeras, bueno, ni tan mal. También me gusta eso de que tengan que ir por las distintas zonas del mundo buscando a los otros reyes y después x sitios importantes... Pero siento que está todo como muy a trompicones, no llega a ser interesante.

¿Y el romance? Es -0 creíble, surge porque sí, porque están destinados y blahblah. No me intentes hacer creer que se enamoran de verdad mientras pasan los días juntos porque me das cero interacciones entre ellos para que eso sea creíble.

El único punto positivo la mención a Avatar: la leyenda de Aang.

¿Voy a leerme el segundo porque le tengo fe a Glass? Por supuesto.

[Tia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved that the story started out dropping you right in the thick of it. Immediately you get into the main character's headspace and it sets the tone and pace for the rest of the book. It was well written with a good balance of scenery, dialogue, tension, action and spice. The author does a good job of introducing aspects of the characters, their world, customs and history without disturbing the pacing of the book. The main character's sass and personality were endearing and relatable. Her struggles with body image and trust were honest and authentic. At one point she is reflecting on her life and where her habits stem from and I felt SEEN. I was impressed with how strongly it resonated for me. Her level of authenticity definitely contributed to my enjoyment of the tale. It's a fun look at the pros and cons of power and tradition illuminating complications they can cause. It was refreshing to see an Alternate Universe fated mates that didn't make everything seem like automatic honeymoon phase, and explored the impact different past experiences, perspectives and personalities could have in such a situation as well as the work and patience that could still be required. I'll definitely be looking forward to the rest of the series.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Crissy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured this book from beginning to end. This story focuses on four fae kings whose powers control them but with the kiss of their human woman they are able to gain some sort of control long enough to get out of their lands and warn the other kings of what they need to do to help regain control at least for a while. The story starts off with Flame and his human woman Ivy who thinks she's having the best dream only to realize that it isn't a dream at all and she's basically in a volcano with a man that's hotter than anyone she has ever seen before. Flame tells Ivy what she needs to do to survive, and she figures out the rest in order to get him to help her. Their mission is to travel to the other king's land to warn their human woman what to do to help their kings regain some semblance of control even for a little while before they destroy their lands. We meet Storm and his niece Dove and his human mate Harper, and Quake and his human mate Margo in this story. The group still has to travel to Flood and his human mate. This story has great characters, possessive men, strong and sassy women, had me laughing out loud, it's steamy with a sweet and happy ending for Flame and his Virva and I'm looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars

Liked it. Entertained me for a while. Enjoyed the world building and lore of this new fae realm.

I did find it a wee bit jarring how abrupt it all began with no preamble. Took a little while to get a feel for the story, the visuals and the characters and dynamics.

I enjoyed Ivy. I did not enjoy the frequency in which we're reminded how she's a larger curvy girl. This is a *me* issue as a curvy girl myself I hate books with curvy FMCs where that authors never let the reader forget it and/or it is the FMCs entire personality. Thankfully, in this case, Ivy wasn't that type. She just mentioned her size quite a bit for my own patience, but I understood how it shaped how her previous life on earth had been. And Ivy was a bit of a nut once she began to adapt to the new fae world so her inner thoughts were ridiculous in the best way.

Flame, I wish I'd liked more. I did like him but I felt he was pretty flat personality wise. Which I ironically didn't feel this way until I finished the second book about Storm. Because of the noticable difference in how much personality I felt Storm had or got to show the reader. But I did like Flame. He was just absolutely obsessed with Ivy though and their book felt much more sexual in tone than the second one because of it.

Overall, I enjoyed it. It dragged. a few times here and there for me but otherwise it was a interesting read. Not my favorite but not bad at all.

[Stephanie Blatz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

I’ve loved everything I’ve read by Lola Glass, I love the characters and the worlds she builds. I love the way this book start out, when Ivy wakes up in a strange place with a gorgeous dude looming over her and assumes she’s having some sort of steamy dream. When he doesn’t do any more than stare she grabs him
And kisses him which helps him temporarily regain his grip on reality. It is then she realizes that she is not dreaming and they are in fact inside a very volatile volcano that’s about to blow! Tariq (the fae fire king) manages to save them from the volcanos erupting but it takes Ivy a while to figure out what’s going on because she needs to kiss him to bring him back to a few minutes Of lucidity. But she does figure out fairly quickly whichever state he’s in he states at her and is obsessed with her butt. She manages to take all of this in stride and helps him gather his friends (Fae kings of earth, wind and water) who are all in a similar state, struggling with a foreign magic that easily suppresses their consciousness, leaving them in a trance like state which only the kiss of their true mate can break- but only temporarily.

[Heather Nonna’s Book Nook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me start off by saving love Lola glass and her work. This book is no exception. While I would have liked it to be longer which woud have allowed or a more in ceon storine. I very much enjoyed it!

Ivy (human FMC) wakes up in another world with a sexy as sin Tariq(King of the Fire Fae) leaning over her. She is his fated mate and the only one who can save him from his out of control magic. They go on an adventure to find his friends (the other Fae Kings) who have also lost control of their magic.

I love Ivy and Tariq! Their chemistry is off the charts and there are plenty of steamy scenes. What I like most of all is that it isn't insta - love. They don't profess their love until almost the end of the story. Did mention soicet's HOT!! Lola did a fabulous job with the world building and character-development! The story is quite unique and ensnared me quickly. I literally could not put it down once got into it! Thankfully it was a fairly short read(under 300 pages) or I would've been up all night lol. If you love sexy Fae MMCs, Fated Mates and seriously hot SPICE then this book is for you! I can't wait to read the next book in the series.

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoughts:
Imagine waking up on a volcano, underneath a strange man while holding a sword that disappears soon after. That would be strange, right? Ivy wakes up in a different world with a strange man who believes she is his mate. Ivy has grown up with low self-esteem due to her curvy nature. She secretly loves the touchiness of Tariq, she loves the possessiveness, and she loves the protectiveness.

"I fucking get it, I snarled. "You think I'm your damned property."
He squeezed my foot, hard. "No. You are the fuel to my flames and the anchor for my fucking soul. What you are to me is not an object, but a sanctuary." Page 89

Tariq and Ivy must conquer the powers that take possession of Tariq's body and mine. Hilariously, a kiss (and sometimes a touch) from Ivy can wake up Tariq. Along the road, Ivy and Tariq run into other Kings of Disasters and their human partners.

Below this point are a few spoilers.

- Tariq chooses a nickname for Ivy, "Vriva," which he uses 52 times.
- As this is a romance, Ivy and Tariq are going to fall in love. Ivy mentions love on page 171 while Tariq is on page 204.
- Finally, Ivy is the main protagonist voice with 20 chapters, and Tariq and Harper have 1, each respectively.

[Raiany Fernandes · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️

Eu gostei do livro e achei a construção da história ótima. Achei interessante essa inversão de posição de poder, onde as FMC precisam controlar o poder dos MMC. A representatividade PCD 🤎

Porém senti falta de uma construção maior da personalidade da Ivy. Entendi que ela é Curvy e cheia de neura, mas faltou um pouco mais de tchan nela.
E como a maioria do POV é dela, acabou puxando a nota pra baixo.

O tchan que faltou nela veio no Tariq, sinceramente.
Gostoso, grandão, PCD e meio atormentado. 😩
Sim sim sim, o dia inteiro.

_________

I liked the book and thought the construction of the story was great. I found this inversion of power position interesting, where FMCs need to control the power of MMCs. Person with a disability representativeness 🤎

But I missed a bigger construction of Ivy's personality. I understood that she is Curvy and full of self consciousness, but she lacked a little more something .
And since most of the POV is hers, she ended up pulling the grade down.

The something who was missing in her came to Tariq, honestly. Hot, big, Person with a disability and kind of tormented. 😩

Yes, yes, yes, all day.

[The Caffeinated Grimoire · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5☆

I've always been a big fan of Lola's work but her releases this year have been a bit hit and miss for me personally 😔 I loved her Mate Hunt series but her others felt almost forced.

Whilst I didn't hate this book I also didn't love it, but my opinion won't be everyone's so I still recommend reading ♡

When Ivy finds herself on top of a volcano she assumes she's dreaming but the very handsome shirtless man assures her she's not and that his sword his actual sword not metaphorical has chosen her as his mate. Going to sleep and waking up in a completely different world is a bit crazy even for Ivys brain to conjure up. But as Tariq or aka Flames magic continues to grow out of hand it's Ivy that come somehow calm him with something as simple as a kiss. Four kingdoms rule this realm, each has a king whose magic is an element and so they set out to find the other kings and before it's too late and hope that like Ivy their own mates are there to control the other kings from becoming overwhelmed by their power.

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

"You are the fuel to my flames and the anchor for my fucking soul. What you are to me is not an object, but a sanctuary."

4.5 stars!

This was such a great surprise! I admit I was a bit confused in the beginning as the "rules" of this fae world were a bit confusing, but I was ensnared by the chemistry and relationship between Tariq and Ivy. Once the story gets going, I found myself unwilling to stop reading; Ivy was such a fun heroine to follow along as she attempts to navigate her growing feelings for her grumpy fae king and her role in his sanity. This book serves as an introduction to the four kings and their mates, and I am so stoked to continue this series and see how the other mates deal with their forced pairings!

Tropes: fated mates, hate-to-love-you, snarky heroine, alpha j/p hero, forced proximity, he-falls-first, abducted heroine, virgin hero, 'touch her and die' vibes, magical fae world, band of brothers, found family, STEAMY🔥

[Victoria Golby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Steamy start to a new series

I loved this new book by Lola Glass, she has created another great fae world which you can really feel you are in as you read.
It starts with Ivy waking to find she's face to face with Flame (Tariq) and thinking she's in a dream kisses him, which she finds breaks him from the hold of the magic. She learns she's been brought to this new land by magic as she's his mate and their relationship grows quickly, developing really well. They travel through the different fae kingdoms to find Flame's friends (Storm, Quake and Flood) and their human mates, though Ivy finds the fae customs difficult (the men ignore each other's mates so as to not offend them, being the main one).
This can be read as a standalone book but with the other couples introduced I'm sure their stories will follow (they have all started in this one). I can't wait for the next to see what happens.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.