Customer Reviews

Kiss of Fire: A Dragonfire Novel

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

A book was never posted faster to an Amazon Wish List until Vamp Fan Girl saw the cover for Deborah Cooke's 'Kiss of Fire'. Learning that the book featured a hunky dragon shape-shifter and all his hot dragon buddies and it was a definite must have! Boy was I disappointed.

The book could have been really good. In fact, I thought it started off great during the first thirty pages. Sara Keegan is the proud, but somewhat reluctant new owner of her deceased aunt's New Age book store. With a past life as an account, Sara is reasonably skeptical about hocus-pocus. But, when she is saved from a would be murderer by a giant dragon who shape-shifts into a hot guy, she can totally deal. Wonderfully enough, Sara does not become one of those pathetic hysterical heroines who refuse to face the reality that they're the lead in a paranormal romance. So, as you can imagine, I was quite relieved that sensible Sara didn't freak out and instead started having hot fantasies about her hero, Quinn Tyrrell, who unknowingly to Sara, can see her desires being played out in her mind. I say "see" because he cannot read thoughts; he can only see Sara's fantasies.

Quinn, known as the Smith, is a member of a race of shape-shifting dragons called the Pyr. Within the Pyr is a rebel faction bent on destroying all of mankind known as the Slayers. With an affinity for metals Quinn withdrawals himself from his race for two centuries because of his tragic past filled with betrayal. Quinn distrusts any member of the Pyr, whether they are good or evil. But when Quinn saves his mate Sara from a murdering slayer, he realizes that he might need help to keep her safe.

I love a tortured hero plotline!

The sexual tension between Sara and Quinn is really intense in the beginning. They are experiencing a "firestorm" which is a dragon's version of a mating heat. Sparks literally fly when these two touch. I really liked the idea of a firestorm. Again Sara is not alarmed by the heat that makes her sweat profusely every time she is in the vicinity of Quinn. The storm only makes her want Quinn more. Despite what could have been really good tension built up over two hundred pages the author destroys it within 60. Sara and Quinn zoom past first and second base with nary a kiss before languishing at third. In fact, Sara probably would have screamed in pleasure on the way to home if the two didn't have a scheduled meeting with Quinn's Pyr buddies. Because of this I felt cheated. I never really felt that Quinn and Sara were in love. I think that more than anything, they just had the hots for one another. Yes, okay this is a plot device in most, if not all, romance novels, but generally this occurs only in the begining. Eventually true love and passion are experienced but I just didn't feel it in this particular novel.

The action in the book was excellent. Plus, the rest of Quinn's Pyr members looked really interesting, especially Rafferty's heartbreaking desire for his own firestorm.

Anyway, the reason why I gave this book three stares is because I think the author can and will do better on the next addition to the series. Ms. Cooke really had all the elements of a good novel but instead she cheated the characters out of what could have been a real emotional and passionate love story. I intend to pick up her next installment, 'Kiss of Fury' in August of 2008.

Quinn Tyrrell has been alone for centuries. Having watched his family die a horrendous death by fire and having witnessed the demise of his best friend and mentor, he figures being alone is better than being vulnerable. And to Quinn, being in love means being at risk and that is something that he never wants to experience again. As a shape shifting dragon, Quinn is the Smith - able to forge metal and take blasts of fire. Quinn is also coming into what is known as his firestorm. His chosen mate? Sara Keegan, a human.

Sara Keegan left the hustle and bustle of the big city after the death of her parents in order to slow down and enjoy life. Having inherited her favorite aunt's bookstore, Sara just wants to get the books in order and have some sort of order. While Magda, Sara's aunt, was a firm believer in all things magical and psychic, Sara herself does not believe. Attacked one night while leaving her store, Sara swears she saw her rescuer take the form of a dragon. In the blink of an eye however, Sara sees Quinn Tyrrell, a man unlike any she has ever met before.

The firestorm is coming and while Sara begins to believe in the unbelievable, Quinn just wants to keep her safe. As destined mates, more is at hand than a simple mating. Quinn must battle one he thought dead in an epic battle of good versus evil. It will take every bit of his fire skill for Quinn to overcome the complete evil that is following him - but if anyone can do it, the Smith can.

I am going to be honest and say that I initially choose a book based on its cover. Seeing the cover of KISS OF FIRE on Deborah Cooke's website intrigued me greatly. After reading the blurb I admit I was somewhat disconcerted. While I like shape shifters, dragons are not my usual shifting genre of choice. Suffice to say, I will never again disregard a book about shape shifting dragons - especially if the book is written by Deborah Cooke. From beginning to end KISS OF FIRE held me enchanted. Over the course of an entire day all I could do was sit and read. Quinn Tyrrell was not a typical hero for me. He was solitary. He wasn't that thrilled with being a dragon. He basically wanted to be left alone to live his life alone. His destiny came in the form of a tiny human named Sara who rocked his entire world off its foundation. While Sara and Quinn were destined mates, it took more than a few mere words to make Sara a believer. I have to say though, she bucked up under pressure and became the Seer she was meant to be. The fact that she and Quinn fell in love? Icing on a very powerful and fire breathing cake.

Deborah Cooke has definitely made me a fan. I am now lying in wait for the second book in this new and extremely exciting series called KISS OF FURY whose hero, Donovan, is introduced in KISS OF FIRE. August really needs to hurry!

I am a big paranormal fan - so it was with excitement that I picked up his book. I enjoy Claire Delacroix's historical romances. I love dragons - so I dove right in. However - I didn't realize that this was a contemporary urban fantasy novel and there was very little romance in it - and the character development was quite flawed.

For fans of Urban Fantasy genre I am sure that they will enjoy this story. Though I will admit that I did enjoy the world that Cooke has created where a race of the Pyr - ancient shape-shifting dragons that live amongst unsuspecting humans. The Pyr's main objective is to command all of Earth's elements and that includes the human race.

In this first installment of the Dragonfire series, Quinn Tyrell is Pyr. He is the Smith - the one who forges metals and turns them into precious objects.

Sara Keegan is attacked one night as she leaves her new age bookstore. What she thinks is someone mugging her for her purse turns out to be much worse. The man wants her life! Quinn arrives just in time to save her life and Sara is astonished to see two men shape shift into dragons and fight right in front of her eyes.

From then the story catapults into a decent paced and edgy story where Sara is caught in the middle of an ancient feud between the Pyr and the Slayers - dragons that have chosen to embrace the dark side - for complete world domination and the extermination of the human race. Sara is drawn into Quinn's world and into the Firestorm. Sara and Quinn are mates - he the Smith and she The Seer. Their Firestorm is about to begin. Each Pyr is pre-destined to meet their human mate as that is the only way that they can beget an heir and continue with their race.

Quinn has been a loner, unwilling to have any contact with the other Pyr. He has much to learn - if the Pyr want to succeed winning the brutal and venomous battle between them and the Slayers - Quinn has to join forces with his fellow brothers - as the Slayer's goal is to kill Sara and prevent conception of another Pyr.

The other Pyr characters are quite interesting - and I will read their stories when they are published. However - the character development between Sara and Quinn, though interesting, their supposed "spark" isn't that well illustrated. The description of their coming together is supposed to be an unbelievable and almost cataclysmic encounter. There is only one scene where Sara and Quinn finally come together to mate - it's disappointing and flat, specially after the hype has been built up throughout the novel.

I felt that the story was narrated and the focus of the novel revolved around the nasty fights and encounters between Pyr and Slayer and not the "Firestorm" between the two main characters. This is more an action/adventure/fantasy story, with a touch of a romance thrown in for good measure, than a paranormal romance. The character development between Sara and Quinn was almost none-existent - and the conflict was only focused on the fights between the good and bad guys.

I might read some of Deborah Cooke's books in the series, as some of the Pyr characters were interesting - especially Erik the leader of the Pyr. But as far as Urban Fantasy goes - am sticking to good old fashioned romances - paranormal yes ... urban fantasy - thank you - but not for me.

I would not exactly state that the relationship was a firestorm, but there had been the potential, and that is why I give this a three star. Very few books are worth a five star, there is always room for improvment.
Enough have given the gist of the story, so I will give my viewpoint of positive and negatives.
A good story concept, and enjoyable read. I was at the hospital babysitting my dad who had a broken hip. I was able to leave it there for my next "shift". But I was looking forward to finishing it. I think the character's were well fleshed out, gave a good insight and background so you felt as if you knew them. Yet left you wondering, such as in the case of Erik, was he good or bad, and what about the golden dragon, who was he? It was easy, though, to figure him out. What caused him to want to hurt Quinn was a surprise, and a good one, but it would have made it better to have given hints earlier, and thus dragging it out. The romance was a good build, I think, I like ones that they don't fall in love in the first three pages and are in bed by the fifth.
However, I would have like to seen more worry about the attraction due to the firestorm, more angst between them. And the shower scene should have ended up in bed, and it [firestorm] should have lasted more than one day. A week or two with them as lovers whould have allowed for more development in areas of Quinn learning to trust Erik, realizing who Ambrose was, and development in other aeras.
I do not like to have sex scene after sex scene, anyone can do that, a good writer is able to write events happening, building them around the plot. When you have to have sex after sex, to me is says the writer doesn't have imagination and need to fill it in with "filler" to take up space. But just one? I would like to have seen three maybe four scenes.
Overall, a good read, room for improvement, but as the first in a series, there are always problems that need to be worked out and will be fixed in later books. Am looking forward to reading more of this series.
JLYates

I like sci-fi/fantasy and romance but this is not a good mix of the two. To me this was like the literary version of a train wreck. It was not that interesting, but the lack of details hinted enough or a mystery to keep you interested and hoping that more information would follow. But the most interesting details are revealed early in the book.
The characters don't really seem to have much chemistry or depth to make the romance side very interesting. The villians were not very complex and were driven only by the rule the world and the desire to destroy humanity.
The fantasy side is a little more interesting in the creation of a race of shapeshifters but the amount of information about the abilities of these shapeshifters is repeated several time just incase the reader forgot those details in the last chapter.
The story never seems to get very far off the ground.
The one saving grace for this book was the descriptions of the various battles between the two factions of shape shifters.
It had potential and I had hoped the book would be better but I was let down.

Well, I guess I should start by saying that I knew right from the start that this book was supposedly mediocre. There is no supposedly about it. This is mediocre, but I really wanted to like it. It had a good idea. Quinn was cute, Sarah was alright. The idea of shape shifting dragons got me really excited, but this was just not put together right. Which was a huge shame.

One thing that bothered me in a huge way was that I was never sure what size the dragons were. I started this book with the idea that the dragons would be big beasties, but then I started to get the impression that they were the size of bats? Did I miss something because I don't think Deborah Cooke explained their size. Also I understand that the dragons can beguile humans, but to my understanding they have to be staring a human in the eye, so the hastily explained brush off that the dragons had beguiled all the humans while they had their airborne firebreathing rumble in the sky did not wash. Please, Madame authoress, don't assume your readers are stupid.

Also Sarah and Quinn's first meetings left me seriously annoyed. I can understand anyone not believing in the existence of dragons, but can you still refuse to believe when one is staring you in the face? Because now you're the crazy one if you keep refusing to believe.

Plus the firestorm thing left me feeling confused and letdown. What I thought would be a fiery and passionate joining was pretty lackluster and as close to a "fade to black" scene as could get. Did it mean death when the firestorm dies out? Can it happen more then once?

*shakes book in frustrated anger* What the hell is going on!!!!

Just sitting here thinking about this book is making me more confused and mad and that is not a good place to be after finishing a book. Kind of leaves you p*ssed that you wasted time, money and energy trying to figure this out. Such a crying shame because I really wanted to like this book. Call me a glutton for punishment or a hopeless optimist but I have great hopes for the second book, Kiss of Fury, so I am willing to try again.

This book feels like a creative writing exercise where someone sets out the elements and tells the students to just write, without much thought to character development, plot, conflict and tension. At first it sounds interesting, familiar, but interesting. Mundane woman meets man who happens to be a shape shifting dragon and then they have to deal with a prophecy and enemies etc etc. The author just doesn't put it together well. Sara is supposed to be an accountant who doesn't believe in this stuff, yet she's remarkably quick to be converted and to follow along. Quinn the dragon shape shifter has a really interesting back story with elements of subversion and betrayal but its tossed in as an after thought. It will be interesting to see what Ms. Cooke does as she become more experienced as a storyteller, this book however, just doesn't cut it. If you really want to read interesting, well told modern fantasy, check out Jeri Lynn-Ready's Requiem for the Devil or anything by Patricia Briggs. (Ready's Aspect of Crow series which is set in an alternate future is also very good).

I began reading this book with high hopes but I will never finish it because it is boring. The main character doesn't seem to have any strong feelings and as the formula goes, the guy just goes along with everything and gives her her head and never tries to push anything, not even her safety. To say the pace is slow would be a gross understatement. Even thought the dangers are spelled out pretty well there is no sense of urgency and whats-her-name, the heroine (if you can call her that) has no feeling you can detect that are deeper than a saucer. It seems that most of the text is taken up with how much the Smith admires her, repetitively and for the same reasons. Sorry. I might read some more of it if I have a really bad case of insomnia or feel that my mind needs some numbing.

I actually picked up the second book in the series first and begin to read it, then stopped after only a couple of chapters and decided to wait and read this first one in the series first. I must say, if I hadn't started the second and liked it, I would not have given this series a chance. This first book was dull and lacking. It started off good, but Cooke never picked up tension or action of the story line.

My advice would be to read/scan through this one to pick up plot line and then go straight for the next, since the next in the series is much better.

I found Kiss of Fire boring and the characters juvenile.

For a hero...Quinn too often messes up in protecting Sara. Quinn knows his duty and desire is to protect Sara, yet he accepts a challenge from another dragon leaving Sara vulnerable. And that's not the only example of the hero being a non-hero and non-dragonish.

But I will give the second DragonFire Novel a try; my hope is that the series will improve because I do love dragon fiction.