Stalked By Flames Book Review

Stalked By Flames
Dragon's Breath
Book #1
Susan Illene

Genre: New Adult Urban Fantasy
Release Date: July 26, 2015
Date of Audio Publication: September 24, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-9863361-0-2
ASIN: B012O4NCSQ

Pages: 484
Word Count: 101,000
Cover Art: Jeff Brown Graphics and Claudia at Phatpuppy Art

Goodreads Rating: 4.04
My Rating: 5.0

Book Description:

Bailey Monzac has just graduated college and is leaving town for her parents’ ranch in Texas when a massive earthquake unleashes the unthinkable on the world: fire-breathing dragons.

Chaos erupts as people flee for their lives, and Bailey survives only because she is somehow immune to the dragons’ flames. In the midst of the mayhem, Bailey is helped by a shape-shifting dragon named Aidan, who recognizes Bailey is a dragon slayer and will be an essential ally in the power struggle between—and within—the dragon clans.

Natural disasters intensify and dragons lay waste to the world as civilization all but collapses amid the loss of electricity and running water. Roving gangs prowl the debris-filled streets, and Bailey and her friends manage to find refuge in the university library. As her relationship with Aidan deepens during private training sessions, Bailey must learn to harness her newfound skills or see everything she knows and loves destroyed.

Stalked by Flames is a gritty urban fantasy about a woman’s journey into a dark new reality she never could have imagined.

Book Trailer:

My Take:

Wow.

I really enjoyed this book. It's an interesting take on magic and dragons that transports you this frightening new world you would never expect to wake up in.

It's been awhile since I've read a dragon book and this one did NOT disappoint. The characters were easy to love and root for and the romance, tho not a prominent part of this book, was perfect.

I also found the cover, while beautiful, to be slightly ironic. Honestly, this is a series I can see myself fully falling in love with. I can't wait to get my hands on book 2 to see where this all goes and what happens with Danae, Conrad, Aiden and Bailey.

The Great (Pros):

• Bailey. I really loved Bailey as a heroine. She's feisty and loyal and strong. She's also extremely hard headed and noble. She feels and isn;'t ashamed of them.

• Aiden. What's not to love about Aiden? He is also strong, noble and loyal. Sure he has ulterior motives to helping Bailey become what she needs to be but he isn't malicious and as a reader you know exactly what his reasons are and they are completely understandable. He also genuinely cares about her so there is also that, and it doesn't hurt that he's described so attractively :P

• Conrad. He is what you would call the comedic relief. He is pretty carefree, or as carefree as one can be in a world that's gone to shit. He cracks jokes and proves to be a good friend to our heroine.

• Danae. We don't get to learn much about her other than her previous profession and I for one am really interested in learning more about her character.

• Romance. I really liked the romance in this book. It actually grows at a believable pace and does not dominate the book in any shape or form. But when you get glimpses at it you are genuinely happy about it.

• Magic. I loved how magic is described and introduced in this series. Its pretty unique and I love that different outlook. 

• Dragons. Ummm hello, what's not to love about a dragon book? Its different than most Urban Fantasy or Paranormal books out there. Plus it doesn't hurt that it doesn't follow the usually Dragon/Shifter guideline.

The Not So Great (Cons):

• Justin. He wasn't a bad guy... he was just too domineering. Maybe it was the way Bailey described him, or maybe its just that you are able to build a bond with out main characters that when you are in Bailey's perspective and he's around you can't help but be irked by his presence. He genuinely annoyed me and its sad to say that he's the only character I couldn't stand funny enough cause I love his girlfriend Trish. 

• Some predictability. There isn't much but there is some. Its not a blatant as other books so it wasn't too annoying just slightly.

•  Cloak and Dagger. At the end, I didn't like all the mystery. The book was pretty straight forward but there were a couple of moments where the secrecy involved got tiring. 

5 Quills

Everything was so well thought out and each character seemed to be almost fully developed. But by far, I found the lack of inconsistencies to be the most refreshing. It's a well thought out world, beautifully and descriptively written with strong and loveable characters, an intriguing premise, lots of action and a great romance! All that's left is to ask "when can I get book 2 please? " This book definitely had a Buffy the Vampire Slayer feel mixed with a dash of whatever apocalyptic book/movie you can think of. Its different and intriguing and sure to please.

Available on Amazon

About The Author   

 Susan Illene served in the US Army for eleven years and worked as a human resources specialist and an Arabic linguist. She served two deployments to Iraq, and after leaving the army, she studied history at the University of Oklahoma. She and her husband currently live in Oklahoma with two high-maintenance cats doing their best to help her write her books.

Visit her at
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Book Review Organized By:

 “I received a free copy of the book from the author/publisher for my honest opinion. I was in no way compensated for this review and all opinions are expressly my own”