Firelight

Firelight

Author: Kristen Callihan  Genre: Romance Publisher: Forever

Trigger Warnings: Anger issues, graphic injuries, blood, gore, cult, death, death, needles, threats, murder, sex, rape (suggested/threatened), trauma, violence

Likes

• The chemistry. Like I mentioned in my post on Monday, it is VERY important for me to believe the chemistry between characters in romance. And oh wow, did Firelight deliver. I absolutely adored Miranda and Archer together. Not only was the chemistry fantastic, but I really enjoyed Miranda as a character, too. She protects herself, both with her ability and her own interests. She’s not afraid to do what needs to be done. Archer’s respect for her abilities and intellect made me swoon over him even more.
• The world and the magic. Everyone knows I’m a sucker for alt-Victorian romance! This paranormal world where magic wasn’t unheard of surprisingly clicked for me, considering I’m not usually a paranormal fan. Yet, the magic was fun and the world inviting!
• The beautiful writing. I won’t lie, Callihan knows how to write a fantastic story! It was very easy to slip into this world and very hard to put down (evidenced by reading this book in two sittings). Whether describing the world, the characters, the scenery or sex, I enjoyed reading all of it!

Dislikes

• The miscommunication/secrecy trope. This is my least favorite romance trope. Unfortunately, it’s also the one I see most often, including in Firelight. I would have rather Archer and Miranda share their concerns with one another after trust was developed between them. That way, they could work together to overcome them, instead of knowing they were holding back from one another.
• The lack of magic-development. Miranda has some sort of fire magic and we don’t learn a ton about how she got it or what she can do it with. In fact, while I thought it was awesome, there were a few instances, including the ending, where the lack of fleshing out this skill and it’s “rules” became very clear. It felt more like a “no rules so it can be used however it needs” kind of out, instead of properly developed to explain limitations, consequences and strengths.

Rating

I was torn on how to rate Firelight. It was definitely a 4 star read for me, but I faltered on whether it could be a 5-star. On one hand, I flew through it and immediately bought the rest of the series, because I just enjoyed it that much (oops). On the other, there were still elements I didn’t like and I may have enjoyed it this much because it’s been a while since I read a romance. But, I haven’t read a romance where I was inclined to spend money on the next books in the series, so that’s why it was a 4.5 gems for me!