I've been a huge fan of Donna Grant ever since I picked up the first book of her Dark Sword series. I binge read that whole series and all of the books available in the Dark Warriors spin-off series. I finished Dark Warriors a couple years ago and started to collect the books in the latest spin-off series, Dark Kings. Well, after two years of collecting the books. I sat down and binge read the first six books in the series in less than a week. I was hooked! And while I loved them and want to review them. I don't have enough to say about each for a full review. So I'm going to do our Really Short Reviews of the series so far and have the first three books up for review today! Have you started this any of these series yet???
Warning: If you haven't read anything by Donna Grant, don't start with this series! I would recommend picking up her Dark Sword books and the Dark Warriors spin-off series before starting this one to avoid spoiling both of those series.
Darkest Flame
(Dark Kings #1)
Donna Grant
Release: April 14, 2014
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I was a little hesitant to start this series but just like everything else I've read by Donna Grant I devoured it. Her books are truly book crack. One of the things I loved about this book is that not only is it a start to a new series but it brings in a couple of Grant's other series and combines them together. I enjoyed the Darkest Flame. It is pretty fast-paced and entertaining. The world is getting nicely fleshed out thanks to the two previous series this series is a spin-off of. It's a fascinating one! The amount of not-your-regular paranormal in this book is excellent! There are dragons, druids, fae, and warriors which make the plot interesting. There is danger, action, and romance which is a perfect combination for any book, in my opinion.
I love, love, love the new characters we meet in this book along with the old! Denae is a badass! I loved her character so much and Kellan isn't a slouch either! I really like Kellan and Denae together. Kellan’s hatred of humans drove him to sleep through the last thirteen hundred years. That’s a really strong hate, so when he finds himself drawn to and attracted to the human Denae, he doesn’t know how to handle it or if he even wants to handle it. Eventually, after spending some time with Denae, she shows him that not all humans are bad. It was nice to see Kellan let go of some of the bitterness and hatred that had been consuming his thoughts for so long.
Besides Kellan and Denae, this book has a lot side characters, both good guys and bad guys. The stage is definitely set for futures stories. I really, really, really liked Rhi, the Light Fae friend of the Dragon Kings. As much as I loved most of the characters in this book, I found myself not liking Constantine, the King of the Dragon Kings. I have a feeling there is a reason he acts the way he does but it's still frustrating. I want his back story so badly! It would probably explain so much.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and thought it was a great start to a new series!
4 /5 Stars
There have been two characters that we saw briefly in the prequel novellas to this series that I've been dying to know more about. And what a crazy random happenstance that they both ended up being the main characters in the second book in this series. :) Don't get me wrong. I'm super excited that I didn't have to wait long.
I was so excited that this book was about Tristan, the newest Dragon King. There hadn’t been a new King in millennia so Tristan’s appearance was a shock to put it mildly. No one knows how he became a Dragon King so we have no idea who he was before he literally fell from the sky. I really like Tristan. He's solid and dependable even when he's confused. And let me tell you, I never saw who he was before he was a King coming. Bravo, Ms. Grant! Bravo!
I also really liked Sammi, who made her first appearance as Jane's half-sister in the novellas. I was hoping we'd see more of her and Jane! I loved sweet, klutzy Jane from the novellas. Sammi is content with her life running her pub when everything literally blows up in her face. Out of options, she goes on the run until she's close to breaking from the stress. With no where safe to go, she finally allows herself to go to her sister at Dreagan for shelter for a few days to heal and formulate a plan. Unbeknownst to her, she has been pulled into the beginnings of a war between the Dragon Kings and their many enemies. The last thing Sammi and Tristan expected was to be attracted to each other.
Guys! Donna Grant’s Dark Kings series is such a wonderful breath of fresh air for the paranormal romance genre. They're not the most complex books but I find them delightful! She incorporates several different types of otherworldly creatures into the subplot that keeps you engaged and it happens to be one of my favorite things about her books. These books are a nice blend of romance with action and intrigue that the series keeps moving forward, albeit rather slowly.
4 / 5 Stars
Burning Desire takes us out of Scotland to Ireland where Kiril was left at the end of the last book to be a spy on the Dark Fae in hopes of learning who they are conspiring with against the Dragon Kings. He is also hoping to get an indication of where they are holding a friend prisoner so the Kings can rescue her. Unfortunately, living among the enemy is starting to take its toll on Kiril.
Shara is a Dark Fae sent to seduce Kiril so her family can be the ones to present a Dragon King to the king of the Dark Fae. In helping to catch Kiril, she is hoping to get back in her family’s good graces after she shamed them and has been under house arrest for over six hundred years. She knows that if she fails to capture Kiril, her family, more specifically her brother, will not hesitate to kill her. I liked Shara even though she made some idiotic choices. Her heart was in the right place and she kind of morphs into a badass by the end of the book.Interestingly enough, Kiril can see through her glamour and knows from their first meeting that she is his enemy but he takes her out to dinner anyways. What neither of them expected was that they would actually start to fall for each other. However, past betrayals and old insecurities drive them to make some idiotic choices that hinders their budding attraction to each other and almost costs both of them their lives. Shara isn't the only one who makes dumb mistakes. Kiril makes just as many or possibly more.
Donna Grant has written another great addition to the series. It wasn't my favorite of the series so far but I loved that she expanded the world more in this book and we got to learn more about the Dark Fae. We also got more insight into Ulrik, the exiled Dragon King who is believed to be the instigator behind the war that is coming between the Dragon Kings and their enemies. I'm really curious to learn what this weapon is that the Dark Fae are looking for and how they found out about it. Also, I need to know what happens to a certain Dragon King after what happened in that last battle with the Fae. What even is going on?
Fire Rising
(Dark Kings #2)
Donna Grant
Release: June 3, 2014
There have been two characters that we saw briefly in the prequel novellas to this series that I've been dying to know more about. And what a crazy random happenstance that they both ended up being the main characters in the second book in this series. :) Don't get me wrong. I'm super excited that I didn't have to wait long.
I was so excited that this book was about Tristan, the newest Dragon King. There hadn’t been a new King in millennia so Tristan’s appearance was a shock to put it mildly. No one knows how he became a Dragon King so we have no idea who he was before he literally fell from the sky. I really like Tristan. He's solid and dependable even when he's confused. And let me tell you, I never saw who he was before he was a King coming. Bravo, Ms. Grant! Bravo!
I also really liked Sammi, who made her first appearance as Jane's half-sister in the novellas. I was hoping we'd see more of her and Jane! I loved sweet, klutzy Jane from the novellas. Sammi is content with her life running her pub when everything literally blows up in her face. Out of options, she goes on the run until she's close to breaking from the stress. With no where safe to go, she finally allows herself to go to her sister at Dreagan for shelter for a few days to heal and formulate a plan. Unbeknownst to her, she has been pulled into the beginnings of a war between the Dragon Kings and their many enemies. The last thing Sammi and Tristan expected was to be attracted to each other.
Guys! Donna Grant’s Dark Kings series is such a wonderful breath of fresh air for the paranormal romance genre. They're not the most complex books but I find them delightful! She incorporates several different types of otherworldly creatures into the subplot that keeps you engaged and it happens to be one of my favorite things about her books. These books are a nice blend of romance with action and intrigue that the series keeps moving forward, albeit rather slowly.
Burning Desire
(Dark Kings #3)
Donna Grant
Release: September 30, 2014
Burning Desire takes us out of Scotland to Ireland where Kiril was left at the end of the last book to be a spy on the Dark Fae in hopes of learning who they are conspiring with against the Dragon Kings. He is also hoping to get an indication of where they are holding a friend prisoner so the Kings can rescue her. Unfortunately, living among the enemy is starting to take its toll on Kiril.
Shara is a Dark Fae sent to seduce Kiril so her family can be the ones to present a Dragon King to the king of the Dark Fae. In helping to catch Kiril, she is hoping to get back in her family’s good graces after she shamed them and has been under house arrest for over six hundred years. She knows that if she fails to capture Kiril, her family, more specifically her brother, will not hesitate to kill her. I liked Shara even though she made some idiotic choices. Her heart was in the right place and she kind of morphs into a badass by the end of the book.Interestingly enough, Kiril can see through her glamour and knows from their first meeting that she is his enemy but he takes her out to dinner anyways. What neither of them expected was that they would actually start to fall for each other. However, past betrayals and old insecurities drive them to make some idiotic choices that hinders their budding attraction to each other and almost costs both of them their lives. Shara isn't the only one who makes dumb mistakes. Kiril makes just as many or possibly more.
Donna Grant has written another great addition to the series. It wasn't my favorite of the series so far but I loved that she expanded the world more in this book and we got to learn more about the Dark Fae. We also got more insight into Ulrik, the exiled Dragon King who is believed to be the instigator behind the war that is coming between the Dragon Kings and their enemies. I'm really curious to learn what this weapon is that the Dark Fae are looking for and how they found out about it. Also, I need to know what happens to a certain Dragon King after what happened in that last battle with the Fae. What even is going on?
4 / 5 Stars
Overall, I would highly recommend picking up these books! They are fun reads that help you escape from reality for a few hours. They are some serious book crack! If you haven't read anything from Donna Grant, I would recommend picking up her Dark Sword series and the Dark Warriors spin-off series before starting this one. You would be missing some key information and some things would be really confusing. Plus, spoilers. This series will spoil the other two series for you.
My reviews of other books in this series:
Dark Heat by Donna Grant
Overall, I would highly recommend picking up these books! They are fun reads that help you escape from reality for a few hours. They are some serious book crack! If you haven't read anything from Donna Grant, I would recommend picking up her Dark Sword series and the Dark Warriors spin-off series before starting this one. You would be missing some key information and some things would be really confusing. Plus, spoilers. This series will spoil the other two series for you.
My reviews of other books in this series:
Dark Heat by Donna Grant
These are fantastic books!! I am loving this series so far and Donna Grant is just fabulous.
ReplyDeleteShe is! I love her books so much! I'm dying to get my hands on the next book in this series! I also just found out that she is writing a spin-off series to this one and the first book comes out a couple weeks after Passion Ignites! I'm so excited to read that one as well!
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