#BookReviewTuesday- Fourth Wing and Iron Flame by @RebeccaYarros #FantasyRomance

This series is hitting my top five for 2023!

Rebecca Yarros is a well-known romance author who normally focusses between new adult and military novels, but an idea took hold to create a story of a war like no other and it exploded onto TikTok, instantly becoming a NYT bestseller, number one in Amazon, and is optioned for a television series- I’d call that a success!

It just shows you should follow your heart. I’ve often heard that it’s a bad policy to veer from your chosen genre, and if you do, it’s best to use a different name so you don’t confuse readers. I’ve always thought fans follow your voice/style of writing, not the genre, and Rebecca’s success seems to prove that theory.

So, go for it! Write whatever inspires you and the readers will embrace it.

Rebecca Yarros is a hopeless romantic and coffee addict. She is the New York Times bestselling author of over twenty novels, including Fourth Wing, The Last Letter and The Things We Leave Unfinished. She’s also the recipient of the Colorado Romance Writer’s Award of Excellence for Eyes Turned Skyward. Rebecca loves military heroes and has been blissfully married to hers for over twenty years. A mother of six, she is currently surviving the teenage years with all four of her hockey-playing sons.

Want to know about Rebecca’s next release? Check her out online at www.rebeccayarros.com.

The posts on this site may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission should you make a purchase using a link.

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros- Book 1 in The Empyrean Series

An Instant New York Times Bestseller
A Goodreads Most Anticipated Book

Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders from New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Yarros

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away…because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.

With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom’s protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.

Description from Amazon.com

My Review

Dangerous. Thrilling. Addictive.

All are words that barely describe the wealth of emotions I experienced reading this story.

Shy, introverted Violet Sorrengail has no chance of living up to the reputation of her badass sister or mender brother, and truthfully, she’s more comfortable following her father’s footsteps in becoming a scribe. But the forceful general, who happens to be her mother, has other plans. Violet is sent to dragon rider school, the elite warriors of Navarre, where the only rule is to stay alive.

It takes every shred of her courage, but Violet finds a strength within that she could never have foreseen. But a treacherous web of lies comes to light, and the one person she should be able to trust above all others is the one who will break her heart.

Third-year wingleader Xaden Riorson would like nothing better than to make Violet Sorrengail pay for her murderess mother, but a begrudging respect for her bravery becomes an attraction he can’t fight. As the training turns ever more dangerous, Xaden makes it his mission to keep Violet safe from those who would do her harm and prepare her for the hell that is to come.

Betrayals, death, violence, loyalty, passion, trust, this book is impossible to set aside, I warn you now!

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros- Book 2 in The Empyrean Series

“The first year is when some of us lose our lives. The second year is when the rest of us lose our humanity.” —Xaden Riorson

Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky.

Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves.

Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits—and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.

But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year.

Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.

Description from Amazon.com

My Review

Violet should never have survived the first year of Riders Academy, but thanks to Xaden’s training and the support of her friends, she overcame the odds. But now, the training is taking it up to a whole new level of brutality, and each cadet must dig deep and count on each other or die because what they will face after graduation will test the limits of even the most seasoned soldier.

Xaden knows what to expect. He’s seen the horror of what lives on the far side of the wards. He knows the secrets Violet’s mother holds in her treacherous hands and hates her for it, but his need for revenge takes a backseat to his overwhelming desire to keep Violet alive. She is the answer to his people’s salvation and the love of his life. But when she learns what he’s been hiding, there is a real chance he’ll lose her forever.

There are a lot of heartbreaking misunderstandings between Xaden and Violet, but there is also a soul-deep love that burns through the lies and binds them against their greatest foe, though a horrifying outcome to the battle they fight may end the relationship in the worst way possible.

Gah! I’m so in love with these characters and can’t stand to see them in pain. There is a terrible twist at the end that will leave me searching the bookstore every day until the next installment arrives!

Excellent storytelling, world-building, and romantic entanglement- I love this series!

Fall colors at the lagoon.