Jessalyne has lived on her own since the death of her mother,were it not for the local clan of deer-shifters she would be completely lonely.

But she is not like them and then there is her power...who she feels conflicted about.

One day the mercenary dark elf Ertemis appears on her doorstep bringing disorder into her world.Right away there is a spark between them but how can it ever be something between them when they are so very different?

Through a series of events Jessalyne finds herself and Ertemis on a roadtrip to the capital

I will admit that I really didnt care for Kristen Painters first book but once I read the blurb for this one and read the excerpt I was hooked.


For the longest time I couldnt help but hope that this book would be given a new cover since you shouldnt judge a book by its cover...but its hard not too when its all full of manchest.

This cover on the other hand looks much better :) https://dwtr67e3ikfml.cloudfront.net/bookCovers/2a4cb56fedac9a3c174f31bd24ded290...

If you are looking for fantasy romance with a roguish hero and a brave but somewhat innocent heroine this is the one.

If you liked this you might like:
[b:Master of Crows|6811150|Master of Crows (Master of Crows, #1)|Grace Draven|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316187731s/6811150.jpg|7018843] by [a:Grace Draven|2759153|Grace Draven|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1318912237p2/2759153.jpg]
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There are definitely some things that aren't great about this book. It is predictable, painfully saccharine, the terms of endearment the characters use with each other come off as awkward and forced, there are A LOT of really bizarre references to smelling each other and imprinting scents and how their skin feels to each other (it's just... really weird and a little off-putting), and when the couple is physically affectionate with each other, especially at the end, it reads like a young girl wrote it and it is honestly pretty painful.

But, this is one of those times where, despite those things, there is something I like about it and I do reread it every two to three years. Perhaps because ultimately it is a feel-good book, nothing super terrible or emotionally difficult occurs, despite its predictable nature the plot is pretty good in its predictability, the world isn't overly complex, the bad guys get their comeuppance, and the good guys get their happy ending. ( )

I really enjoyed this book. I personally feel the characters of Jessalyn and Ertemis were well developed (there were a couple of exceptions) and I really liked the direction of the plot. I do however feel that this book needed to be longer. There were some characters introduced that needed more development and the end felt rushed. I would have loved this story to have expanded a bit to have rounded out. That being said I really loved that it was a happy ending (I'm a sucker for those!) and I lved both Jessalyn and Ertemis, they went really well together! ( )

Heart of Fire by Kristen Painter

An engaging story of connections, love and sorcery. I liked the heroines naivety and her perceptiveness at the same time. I admire how she befriended everyone she met and made them feel better or richer having crossed paths with her. And on a deeper level, the cross race acceptance was commendable.

A romance where good triumphs over evil and love conquers all. And magic can be used for good. Lovely.

I listened to the audible version which was enthralling and entertaining. ( )

3.5 ( )