by Rhonda Parrish

I like the idea of theme anthologies and the concept of this one really appealed to me. All the stories involve some sort of creatures of fire.

I hadn't heard of any of the authors so it was a bit of a gamble, and like most anthologies with a collection of unfamiliar authors, some stories appealed to me more than others.

We had an Ifrit, a fire sprite, demons, including one who fought an Angel, dragons, gryphons, genies, an elemental magician, a tribute to Jim Morrison (though the author didn't seem aware that he didn't write Light My Fire), a host of mythological fire gods, Phoenixes and an Aitvara.

Unfortunately five and a half of the twenty-one stories were written in present tense, which I detest and find difficult to read (one kept switching between past and present tense).

Four of the stories stood out as particularly good. These were:

The Second Great Fire by Laura VanArendonk Baugh, Breath of the Caldera by Wendy Nikel, The Midwife and the Phoenix by J.G. Formato and especially Double or Nothing by Mara Malins, which involved a game of cards that brought to mind Magic the Gathering, but with real creatures. This one made the book worthwhile on its own.

While I can only give the collection as a whole three stars, these authors I'll be looking to see what else they've written.

Let's start off by saying we really loved this story and we are really enjoying this ongoing series with these amazing characters that we could not help but, fall in love with and that we just love Donna Grant and her amazing books !

We love Claire and Vlad aka V's story from beginning to end.We found the story to be hilarious also that it had fun characters who had a sense of humor, was intriguing, and was suspenseful and had a story that had tons of twists and turns and a lot of the unknown.This plot is ongoing and every time you started figuring things out there was yet another surprise.The story was filled with a ton of betrayal as well as not knowing who to trust .There are a lot of players who normally are enemies are now aligning themselves with one another to take out one common enemy.

I found Claire to be funny and beautiful inside and out,a keeper of secrets and she had a great sense of humor,was daring and a hopeless romantic trying to find the one in all the wrong places.Perhaps she was a bit lonely and frustrated but , she starting blogging to vent those frustrations and well let's just say her posts were more than entertaining.

Vlad- aka V Let's just say we loved him from the onset of the story.He was sexy and sweet and kind funny and had a sense of humor, a bit lonely and lost and had the wait of the world on his shoulders.A Dark King who felt he didn't fit in this new world he is now living in but, that all changed when he caught a glimpse of a sexy blond who he couldn't seem to stay away from.We loved how Claire reminded Vlad who he was and what he stood for and just how very dangerous and powerful he really is and that is was more then capable of standing against their enemy who threatened the life they have created along with their mates as well as their families.

We loved that V and Clarie's courtship was full of fun and laughter and that they had this amazing chemistry and not only were the were lovers they were friends first and foremost .We loved that Claire eased his loneliness and vice versa.

I know this story had a lot of mixed reviews but, for us we were one of those who just loved this sweet and emotional romance tale with those sexy dragon shifters that we just adored but, most of all we loved those character's who made the story intriguing and fun and more than once had us laughing out laughed and that they made us tear up a time of two.

Looking forward to what is going to happen next as the story left us wanting and with a whole lot of unanswered questions and we can't wait to get them!

Dragon shifter Thane Ealdian has waited six hundred years to avenge the loss of his family, and finally a clue has surfaced that implicates an old adversary. Thane will stop at nothing to seek his revenge, but to prevent violence between the clans, the Bloodkin Triad has forced a mediator on him. Some upstart named Emerson Clark…

Emerson is fed up with all Bloodkin and how they’ve managed to control every aspect of her life. While she doesn’t believe that Bloodkin can shift into dragons—because, really?—she has to admit, they are exceptionally nice to look at. But once the mediation is over, she wants nothing to do with them ever again.

When Thane discovers that the clever and beautiful Emerson is the key to uncovering the truth, he has no intention of letting her go. Although she wants to run, she can’t turn her back on Thane or her intense feelings for him. His quest pulls at her heart, just as his nearness sparks something dangerous inside her. With evil in hot pursuit, sooner or later everything will ignite—the mediation, the shifter within her… and their passions.

Would you believe that if you type the phrase "a dwarf is not an imp"--just like that, with quotation marks around it (to look for the exact phrase), that Google gives you no results?  For that phrase? "A dwarf is not an imp"?  I find this a bit astonishing, because I seem to mumble this every time a character refers to or addresses Tyrion as "imp."  So I am hoping to change that fact by writing this entry.  Have I mentioned that a dwarf is not an imp?

Anyway, I finished my re-listen a couple of days ago.  Who knows how much longer it will be before George R. R. Martin releases The Winds of Winter?  So I want to jot down various threads I am thinking of while they are still fresh in my mind.  Spoilers follow (so will hide accordingly).