The Warrior King by Abigail Owen | ARC Review

Publication Date: March 9 2021

Genre:  Adult,Paranormal Romance 

Source: Entangled Publishing 

Series: Inferno Rising 

The Rogue King #1

The Blood King #2

Synopsis:

Meira Amon is the most reserved of the phoenixes, finding computers easier to deal with than people and their messy emotions. But she wants revenge against the Rotting King Pytheios for the murder of her parents just as much as her sisters. Offering herself as a queen for their ally, dragon shifter King Gorgon of the Black Clan, only makes sense.

Just one problem…

Samael Veles worked his lowborn ass off to become the fiercest warrior of the Black Clan. He has pledged his life to protect his king at all costs. Yet somehow, in the middle of war, he took one look at a woman in a reflection and gave up his heart. When that woman turns out to be the phoenix promised to mate his king and help bring peace to their kind, he has no choice but to accept it.

Until her fire unexpectedly destroys the king after they’ve wed. Now Samael must choose between his loyalty to his clan and protecting the queen who might be his mate from his people’s wrath, one of which will unlock a destiny no one could have ever imagined…

 

*I would like to thank Entangled Publishing for a copy of this book in return for an honest review*

” As the fuel was in her blood and all she needed was the spark of a thought to set off the firestorm.”

An exciting third installment of the Inferno Rising series, a hot, action packed must read paranormal romance series! The Warrior King is a steamy, intense/suspense filled forbidden romance with dragon politics, epic battles and heart breaking moments! This was a refreshing take on a fierce heroine who may not be what you typically think of when thinking fierce female. Owen presented an intelligent, softer Amon sister that is able to hold her own in a different manner than both Kasia and Skyler. With a damaged hero dragon who was not meant for her and doesn’t feel deserving of her or his station. 

This was not my favorite out of the three, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it. It definitely had some qualities I love to see and found to be fun additions to this series. It had a forbidden romance, that was a little slow burn with the stolen glances and longing. We get to learn more about Meira’s phoenix abilities and where she has been since the beginning. It was full of paranormal creatures and of course some real steamy, sexy moments. We jump right into where book 2 left off and it is a wild ride all the way through, filled with action and suspense that had me on the edge of my seat, flipping through the pages with some big shocking reveals! 

” I spent my whole life running from your kind because apparently you can’t discern for yourselves when a leader is as rotten as a bad apple riddled with worms. You keep taking bites anyway.”

We briefly get introduced to Meira in the last book, but left wanting to know more! I was super intrigued heading into this story because you know who is the love interest, and because you know that, you know they cannot be together with the current circumstances. I was left flipping through the pages to see how Owen was going to pull the strings to pull the story and romance together! It definitely added a steamy layer as the romance is forbidden and you are tease the majority of the story with shared moments. 

I did find the pacing to be a little slower with this one, we get a lot of backstory to Meira and where she has been since the night their mother was killed. We did get quite a bit of traveling (via mirrors!) which was fun! We also go to meet some other characters that had been previously mentioned in the earlier books, which added some important information and elements! 

Meira is the quieter, intelligent sister who preferred working on computers and was never much for the fighting. Her fierce protectiveness and cunning skills allow her to hold her own. Her sense of loyalty and dedication to the end game for the dragon clans adds the internal struggle she faces when it comes to Sam. Its that loyalty that he share with her that also causes the same internal struggle. He was lowborn and raised up in the ranks due to his warrior skills. It was with the faith and trust from the Black Dragon King that was possible, which makes it hard for him to have feelings for Meira, causing him to suppress them until the events that make it seem like he won’t have to anymore. 

I have to say Owen did a good job at adding uniqueness and their own voices/personalities to these characters when they could have ended up much like the characters from the previous books. I enjoyed the continued world building and epic battle scenes! Oh and also I am always a fan of a one room cabin in the middle of nowhere scenarios! 

” Samael, in full dragon form, was the most brutally magnificent creature she’d ever beheld.”

Overall this series is quickly becoming a top favorite! I cannot believe it is almost to an end. As with the previous books, this one ended with a shock. To say I was completely caught off guard and shed some tears would be an understatement. Owen pulled something off that was so beautiful and moving while also tearing me apart! It had some high stakes moments that had me on the end of my seat with some intense outcomes. Also some steamy scenes that I was living for along with the cute shared moments along the way! And let me just say one of the end epic sky battles was so intense, I had no idea what was going to happen, but felt like I could visualize it all so well! I thought that scene was so well written and had so many elements/perspectives going on. I should just stop since all I am doing is completely gushing! Like I shared earlier I did feel like there were times where the story dragged a little bit and I think it wasn’t my favorite because one of the other couples really stuck out for me, but I got to see them throughout this one as well! 

rating 4.5

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