BREATH OF FIRE is book two in the Kingmaker
Chronicles by Amanda Bouchet. Book one, A PROMISE
OF FIRE, was the most talked about book of 2016 on all the
romance blogs and social media that I follow. A PROMISE OF
FIRE came was my personal favorite read of 2016. Bouchet
was a debut author with A PROMISE OF FIRE, and BREATH OF
FIRE shows that the massive success of book one was not a
fluke. This is amazing high fantasy!
Cat is the Lost Princess of Fisa, who was hiding from her
sadistic, psychotic mother in a rural circus telling
fortunes. In book one, Cat was kidnapped from the circus by
Griffin and taken to Sinta. Griffin and his hoi polloi
family overcame the evil royalty of Sinta and are the new
rulers. Griffin realized that Cat, who can sense lies,
could help his family consolidate their power and assist
them to rule the realm benevolently. While on the way to
Sinta, Cat and Griffin fell in love. While this might sound
like Stockholm syndrome, in actuality it feels organic and
utterly believable. Cat is now using her Kingmaker Magic
to help Griffin and his family begin to rule effectively.
Cat and Griffin head off along with a small team of
warriors to track down some magical beasts to guard the
borders of the realm. This quest exposes them to many
dangers as they battle and scheme their way through the
action. Bouchet's inventive use of Greek mythology
continues to delight, with creatures such as a Cyclops and
Olympians. Readers do not have to be conversant with
mythology to enjoy the book, however (which is good, since I
don't remember a lot of the nitty gritty details of what I
learned about mythology from school).
Griffin sees Cat as a noble warrior princess who can
bring peace to all the realms and unite them. He is so
optimistic, it's sweet. Cat knows the prophecy about
herself, though. Harbinger of the end. Destroyer of
realms. And she feels guilty for the deaths of her
siblings. The contrasts between Cat's despair and self-hate
and Griffin's forthrightness and honor are so poignant. I
also enjoy how prickly Cat is, which makes the book a lot of
fun.
While there are many things to love about this book, I
did find the sex scenes to be awfully frequent. Both Cat
and Griffin have volatile tempers, and seem to express their
emotions very physically. There is a lot of bedroom action,
especially after arguments, or around battles. Also,
beware that at the opening of the book, Griffin acts like an
absolute ass. I find that while I still love Griffin as a
character overall, I like him less after seeing his abusive
response to learning something about Cat. His halo is a bit
tarnished now. These niggles do not significantly detract
from my enjoyment of the book overall, however. Bouchet's
BREATH OF FIRE is a fantasy thrill ride with panache to
spare.
SHE'S DESTINED TO DESTROY THE WORLD… BUT NOT IF SHE CAN HELP IT
"Cat" Catalia Fisa has been running from her destiny since
she could crawl. But now, her newfound loved ones are caught
between the shadow of Cat's tortured past and the threat of
her world-shattering future. So what's a warrior queen to do
when she knows it's her fate to be the harbinger of doom?
Everything in her power.
Griffin knows Cat is destined to change the world—for the
better. As the realms are descending into all-out war, Cat
and Griffin risk sacrificing everything they’ve fought for.
Gods willing, they will emerge side-by-side in the heart of
their future kingdom...or die trying.
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