Kiss of Fury

"Kiss of Fury" is the second book in Deborah Cooke's 'Dragonfire' series. Here's a little of the backstory. Pyr are good dragons who protect the Earth and its treasures including humans. Slayers are dragons who have chosen personal gain and selfish pleasures; they kill both humans and Pyr. The only way for dragons to procreate is via the miracle of the 'firestorm'. The firestorm is a signal that a human woman exists who can be the mate of a dragon and bear him a son who will become a dragon. If the dragon comes into contact with his human, there's heat...and a whole lot of it!! The sex scenes are hot, but still don't cross the erotica threshold.

There's lots of mysticism, magic, and Green Earth messages throughout this series so if show more those things irritate you--don't blame me 'cause I warned you! The world created by Cooke is still being fleshed out in this second book and I'll be waiting for the release of the third book "Kiss of Fate" in February 2009.

Alexandra is a scientist and she's about the reveal her invention, one that will revolutionize the auto industry...a Green car that runs on salt water. When her lab is trashed and her research partner killed in front of her just days before they were to demo the car, she's heartbroken. She's also pretty sure she must be going nuts, because she could have sworn she saw her partner being tortured and eaten by DRAGONS! Next thing you know, she can't get away from them...they're everywhere...and one of them is the sexiest thing she's ever seen on two legs...well, on two legs most of the time!

Donovan has no intention of giving in to the firestorm. Sure, his human is smart. And gorgeous. And sexy. And brave. And WAIT a minute. NOT giving in. Nope, no way, no how. Um...did he mention sexy?

"Kiss of Fury" has humor, romance, sex, suspense, epic battles, and all those things that mark a very inventive author. My only gripe about this book is that I wanted to smack Alexandra MANY times. Hello...you're human, they're dragons...exactly how do you expect to win alone? Anyhow, she finally smartens up about 1/2 way through the book and then it was just pure enjoyment to read about her and Donovan. show less

Kiss of Fury
3.5 Stars

Synopsis
Betrayed by the woman he once loved, Donovan Shea has no interest in his prophesized Firestorm but cannot deny his attraction to Alex Madison, the woman chosen as his mate. Now a target of the Slayers due to her invention of a Green Machine, Alex will have to overcome her fear of the Pyr and trust Donovan if they are to survive in the upcoming battle.

The Prophecy
Elements four disguise weapons three,
Revealed if love harnesses fury.
The Wizard can work her alchemy
Only with the Warrior’s lost key.
Transformation in the firestorm’s might,
Will forge a foretold force for right.
Warrior, Wizard and Pyr army
Shall lead the world to victory.

Review
The overall story arc is compelling and the continuing conflict show more between the Pyr and the Slayers heats up. Nevertheless, this aspect of the book has a tendency to overshadow the romance.

Donovan and Alex are likeable characters and their romance is engaging. Alex is intelligent, resourceful and courageous and while she is wary of Donovan at first, she is accepting of his fears and insecurities. Donovan's background receives more attention so the reader understands his reservations with regard to the Firestorm but the details about his meeting Rafferty and joining Erik are missing.

The relationship between Alex and Donovan builds slowly as they learn to trust each other and cope with the ferocity of the Firestorm - their scenes together literally sizzle. Despite their initial attraction, they do not allow it to control their emotions and this adds a realistic aspect to the fated mates trope. Unfortunately, there is no follow up once they decide to consummate the Firestorm and the abrupt transition to another sub-plot leaves the reader feeling cheated.

The dragonlore, which was seriously lacking in book #1, receives more attention with descriptions of the various dragons and their abilities. The inclusion of the Cadmus myth from Greek mythology is a nice touch. The prophecy, however, is still underutilized within the story and the secondary characters need more fleshing out.

Overall, the world building is improving and the Pyr versus Slayers plot is going in an interesting direction. It will be interesting to see what happens next. show less

These books are really not for me. Kiss of Fury reads a lot like a contemporary novel that stumbled into the paranormal aisle. Author Deborah Cooke sets up an interesting race of dragon-men and even the gurgling, babyish beginnings of a mythology (The Great Wyvern as a mother goddess), but like her characters, this world's undeveloped beyond the bare bones. She's established the "firestorm," a literal spark of flame () that indicates a dragon's found the mate who will make him vulnerable, kind of like a "You've Got Mate!" message. She's also decided the colors of the dragons, and that's it, apparently relying on pop culture and our imaginations to fill in the rest of the details. Likewise the main character Donovan, whose Irish show more background isn't even spared ten seconds, even though we're led to believe that this long-lived man was born during the European Renaissance and has some interesting stories to tell, to judge from his claim about immortality: "There's always something to do." Some two hundred pages into the book, we discover he has an Irish brogue. Huh? At any rate, our man Donovan's a player, and his entire conflict stands on two shaky pillars of romance angst, the fascinating combo of "I don't trust myself," and "I don't trust you." Donovan's not sure which, but dagnabit, he knows he doesn't want our heroine. He would rather continue as a player, as he repeatedly reminds the heroine. He'd prefer to sleep around. How can she resist that, eh? He believes this because of a] an old flame and b] his daddy. These lines are reinforced ad nauseum in the exposition as the author tells, without any kind of deeper exploration, to shore up Hero's resistance and power the plot. Not until Donovan caves and gives her that ring will our hero and heroine surmount all obstacles and consummate their love. Then and only then will Donovan shift in front of Alex-- but he's already done that. So the last hurdle to their relationship is that he shifts slowly in front of the heroine. To be honest, I've read the whole "skittish guy whom woman ropes with her love" before, and I've seen it done better.Our heroine, on the other hand, has less baggage. Naturally. She's smart, even intellectual, the first such heroine I've read in a good long while. She's not bookish or aloof, as the stereotypes claim, but she is an engineer...? We never learn, but we are told she builds stuff. Cool.When she's not oogling the hero's butt, Alex Madison is pretty useful. Unfortunately, most of the novel is full of these moments where the hero and heroine eye each others' bodies like filet mignon- and still... resist. For some reason. 300 pages, folks, I kid you not. In case the message isn't clear, their feelings are laid out in point-blank, "tell, don't show" fashion. "He liked X and Y about her. Also Z and Q and..." Thanks, Hero.The rest is fighting, which admittedly saves the book, and one scene of lukewarm hanky panky interrupted by small talk. Actually, there's a lot of small talk after that. I started to skim. Needless to say, nothing bad really happens. People go up in flames (it's dragons- what do you want?) and it's still somehow light, still PG-13.Read Kiss of Fury for light action paranormal, and I don't mean the funny Mary Janice kind. I don't think I'll be reading the next one except as a filler between series. I wish I had known Deborah Cooke also wrote as [a:Claire Delacroix|12694|Claire Delacroix|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1229202825p2/12694.jpg]. I've read her before. show less

I didn't like this one as well as the one before it. I guess I don't really like it when characters invent something that doesn't really exist. I can buy it if the story takes place in the future but not if it takes place currently. It's just a quirk of mine I know. I did like Alex though. And Donovan is a nice strong character also. I'm continuing to love the dragons and the expanding world. I really love picturing all the dragons in all the lovely color combinations.

I enjoyed this book as much as I liked the first one. The foreshadowing is excellent and Ms. Cooke gives you enough information to keep you interested in the series plot.

The only thing I don't like about this series is the whole "firestorm" and the forcing to have sex that instantly makes the female pregnant. it feels a little redundant to have every book have the same formula. I have only read the first two books, so maybe this will change.

Donovan want's nothing to do with the firestorm and finding a mate.But he's destined to be the Warrior and Alex his Wizard and together they are necessary to win the war.

I couldn't stop reading. So sad because I'm reading the last one, 30 pages left ...