Thank you, thank you so much to the publishers and netgalley for allowing me the Arc of Together We Burn.

As soon as Isabel Ibañez posted about this book I knew I had to read it. Both UK and US cover are so pretty.

I loved everything about this book, the writing style just draws you in and the characters, oh I wish I was their friend!
I loved the fact it included spanish, it made it more real-life.

I loved this book so much I've bought the US edition as it's hardback

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Years after an accident involving dragons claims her mother’s life, a repeat of that event debilitates her father, threatens their family business, and pushes Zarela into a leadership role that she was not prepared fore. Zarela lived a life intent on helping her father manage their dragonslaying family business, while continuing the tradition of flamenco dancing to honor her mother and heritage.

I liked the concept, but hated the execution and I sadly skimmed most of this book. The pacing was slow, the romance was boring and lacked real chemistry, and the ending was mediocre. The story claims to critique the misogynistic society Zarela lives in, but when most of the important side characters are men, and those men are the ones contributing to the plot, the message falls flat. A lot could’ve been done with a character like Zarela, but the author went a very standard, predictable model. Besides her practice of dancing nothing about her was memorable. What irritated me the most was everyone’s treatment of Zarela, Too much blame was placed on her and never addressed as a bad thing. Almost every character called her incompetent and immature, when she was never intended to take over the role she had in this book and she was unprepared. The love interest was so bland and condescending, making assumptions about Zarela and being downright annoying when in the end he had worse secrets. The plot felt way too predictable for my taste, and it stopped being engaging about 40% in. The only things I liked about this story was the cultural aspect and the worldbuilding, because dragons are a favourite of mine. I will admit at some point I was expecting a “How To Train Your Dragon”-like twist which would’ve been more interesting for Zarela who was so terrified of dragons, but alas it did not end up happening. It could’ve been fulfilling with more imagination and less romance.

This spanish-inspired book is about a girl named Zarela who came from a prominent dragon-fighter-x-flamenco-dancer family. Her family lived in glory for 500 hundred years, and by the time they celebrated their 500th anniversary in a show, everything went wrong. Long story short, the family's legacy wholly depended on Zarela. And Zarela, being a tough, bold, and resilient only child, didn't want to surrender to the easiest option to solve the problem: getting married. No, she chose to deal with the dragons instead. That's when she met Arturo, a mysterious dragon tamer & hunter who probably thought that kindness and friendliness would kill him, so he'd rather scowl to anyone and at any occasion.

Some things that I really love about this book:
- Super grumpy boy × eclipsed sun girl. I said eclipsed because I knew she was a cheerful and energetic person... before she had to take the family burden
- Girl makes the first move!!! In this house we stan girlboss
- Zarela really got the nerve and super strong and independent and unbreakable and bold. Truly an icon.
- Dragonsssssss!!!
- Loved Lola so much she's so fun and always have her priority on line (clothes and attire)
- The banter was soooo amusing
- Very fine characterization. I didn't have problem remembering them all because they have different standout traits

But, I also felt some things that could use some improvements. At the beginning of the book, there's a list of guilds and it contains a lot of roles. Unfortunately, most of the roles were underexplored. They only mentioned once or twice and just that. I'd love to see magicians and witches in action, I'd love to know every roles better because that's the point of fantasy books: magic system and world building. And the ending... I felt like there's some things that remain unexplained? I won't write it in my review because it's a major spoiler, but it's there. I kinda suspected the twist too so when it happened I'm not surprised.

BUT OVERALL this book was very enjoyable, truly a page-turner, and Zarela is one of the best female characters I met this year.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Titan Books for providing a digital ARC of this book!

Thank you Titan Books and NetGalley for the arc of Together We Burn by Isabel Ibañez.

I picked this book up today and couldn’t put it down. I must admit, I love all things Spanish, speak Spanish, adore Flamenco and am a total sucker for dragons, but even if none of the above applied, this book is fantastic!

Zarela Zalvidar is the daughter of one of the greatest Dragonadors in the history of Santavilia and when disaster hits her family’s home and Draganador arena, she must step up to the plate to save her family home, name and reputation.

Zarela is a fantastic character, plunged into the worst situations and positions, she comes out fighting, her determination, persistence and sheer stubbornness and determination shine through as she fights for her family, and trust me she really does have a fight on her hands!

Arturo, is just as likeable, despite his surliness and determination not to be captivated by Zarzuela, the slow burn romance between the two is unfightable! There are some seriously hot scenes between the two that are totally on fire without the explicitness you’d normally expect. Ibañez sets the world on fire with her words!

And the dragons, yep, there are so many dragons…they are stunning and captivating in their own right!

Throw in some plot twists that totally throw a curveball, I had suspicions but the ending was so fast and on fire that it took my breath away!

In truth I absolutely loved this book, and I can’t wait to see what Ibañez does next! Definitely pick this one up if you love dragons, intrigue, a great plot and of course a fabulously penned slow burn romance.

Of course, is this only my personal opinion of the book and just because I give this rating to the book doesn’t mean, that everyone will have that opinion.

To be honest: when I saw the glossary about the different dragons and the different „gilds“ at the beginning I was a little bit scared that this book would be too complex for my reading mood at that moment. After the first few chapters, I decided that it wasn’t complicated at all. This book is, in my opinion, an easy standalone, if you are craving something with Dragons, a slow-burn romance in enemies to lovers type of style and if you are in the mood for a Spanish setting.
I liked the characters and how they developed during the story. I also liked the romance aspect and it wasn’t reaaaallllyy enemies in my opinion, but I still enjoyed my reading time.
In my opinion, the ending could have been a bit longer because it did feel a little bit rushed. I predicted the plot twist almost immediately into the book but that didn’t bother me.

Conclusion
A good fantasy standalone with dragons

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of "Together We Burn" by Isabel Ibañez.

This book was magnificent! Not only did it have multiple fascinating characters who were well developed and loving, but it had such a beautiful plot line. You could show the love Isabel Ibañez has for flamenco. Every chapter showed genuine care and I devoured this standalone with happiness. Thank you Isabel Ibañez for this beautiful piece of literature.

Santivilla is a city plagued by dragons. Dragonadors fight and kill the beasts in epic shows that draw crowds for miles. Zarela Zalvidar is the daughter of one of the greatest Dragonadors in history. When disaster strikes, she must step up and take her father's place, in order to save her ancestral home from burning to the ground.

When I read the first line of the prologue, my first thought was *welp*. I knew this book was gonna kill me.

This book was impossible to put down. It was dark, funny, heartwarming and downright heartbreaking at times. You really feel for Zarela and the amount of cr*p she has to put up with. This doesn't discourage her though, she fights and fights for her family and ultimately herself.

The slowburn romance killed me! All the so-close-yet-so-far-away moments had me almost screaming in frustration. The scene with the guitar in the arena was swoony-as-heck. And the cave scene! *pure fire emojis*

When Zarela threw the candlestick at Arturo, I snorted. Isabel knew exactly where to insert humour to lift the tension and she did it perfectly. Lola was incredible, she is the perfect best friend we all need in our lives (did someone say spin-off???)

Finally, that ending! Holy freakin sh*t I did not see that one coming - I fully expected the betrayor to be someone else, so I was blindsided. What a sick and twisted little man. The only slight negative I had was that the ending was over very quickly, I would have preferred it to match the pace of the rest of the book. However, Isabel Ibanez you have my heart, please write more lovely lovely books.

It took a few chapters for me to get on board with this, but then I was fully invested in Zarela's story!

I loved the Spanish-inspired world that this book took place in - all the descriptions of food and use of language really transported me! Zarela was such a strong, feisty MC, and I admired how brave she was throughout the book. Despite all the trauma she'd experienced in the past and her fear of dragons, she fought so hard to save the reputation of her family's arena. Arturo was a really interesting character too, willing to train Zarela to fight in the arena, in spite of it going against his own personal beliefs. The two of them had excellent banter, and I loved how their relationship developed! All the side-characters in this were also super fun (I definitely want to be friends with Lola!)

*e-ARC provided by the publisher
Together We Burn is a richly imaginative book, with an exquisite plot and I loved the reluctive 'we have to work together'-to- lovers trope too.
I loved how Spanish culture was so vividly entwined - especially the food descriptions, these had me craving everything mentioned.
Definitely look forward to having the physical copy.
My only 'issue' is that I wish there was more!