In this second book of the Fear the Flames series, I was anticipating dragons and Cayden Veles. Well, Olivia Rose Darling certainly delivered on both.

Our journey starts with Elowen rebuilding her trust with Cayden, but also, how she plans to move forward with reclaiming her throne. We head on a true dragon ride through epic battles and tantalising romance!

There are also some truly beautifully written scenes where Elowen is bonding with her dragons, soaring through the air and playing with them. I was mesmerised during some of these scenes!

The book ends on a cliffhanger that will leave your jaw on the floor. I wasn’t expecting the story to head in the direction it did; however, I’m excited to see where the author takes it next!

“The queen who brought dragons back into the world, and the king who conquered a kingdom to have her.”

I loved Wrath of the Dragons just as much as I loved Fear the Flames.

We get a marriage of convenience, political intrigue, found family, yearning and another cliffhanger ending.

I can’t wait for the next book

this series
this book
the characters
the romance

he yearning, the battles, the politics, the found family, THE ENDING ????

THIS IS MY FAV ONE OF THE YEAR SO FAR

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book.

The first in the series, Fear the Flames introduced us to Elowen struggle for survival & identity, the sequel dives deeper into power, politics & the cost of vengeance.

The book picks up with Elowen now a queen with dragons at her command, but her journey isnt over. Her relationship with Cayden, the Demon Commander turned king, is central to the story & full of tension, betrayal, & reluctant trust. Their dynamic is more mature & layered than in book one, with Caydens POV adding much needed depth & emotional nuance.

The world expands significantly & the political intrigue ramps up, with shifting alliances, brutal battles, & diplomatic manoeuvring. The pacing is faster, especially in the second half with the stakes feeling higher. However, I found the number of new characters & locations little overwhelming at times... it was calling out for a map at the front! There was also a loss of the relationship & banter between the two main charatcers as it fell into the trope of separating them & we had to work through them finding each other again.

Compared to Fear the Flames, Wrath of Dragons is bolder, darker & more emotionally charged, setting up book three with a cliffhanger that promises even more chaos & likely heart break.

It may simply come down to personal taste, or perhaps even the timing of my read, but I struggled to connect with the characters and the narrative overall. Some aspects, particularly the ending, didn’t fully work for me. That said, I understand and respect that this series has found a dedicated readership, and I can see why it appeals to many.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bonnier Books UK, and Zaffre for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Okay here’s the thing.

I adored book one in this series - did i think it was groundbreaking literature????? No. Was it a great time??? Absolutely. I was SO EXCITED to be approved for this because the end of book one left off at such an nteresting point of Cayden and Elowen’s relationship - the triggering of that marriage clause changed their entire dynamic and i was DOWN.

And, to be fair, the first half of this book was very good - the addition of Cayden’s POV really helped us see the corner that he had unwillingly backed himself and Elowen into - her questioning their entire relationship, believing it to be manipulation so he could seize the throne and him just wanting oust a tyrant and feeling this was the only way he could do it. We can see that his love for her is genuine but Elowen can’t and it leads to some delicious tension.

But then they get married, all is forgiven and it becomes a trope blender.

SPOILERS.



After the wedding it just seems to be a mess of ‘THEYRE soulmates and they’re the most powerful beings alive because they’re blessed by gods AND Elowen now has cool magic powers and OH LOOK CAYDEN IS NOW A SHADOW DADDY’ and it really just felt like instead of building on the plot it just became a mess of marketing buzzwords for every Roman task ever and everything about the characters we loved was gone because now they’re over powered and have everything they want. Elowen went from Daenerys in season 1 - fighting the odds without losing her kind heart, to a weird mix of Danny is season 6 (at the top of her power before D7D got hold of her) but in a weird dance of the dragons type situation with her own father. And Cayden lost all personality except ‘Shadow Powers and My Wife.”

Also, controversially, the ending didn’t get me.

Nothing about Cayden and Elowen screams ‘Orpheus and Eurydice’ but thats very clearly where book 3 is headed. Elowen dying made absolutely no sense and the timing of the final sequence was just bizarre. The writing made it sound like Cayden had spend weeks tracking down the sorcerer responsible for her death, killing over soldier he found. On his way, but then we found out its actually only been a few minutes and Elowen isn’t even cold yet. And not even get me started on the Song of Achilles style scene that followed - it really felt like the author lost her own voice in amongst trying to squeeze every other popular Romantasy authors voice in and it was a real shame.

Thank you to Netgalley.com and Little Bonnier books UK for providing me with an ARC of this title.

3 stars for the ending! The ending was shocking and brutal and the whole idea of the underworld and saving Elowen is interesting enough to keep me invested in book 3.

The rest of the book was disappointing. Its taken me ages to read because I lost interest. It was boring, clunky, repetitive and for the first few hundred pages nothing much happens!
Cayden's & Elowen's forced distance was irritating. There wasn't much of a conflict to begin with so it all just felt forced when the two of them just wanted to be together. We went around in circles and we get to the point and im thinking 'is that it?'
Cayden is written for Booktok and his lines just dont hit like they should. He just says pretty words with no real angst or tension. He reminds me of Kai in Fearless...it just becomes too tropey and unrealistic.

Elowen's Dad's death and the war were very anti-climatic! The politics, magic system (why is Cayden now a shadow daddy?!) And God's became confusing! Even the dialogue was clunky & confusing!

Can we touch on the dragons here because they feel pointless in parts! If Cayden can ride one why cant her friends ride the others? Wouldn't that make more sense?

All in all there are far better romantasy books put there but if shes shifting to the underworld in book 3 that could be brilliant!

Continuing the story from Fear the Flames, Elowyn and Cayden set out to rally other kingdoms to join their fight for a better world — and to secure Elowyn’s rightful throne.

This is a sprawling high fantasy tale, full of different realms and rulers, but the sheer number of political threads made it a little too complex for my taste. The first half of the book focuses heavily on Elowyn and Cayden’s wedding, which felt drawn out and slowed the momentum. While the worldbuilding is impressive and the stakes are high, the pacing and density of details kept me from fully enjoying the ride.

What a wild ride! Book one left me wanting more world-building (magic, gods, political landscape) and thankfully this book delivered. Loved seeing a full glossary and lore guide at the beginning! I’m still scratching my head as to why those elements were omitted from the first book, but I’ll take the improvements! 🙌

Things pick up a few days after then end of Fear the Flames and honestly the first 10% had me questioning if I wanted to continue. It felt a little cliché and slow… but Im glad I persevered and pushed forward, because the action really amped up & I was devouring every fiery, vengeful moment with our FMC Elowen of the new House Veles. Fire-wielding dragon queen? Consider me sat. 🔥

Also, I love that El is a stress baker...because same! 👩🏻‍🍳

And then… Cayden Veles. The man that you are! If you’re looking for a MMC who yearns (and I mean obsessive-devotion, burn-the-world-down for her level yearning), please let me introduce you to your next book boyfriend. He’s ruthless, bloodthirsty, morally grey, & a hopeless simp for Elowen. 🧎🏻‍♀️
Occasionally he feels almost *too perfect*, but honestly, all his lines are *chefs kiss*😘🤌 so I’m not complaining. If your love language is acts of service and lavish gifts, you are going to LOVE this man.

Im so glad we got more of Cayden’s backstory! It answered so many questions from book one and added that extra depth, making it that much easier to fall for him. 😍

The dragons absolutely stole the show! Are we surprised?! We got more dragon lore and their personalities & traits really came to life. Plus, the political manoeuvring kicks up a notch - new kingdoms, fresh alliances, and the looming conflict with Imirath. There’s definitely a Game of Thrones appeal here. 🐉

The pacing was far better balanced in this instalment. I ended up buying the audio book as well to keep reading bc I couldn’t put it down! Highly recommend the audio, narrators were fantastic! The big battles and vengeance payoffs were so satisfying. I also adored seeing our found family’s bond deepen as they leaned on each other more and even welcomed a few new members. ❤️

And that ending… what!!!! 🫨 The twist left me reeling, and a visit with a certain Goddess has me absolutely frothing for the next book. 👀 I cannot wait for what's about to unfold in the next book!!!

Thank you so much Bonnier Books UK, Zaffre & Netgalley for the ARC.

I really wanted to like this.. especially after book 1 was a 5 star read for me! But this just fell a bit flat.
I feel like it just wasn’t very unique, the magic system, the dragons, the plot, all felt a bit like other series had largely inspired it, and so I didn’t really feel that attached to any of it 🙁

I understand that we are learning a lot of it as Elowen learns it (magic, dragon history, politics etc), but there was hardly any of it in book 1, so it felt a bit jarring.

I liked the yearning and grovelling during the first half, but the inner monologues really started to feel repetitive in the second half, which made me want to skip some of it.

The ending was interested and did win back some points, but sadly also did not feel that unique. It all felt quite heavily inspired by SJM books, GoT etc.

One line review - The yearning is everything!

The chemistry between the main characters is everything and their relationship had me hooked from start to finish. I also really enjoyed the softer moments amid the chaos.

This sequel brings more world-building, more dragons, and a lot more political tension. The pacing was a bit slow in the first half, there was a lot of setup, but once things picked up, I was all in.

The ending has me so ready for the next book.

The yearning, the love, the laughter, the heart, I love these characters so much!

These characters are some of the best I’ve read. Their found family is forever loved by me.

A really great series so far, even though the pacing can be off at times. I did feel like I got over 50% before the plot started to pick up speed because of all the world building we were getting that didn’t happen in book one, but it was nice to get more information on the world Olivia has created. I also did enjoy the softer moments between Elowen and Cayden whilst we were getting the world building plot. The ending has me excited to see where the next book takes us and I can’t wait to read more about these characters.

Ok I loved this! Even more than Fear the Flames (which was even better second time round) a moment for Cayden Veles because that man in this!! 🔥🔥🔥 YES! That man can yearn! This was amazing and heart breaking and oh my gosh I can’t even talk about the ending. I’m still processing. But I loved this book!! Thank you Zaffre & Bonnier Books for the eARC

While Wrath of the Dragons has a devoted fanbase and an intriguing premise, it unfortunately didn’t fully resonate with me. The book is heavily romance-driven, with a strong focus on spicy scenes, which at times overshadowed the plot and worldbuilding, in my opinion.

The male lead is the epitome of a fantasy “dream boyfriend” – fiercely loyal and completely focused on the heroine. While that can be appealing, some of the emotional beats and dialogue felt forced or overly dramatic, making it difficult to stay emotionally engaged. One example of. Such a scene, is where he questions her love despite everything she’s sacrificed, felt particularly unrealistic and broke immersion for me.

The fantasy world offers clear Game of Thrones vibes with dragons, battles, and court intrigue. However, the story takes a sharp turn toward the end, introducing new magical elements and an expanded world that felt only loosely connected to the earlier plot. It was almost as if a completely new story began in the final chapters, which made the ending feel rushed and disjointed rather than satisfying.

Overall, this story might be a hit for fans of intense romantasy with high drama and dragon lore, but it didn’t quite work for me on an emotional or narrative level.

What an amazing sequel!!

I really enjoyed Fear the Flames, but I honestly felt like the characters and writing was so elevated in this one. Moving on from single POV to dual POV, thus getting Cayden's POV as well was AMAZING. I'm not exaggerating when I say it made the entire book. Cayden is such an amazing top tier book boyfriend and I will accept no arguments to the contrary.

On the whole, this book really deepens the world building and political intrigue - it almost felt like Game of Thrones in a romantasy format, and I was so here for it. My only "complaint" is that I feel like not that much happened in the book? There could've been more plot for the first 300-400 pages. However, a four-book series is bound to have some filler but what I liked with this is that it was never annoying filler. I didn't find that the book compromised on the characters and their relations just to add filler. So while the pace was slow, the characters (especially Cayden) really got to shine and it made it ALL worth it.

Also... that ending?? CRIMINAL. I need book 3 asap pleeeease.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

I will give this book 3.5 stars. I really like Elowen and Cayden’s story and their connection. It’s a good continuation from Fear the Flames and the writing is easy to follow.

My favorite part of the book must be when Cayden reached for his reading glasses to read a letter. It’s just so funny for a big and scary warrior to need reading glasses. A truly giggled at that part and need to see some fanart of that !!

I really enjoy this world and story and I’m excited to continue it. It’s not a revolutionary storyline with things I have never seen before but it’s still so good and worth reading!

The one thing that bring the book down a bit for me is something that happens towards the end. I can’t go in to specifics without spoiling it but its just a storyline/trope I rather skip in books.

But like a said overall very good and I’m going to continue with the series!

I couldn't wait to dive into Wrath of the Dragons after reading Fear The Flames and wow, Olivia Rose Darling writes with such depth. I found myself highlighting line after line just to hold onto the power of her words. Elowen’s strength, Cayden’s unwavering love, the justified revenge (YAY!), the found family, all of it just hit. And that ending? C'MON. Bring on book three. Huge thanks to NetGalley and Zaffre for the opportunity of reading this ARC!

The dragons!!!! I could not get enough of them.

Olivia give me more I beg you.


This book fell. a little bit short compared to book 1 for me, but I felt like that couldn't be helped at book 1 was a 5 star that would have been hard to top.

Cannot wait for book 3 I will be picking it up and devouring it immediately.

This was just tooooooooo long.

I loved Fear the Flames, I think I gave it 4 or 4.5 stars so I was excited to get stuck into Wrath of the Dragons. I enjoyed where the story was headed, I enjoyed the political storyline, I enjoyed being re-united with these characters but Elowen and Cayden became really irritating with their internal monologue.

"I am wrath, I am vengeance, I made myself a King", "I am dragonfire, I will take my revenge" yada yada yada - yes, we get it. Do you need to have an entire page of each of them saying this in almost every chapter? If you took out even half of these moments the book would likely be a good 50 pages shorter. I will confess I starting paragraphs as soon as they started their internal ramblings because it was just the same exact thing over and over again and it made me enjoy the book just that bit less.

And I'm not entirely convinced that I'm enjoying where the book is headed. Like, why? I thought this was about reclaiming kingdoms? This could be a duology and leave people quite satisfied. Why is this being pushed? I don't know.

There's a lot I liked about it but unfortunately the stuff I didn't like just overpowers it and don't think I'll be continuing with the series.

The book’s only tiny little saving grace? Cayden. Unfortunately, you have to survive 500+ pages of fluff, filler, and flour-dusted trauma to get to him.

I didn’t like the first book. But the traditionally published version of Fear the Flames cleaned up the indie mess a little, so I thought, hey—maybe we’re going somewhere. Spoiler: we are not. Wrath of the Dragons doesn’t just lose the plot. It puts the plot in a basket, shoves it down a river, and bakes scones while the kingdom burns.

And I wish I were exaggerating.

This book is 500 pages of vibes. The first half? No war, no tension, no politics—just baking, birthday shoutouts (we are told everyone’s birthday, literally everyone, like the book was written by a sentient planner app), and Elowen going full Great British Bake Off despite being queen of two kingdoms. And how did she learn to bake? By watching people. That’s it. Not practice. Not learning. Just standing nearby until her soul absorbed the skill like a flour-scented Pokémon.

Meanwhile, a war is allegedly happening somewhere off-page. But Elowen’s too busy making pies, sulking in libraries, or insisting she doesn’t “command” her dragons—despite literally commanding them every other chapter. And the dragons? They’re basically Uber XL. She flies solo everywhere while the rest of her army sits on the ground twiddling their thumbs, dragonless and confused.

Elowen is emotionally flat, painfully self-important, and constantly treated like a tragic queen when she’s mostly just reading romance books and constantly bringing up her dragons in random conversations. Cayden, bless his angsty, tattooed, reading-glasses heart, is the only reason I didn’t DNF. He’s a complete trope buffet—“my wife” energy, brooding, shadow powers—but at least he commits. He’s dramatic and ridiculous, but in an entertaining way.

By contrast, the plot is missing. The worldbuilding is shallow. New places and powers pop up, get name-dropped once, then vanish like they were never there. Elowen soul-heals people now, I guess? Cayden wakes up with shadow magic and becomes an expert overnight because… reasons. The dragons are underdeveloped, underused, and underwhelming. There’s even a fantasy language for commanding them—except she never needs it because they already obey her like well-trained golden retrievers.

Also, let’s not forget the scene where Elowen sees a man with white hair and somehow notices the gray strands mixed in. Science, meet the door.

In the end, Wrath of the Dragons is Fourth Wing meets Throne of Glass meets Game of Thrones—if all of those were stripped of tension and turned into aesthetic moodboards with dragons as emotional support animals.

I gave this half a star more than the first book, and that’s 100% because Cayden exists.