Another amazing addition to the Going Down in Flames series. This one is teeming with tantalizing twists and can move fluidly from brazen to tender and heartfelt in one page. Chris Cannon is a powerful writer, able to make you feel every single word from the first page to the last.

Fanning the Flames picks up right where Trial By Fire left off. It wasn’t until this book that I realized that we are on the fourth book of the series and a school year hasn’t even past yet. I don’t know why I didn’t realize that before but it seems like this series is going to span the first year of Bryn’s life as a dragon, and boy does a crazy first year she have. I mean, she’s been poisoned, attacked, kidnapped, betrothed, fallen in love, broken up, fallen in love again, only to have that become a rocky relationship. This poor girl has gone through so much in such a short span of time.

I had issues with the last book and that was mainly because the story seemed to consist of Bryn and Valmont (her knight and boyfriend) going back and forth on whether a relationship between them would work. I just didn’t feel like a lot was accomplished in it. So I was glad to see that we get some mystery and action back with this installment. You see, there are vaults/rooms under the library at school that only a certain colored dragon and their knight can open. No one knows what’s inside until they are opened. However, it seems that the rebels are after whatever are in those rooms. So, it’s kind of a race against the clock to try to get into the rooms to see what they can figure out and hopefully stop a war with the rebels from happening. Of course, because Bryn is the only dragon with a knight, she and Valmont sort of set the stage and help find other dragons who would be interested in taking on a knight to try to open up one of the rooms. The majority of the story line consists of the mystery behind the rooms and figuring out what it all means.

Now, I’m all for romance. I am a romance junkie. I love me some romance. However, this whole Bryn and Volmont thing is driving me up a wall. Very rarely to I wish for a unhappily-ever-after, it’s happened before but it is rare. So, the fact that I was just sitting there hoping they would go their separate ways was a bit shocking. Ever since the last book I sort of lost respect for Volmont and their relationship as a whole. It’s not that I want to see Bryn with Jaxon, I just couldn’t stand hers and Valmont’s relationship angst. So, this entire book I was just biding my time hoping they would call it quits and I’d be done with it all. Which is shocking because I love romance!
…Just not theirs.

Like I said before, the majority of the book is just a lot of mystery and room hunting. Not a whole heck of a lot of action. However, the book does finally pick up steam about three quarters of the way through. I had a moment where I got teary-eyed (which really shocked me given what I was crying over), there were some gnarly fight scenes with limbs and wings flying, there was some big secrets revealed, and the story takes a turn into uncharted territory. I will admit that the author was starting to lose me there for a moment because I wanted excitement and dragony scenes, not so much teenage angst, but she was able to reel me back in with the last quarter of the book. It’s not that the story was bad, I just wasn’t in the mood for a slow-building read. I wanted action-packed dragon awesomeness. So when the pacing took on a much slower pace than I was expecting I found myself getting a little bored. However, I’m kind of in it to win it at this point. With everything that happened in the last quarter of the book, I need to know how it all goes down for Bryn.

“Fanning the Flames” is the continuation of a series about people who shift into dragons. Dragons live by a strong division along the lines of colors, which dictates who they will marry and what kind of jobs they will hold. Bryn is a rare (and often despised) hybrid who has been accepted into the ruling Blue clan. Tensions due to segregation and lack of prospects for certain colors have led to a dragon rebellion, and the rebels have been attacking at the school.

Bryn and her knight, Valmont, are recruited along with some other students to help discover why the school is such a target and what is hiding beneath the surface. They find pathways and relics long since forgotten, including the Tyrant’s crown- a weapon that will prevent a dragon from shifting and which digs into their head. The rebels are becoming more bold and everyone is needed to stop them before they kill more people.

At the same time, drama is building around Bryn and Jaxon, whose families lead the Blue clan and thus all dragons. Their relatives have submitted applications to have them married and it looks like that may go through. Jaxon was formerly engaged to (and is still currently in love with) Rhianna, but their contract was broken when she was injured. Bryn is still madly in love with her knight, Valmont, but neither is sure they could weather the storm of her forced marriage to Jaxon.

This is a well-written story, and it flows quickly and smoothly, easily capturing and keeping your attention throughout. There is some violence and character death (which is to be expected with a rebellion/battles) as well as some torture. All the teenagers are forced to mature quickly. I did not realize this was part of a series when I picked it up, but I found that I was able to follow the story easily even without having read the previous books (but now I do want to read them because it was such a great read)! The end has some closure but is left open for the next book, which I will be anxiously waiting to read!

Overall, this was a strong book, from what I assume is a strong series, and I really enjoyed it! Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher through netgalley. All opinions are my own.