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.

As a huge fan of the Going Down in Flames series, I have to commend Fanning The Flames for being another fantastic book in this series. There is no lull in either the pace or quality of the series, it's as sharp and as interesting as ever. Bryn has come a long way from who she was in book one and it showed in her character, decision and behaviours. The witty Bryn once again captured my heart and made me enraptured in another wonderful piece of her journey. Fanning The Flames started with action and from there it was a fun filled ride.
Bryn and Jaxon were instructed to form a group made up of student dragons and volunteer knights to try to find the secrets of the hidden rooms in the library. This paved the way for some really interesting and fun storyline I really loved especially when they find various wonderful magical artifacts and also lead to some fantastic discoveries that made me see their whole world in a new light.
Valmont is ever the precious sexy drool worthy boyfriend, His chemistry with Bryn is top notch and their interactions are great. I love the fact that they're more rational and calm in handling complicated situations though they still have that spark that made me fall in love with them. There is a lot of drama, mystery and action in it. Discovering the motives behind the actions of the rebels was definitely one of the high point of the book but the various relationships between the main characters is enough for it to be a great read.
My best quote is:
She could imagine explaining her marriage to someone. “Did you marry for love?”“Oh, no. I married for spite.” God, her life was bizarre.”

There are twists and turns I could predict and some I couldn't such as the surprise return of some important characters. It is filled with action, romance, comedy, drama, mystery, teen angst and shape shifting fun.
Before the ending, I could sense the heartbreak coming and I was right. All the events leading to the ending was grim and necessary but still sad. The ending itself while heart wrenching still leaves me excited for the next chapter in Bryn's story. This is one series I am so in love with and I recommend this to Young Adult Fantasy fans and anyone looking for a great read. Chris Cannon has amazed me once more with her superb authors, She's one author whose books I will always put on my buy list.

P.S: I have a feeling Bryn and Jaxon are going to end up together! I find the idea more entertaining than I should.
P.P.S: Bryn still loves much food and I'm glad she hasn't lost that part of herself.

“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.

Well this book was a bit of a contradiction

How to put this... I'd say roughly 80% of this book moved along at a fairly sedate pace, which wasn't a bad thing, just different to previous instalments, but I definitely won't be describing it as action packed.

Things started to pick up in the last quarter but to me it felt like the focus of the book was more geared towards relationships, there were some happy discoveries (spoiler [Ma and Pa are alive!]). Then there were some sad but not totally unexpected progressions, well at least not from my standpoint, although I gotta confess I did cry, and then to top it all off something unexpected happened which will have lasting effects on one character in particular.

Although the events of this book definitely helped to drive the overall story line towards the conclusion I'm hoping for, it didn't leave me with the happy feels previous offerings did, again not necessarily a bad thing, but it was more like reaching the end of the first part of a conclusion, like Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1, you understand why it was played out this way but you're left hungry for more.

But hey, maybe that's the point?!