Together We Burn by Isabel Ibañez is a standalone fantasy about a flamenco dancer, a dragon hunter, and dragons. Zarela Zalvidar is the daughter of Hispalia’s most famous Dragonador. During their 500th anniversary show, tragedy strikes leaving her father horribly injured, most of their dragons dead, and some of the audience members as well. Facing exuberant fines from the Dragon Guild, Zarela must find a way to save the area, her ancestral home and inheritance, so she hatches a plan to become the next Dragonador, replacing her father. The only problem is she is terrified of dragons, and her best hope lies in the hands of a Arturo, a handsome dragon hunter who refuses to help. With time running thin, Zarela must learn to fight and, in the process, discover who is out to ruin her family.

I’ll admit, I tried reading this one when it first came out and DNFed it. I struggled to pay attention to what I was reading. However, I’m happy to report that must have just been based on my reading mood at the time because I thoroughly enjoyed it this time. Zarela is an interesting character. She’s headstrong, determined, and fiercely loyal. She will do whatever is required of her to save her father and their ancestral home even fight dragons. Dragons terrify her which is a bit ironic considering her father is a dragon fighter. However, after her mother was killed in an accident with the dragons a few years prior, it is understandable. Now though, she’s pushing her fear aside and determined to do what her father no longer can.

Arturo is a contrasting character to Zarela. He is a dragon hunter, a former dragonador, and believes the practice cruel and archaic. He initially refuses to help her, believing she is a spoiled princess, but her stubbornness wears him down. He eventually agrees, but on arriving at her arena quickly discovers someone is trying to sabotage the Zalvidar legacy. I like how they work together with the dragons and to discover who is behind the destruction. There are plenty of steamy, slow burn moments between them as well as secrets which add to the tension.

I loved the world! The book is set in Hispalia. The dragons and dragonadors are reminiscent of bull-fighting right down to the giant arenas and red capes. I loved the addition of flamenco dancing as well. It is full of heritage. Magic also exists in this world, but it feels more as a side note than the main feature which is dragons.

Overall, I enjoyed Together We Burn. Zarela and Arturo are each others’ complement. Their banter is spot on, and the slow build to their friendship is sweet and full of tension. I loved the addition of the mystery to the story as it makes every character a suspect in the reader’s eyes adding tension to the story. If you are a fan of fantasy and dragons, I highly recommend it.

Audiobook Note: Because I had attempted to read this one before and failed, I opted to listen this time. I’m so glad I did! I really enjoyed Osorio’s narration. She brought Zarela to life. As I know nothing about the language, it also helped to hear how things were pronounced. It’s truly a beautiful language. I listened at a slightly increased speed than my usual at 2.5x and enjoyed every minute of it.
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DNF @ 30%

This book has so much promise, yet I found myself looking for other things to do instead of read. I love the setting and how the author did her own take on Matadors, calling them Dragonodors~dragon fighters. The Spanish heritage in the book is what originally appealed to me, and it is done very well. However the action of the story is bland and predictable.

3.5/5 Stars

18 year old Zarela Zalvidar is the daughter of famous parents. Her mother was a beloved Flamenco dancer before her death, and her father is a Dragnador. They own their own dragon fighting arena, but on the night of their 500th anniversary show tragedy strikes, leaving her father wounded, their dragons slain and many spectators injured. The family is now being punished by the Dragon Guild and could potentially loose their arena, unless they can prove they are not to blame. Zarela must team up with a Dragon hunter named Arturo to save the arena, and keep her family afloat.

I thought this was a unique story featuring Dragons in a new way - similar to bull fighting. I really liked Zarela, she was extremely strong-willed. I also enjoyed Arturo's character and how grumpy he was. I do wish that we had gotten a dual POV with Arturo as well. I think that would have helped the reader see more of his hesitation with his attraction to Zarela. I thought the enemies to lovers was well done, but I do think it got a bit repetitive with Zarela's inner thoughts about being annoyed about noticing how attractive he was. I also liked the underlying mystery of who was behind the attacks, and honestly I was surprised at who it was!

I hate that I am writing this review so late after I’ve read this book and I’ve made it a goal to be better this year with my reviews, starting with my ARCs. I was graciously given this ARC from NetGalley and Wednesday Books in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely adored this book! I loved the dragons, the atmosphere and worldbuilding were exquisite. It was a unique take on a fantasy world inspired by medieval Spain; the story was so vivid, rich in culture, and so immersive. I enjoyed the slow burning romance, and I am a sucker for the enemies to lover’s trope.

The plot is well-developed and intriguing, and betrayals, life-threatening situations, and several twists and turns create a suspenseful and exciting story. Between dragons escaping, underhanded politicians threatening the MC’s livelihood, and her dangerous mission to save her family, there is never a dull moment in the book. The story also includes a complex social structure, conflicting political and ethical beliefs, the battle between tradition and the desire for change, and themes of family, honor, forgiveness, identity, and more.

This was such a unique book with dragons and flamenco which was what really drew me in. I wish we had more of that, but the execution didn't really quite reach up to par. There are a few predictable turns of the book, but this book was an easy read, and the world building was well done. I just wished we had more flamenco and the dragons.

3.5*

I could not get into this book nor finish it unfortunately, it was a DNF for me. I wish I would have enjoyed it because it seemed really interesting but I was dreading picking it up.

This was a slow start, but I’m glad I kept reading. The dragons, magic, dancing, and romance combined with the Spanish cultural elements were unique! I also loved the descriptive writing and world building! Overall, I really enjoyed this book!

I got a eARC of this from NetGalley but have since purchased my own copy. Much thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing a eARC of "Together We Burn" at that time and apology for a long delay.

I've loved dragons for as long as I have probably been reading fantasy and science fiction on my own, it was a unknown to me at the time, a short story titled "The Smallest Dragon Boy" by Anne McCaffrey that sent me looking for it after it had been read aloud in a classroom in grade school. It was not until many years after that I found it and I had been reading Anne McCaffrey all along.

Because I knew by the summary that Zarela Zalvidar would face disaster, loss, scorn and pain I think I found this a hard book to start and fall into because I always had to kind of guard my heart. I hated that she had to face it alone without any other family and sell so much of her mother's things to survive.

I was nonetheless very interested in how dragons would fight men in a arena like a bull fighter, or a gladiator facing off against a truly mythical monster akin to the Minotaur.

Zarela Zalvidar plays the part of a dancer like I imagine Ariadne, a mistress of the labyrinth who gave the string to Theseus that saved in from a maze and had a dancing ground.

I loved Lola her friend and confident throughout and also how passionate and reluctant Zarela's encounters with Arturo Díaz de Montserrat were. I feel the ending worth it and I'm glad there's hope for dragons and the love between Arturo and Zarela, may their dance go on! ;)

This is such an interesting twist to what we expect in a dragon book. I loved the Spanish influence to the culture and magic system of this world it also added to the unexpected delights of how dragons are seen in this world. The characters are so well written and kept me glued to the pages. The plot is well paced and built the mystery and romance in way that was so well balanced in giving time to both. I loved that romance felt very real in how it built without distracting from the main mystery and how they worked together to figure out what was going on. All around a very satisfying and wonderful book.

I forgot to leave a review for this, but I really enjoyed it! It's been out for ages, so I won't say much more than I need to for my star rating. <3

A lovely and brilliant love story, set in a very imaginative world. I loved every single thing! so recommended!

Spanish bullfighting with a magical twist, dragons, and dancing- Uh YES please!!!

The premise starts off slightly predictable-girl is a dancer but her dad dies and to save her family she must take his place as a Dragonador. However, after that it was boom-boom-bang !!

The enemies-to-lover vibe between her and dragon hunter/ trainer/mentor/ pain in her butt Arturo Diaz De Monsterrat was fire!!!!

The writing was lush and paid homage to the rich vibrancy of Spanish culture. It also helped that the plot was jam-packed with action, sabotage at every corner and the pressure to save her familiar.

I adored the chemistry and can't wait to see what else the author has in store for us.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for my honest review. You can follow me on IG @JessicaReadsIt.

This book is swoony and dark and lush and it made Isabel an instant buy for me. I loved her from her first book, but there's something about this one that just spoke to my soul.

The beautiful cover intrigued me enough to download the eARC. Zarela born into a family of Flamenco dancers and a very famous Dragonador, finds herself to keep the family name being ruined. The story was simple enough to follow and a quick read. I wished it had more of the dragons and dancing. The ending was predictable. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the eArc.

Gorgeous cover - I love it so much. I love the subtle dragons in there. The world was easy to slide right into and I did like once she met the love interest. I liked the training and learning about the dragons even if I thought the deal toll and the initial slaughters a bit distracting. But I struggled with this one. I found the main character frustrating, she just seemed so helpless all the time. I just never quite got pulled into the plot so it felt very slow moving. I really liked the dancing and the idea of the magic and arena. But I found the ultimate reveal a little bit of a let down.

If you like fantasy - especially with dragons! - then you should definitely give this one a try.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

This book had me captivated from start to finish. I loved the story, the characters and I really really hope we get a sequel.

Isabel Ibañez is in her element in this book. Her world building stood out to me the most. I was completely immersed from the very first page. I felt like I was there! And what a swoony romance. This book will live with me for a very long time.

I was so excited for this one, both because of the description and because I've loved the other things I've read by Isabel Ibañez. I did end up enjoying TOGETHER WE BURN, just not as much as I'd hoped.

The biggest positive with this book was how gorgeous all of the descriptions were, whether the food (SO MUCH FOOD), or the clothing, or the city and the desert surrounding it. It's clear that this is a thing that Ibañez excels at, and why I'm so excited to read her books. The romance was also well-done, a slow burn hate to love with tension you could cut with a knife.

What I had a hard time with was the pacing. There's this whole mystery throughout the book of who might be trying to sabotage La Giralda, but I felt like there wasn't enough attention given to the clues; more of the focus was on the romance and the dragons, which made the mystery not hit as well as I would've liked. The resolution also felt to me like it came a little too easily.

Overall, I enjoyed TOGETHER WE BURN and think it would be a good fit for readers who have enjoyed Isabel Ibañez's other books. Readers looking for a different take on dragons might also enjoy this one.

Thank you to Wednesday Books for providing a copy for review.

Dragons and romance sign me up. This story was a wild ride. An epic Ya Fantasy romance. I really enjoy this author and I’m loving each book a little more than the last! Arturo and Zarela are a great enemies to lovers story mixed with a ton of fantasy in an epic world! This is a must read!

I loved Isabel's Woven in Moonlight book and was super excited for this one since I went to Spain and learned about the legend of the dragon knight, and saw a performance by flamenco dancers. I was enthralled with their dancing and was ready to be reminded of that trip.

Well, I read the first chapter or two and didn't continue reading. I'm not sure why. It just wasn't clicking for me. I might try again another time. I would still recommend reading for anyone else because you might love it.

I'm going to be honest. I love almost everything that Isabel writes but, this book was a miss for me. I DNF'd it about 50% through. It was hard to get into and connect with the characters. Maybe it just wasn't the right book for me at the right time.