This was such a fun series continuation. It was a very fast read, and was full of action and spice. The side characters were so fun to learn more about and spend time with. The slow burn romance has started burning, though I was frustrated with the direction taken with the love interest at the end of the book. My favorite parts were seeing Zariya and her best friend’s interactions - they’re so fun to read about!

I do wish we had learned a little more about the mythology of this world. I feel like there wasn’t much more world building in this book. I know some people will love that they already know about the world and can enjoy the plot and characters more in this book, but I personally like to have more world building in each book in a fantasy series.

I can’t wait to read book three, and see what direction the author takes with it! I’d recommend this series if you’re looking for a fun new romantasy read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Select for the ALC.

I had been dying to dive into this world after book one of the Nightfire Quartet had been a success hit for me. And the beginning doesn't disappoint. There's so much found family vibe with Zarya and her people already, it warms my heart. I probably could have just followed their lives for a whole book, but of course there's also high stakes and deep secrets. Also romance and betrayal. Basically all you need for a good fantasy saga.
Which is also kind of my criticism with this book 2 - again it seems to hit all the tropes like a checklist. The author even added spice to make it Romantasy, however it seems more like fan service than anything else. The spice is a bit generic and doesn't do anything for the plot. At times it even seems to break character - so to me personally this was superfluous.
But there's definitely enough 'there' there you make this fully entertaining and I will follow the rest of the tetralogy, and I'm invested in the world and characters.

Luckily I was granted both the ebook and audiobook, and both are engaging. They come with additional info about the book, a glossary and trigger warnings. The narration is really great and I enjoyed it a lot.

3,5/5 stars

Thank you @nergalley and @dreamscape_lore and @hachetteuk for the eARC!

#NightfireQuartet #Netgalley #Bookstagram

Book two of the Nightfire Quartet was such an exciting addition to the series! The story begins pretty soon after the events of book one, and while it starts with an intriguing hook, it is a bit slower at first and builds throughout the book, leaving the reader itching for more.

Dance of Star and Ashes continues the tale of Heart of Night and Fire with more world building and history, and thank goodness, a glossary! Honestly, everyone needs to include a reintroduction to characters, places, and magical creatures. I CANNOT keep these things straight, so that refresher was so helpful!

The plot is a bit of a slow build, but has quite a few twists that I wasn’t expecting, and was a good balance of action and character development. It also ends in a way that isn’t quite a cliff hanger, but sets the reader up well to anticipate book 3!

While learning more about the world and history, the reader also learns a lot more about Zarya’s past and her family! She was kept in the dark for so long, so the reader is on an adventure with her in learning who she is and where she came from. While she is still a bit young and naive in the book, she continues to be a badass and learns more about her magic and powers. I love that her character is multifaceted.

We also got to see so much more of her relationship with multiple characters in the series. We still are building of the ‘found family’ trope, and I quite love her and Yasen’s relationship! They are seriously (second) best friend goals and I love how much banter they have together. We also got to see a lot of growth and healing in the relationships between Zarya, Row, and Aarev, and the forgiveness that came with it. The evolution of these relationships really stood out to me in this installment, and I was so happy to see them working through their problems.

We also got to see a lot more of the Chiranjivi and what they can do, which is SO much fun! I love seeing them working together and learning more about their powers as well.

Lastly, we got the BEST slow burn with Rabin and Zarya. It 100 percent paid off in the end! I will add a sidebar that some of the language used in the spice scenes and between them threw me off as it felt very modern/contemporary and the setting of the book is not, but it was hot either way. I will gladly let the dragon roast me 🥵

Overall, a solid second installment for the series, and makes me excited for what is in store for Zarya and gang in the future!

Audio review: I had this as both an ebook and an audio arc, so I was flipping back and forth between the two. I really like this narrator for their range of voices and have enjoyed both book 1 and book 2 on audio! I think they do a great job encapsulating Zarya's personality, and look forward to listening to the audiobooks in the future.

T R O P E S
South Asian Mythology
Bad Ass FMC
Broody MMC
Elemental Magic
Magical Creatures and Demons
Found Family
Slow Burn Spice

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am not okay.

This book was such a perfect continuation of Zarya’s story. It was emotional and fast paced. Nisha’s command of detail is just exquisite to be honest. The culture and world building are so rich and colorful. Yasen continues to be my spirit animal and I loved seeing their friendship evolve more. I can’t wait to see what comes next.

Dance of Stars and Ashes by Nisha J. Tuli is the second book in The Nightfire Quarter, a follow up to Heart of Night and Fire. I was excited for this next book, and while it continues the events of Heart, its focus is primarily on Zarya and Rabin’s relationship. I knew the book was romantasy, but I thought it would be better balanced like in the first book. I now realize I am not the target audience for this story and likely won't continue with the rest of the quartet.

Since I listened to Heart as an audiobook, I decided to do the same for Dance. Narrator Shiromi Arserio was the highlight of this story for me. She did wonderfully with the pacing and making sure that different moments were hitting right.

I really enjoyed the first book, but this second one had very little conflict. Most of it was Zarya happily getting along with everyone (except Rabin, but I’ll talk about that in a minute). All conflict with ANY other character was gone. I still really liked the characters and Zarya is still mostly well done as a young, sheltered woman, but her youth and inexperience grated on me more this book because of…

Zarya and Rabin. So. I love a good enemies to lovers and the author is really selling me there. However, most of the conflict of the book centered around this relationship. Zarya thought about it non-stop (fair) and all the characters were constantly talking about them. To me, it was exhausting. I would have liked to see some of the other plot points developed (vs handed to Zarya on a silver platter) rather than her spend so much time thinking and talking about Rabin. I also don’t love the possessive man trope, so when that aspect was introduced, I lost interest entirely in seeing it through.

My last issue is that everything was handed to Zarya. She didn’t have to struggle for any new piece of info or anything, except Rabin and even that wasn’t hard, and everyone was constantly apologizing her. This book just fell really flat, more like wish fulfillment than anything.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for allowing me to read this book as an ARC so I could give an honest review.

I was so excited to return to the city of Dharati, and to see where Zarya’s story was heading and this did not disappoint. This story was full of action, angst, secrets, betrayal and heart wrenching sadness. The plot twists towards the end have me questioning everything and although the story ended on a lighter note, I’m interested to see what happens to Zarya. Although this story was a bit of a slower pace, I still think it was action packed.

This audiobook was fantastic! I think the narrators fit the roles perfectly, and the story was easy to listen to. I enjoyed both this audiobook and the audiobook of Heart of Night and Fire.

The tension between Zarya and Rabin was EVERYTHING. The dream forest scenes were so good and I found myself waiting for them. The secrets and slow burn in this story were SO GOOD. The friendships are so warm and delightful.

I can’t say too much about how I felt without giving a lot of plot points away, but I will say that if you enjoyed the first book, you will love the second!

Thank you to Nisha J. Tuli, NetGalley, Second Sky and Dreamscape Select for the audiobook ARC!

I really enjoyed this second installment to the The Nightfire Quartet! While I did like the first book better, this one is a strong second book in the series. Zarya is still sassy and strong and I like following her story as she discovers more of her past and more of her magic. There is definitely some untapped potential there that I can't wait to read about in upcoming books in the series. Rabin is so broody and hot and he calls Zarya "Spitfire". Any time a man gives his woman a nickname I swoon and this one is particularly good imo. This is a wonderful group of characters that all have their own unique personalities and magic.

I did listen to the audiobook version and while I do think the narrator does a great job of doing female voices, I was less impressed with the male "voice" she uses especially during the spicy scenes. For me I think there should have been a second narrator for the male characters.

Overall, well done and I am definitely looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

Thank you NetGalley, Dreamscape Select, Second Sky and Nisha J. Tuli for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Dance of Stars and Ashes by Nisha J. Tuli is the second book in The Nightfire Quarter. Zarya’s story continues as she and her friends prepare for an important ceremony that will help save their city from the encroaching blight that has been terrorizing them. Along the way, Zarya continues to learn more about herself and the origin of her magic.

I *loved loved loved* this book and couldn’t put it down! It was full of adventure, friendship, and more of the “will they, won’t they” romance that the first book had as well. It was an emotional roller coaster with some stressful and sad moments but also some really heartwarming ones. Similar to the first book, I appreciated the Indian culture and mythology that was woven into the story, as I feel that’s not very common in mainstream fantasy novels. Also the art on the cover is beautiful as well!

For the audiobook version, I thought the narrator was good. I’d love if this series was eventually made into a full cast graphic audio!

My opinion on the story itself hasn’t changed at all- this is still a phenomenal addition to the Nightfire Quartet.

I tend to not listen to audiobook of fantasy books much as I have a harder time processing all the information required in fantasy world building when just listening, but I’ve recently discovered that I do enjoy it as a way to re-read a fantasy book I’ve already read a physical copy of because I already have the information about the world in my mind. I especially enjoy being able to listen to the pronunciation of harder words or names that I might not be as familiar with.

This is the first book I’ve listened to that’s been narrated by @shiromi.arserio and I really enjoyed her voice. I can be pretty picky about audiobooks but she puts the perfect amount of emotion and personality into the characters and her enunciation is absolutely top-notch.

This is the second book in a series so if you’re interested go check out Heart of Night and Fire first!

A brilliant sequel that expands the world further and lays the path for even more in the next few books. We got more spice in this book that was very steamy and so much angst between the characters. I really enjoy Tulis fantasy romances and can’t wait to pick up the sequel! The narrator was good too so if you’re a fan of audiobooks like me then I recommend giving it a listen.

4 Stars

I read this book physically and listened to the audio book. I found for this story I really enjoyed the physical version more. I thought the narrator did a great job for the FMC voice, but unfortunately MMC didn't work out for me. However if I didn't have access to the physical copy, I would have still continued as it didn't take away from the overall story.

Overall I liked this second installment much more than the first book. The first one was a lot of setup as expected, but the characters were a little annoying for most scenes except for the ones with Rabin. In this second book, some of the characters I disliked the most in the first are not really present in this book and it focuses on my three favorite. Rabin, Zarya, and Yas.

For me Rabin being more prominent in this story really brought a different life to it. He is broody and interesting. I kind of wish there was a bit more at stakes for the enemy part as it seemed to resolve itself fairly quickly. Its still kind of slow burn, but not in way I typically love. It's pretty obvious right away that they both are lusting and have feelings for each other and Zarya is just pushing off the inevitable vs building up to those feelings again. However, I did really like their relationship and I enjoyed their interactions.

I continue to find the world building and magic system interesting, with just enough information to keep the story going but not too much to drag down this fantasy romance. I appreciated that this helped make this for a very quick read and I had it completed in day.

I am looking forward to see where this progresses in book 3. The second book really delivered in moving the story along and setting up some interesting stakes for the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Select for this advanced audio copy. My review is voluntarily my own.

Action, friendship & steamy romance. Great world building, well described captivating characters & fascinating plot. All highlighted by the great narration.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the ALC.

I highly recommend this book! I read it as both an audio and physical book. This follow up to Heart of Night and Fire is even better than book 1! The plot picks up just days after the events of book 1 and the excitement does not let up. Tuli provides a glossary at the beginning with a reminder of the characters, places, and other important world-specific terms. This was incredibly helpful as a summary and helped get right back into the world.

I love the characters in this series but I wish we got to see more of the other members of the Chiranjivi. Zarya is beginning to see them as family and I want to see it instead of being told it. I am hoping that comes in the next books! Yasen and Amrita are great friends/side characters. I am hoping that Amrita is able to be released from the Jai Tree in the future. I want the best for her. This book is much more focused on the relationship between Zarya and Rabin. And it is therefore much spicier than the first book. I absolutely loved it.

I am really excited to see what comes next, especially with Zarya and the Chiranjivi leaving Daragaab. I think this is a great opportunity for Tuli to do some serious world building. I will be waiting at the ends of my seat for news of book 3.

Shiromi Arserio does a great job narrating and brings Zarya to life. The audio is really beautiful, a great performance! For those who follow audiobook readers, Arserio also narrated The Jasmine Throne, Crown of Secrets, among many other books.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Select, Second Sky for providing an eARC of this audiobook!

I need to go back to the first book in the Nightfire Quartet (yes, I absolutely should have checked this ws the second in a series, but the synopsis was awesome and it really could be a standalone, I just don't want it to be) The reason? Dance of Stars and Ashes was absolute fire! (Excuse the pun)

Firstly, huge kudos for choosing Shiromi Arserio to narrate this audiobook. The performance is masterful, virtuosic, a work of art and wonderfully suited to this excellent novel

Absolutely stunning visuals from the world building. Authentic, creative, bringing a new aesthetic into shifter fantasy while representing South Asian culture. A powerhouse on this basis alone let alone for the immesely illustrative and engaging storyline.

Zarya's reflection on her newfound abilities and strength is captivating and facing up to the blight, she is a force to be reckoned with and I am really looking forward to seeing how she grows in the rest of the series

(Sidenote, I am going to need to remortgage my house to fund my TBR at this rate! JKJK. So many incredible new authors and new series in 2024, each breathing new breath into the literary dragon)

The character building is immense and in a good way. Absolutely love Yasen but I am still on the fence about Rabin, I am thinking there will be a lil bit of switcherywoos in the next two books, but will reserve my comments on that for now

2024 will certainly be the year of the Romantasy author and Nisha J Tuli deserves to be up there with the best of them. A great mix of slow burn, frindships and loyalty, dragons, magic and action to take your breath away. A brilliant tale

Thank you to Netgalley for this epic romantasy ARC. My review is left of my own volition