This has been on my shelf since the book was published in 2016. Why am I just getting around to this? The world may never know. With the snarky heroine, strong male counterpart, Greek gods, magic and mystery this has all the hallmarks of a true favorite for me.

Cat is a very stereotypical heroine but that doesn't make her any less enjoyable. In some ways I think I prefer that she has some tried and true attributes; its helps offset her difference. She has a secret that she is terrified to let escape. She is extremely powerful and doesn't yet know the extent of her powers. While the level of snark and sass is very high with this one but she also occasionally comes off as whiney and juvenile. I did sometimes find it to be too much but it works with the character and her upbringing; she is unused to most of these situations and deals with it like any unruly teenager does experiencing it for the first time. I do love her loyalty to her friends and chosen family; both the Sintas and the circus people!

Beta Sinta, Griffin, is my new favorite man. A warlord in all his glory on the exterior; a kind, caring man full of love on the inside. A beautiful dichotomy between perception and reality. I love the way he loves Cat. He is willing, currently, to accept her as she is, taking only want she will give him but challenging her for more, challenging her to be more. He believes in her and her abilities, never wavering in his support. He understands her strengths and accepts her weaknesses. He never belittles and only encourages her. And he's strong, beautiful, and so much man.

If you have read my other reviews you know I have an unhealthy obsession with secondary characters and this book delivers! Jocasta, Flynn, Carver, Cato, and a smattering of others brought me so much joy! I loved all of the various interactions with these characters and how they brought out different sides of the main characters.

I may have been very late to the game but this will not be the last time I read this book. I cannot wait to see where this series takes me. If you need something fresh, give it a try. Happy Reading!

I loved all the characters introduced and am hoping to get more of their stories rather than just focusing on Cat and Griffin, although I’m good with that too. :D (Loved me some Beta Sinta!) Cat and her warlord have some wonderful chemistry and I had a hard time putting their story down. The book went by way too fast.

There’s a special place in my heart for paranormal and fantasy books. They’re the reason I love reading so much and A Promise of Fire reminded of how I started this romance reading adventure.

A Promise of Fire is the first book in the Kingmaker Chronicles by Amanda Bouchet and is an Amazon Editor’s pick which delivers on exactly what it promises, steam and action expertly interwoven in a well-researched Greek Mythical romance.

Both Cat and Griffin are compelling characters. Cat with her sassy, snarky humor and Griffin with his alpha tendencies were a sizzling combination. And while the two are well developed so are the supporting characters as is the world building.

The plot was alluring and exciting with all the elements of a well-executed fantasy novel.

The book did not really work for me. I DNF'ed it. I wasn’t able to connect with any of the many characters in the book and I found myself putting down the book a lot because it was never really catching my attention.

There are no words to describe how much I love this book! I think this is one of the best fantasy romances of all time! I wish there were more books like these in the genre, but sadly no! Cat and Griffin make the perfect pair and complement each other in so many ways. Griffin is the perfect alpha male to handle Cat's stubbornness and fire. I also loved Griffin's family and the Beta Team. The world-building and the mythology included in the book is a great addition. Would recommend this to anyone who is searching for something similar to the Warprize Chronicles.

Very late, but I loved this.

I miss epic fantasy. Every once in a while I want to channel the Sword of Truth or revist the Talent series (McCaffrey's Rowan/Damia/Pegasus in Flight branching). There's amazing things that happen and some romance and varying levels of based in some world that you recognize-ness. YA/NA seems to channel this from time to time (Bitterblue, Court of Thorns and Roses, Girl of Fire & Thorns). So when I got into this and we had magic and gods that walk through the world, I'm pretty much cleared my calendar and knocked through all three books in this trilogy.

This series takes some of the fun of Greek mythology characters and puts them into a world that is in the middle of a shift in status quo. The "elite" magic class in one country has just been defeated by a collection of non-magic people banding together to protect themselves from the abuse of the elite. The upper class, having ignored what was going on around them for ages in favor of their own power struggles has left the military & officials with less power to weild it over the lower classes. To completely bring about this revolution, we have our band of five (#TropesFTW) as a mix of fighters with unique skills and one magic user who has been subverting her skills to avoid being found.

Part journey of self discovery, part political drama we follow our troop as they figure out who they are and better understand how they need to tear down the world they have always known in order to improve the lives of everyone they love. This is the first book in the trilogy, but a very satisfying start that is complete in and of itself. That being said, I'm VERY happy I was able to read all three back to back.

I’ve had A Promise of Fire on my TBR list for a while now. I borrowed the book from the library to finally read it, but then I also decided to borrow it from the Audible Romance Package subscription, so I can listen to it as well. I loved this book from beginning to end, and I have a feeling that Amanda Bouchet is going to be one of my auto-buy authors now since this is the second book I’ve read by the author. I loved her latest book Nightchaser, and now I love the Kingmaker Chronicles so far after reading/listening to the first book.

This book is a Fantasy Romance book, so it has mythology elements to it mentioning Gods/Goddesses. I loved that part of the book so much since I loved studying Greek/Roman mythology when I was younger. The author did a fantastic job with the first book with the world-building, and I adored the female heroine, Catalia “Cat” Fish, so much in this book. She is beyond funny, and I loved how kick-butt she was in the book. She’s been living her life disguised as a soothsayer in a traveling circus, and unfortunately, her disguise is about to be given up when a sexy warlock finds her and wants her for his newly conquered realm. He believes she’s the Kingmaker he’s been looking for to help him. She’s a powerful weapon, and he will do anything to have her. He’ll even keep her prisoner, but Cat is one character that is very interesting and irresistible. She doesn’t make it easy for warlock Griffin, which is one of many reasons why I adored her. There is quite a bit of mystery with Cat to in the story too. She’s keeping a secret hidden, and the author does bring forward some past instances of Cat and her wicked mother in the story. There are also others that want her as their Kingmaker and some that even want her dead.

I loved the warlock too, Griffin. He’s a fascinating character in the story, and he didn’t know how to handle Cat at first. The tension between the two characters Cat and Griffin was unbearable at times in the story, even though Cat tried to play it off so many times in the book. The whole time I was reading/listening to the book I was going ‘just do it already and get together.’ Dang! I loved it though.

Let’s say this book is full of adventure, suspense, action, and even romance. I’ve already borrowed the second book in the series and plan on listening to it as well since I want to find out what is going to happen next in the second book. I’m so glad I decided to read/listen to this book. I love fantasy novels and to have romance in it as well is a plus to the story/series.

Story Rating: 4.5 stars
Steaminess Rating: 3.5 stars
Standalone or part of series: Part of the Kingmaker Chronicles and I recommend reading in order.
Do I recommend this book? Yes, most definitely.
Will I read other books from the author? Yes. She’s become one of my auto-buy favorite authors.
Tropes/Elements: Mythology elements (Gods/Goddesses); Adventure; Angst from the main female character and main male character in the story.

With that cover and blurb, A Promise of Fire quickly became an anticipated read. Which made it all the more frustrating when I tried reading it and couldn't get into it. I put it down and gave it some time before I went back to it, but unfortunately the second time didn't fare any better. And because I wanted to love it so much and with so many other people loving it, I gave it more time before picking it back up, but sadly it didn't click then either. I've come to the conclusion that this series just isn't for me. I'm definitely open to trying this author in the future though and hope I can enjoy her other works.

Wow, I LOVED this book!! Wasn't sure what to expect going in. But within a few chapters, I could not put this book down! Good thing I started it on a cross-country plane ride, because it occupied me for the entire six hour flight :) I barely paused to breathe it was so good!

I saw another reviewer call this book a romantasy which is a FAB description! Lots of magic, lots of kissing, two of my favorite things so I wasn't complaining at all! Enjoyed every minute! FYI, full disclosure, I got this one on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Let's talk magic first! Great worldbuilding with lots of backstory! Secrets were slowly revealed, lots of mysteries were carefully unraveled, and I know there is much more to come in the sequels! The magic was completely different than anything I've read before, with some elemental components, but totally new powers, like stealing magic or deflecting magic. The system was complex, yet believable, and I loved how even something like being a "fire mage" could be broken down into so many different types of magics, kept me very intrigued. The world uses familiar figures, like the Greek Gods, but the lands are completely new, which made for an interesting mix of mythology I already knew a lot about paired with a world I was only just discovering. Took an old concept and made it new again!

Okay, let's talk love! Griffin and Cat both have strong personalities, ones I found myself enjoying immensely :) I would say the lines of consent were blurred a bit (perhaps to be expected with a kidnapping storyline) and my only negative was how violent Griffin sometimes seemed at times. It's one of my least favorite romance tropes, but he is supposed to be a warlord who conquered a kingdom, so I understand why the author wrote him the way she did! I'm curious how it will be handled in future books, and if it will be addressed at all! Regardless, I was drawn in by their romance and found myself cheering for them! Definitely swoony at times :)

I highly recommend this book to all fans of fantasy romance!! A story to lose yourself in and I'm eagerly jumping into the sequel immediately! I know I won't be able to put it down!

My review is here: https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=UiudbdyjBzg

Was a well written book, and there were moments when I couldn't put it down. Overall, though, it really wasn't my cup of tea. I would recommend it for my a few of my friends.

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I was excited to read this because I was looking for a good series about gods and goddesses. This fell flat. I did not like the tense this book was written in. It was starting to get super annoying. The story was well done but I just couldn't get over the fact that the author wrote the book in such an odd tense and person. Just not a favorite of mine.

Well, WOW! Hmmm… I knew I would love this one for two reasons: One, because it’s fantasy and second, because Alyssa gave it five stars, which she rarely does. Now, let me explain the ways!

The characters – There is an incredible cast of characters. To be honest, the interaction and relationship between these two is worth the ticket for admission. Our main characters are Catalia (Cat) and Griffin. Cat has suffered unspeakable horrors, escaped and was “hiding” at a circus and earning her keep as a soothsayer. She has real powers that were granted to her by the gods, but is stubborn, distrustful and careful to show her true self to any one for fear of discovery. She’s kidnapped by Griffin, which is a warlord and her match in every way. The banter between these two is priceless! It’s funny, and heartfelt and a slow burning romance. I’m not sure that Cat completely trusts him yet, but she definitely loves him and is trying to get used to having a family. One of my favorite couples for sure!

World building and plot – The world is based on Greek mythology which I love. There are dragons, gods, griffins, and all that good stuff. The plot is so good. We learn the truth about the characters slowly and I’m sure we still have more to learn. It’s complicated, fascinating and just pure awesome. There is war, shenanigans, jealous ex-girlfriends, best friends, lying, truths, fantastical creatures, gods, best friends and a circus. Amazing!

I’m happy with the ending, not a cliffhanger in site, BUT I suspect that all hell is going to break loose very soon. Just saying…

I truly loved this one. I adored the writing, the plot, the world building and above all Cat and Griffin 🙂 I cannot wait for Breath of Fire, which I was granted access to recently. If you are an adult and you love fantasy this is a series for you. Read and you won’t regret it!

This was a enjoyable first fantasy novel to what looks like a trilogy....or longer series. The story is told from Cat, the main female character. She is a soothsayer, a person who can foresee the future, but she is so much more. She also cannot seem to stay out of trouble. The bantering and comradery Cat starts to have with the Beta Team is fun and enjoyable to read. The mystery of who Cat is and the addition of Greek gods make this an enjoyable book.

Catalia ‘Cat’ Fisa is in hiding from her homicidal mother and a prophecy that scares her to the bones. Hiding within a carnival as a soothsayer, she never anticipates being found out by a hunky if at times hard headed warlord named Griffin, who is determined to use Cat’s power as a kingmaker in his newly conquered kingdom. But Cat is not all that she seems and as she fights her destiny and Griffin, she finds that his fairness, loyalty and smoldering advances turn her inside out and are hard to resist. But can she trust Griffin to keep her safe when she knows just what her mother is capable of and that she is destined for something more than the happiness she longs for in Griffin’s arms?

OH.MY.GOD. Debut author Amanda Bouchet delivers a pulse pounding ride from start to finish with her new book, A PROMISE OF FIRE, and delivers a story that is full of magic, gods and simmering passion that will steal your heart even as you flip the pages to see what happens next. The story is amazing and I just could not put this one down. After all the press about his one, I just had to try it out and I am so glad I did.

Ms. Bouchet delivers complex characters that are life-like, complex and have vulnerabilities that slowly show themselves to the reader within the pages of this first book in the Kingmaker Chronicles. I absolutely adore Cat. She is tough yet vulnerable, mysterious and full of hidden depths that tease the reader to set out to find out about them. Her scenes with Griffin are pure heat, so much so I swore the book was going to go up in flames with all those sparks flying around. Her interactions with some of the royal family was amusing and was a perfect foil to the darkness that followed Cat and the destiny she didn’t want to have. The author does an amazing job in capturing the characters so perfectly amid the pages of the book. Cat was feisty, charming and so much fun, Griffin was ambitious yet tender with Cat, strong and fearless but gets him around his family and he turns to mush. The secondary characters were just as entertaining and enjoyable. I loved them all.

A PROMISE OF FIRE is the first book in this brand new series and one I was enthralled with until the very end. After the climatic ending which left some major questions about who Cat really is and the destiny she still hasn’t told Griffin about left me wanting more. I was thrilled to see book two, A Breath of Ice, coming out in a few days after I finished t his one. I am eager to see where the author leads Cat, Griffin and the team next. If you enjoy a highly entertaining fantasy series then I highly recommend A PROMISE OF FIRE and settle in for some hours of reading pleasure.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement