Romance Book Review: The Fire King

Author: Marjorie Liu
Series Connection: Dirk and Steele Book 9
ISBN: 978-0843959406
Genre: Paranormal/Shape-shifter

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An earthquake unearths a tomb in the middle of the desert and when it is opened a war that was thought to be over thousands of years ago could be sparked again.

When Karr walked the earth 3,000 years ago, his kind were revered by humans but much has changed as Karr learns quickly. The shapeshifters who were his enemy when he died are now his prison guards. He doesn't speak the language which makes it hard to know exactly what is happening.

This is a complex story filled with a great deal of drama. Soria has spent the last year in isolation from her friends. After a horrific incident where she loses her arm she doesn't know how to face her new life. Just as she starts to take on the world again, she is intercepted by the Dirk and Steele group. Dirk and Steele is a secret organization of paranormals who work together. The organization wants Soria to use her special skill to find out if Karr is safe.

When Karr first meets Soria he doesn't know what to make of her. He can not trust the human because she aligns herself with his enemy, but she can speak his language and he has no choice but to follow her or risk being caught.

Neither Karr or Soria are very trusting and they must work together to save themselves from the people Soria considers allies and an unknown force who is looking to kidnap both of them. Can they learn to trust each other before it is too late.

This is the first book I've ever read by this author and I was blown away by the complexity and depth of the story. Although there were times when the story ran a little too slow for my taste, I found both the hero and heroine characters perfect for each other. They had the right chemistry from the very beginning of the book. I also loved the supporting characters Robert and KuKu. I'm hoping that Marjorie will be considering a book for Robert in the near future.

My favorite line in the book is when Robert comes upon Soria and Evie in need of rescuing and says: "Finally some ladies in distress. Makes me feel like a man again."

"Yes," Soria said shakily glimpsing glossy black pigtails and a Hello Kitty sunglasses behind Baldy's ass. "I'm certain you're tired of KuKu having more testosterone than you."

Description:
Long ago, shape-shifters were plentiful, soaring through the sky as crows, racing across African veldts as cheetahs, raging furious as dragons atop the Himalayas. Like gods, they reigned supreme. But even gods have laws, and those laws, when broken, destroy.

Zoufalství. Epätoivo. Asa. Three words in three very different languages, and yet Soria understands. Like all members of Dirk & Steele, she has a gift, and hers is communication. When she is chosen to learn the dead language of a shape-shifter resurrected after thousands of years of icy sleep, she discovers a warrior consumed with fury.

Strong as a lion, quick as a serpent—Karr is his name, and in his day he was king. But he is a son of strife, a creature of tragedy. As fire consumed all he loved, so death was to be his atonement. Now, against his will, he has awoken. Zoufalství. Epätoivo. Asa. In English, the word is despair. But Soria knows the words for love.