Kiss of Fire (Dragonfire, Book 1)

A great start to a new series....hope this one sticks around for a long time!

This is my very first ever fantasy or futuristic book I had read. I usually just read the regular romance novels, mysteries or suspense kind of books. I never had any interest in these fantasy books but I decided to read something different and found this book...by chance. I must admit, I really, really enjoyed reading this book. I stayed up until three in the morning and had to force myself to put away the book and go to sleep. After reading this book, I had to purchase Kiss of Fury. I'm hooked!!!

Quinn Tyrrell has been alone for centuries. Having watched his family die a horrendous death by fire and having witnessed the demise of his best friend and mentor, he figures being alone is better than being vulnerable. And to Quinn, being in love means being at risk and that is something that he never wants to experience again. As a shape shifting dragon, Quinn is the Smith - able to forge metal and take blasts of fire. Quinn is also coming into what is known as his firestorm. His chosen mate? Sara Keegan, a human. Sara Keegan left the hustle and bustle of the big city after the death of her parents in order to slow down and enjoy life. Having inherited her favorite aunt's bookstore, Sara just wants to get the books in order and have some sort of order. While Magda, Sara's aunt, was a firm believer in all things magical and psychic, Sara herself does not believe. Attacked one night while leaving her store, Sara swears she saw her rescuer take the form of a dragon. In the blink of an eye however, Sara sees Quinn Tyrrell, a man unlike any she has ever met before. The firestorm is coming and while Sara begins to believe in the unbelievable, Quinn just wants to keep her safe. As destined mates, more is at hand than a simple mating. Quinn must battle one he thought dead in an epic battle of good versus evil. It will take every bit of his fire skill for Quinn to overcome the complete evil that is following him - but if anyone can do it, the Smith can. I am going to be honest and say that I initially choose a book based on its cover. Seeing the cover of KISS OF FIRE on Deborah Cooke's website intrigued me greatly. After reading the blurb I admit I was somewhat disconcerted. While I like shape shifters, dragons are not my usual shifting genre of choice. Suffice to say, I will never again disregard a book about shape shifting dragons - especially if the book is written by Deborah Cooke. From beginning to end KISS OF FIRE held me enchanted. Over the course of an entire day all I could do was sit and read. Quinn Tyrrell was not a typical hero for me. He was solitary. He wasn't that thrilled with being a dragon. He basically wanted to be left alone to live his life alone. His destiny came in the form of a tiny human named Sara who rocked his entire world off its foundation. While Sara and Quinn were destined mates, it took more than a few mere words to make Sara a believer. I have to say though, she bucked up under pressure and became the Seer she was meant to be. The fact that she and Quinn fell in love? Icing on a very powerful and fire breathing cake. Deborah Cooke has definitely made me a fan. I am now lying in wait for the second book in this new and extremely exciting series called KISS OF FURY whose hero, Donovan, is introduced in KISS OF FIRE. August really needs to hurry!

When logic-minded accountant, Sara Keegan, inherits her aunt's new age bookstore, Sara leaves her steady job and constant travel behind, hoping to settle down into a more conventional life. To put down roots. But what transpires after meeting sexy, mysterious Quinn is anything but ordinary. There's no room for logic as Sara opens her mind and heart to the magic of the man and his extraordinary legacy, as well as to her own psychic abilities. Quinn Tyrrell is the Smith who forges exquisite objects from metal and fire. He also happens to be one of the Pyr, an ancient species of shape-shifting dragon warriors who command the four elements and stand guard over earth's treasures, which includes humans. When Quinn senses that his prophesied firestorm has arrived, he seeks out Sara Keegan, his destined human mate, in order to beget an heir and ensure that his line of Smiths continues. When Sara and Quinn touch for the first time, sparks fly, literally, and their passion ignites. Unfortunately, they're also fighting for their lives. Quinn and Sara find themselves at the center of a vicious battle between the good Pyr and a murderous group of dragons called the Slayers, who aside from wanting to keep Quinn and Sara - the Smith and the Seer -- from realizing their firestorm, want to eradicate humans from the planet. Quinn, a self-proclaimed loner, must learn to work together with the other Pyr in order to save Sara, as well as a revered female dragon called the Wyvern, and win this battle against the Slayers. As love heals Quinn's soul, he learns that his talents as the Smith can heal his fellow Pyr. I normally don't read the paranormal genre, but I'm a big fan of Cooke's medieval romances, as well as her contemporary fiction novels (written under Claire Delacroix and Claire Cross respectively), so I was eager to give this first book in her new series a try. I wasn't disappointed. Cooke does a fantastic job of building a world where the ancient dragon species co-exist with unsuspecting humans. This contemporary urban fantasy is rich in character and dark in tone - it's also exciting and fast-paced. You're immediately drawn to the ensemble cast of characters from Erik, the Pyr's leader, to Donovan, whose story is next in the Dragonfire series (I can't wait!). I highly recommend KISS OF FIRE and look forward to the rest of the series.

Everything in her life changes the night Sara Keegan is attacked when leaving the shop she inherited from her aunt. Why would someone want her dead? Why would her attacker know her by name? More importantly, that wasn't really an honest-to-goodness dragon that saved her, was it? No, she must have been disoriented from the attack, because when she looked again, there was no dragon, only a very handsome, sexy man who might prove more dangerous than either the dragon or her attacker, judging by her body's response to him. Quinn Tyrell is of the Pyr, the shape-shifting dragon warriors who protect the earth and it's treasures. Estranged from his kind, he has lived a life of solitude by choice. But prophecy and destiny have a way of stripping away a man's choices, until he is faced with his duty and the realization that there is no place on earth he would rather be. Such is the case for Quinn when he finds Sara and recognizes her as the woman he will share the Firestorm with - if he can keep her alive long enough... When I first heard of Deborah Cooke's new release, I knew I had to have the book, even though I had never before read anything by this author. For one thing, the book stars some absolutely yummy dragon-shifters, and I do love my dragons - especially when they are shape-shifting hunks. Second, the plot itself captivated me, simply from reading the blurb for this book. Did I anticipate that I was heading for trouble? That I just might end up with a new author for my favorite authors list? That I might be left with the burning need to dig up this author's entire backlist after reading just one book? Yes, I suspected all of this might be true, and I was not wrong. With Kiss of Fire, the first book in her new Dragonfire series, Ms. Cooke has won herself a new fan. This is the kind of book you pre-order, the kind you read the moment you get it home, the kind you take a vacation day on its release date in order to stay home and read cover to cover. The author created some very real characters in this novel. I felt Quinn's pain as he struggled to overcome the pain and loneliness of past loss, his agony over betrayal and who to trust in order to protect his destined mate. But through it all, Quinn never lost sight of the higher purpose - safe-guarding the lovely Sara from all harm, and maybe, just maybe, convincing her to join him in the Firestorm. This man (dragon?) would do anything, sacrifice anything to this end. Sara herself is just as noble as Quinn, much to his dismay. Although proud of his mate's honor, it is no less disconcerting to think of this frail human woman to whom his future is bound putting herself in danger. And though he recognizes her inner strength, every ounce of chivalry in him can't allow it. Of course, the headstrong Sara is resolved to do whatever it takes to help those who need it, and when the mysterious visions she has been suffering prove they are no hallucination, but the mystical Wyvern rea