ARC Review--Of Flame and Promise by Cecy Robson

Cursed by a spell meant to destroy them, Taran Wird and her sisters instead developed unique magical talents. With the power of fire and lightning literally at her fingertips, Taran doesn’t fear much. Demons, vamps, whatever—bring ’em on! Only one thing terrifies her: commitment.

Taran is crazy about her boyfriend, Gemini, a sexy were with the incredible ability to split into two separate wolves. But after watching her sister go through heartbreak with the pack’s Alpha, Taran knows not to count on happily ever after—despite Gemini’s desire to claim her as his mate. Reluctantly, she agrees to meet his very traditional and conservative parents. Taran’s a badass with a mouth to match, and Gemini loves her for it. She’s just not positive these attributes will please Mom and Dad.

Unsurprisingly, every attempt by Taran to bond with Gemini’s folks proves disastrous. But in the end, Taran finds that winning them over means unleashing her powers . . . and proving that this foul-mouthed fire-starter is a force to be reckoned with.

I received this ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, I was in no way compensated for this review. 

It’s been quite a day! But somehow I’ve managed to finish Cecy Robson’s Of Flame and Promise! It was fun to get inside one of Celia’s sister’s heads! Taran takes center stage in this one with her beloved Gemini! And while Goodreads (at the moment) says this is book six, it’s more like 3.5 or 4.5, if I am recalling correctly. We know this from the getgo because Taran mentions the heartache Celia is going through with her breakup from Aric, just after they bonded.

That being said, it did take me a bit to remember what was going on during this time, and what with my poor memory recall, it didn’t come clearly! LOL. Regardless, it doesn’t really seem important to know those things, because in the end, we know what happens. But in the meantime, we get to see how Taran got to her happy ending, for again, I’m assuming she was at her happy place by the end of the fifth book.

Of Flame and Promise was a rather quick read at just under 200 pages. Taran and Gemini are semi-serious, though Gemini is ready for the ultimate commitment with Taran, she is hesitant to let Gem into her life like that because she’s been burned before too many times. And seeing how things ended for Celia with her accepting her mate, really doesn’t help. She’s ready to protect her heart from any and all heartache, but it becomes clear if she doesn’t give a little, she might still be hurt.

Which brings us to where our story begins, (of sorts) and that’s with Taran agreeing to meet Gem’s parents. And if you’ve read the series to date, you pretty much know that Taran is a spitfire! She’s very vocal and always speaks her mind, especially when it comes to their nosy neighbor which is how she makes a pretty bad first impression with Gem’s parents.

You gotta feel for Taran is this one. She tries so hard to impress Gem’s parents because she really does love him, but it seems nothing she has planned pans out well. It’s one of those devastating situations when truly everything falls apart. Like a kidnapping and psychotic demon children trying to eat your face off.

It was the demon children bit that I couldn’t quite remember. Taran reflects briefly on what happened with them prior or the demons at least, but I truly couldn’t dreg up the memories that well. This is the reader’s curse: reading so much and not being able to remember everything. Which is pretty much why I suck at trivia games! LOL. But what I liked about this was, that remembering wasn’t necessarily important to the story at large. This story’s focus is on Taran and Gem’s relationship. Throwing in demons and other evil vampires is just for fun!

I really hope we get to see Emme have a story, but one that takes place after book 5 what with how things turned out for her. That would be yet another nice story to read, because then we would see all the sisters get to a HEA ending. Taran and Gem’s ending here was the nice sort that while doesn’t tell you explicitly where they are, you can pretty much get the idea! It’s a must read for fans of the Weird Girls series. And I do recommend reading the other books first, again, as I write this Goodreads calls it book 6 and it really falls as more a 3.5 or 4.5, but since my memories on the details are a bit rusty I can’t say for sure which one it is, but it never hurts to just binge the series and come back to this one like I did! That’s always a safe bet! LOL!

Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars

Of Flame and Promise releases January 12, 2016