The Devil’s Fire by Sara Bell
The Blurb:
Forced into an arranged marriage after the death of his true love, Gareth has no intention of giving Alric of Kray the time of day. He’ll do what he has to, but he knows he’ll never find a love like the one he’s lost. Alric has problems of his own, but is willing to go along with the wedding to help defend his kingdom from the forces ready to tear it apart.
When Alric is gravely injured, Gareth discovers the secret of Alric’s magic, and discovers that he has feelings for Alric that he’s been trying to deny. They may be able to heal Alric’s wounds, but can they defeat the enemy that lurks behind the scenes, waiting for them to make one false move?
Why I bought it:
Dakota Flint talked about the book here and it sounded interesting.
Dislike/like (ending on a high note):
Dislike~ After two years of deep mourning, Gareth seems to fall for Alric pretty quickly. That’s a bit of an exaggeration and there are events that progress the relationship and story along, but still some things were a little too easy.
Like~ It’s HEA. The good guys win despite the (quite amazing) machinations of the baddie. He was a very, very busy bad guy.
Dislike~ This is the last sentence of the book; “Knowing a choice offer when he heard one, Gareth followed hot on Alric’s heels.”
A “choice offer”?? A “choice offer”. Modern idiom + medieval fantasy world + ending = no-no.
Like~ Gareth and Alric were great together. I just wish there had been a little more sex between the two. *note to self: try to be LESS superficial*
So, what I think:
I liked it. I particularly liked the medieval setting where same sex couples were accepted. It’s something a bit different.
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‘Tasting’ is my version of a mini-review where I talk a (very) little about what I liked and disliked about a book as well as who I think the story will appeal to. Oh, and I’ve added a bit about why I picked up the book in the first place – sometimes this can be interesting to know.
Kris + Books = Good. *Sometimes*. 
Hi KrisDoes the author explain why the main character must marry a man? Is this one of those ‘alternative worlds’ where everyone is gay?
Jenre – I was just wondering the exact same thing.
Morning LadiesIt’s not a ‘all gay’ world along the lines of J L Langley’s sci fi regency. I was going to say that there are all kinds of couples in this world, however I’m not sure re: f/f. *ponders*The marriage is explained within the first couple of pages of the book. It is essentially a political alliance. Not saying more due to spoilers, but I thought it was quite an interesting approach considering all the historical het romance about arranged marriages.
Evening Kris,Thanks for the explanation. Is this one of those medieval books where everyone is exceptionally clean despite having no sanitary facilities? Or does the fantasy element include hot and cold running water?I pretty much stay away from any medieval stuff, due to the ‘cheese’.
Good question. I’m pretty sure the fantasy includes bathing rooms, etc. It’s high society stuff so there isn’t a lot about the unclean masses in the story. Please remember though it’s just before 7am here and I’ve only had one cup of coffee so I could be wrong about a few things. :)’Cheese’. *snort* Is my memory shot or have we had a discussion about m/m seeming to have more scenes with the protags eating and drinking, toileting, and showering??
I don’t think we have but I was just thinking the same thing the other day! Spooky.Do you think me might have had some influence?
As in ‘cue the ‘X Files’ theme music now’ type influence. It’s more than possible.Have you ever wondered about the number of readers, including myself, who’ve said they started reading m/m romance about a year ago?? You can’t tell me there’s not something going on there.
I think about a year ago the SBTB site ran the “My Fair Captain” ad campaign and Dear Author did a review of “The Adrien English Mysteries”. Those two sites have an awful lot of clout in the romance blog world so maybe their influence encouraged some readers to try the genre.Also m/m/f menage became very popular around the same time and that led some readers onto m/m.Just guessing here!
Dammit, Jen! I was building a really great theory about the gender and sexuality of the ‘real’ person behind the secret identity behind the pen name, the various epublishers acting as fronts for a multi-national GLBT-owned company, and menage genre being the sacrifical lamb in an elaborate scheme to consolidate the position of m/m romance on the market…… and you just killed it dead.
I see…You have been watch too much X-Files, haven’t you? Next thing, you’ll be telling me that it’s an elaborate US government scheme to overthrow prop 8.Which would be kinda nice, if it were true!
O_O*busily writes new notes in conspiracy theorist diary*