THE BLOOD KING (Inferno Rising #2) by ABIGAIL OWEN

‘Dragons needed to fly, their souls craving the sky like the body needed the blood in its veins.’

The Blood King by Abigail Owen is the second book in the dragon shifter romance series, Inferno Rising. Whilst this series can be read as standalone’s we urge you to read this series in order as whilst each book is about a different couple, the crux of the storyline is one that continues. We love a good shifter romance and this series is why. Fabulously written with action, drama, mystery and heat, it feels like pure fantasy indulgence. The world-building throughout the books has been brilliant!

‘Kasia was the courageous one. Meira the brains. And Angelika the heart. But Skylar was the protector…With their mother gone, if she didn’t protect her sisters, who else would?’

What we know: in the beginning, 4 sisters were sent to different parts of the world by their phoenix mother who was dying in order to escape the evil High King. We won’t go into too much detail as the last thing we want to do is leave spoilers for you. However, each book is about a different sister and their fate in the grand fight against evil, with dragons on their side.

‘This phoenix, who was his mate, his queen, was quickly becoming his greatest weakness. And he didn’t give a fuck. Not so long as she was his.’

Skylar is a brilliant heroine. She stands her ground, does not give in easily when it comes to trust, loyalty and love. She’s feisty and heroic, self-sufficient and brave. She loves her sisters with an innate sense to protect them. This is where we find her in first pages of The Blood King where she infiltrates Ladon Ormarrs home in order to rescue her sister, Kasia whom she believes is being held against her will. What we especially loved about Skylar, is that she never rolled over and accepted a fate without questioning it, particularly when it came to mating the ruthless dragon king Ladon Ormarr. A dragon king is born and is stronger with a phoenix by his side as we saw in book one, The Rogue King, which was Brand and Kasia’s story, however, Skylar was absolutely not going to accept this fate without a fight of reason, logic and planning the inevitable.

“So…you believe in me, but you don’t want to let me close.”
“People can only hurt you if you let them close enough to do it.”
“Who has ever been close enough to you to hurt you?”

Ladon is fighting to keep his throne out of the clutches of the High King and his allies. War is coming but just who is an ally and who is a foe?  Lies, deception and a witch’s potent magic all adds to the intrigue and the ultimate battle yet to come. We fell in love with Ladon and his no-nonsense ways. He wears his heart on his sleeve and whilst he’s a brutal and ruthless dragon shifter he truly does not shy away for revealing how he feels about Skylar.

‘With Ladon was where she was supposed to be, where she was her strongest, her most powerful, even though it also put her at her most vulnerable.’

We loved the drama, the banter between Skylar and Ladon as well as the well-placed romance which never overpowered the storyline. Whilst we’ve loved the first two books in the Inferno Rising series we have a feeling the third book, The Warrior King, will have a bit more angst, grit and excitement and we personally cannot wait! Just what is it about these shifter romances that have our hearts beating out of our chests? We bloody love them!