Book Review: Heir of Amber and Fire by Rachanee Lumayno

They're only huge, scary, fire breathing creatures. Seriously, is that any reason to be afraid of a dragon?

When my father the king announced my upcoming political wedding, it uncovered family secrets I never knew existed and forced me to go on the run. Now I, Princess Jennica of Calia, am not only trying to escape my arranged marriage, but am hoping to figure out the truth of my heritage.

Because my dear father may not be what he seems.

To learn the mysteries of my past, I'll have to team up with a group of ragtag mercenaries. Including a handsome dragon Seeker whose surliness can't stop me from being drawn to him despite myself.

They're taking me to the dragon who once kidnapped my mother, and who hopefully has the answers I seek.

Because I'm running out of time to save my kingdom.

And in order to save my kingdom, I might have to betray my new friends.

GENRE: Young Adult Fantasy

PURCHASE LINKS: Amazon

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rachanee was born on a snowy day in Michigan. She was always playing let's pretend and creating things; at her 4th grade birthday party she wrote a play and made all her friends participate in it. (No performance = no cake.) She pursued a degree in photojournalism but took a detour into an independent music career. Four albums, over 1000 shows, lots of car miles and a few awards later, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in... acting.

She trained in comedy (sketch writing classes, and improv at Upright Citizens Brigade), honing her witty and whimsical style for her work in TV, film, and voiceovers. On-camera work includes Stevie TV (VH1), Buzzfeed, College Humor, and online sketches for Things Get Dicey and for ​dating coach Matthew Hussey. Voiceover clients include Google, HBO, TizZ Tutor, Fair Housing Center for Rights and Research, and Embr Wave. Character VO work includes the voice of Yu Yan in Swan Princess 10: A Royal Wedding; video games; the scripted podcasts Ex Pat, Georgie Romero is Done For, and The Soft-Boiled Detective; and the webcomics The Glove and Criminal King. She's also narrated over 40 audiobooks in the Young Adult, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Mystery, Historical Fiction, and Romance genres. If you're a K-pop fan, you may have heard her on J-Hope (of BTS)'s album, Jack in the Box, on the first track.

And her journalism roots run deep - she stills write, mostly romantic comedies and sketches. Her scripted comedy podcast, Ex Pat, debuted in March 2020 on all major podcast platforms. Her first fantasy novel, Heir of Amber and Fire, was released in March 2021, followed by Heir of Memory and Shadow in May 2022.

Review & Recommended Listening

(I realized I failed to write a review for this book, which is an utter disservice considering how much I enjoyed it, so here's to rectifying that. My apologies to Rachanee; I know how important reviews are to authors.)

The Kingdom Legacy novels, as I mentioned in my review for Heir of Memory and Shadow, have a "feel good" vibe to them, and I first learned that in Heir of Amber and Fire. It's a welcome break from what I usually read (and write), and a great reminder that you can write an engaging story and a page-turning adventure without making everything so dreadful.

It warrants repeating: Rachanee is great at keeping things balanced, in that a story will have very real stakes without coming off as "cheesy." The prose is easy to read, the plot is easy to follow, the characters are likeable, and the world is rich and well thought of. There's humor and there's romance, without either being over the top. And sure, we have dragons again, but when do fantasy lovers really complain about there being too many dragons?

My only regret is that I didn't get the audiobook version of this. Rachanee is an amazing AMAZING narrator!

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Recommended Listening: As I mentioned in my open call for books to review, I’ll now be adding a song to my reviews! It’ll be one that either sums up the book for me, what I’d imagine in a trailer were it a movie, something that I associate with the story or one of the characters for whatever reason… or maybe even an original inspired by it 😉

My dragon princess opens the gates

Of a brave new world

Flying high above the clouds

I leave all shadows from the past

For the very first time I know what love is