Charred Heart by Lizzy Ford 
Genre: Erotic Urban Fantasy
Series: Heart of Fire #1
Publication Date: November 23rd 2013
ISBN: 9781623781262
Page Count: 234
Rating: ★★★★
Review Copy: ARC
Reviewed by: Lynsey
Buy Link: AMAZON
Synopsis: For a thousand years, Chace has searched for a way to break the curse placed on him by a jilted lover. He’s a dragon shifter, one who can’t control when the magic will force him into a different form. He’s already lost everyone he ever cared about a few times over and doesn’t know how much longer he’s meant to suffer.

At his wit’s end, he makes a deal with a mysterious figure that offers him what he wants most – an end to his misery – in exchange for everything that’s his: His life, his power. His heart.

The next day, he meets Skylar, a modern day dragon slayer whose mission is to cage him – or kill him. Sexy, witty and brave, she is the yin to his yang, the woman destined to break the curse, balance his magic and make his broken heart whole.

Except it’s too late. Not only has he sealed his fate, but an innocent one-night-stand with Skylar has dragged her into the middle of a deal with the devil, one she won’t escape, if he can’t convince her that dragon shifters aren’t her enemies.

REVIEW

Scorching!

I find myself very surprised to have ended on 4 stars for CHARRED HEART, since I was *this* close to DNFing it at the beginning. I didn't like how quickly the hero and heroine jumped into bed together. We're talking chapter three, after speaking maybe 20 words to each other. No build-up whatsoever, just straight to it. Where's the romance in that? I really didn't care for it and was convinced I'd never be able to connect to them as a couple after that. And so my hand was hovering over the big, red detonate button. BUT! I am very glad I didn't in the end because the story actually turned out to be really enjoyable. In fact, I liked it so much I've already bought book 2!

Lesson to be learned from this: Sometimes it pays to give books a chance past a slightly dodgy beginning.

So. The set-up. You have one-thousand-year old dragon shifter, Chace, who's tired of his endless existence, and of watching every human he grows close to die. He seeks out the help of an elusive supernatural whom he hopes will be able to reverse the curse that made him part dragon, and allow him to live out the rest of his mortal life as a bog-standard human.

Then we have Skylar, a dragon "slayer", even though she's never actually slayed a single dragon because Chace is the last one in existence. There's a whole bunch more to her story, and finding out everything that happened to her was the most enjoyable part for me.

Skylar and Chace spend most of the book in a sort of sexual haze, only occasionally coming up for air long enough to realise something ain't quite right. For example, if they're supposed to be natural enemies, what's with the crazy chemistry the two of them share?

While Chace and Skylar's relationship started out as nothing but physical, the author did manage to convince me by the end that some real feelings had developed between them. That's not to say they waltzed off into the sunset, however. If you're under the impression this is a paranormal romance with a Happily Ever After, you'd be mistaken - as I was. We're going to be continuing with Skylar and Chace's relationship in the next book. I suppose that would make this an erotic Urban Fantasy series, if you need a label for it. The sex scenes were plentiful and graphic, and the storyline was interesting and the wordbuilding fresh. So although I'll always wish the beginning had been more anticipatory, I'd definitely recommend this as a fun, quick and very sexy read!

4 Stars ★★★★
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.