The Fire Lord's Lover by Kathryne Kennedy

In a world where Elven Lords rule the Land of England, Dominic Raikes is the son of the Elven Lord Mor'dred, Lord of Firehame. Though Dominic is Mor'dred's son, he was raised to be just like his father, cold and heartless. But unbeknownst to Mor'dred, he completely failed to eradicate his son's human emotions, but Dominic has learned to project a cool and heartless demeanor to please his father, insomuch as Mor'dred can be pleased.

But Dominic's new bride is so much more than the simple maiden Mor'dred and Dominic believe her to be. All her life she's been trained as an agent of humans to assassinate Dominic Raikes, and hopefully Mor'dred as well. She's been trained in Elven dance, which is also the basis of an assassin's art that she is particularly skilled in. But Lady Cassandra Bridges hasn't planned or been trained on what to do when a simple dance with her fiancé suddenly sweeps them both unthinking into an elaborate elven dance that neither was planned nor expected.

Stunned by the response on each other's part, Dominic finds himself in an awkward position- of actually developing feelings for his entirely human, and entirely lovely bride. And Cassandra, for her part, is also developing feelings for her soon-to-be husband that could make trying to kill him very awkward indeed. But Dominic doesn't seem to be as cold or unfeeling as she has been led to believe, and could killing him be more of a crime than leaving him alive?

Meanwhile, Dominic's stony mask is in danger for this unexpected tenderness, and even love that he is developing for his wife. And with the disintegration of his protective coloration, Dominic realizes that there is only way to be safe- to somehow do away with his father. But the other Elven Lords are just as bad as Mor'dred, and will fight any attempt to kill or eliminate any of the Elven Lords. But can Dominic and his love, Cassandra, find some way to kill Mor'dred and get away with the crime, with none of the other Lords the wiser?

But how could they do such a thing, and even if they manage to do so, what will the other Elven Lords do to Dominic and Cassandra, and what would happen to Firehame if the other Elven Lords descended en masse on the Kingdom? Can Dominic carry off the greatest masquerade of all?

I enjoyed this book very much. Everything, from the worldbuilding, to the characters, to the various systems of magic and the colors of the fire that Dominic and his father can wield. Every little thing of the world that Kathryne Kennedy creates is perfect in every way. Every word is like a polished jewel that makes up a perfect whole and makes it glitter and shine so very brightly.

Honestly, I try to find something about this book to do something less than praise, but the only thing I can think of is that it took so long for the second book in the series to come out. The next book will be coming out in August, and it is going to be about Dewhame, whose Lord rules water and sky, and the next one will be out in February of next year. I honestly can't wait to read them, and I was angry when I thought this was the only volume in the series.

I can't recommend this book enough, or Kathryne Kennedy, enough. She's a brilliant writer who has given readers a jewel of a book that is pretty much perfection. I loved this book, this hero and heroine, and even the villain of the piece, the Elf Lord Mor'dred. The question is, will all the Elven Lords be replaced one by one, and what will happen when Dominic finally passes away. Since the Elf Lords seem pretty much immortal, what will the overthrow happen that quickly, and how can the coincidence that allowed Dominic to take his father's place be repeated in the other seven hames? Highly recommended, and a wonderful read.