4-4.5 stars I received a free digital copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not shape or change my opinion of the book. Thank you Sourcebooks Casablanca and Netgalley for the review copy! I thoroughly enjoyed this! What an impressive debut from Amanda Bouchet! The strong characters stood out in this first installment for sure. I LOVED Cat. She is fierce, witty, full of snark, and just all around bad assery. It took me a little bit to get into her narration and her inner monologue…but it completely grew on me. Cat’s narration is like that bestie you have where you know each other so well that you finish other’s thoughts and sentences and snort at corny inside jokes. “I don’t know everything you’ve been through, but I know enough to understand that your past filled you with hostility and hate. But you still laugh. You still love, and you protect the people you care about. You’re not who you think you are. You’re better. You’re more.“ ← THIS is Cat’s journey. Cat is a powerful clairvoyant called the Kingmaker, a status that she goes through extraordinary lengths to conceal. While being the Kingmaker may make her powerful, it also makes her highly sought after and a target. She has finally found some semblance of “home” and “family” traveling with a circus. No one knows who or what she is, and this allows her a sense of safety and comfort. Until Griffin. Griffin is a powerful warlord on the hunt for Magoi to help bring stability to his newly conquered realm Sinta. Griffin is immediately drawn to Cat, and has suspicions that she is more than what she seems and EXACTLY what he needs. I loved Griffin for obvious reasons: he is smoking hot, confident, predatory, deadly with a weapon, super protective….just delicious…(despite kidnapping) he’s honorable. He has a vision of a better world for the people of Sinta and he’s going to do what it takes to get that better world. “His eyes reminded me of Poseidon’s wrath- stormy, gray, intense- the kind of eyes that draw you in, hold you there, and might not let you go.” UM, YES PLEASE!! Cat and Griffin really made this book for me, they were just so well written. Their banter, the stubbornness, the tension had me turning the pages. The hate to love thing; if it’s done right it gets me every time. However, what I also loved, and this really is a testament to a talented writer, was how well done the secondary characters were (and there were A LOT of secondary characters). Despite that, they felt fully fleshed out, multi dimensional and had depth. The Beta team, Beta Sinta’s family, Cat’s circus family….I loved all of them. I am a huge fan of Greek Mythology. The incorporation of Greek mythology felt a little random to me at first or stunted maybe? But as I continued and got to know the characters and the world better, the weaving in of Greek mythology became more seamless and natural. To the author’s credit, she didn’t info dump. It was a gradual assimilation. I also appreciated the Greek words sprinkled in here and there…”kardia mou,” oikogeneia,” “agape mou” (I already knew agape mou, but I didn’t know the other ones, so I appreciated learning new words!) I think that this gave a richness to Bouchet’s storytelling. I would really love to get a better; more in depth sense of Thalyria and its history and culture (in the political and social structure sense and how those systems came to be the way they are). It’s divided into three territories in which the northern territories are leaden with magic wielders, and magic equals power. Sinta in the south has little to no magic and values muscle, strength, and cunning. How did this division happen? A map of this world would be amazing! (pretty please?) Those without magic, the Hoi Polloi (the common people), are seen as “less than” and discriminated against by those with magic. How and why did this difference in status take root? I think that (especially in fantasy) a well written, intricate world can almost be a secondary character in and of itself. Where we come from; our history and environment shape us, our biases, and our decision making just as much as people do. So I’m really hoping we get a closer look at this world and its history in future installments. I would also love to learn more about Andromeda—cold, icy, completely ruthless queen from the north. I’d like to know more about her bloodline, and what made her the way she is. I think there’s definitely potential here for a villain of epic proportions. The good news is there is more to come in this series and the potential is endless! A bad ass, feisty heroine, a smoldering, broody-yet protective and affectionate warlord, squad goals, ruthless villains, magic, dragons, mythology, steamy romance, adventure—“A Promise of Fire” has it all, and I can’t wait to see what comes next!