Scorched Heart
by Viola Grace

Winera showed her talent as a Scorcher in a spectacular first display of heat and destruction. The Citadel welcomed her with open arms.

Years after joining the Citadel, she is finally a full-fledged Scorcher and ready for her first official mission with a member of the Sector Guard. She had no idea that she was getting more than just a partner when a bundle of feathery fluff claims her as his own, much to her new partner’s amusement.

Hyl has been waiting for the matchmaker to find him a partner that he can do more than go into battle with. One look at Winera and he knows that this fiery woman could set his senses ablaze.

Smudge is a Yaluthu who has been patiently waiting for his person. When he sees the woman of fire, he knows she is the one that he is destined to be with, and he flings himself into her arms.

Let’s not talk about the ship. She has too much attitude.

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Cara’s Review:
Scorched Heart not only told the story of Winera and Hyl, but also introduced readers to the Green Archer, a sentient ship with quite the personality.  Oddly, out of the female leads, I liked Flourish Sparks, the name the Green Archer took for herself, better than Winera.  While I overall liked the book, I couldn’t quite get into it, mainly because I had a hard time connecting to Winera.

Winera was accepted at a young age into the Citadel, an incredibly strong scorcher talent- and is finally paired with Hyl, with a talent for plants and growth.  I love the pairing of opposite talents, it brings an immediate feeling of balance to a story- especially when one talent leans toward destruction, and the other on growth.

This book brings another good read to the Citadel Tales stories.  While I must admit, Winera is not one of my favorite heroines (her personality rubbed me the wrong way, for some reason), I did enjoy the story. I gave it a lower mark that average, because despite the awesome assignments Hyl and Winera performed, I didn’t really feel very invested in Winera’s character.  However, I am keeping my fingers crossed that we will see more of Flourish Sparks in the future- as well as her two sister ships.