Firelight »

Sophie Jordan grew up on a pecan farm in the Texas hill country, where she wove fantasies of dragons, warriors, and princesses. A former high school English teacher, she's also the New York Times bestselling author of Avon historical romances. She now lives in Houston with her family. When she's not writing, she spends her time overloading on caffeine (lattes and Diet cherry Coke preferred), talking plotlines with anyone who will listen (including her kids), and cramming her DVR with true-crime and reality-TV shows.

A hidden truth.
Mortal enemies.
Doomed love.

Marked as special at an early age, Jacinda knows her every move is watched. But she longs for freedom to make her own choices. When she breaks the most sacred tenet among her kind, she nearly pays with her life. Until a beautiful stranger saves her. A stranger who was sent to hunt those like her. For Jacinda is a draki—a descendant of dragons whose greatest defense is her secret ability to shift into human form.

Forced to flee into the mortal world with her family, Jacinda struggles to adapt to her new surroundings. The only bright light is Will. Gorgeous, elusive Will who stirs her inner draki to life. Although she is irresistibly drawn to him, Jacinda knows Will's dark secret: He and his family are hunters. She should avoid him at all costs. But her inner draki is slowly slipping away—if it dies she will be left as a human forever. She'll do anything to prevent that. Even if it means getting closer to her most dangerous enemy.

Mythical powers and breathtaking romance ignite in this story of a girl who defies all expectations and whose love crosses an ancient divide.

Publishers Weekly

"magine loving someone... so much that you would give up all you ever wanted for yourself." It's one of the more insidious myths girls face: the need to lose one's very self to love. It's also the goal of Jacinda, the dragon-human "draki" for whom it's love at first sight when "bad boy" draki-hunter Will calls her beautiful. While the notion that women find their highest calling in self-sacrifice is common in romances, paranormal or otherwise, it's distressing to see it presented so plainly. Jacinda does have one other option: she can allow herself to become a flightless "broodmare" with the son of the draki pack alpha instead. The rest of the plot--the usual high school posturing, human/draki tensions, a mother who doesn't understand, a bratty sister--comes down to this choice of one romantic obliteration or the other. The prose in adult romance author Jordan's YA debut is solid, and there's no reason these star-crossed, cross-species lovers should be any less popular than their vampire and werewolf counterparts, which makes Jacinda's lack of independence all the more disappointing. Ages 12 up. (Sept.)