Light My Fire

Aisling Grey, Guardian, Book 3

By: Katie MacAlister

Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat

Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Katie MacAlister, best-selling author of paranormal romantic comedies, ignites a devilishly lusty story with Light My Fire. The gorgeous Aisling Grey, introduced in You Slay Me, juggles being a demon lord, a Guardian, and a wyvern's mate all at once - though not always successfully. Recently relocated to London, Aisling and her doggie demon sidekick, Jim, are eager for a fresh start. Drake the hunky dragon, however, has other plans for her.

Spend some more time with Aisling Grey.

©2006 Katie MacAlister (P)2007 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"Wickedly witty, wildly inventive, and fiendishly fun." (Booklist)

Great plot, choice of reader exacerbates writing flaws

I’ve struggled with whether I love, or am annoyed by, this series. Here’s why sometimes I think I love the books: The overall plot lines are great. The author Kate McAllister seems to be aiming for the tone of Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden, but with a female in the leading role. I love that concept. Both Harry Dresden and Aisling Grey are written as being in their early 30s, and being somewhat… rogue members of the supernatural world who are trying to keep the balance of reality tipped more to the side of good than evil. Both are often tricked into an action that complicates their paths. While Harry knows about most of his powers, and Aisling starts out completely unaware of the existence of powers, both Harry and Aisling are constantly learning about their powers & learning to do new things. Both are constantly learning new things about how the supernatural world and its denizens work. McAllister’s choice to throw Aisling into the supernatural world without expertise in that world is one of the things that makes the series more than just a Dresden clone, and that’s great. Like in Butcher’s series, the main character of Aisling is meant to be quirky & lovable. However, despite being in her early 30s, she displays the maturity of a 16 year old. She’s whiny, emotionally naive, and hopelessly self-centered. The only reason the romantic relationship she develops is believable is because it is fated, so her mate really has no choice but to want her, despite her potentially annoying actions & words. This would be an issue regardless of whether I was reading this on my own or listening. However, it is exacerbated by a narrator who is clearly not young, and honestly sounds a lot like an aged Kathleen Turner. The sound & tempo of the reader’s voice is perfectly fine for the other characters but is jarringly inappropriate for Aisling and reminds the listener of the weaknesses in writing surrounding the character.

incomprehensible story, excruciating narrator

What disappointed you about Light My Fire?

The reviews I read before picking the book.

What could Katie MacAlister have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Possibly she could have chosen a different narrator.
I couldn't find a plot, but perhaps it was because the narrator was so obnoxious and distracting.

How could the performance have been better?

A different reader could have helped, but perhaps not enough to make this story worth listening to. The fake French accents didn't help.

What character would you cut from Light My Fire?

All of them.

Any additional comments?

Don't bother trying to figure out what the reviews are talking about, just move on to a better writer and narrator.

I should have known better...

I normally read science-fiction and fantasy. I found this one while browsing a Valentine's Day sale, and was attracted by the mention of dragons and demons. I should have known better.

Perhaps the main problem was not having read the previous books in the series, but I found the heroine to be very annoying, and her lover to be one-dimensional and uninteresting. I could not get a clear picture of either one of them, and did not really feel any chemistry between them. Even the sex scenes were unconvincing and strangely empty. Worst of all, the narration is full of annoying swallowing sounds.

From here out, I'll stick to my own genre...

Acquired Taste?

Maybe this book is an acquired taste, one that I have not acquired. I found the story simplistic with juvenile humor. The author gets great reviews on Amazon, I just thought it was silly. But,then again, I never got Benny Hill.

Good book, Horrible audio

I Love these books! I went out & bought them even after I had to listen to this awful narrator read this book. She has one of the worst habbits of sucking on something while reading; it is gross & distracting. She also sounds as if she has had a 2 pack a day smoking habit since early child hood. Do Not Buy This & waste a credit! Go buy the series in paper back!

supporting characters save this series

Aisling is still a disappointment in this book.
Where's the chemistry?
The first sex scene in this story was absolutely torturous. How could he keep himself "up" for the task? I fast forwarded thru the second one.
She's still going off "half-cocked" & becoming unnecessarily outraged when she doesn't understand ,get her way or disagrees with someone.

Thank goodness for Drake, Renee, Nora, Jim and the other supporting characters. I love them. I can't wait to find out Renee's background.

I can't do it

books or movies that feature talking animals, creep me out. it killed this book for me instantly.

Tale of the aimless bimbo

“I began to hope our future together wasn’t going to be as stressful, as the last few days.
Boy, do I need to be whomped upside the head with a premonition stick.”
So many frustrations with this book. First, we are once again picking up with the “off-again” relationship between Aisling and Drake. Bad reasons break them up and bad reason bring them back together. Through it all, neither makes any attempt to get to know each other beyond lust (I don’t know anything about their likes or dislikes, hobbies, etc) This book adds in a parental complication of the most unbelievable in-law variety and a potential pregnancy plot, killing what little romance fun existed in the two prior books.

Second, the failure of anyone to explain even a little bit of the magical world to Aisling continues to be the contrived plot device to “advance” the story. Three books into a four book series and there’s no plot except the “Aisling bumbles into xyz magic situation without a clue what to do and makes thing worse” plot.
In this installment, she bumbles dragon, demon, and Guardian politics.

Third, the narrator once again slobbers on the mic. It’s not as bad as book 1, but worse than book 2.

The hijinks are few and far between. There’s not even a murder mystery like in book 2 to distract us.
The only part I enjoyed was the adventures of Jim the demon-dog.

great story does not download well

do I normally love these books in this writer I wouldn't suggest writing or downloading it from audibles every time I have to for some reason turn off my phone is completely leave the download and I have to re-download it even if I have not turned off my phone and I'm listening to the book it will just stop I have cleaned out my phone and everything else I have more than enough space it is something with the download and I've had to download it repeatedly