Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Playing with Fire  By  cover art

Playing with Fire

By: Katie MacAlister
Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $21.49

Buy for $21.49

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Gabriel Tauhou, the leader of the silver dragons, can't take his eyes of May Northcott - not even when May, who has the unique talent of being able to hide in the shadows, has slipped from everyone else's sights.

May, however, has little time for Gabriel - not when she's hiding from the Otherworld law, hunting down a blackmailer, and trying to avoid a demon lord's demands. But her ability to withstand Gabriel's fire marks her as his mate, and he has no intention of letting her disappear into the darkness she seems to prefer.

May is ordered to steal one of Gabriel's treasures - an immensely important relic of all dragonkin - and he must decide which to protect: his love or his dragons.

©2008 Marthe Arends (P)2009 Recorded Books, LLC

What listeners say about Playing with Fire

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    340
  • 4 Stars
    207
  • 3 Stars
    98
  • 2 Stars
    38
  • 1 Stars
    31
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    327
  • 4 Stars
    114
  • 3 Stars
    50
  • 2 Stars
    24
  • 1 Stars
    25
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    267
  • 4 Stars
    137
  • 3 Stars
    87
  • 2 Stars
    26
  • 1 Stars
    18

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

The hilarous six class demon dog Jim is back!!

This book deserves 4 1/2 stars for being hilarious & super sexy!! The Silver Dragons series is a follow up of the Aisling Grey: Guardian books. The story revolves around May a doppelganger and her twin, Cyrene who is a naiad. This book is the first in the “Sliver Dragon” series, which continues some of the storylines of the “Aisling Grey, Guardian” paranormal romance series. May Northcott, a doppelganger for a naiad, meets Gabriel, the head of the Silver Dragons, and there is instant chemistry between them. But May has been bound to Magoth, a demon lord, which might prevent her from a relationship with Gabriel. Now combine a theft, a kidnapping, blackmail, and the fun never ends! May Northcott a doppelganger and can walk in the shadows. Unfortunately, when she was created she was tied in service to a demon lord. May meets Aisling, Drake and the unforgettable Gabriel, whom you might remember from Aisling’s stories as the wyvern of the Silver Dragons. It turns out she’s is mate, which creates funny situations with her twin and another dragon. At any rate, in this book she is attempting to help her common senseless sister deal with a blackmailer, avoid her demon lords demands, deal with the mate situation and also run from Otherworld law. I really loved the intensity that comes with being the mate of a Dragon. They are very possessive, but you can't help but feel their love for why they are that way over their mates. I enjoyed entering the supernatural world of the dragons. I really liked the Aisling Grey series, but I think I prefer this one. I would recommend all of Katie MacAlister's dragon series!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Warning: No ending

When I buy a book in a series, I expect each book to be a complete book with a beginning and an ending and some teasers to make me want to buy the next book. I do not like when book finishes in a cliffhanger with nothing resolved. This book is such a book, and if you don't plan on buying book 2 from the get-go, don't bother with this one. I wish I hadn't.

The book itself is funny and entertaining. It does have characters in it from the Aisling Grey: Guardian series, and I haven't read those, so I felt a little lost. So while this book says it's the first in a series, it doesn't really "feel" that way. Situations are mentioned and characters are involved in this book in a big way, and I felt I was missing out on a lot of the back story. By far though the worst part of the book is the ending, which isn't an ending at all.

After reading this book, I felt like I needed to read all of the Aisling Grey: Guardian books and the 2nd book in the Silver Dragon series just to get an idea of whether I like this one or not. I usually do follow through with a series I enjoy, but I won't this time, mainly because I resent feeling as if I'm being forced to read them.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Playing with Fire: Silver Dragons, Book 1

I enjoyed the book although I didn't realize at first that it downloaded in two segments. I am extremely disappointed that you don't have books 2 and 3. How can you only stock book and one and four in a series? I truly hope this doesn't represent your service going forward!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Where is the rest of the book?

This book had a great beginning and a middle but ends abruptly. I don't mind a book series but I expect each to have at least one complete story within them. This was a cheap shot to get you to buy the next one so you can see how this story ends. I will pass on buying another as I feel cheated having bought this one.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Demons Lords and Mages and Dragons, OH MY!

I have been a faithful Katie Macalister fan from day 1.... Before I joined Audible-I READ every series she has out and in doing so, my mind had created it's own opinion of all the character's voices, traits, etc... So, when I purchased and began listening to the Audible versions- narrated by Barbara Rosenblat, I admit I was a bit worried it wouldn't do them justice.... Her voice is very distinct- BUT... Oh, how I was SOOOO wrong!!!! Barbara's unique vocal ranges and absolutely superb variations on the characters accents BLEW ME AWAY!!! There really is no other narrator who could pull it off so flawlessly! Bravo Katie, and BRAVO Barbara!!!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

what?!?!

What happened to the rest of the book? Where is the rest of the series? Hellooooooo

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars
  • JL
  • 07-10-18

Disgusting 35 minutes wasted

I wasted a disgusting 35 minutes listening to a disgusting demon lord mattemptnto seduce/ molest the heroine. I guess I should give the narrator props for acting out the disgustingness of the demon lord.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Smarmy and hyperbolic

The romantic comedy for this series is cartoonish, so if slapstick, over-acted and eye-rolling characters / plots aren’t your thing, then you should pass on this series, and the prior series from which it flows,

If this is your kind of thing, I suggest starting with the four book Aisling Grey series. That series has the same formula as this one, with a sassy gal unexpectedly plunged into supernatural intrigue and mated to a dragon. That series also introduces this series’s MC Gabriel, along with Drake, Aisling, Jim, and a host of other characters, plots, and backstories that get referenced in this series. (This series gives some info dumps but more often vaguely references things you won’t get unless you’ve heard the other series). That series also gives better romance chemistry and set-up. Further, the best character is scene stealer, and demon-dog, Jim, who gets much more screen time in the original series. Minor warning: narrator Rosenblatt gets too close to the mic (especially in books 1 and 3), so if hearing slurping, swallowing, and smacking is Audible torture, maybe read those books instead.

If you’re still having fun at the end of the Aisling Grey series, this series picks up immediately where that one stopped, shifting to a new female lead in doppelgänger, thief, and demon-slave Mayling. She’s got some cool supernatural skills and an interesting dynamic, being the doppelgänger to a Naiad, but otherwise is a cookie cutter clone to Aisling Grey. Both female leads are voiced by Ms. Rosenblatt as ditzy gals with Kathleen Turner-voice dialed up to five-packs a day smoker territory. Both leads talk tough to their dragons, yet (literally) jump their bones almost immediately with WhenHarryMetSally-style narrated gasps and moans. Both leads fail to talk through plans and mysteries with their dragons, resulting in predictable catastrophe.

The few new tweaks to the formula aren’t very appealing to me. In particular, there’s a constant theme of Mayling being leered at, groped, or being threatened with abuse by multiple males using extortion, blackmail, and bribes. The demon Magoth is the worst of the bunch; his character is like bundling all the worst stereotypes of a predatory male onto him and hearing the narrator voice him with sickly relish. The ick factor would have been easier to take if May and her Naiad twin were smart, kickbutt women. Instead, they are damsels who get captured, blindly follow unknown blackmailers, and repeatedly walk into traps.

Finally, I was annoyed by the repeated phrases, especially Gabriel’s pet name for her of “little bird” and Mayling’s constant cuss-phrase of “Agathos Daimon!” If I channeled Saturday morning cartoons, especially Daphne in Scooby Doo, I could mostly enjoy the comedy and the comedic-nooky. But, then I got to the not-ending where the bad-guy, his motives, and Mayling’s happy ending are all still unknown and unresolved. Wait until you get all three books in this series, like I did, because it takes until book three for Mayling and Gabriel’s story to conclude.

I finished this second series of dragon books with effort … and only because I purchased them all at once during a stacked sale. There are another three spin-off series after this one and it’s all the same exact formula with the same type of personality for the H and h, and demon dog Jim jokes. I can’t bring myself to keep going with the derivative copies of the same story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good but the story continues in Book 2 and 3

I thought this was a really good start to a series. There were references to things that I didn't understand but must have been covered in other series. However that didn't detract from my enjoyment of this book. It had a good storyline, it was funny, lots of different characters and I'm ready to listen to Book 2.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Terrible Narrator

The narrator's attempt to draw the listener in by fluctuating her gravelly voice with the rise and fall of the excitement of the sentences fell very flat. She imposed her own rhythm on the story instead of letting the listener interpret it her/his own way. I didn't find the book particularly interesting, but the narrator made me not even finish it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful