The Fiery Heart: A Bloodlines Novel (Book 4)

Bloodlines Series Website

Book Details: Written by Richelle Mead a US Today and NY Times Best Fantasy Author. Publication November 19th, 2013. 438 pages. You can purchase a hard copy or digital copy at Amazon.

Rundown of The Bloodlines Series: The Bloodlines Series by Richelle Mead is a spin-off of her Vampire Academy Series soon to be a major motion picture. Bloodlines follows a few of our favorite characters from the Vampire Academy world with an occasional appearance from the beloved Rose and Dimitri. 

Sydney our protagonist has to prove herself to the Alchemists (a secret organization of humans protecting the existence of vampires). After a falling out during the Vampire Academy series Sydney is placed on tight leash for her next assignment in Palm Springs. She must protect Jill a (Moroi) vampire and the Queen Moroi's little sister. Along with Jill, Adrian (Moroi) and Eddie, a half blood vampire (Dhampir) are along for the journey.

Sydney slowly overcomes her fear and hatred throughout the series for the Moroi and Dhampir instilled in her by the Alchemists

The Fiery Heart Synopsis: In the end of Indigo spell Sydney decides to go against everything she has ever been taught and chooses her love for Adrian. She is in a very dangerous position if anyone of the Alchemists find out. The Fiery Heart starts off in Adrian’s perspective and switches between his and Sydney's throughout the book, which is a new development for this series. Sydney’s sister, Zoe, is now a part of the group and making things harder then ever. Zoe shares a room with Sydney at the boarding school and starts noticing how often her sister is unavailable to her and begins to question her every move. Luckily Sydney’s teacher, Ms. Terwilliger, lets her skip her last period of independent study to drive to Adrian’s house everyday to slip in a few moments with him. Adrian and Sydney also get a private “love phone” so that they can communicate without the prying eyes of the Alchemists or Vampires.

Sydney and Zoe’s mom decides to file for a divorce with their father, an avid alchemist and not a very nice man. Their father visits them in Palm Springs to discuss what he would like them to say in Zoe’s custody hearing. Afterwards he makes a video call to Keith, an Alchemist who went into re-education in Bloodlines (book 1). During the call Sydney begins to fully understand the consequences of dating Adrain and what she will have look forward to if they are discovered.

Sydney finally takes the leap and joins her history teacher, Ms. Terwilliger, coven and promises herself to the practice of magic. She learns about another very powerful witch who has dealt with vampires before and Ms. T introduces Sydney to her. Inez is in her nineties and has had a lot of experience in the magical world. Not an easy woman to impress but Sydney gets on her good side. Able to ask a few questions Sydney discovers why Strigoi cannot drink her blood and how to craft the ink needed to break the compulsion in the Alchemist lily tattoo that is given to every active alchemist.

All Moroi vampires’ posses the use of elemental magic; Air, Water, Fire and Earth, but very few posses Spirit. Adrian happens to be a spirit user and with that magic comes very extreme low and high mood swings, which is why he previously had a problem with drinking. Spirit is really weighing him down after his trip to Texas. Lissa, Queen Moroi, calls in a favor to Adrian to get him on the first flight to Texas and meet with another spirit user who has recently changed her sister from a Strigoi back to Dhampir. Adrian is able to see that spirit magic resides in the woman’s blood. He collects a vile of the blood to send back to the Royal Court, where the queen resides, to conduct more tests.

After some time Adrian and Sydney get called to Royal Court to help with the experiments of Olive’s blood. The goal is to compose a formula to administer within the Moroi and Dhampir, which would effectively produce an immunity to Strigoi attacks. While at the Royal Court Adrian admits to taking a mood stabilizer to help with the emotional roller coaster of spirit but also officially cutting him off access to the magic. On the drive to the airport from Court they hit a snowstorm and have to be towed to a quaint motel in the middle of nowhere for a couple days. During this time Sydney and Adrian enjoy a little bit of personal time.

After returning to Palm Springs things become tenser between Zoe and Sydney. Zoe ends up finding Adrian’s “love phone” and things go down hill from there. Sydney and Adrian hope that "the center will hold" in their relationship.

My Thoughts: This is one of my favorite series, but I would suggest reading the vampire academy series first to really understand and appreciate all the characters. Don’t get me wrong this is an amazing series by itself I just personally don’t like to miss a single detail. The I loved the fact that Richelle Mead gives you a look into the thoughts of Adrian! You go from what Sydney experiences to what Adrian experiences including how much Spirit really affects him mentally. You get to see their love for each other grow from both perspectives, which I really enjoyed. I loved following along with Adrian and Sydney’s secret romance and the sexual tension building since the end of The Golden Lily (book 2). 

I am always pleased when the author brings in more characters for the VA series into the story line, you get to see Rose, Dimitri, Sonya and even Lissa when Adrian and Sydney travel to the royal court. I really started to feel bad for Sydney, things just cannot be easy for her and Adrian but when Zoe joins up things just get harder and harder making Sydney slip up more and more. The last two books in the series ended and I was very content and happy waiting for the next in the series to be published. The fiery Heart ends and left me wanting to know what is next for Adrian and Sydney now!! Waiting until next summer is going to be a long wait for me but I cannot wait to see what happens next!! Silver Shadows: A Bloodlines Novel is to be published summer of 2014.