Yesterday, Iron Flame was released. For those who live under a social media/news rock–and that is often a GREAT place to be–this is the second book in Rebecca Yarros’ series about telepathic dragons. The first one, The Fourth Wing, was one of this year’s biggest sellers–it has over 105K five star reviews at Amazon! (Our reviewer, Kayne, loved it.)
I am reading Iron Flame–as is Kayne–and we will let you know our thoughts about it later this month. But, I am kinda preparing to be a bit disappointed because… book twos are often let downs. Whether it’s a wolf shifter book by Cate C. Wells, a football story by Susan Elizabeth Phillips, or a hot urban fantasy series where vampires rule Vegas, the second in a series where the first book was AWESOME is often, at the very least, tough to top.
Sometimes, though, book two takes the promise of the first and just knocks it out of the park. Julie Anne Long kicked off her beloved Pennyroyal Green series with the good The Perils of Pleasure. I enjoyed it. But book two, Like No Other Lover is, for me, a vastly superior read. Serena Bell’s Make Me Wilder was a good time but Walk on the Wilder Side is a sheer joy of a contemporary romance. Carolyn Crane’s Against the Dark is a killer romantic thriller but Off the Edge, book two in the Undercover Associates series, is one of my top 50 romances of all damn time.
What other second in a series books are 1) marvelous and 2) outclass their predecessor? Let us know in the comments!
Book 2 in Sherry Thomas’ Elemental Trilogy – The Perilous Sea – was even better than book 1 (which was pretty good!) In the “just as good if not better” category – Vanora Lawless’ Twisted Tome, Nicky James’ Elusive Relations, C.S. Poe’s Subway Slayings, KJ Charles’ A Seditious Affair, An Unnatural Vice, A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel, Briar Prescott’s And Then You (out next week), Annabeth Albert’s At Attention… and I know there are plenty of others whose titles temporarily escape me!
BUT – I think there’s a difference between series which are essentially linked standalones (Long, Crane, Albert, Charles etc.) and ones which feature the same couple. Twisted Tome, The Perilous Sea, Elusive Relations and Subway Slayings are all book twos in same couple series and I think they’re harder to pull off successfully – we’ve reviewed several trilogies here where book 1 is great, but book 2 is meh and basically treading water until the finale in book 3.
In the romance mysteries, the author faces twin challenges: making the romance and mystery equally compelling. In Sherry Thomas’s Lady Sherlock series, Books 1&2 (A Study in Scarlet Women and Conspiracy in Belgravia) are both equally good, basically in the mystery part. Romance adds an element of interest but only as a secondary plot line. In C.S. Harris’s Sebastian St. Cyr series, the romance and back story of the main character that were so good from books 1-5 and the mysteries were really secondary.
There’s no doubt in my mind that Rachel Reid’s HEATED RIVALRY (book two in her Game Changers series) was far superior to the first book, GAME CHANGER. In fact, I’m glad I read HR first: if I’d started with GAME CHANGER, I may never have read on in the series.
Rachel Reid’s Heated Rivalry is a famous example. Also Loretta Chase’s Mr Impossible.
I second the recs for KJ Charles’ A Seditious Affair and An Unnatural Vice.
Of course, A SEDITIOUS AFFAIR, how could I forget that one? It was amazing!
The second book in Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels series is a lot better than the first. Kate is more likable and the cast/world has more depth. I actually recommend that new readers start with the second.
Other’s have pointed out several I would have mentioned (Rachel Reid and KJ Charles’s books). I’ll add C.S. Poe’s Magic and Steam series where every book seems to either sustain the quality or gets better. Book 2, The Gangster, was fantastic. I also thought every book in Charlie Adhara’s Big Bad Wolf series maintained the high level of quality of the first book, or even better. And Jay Hogan seems to keep the quality of her series very strong across the board.
I enjoyed A.J. Lancasters Stariel series, and the second book was even better than the first. The whole series was very entertaining (m/f fantasy/magic with a romantic subplot) and the last one (5th book, m/m) was my favorite.
In Loretta Chase’s Dressmakers series I enjoyed Scandal Wears Satin even more than the first book. And in her Difficult Dukes series I liked the second book even more than the first.
The Viscount Who Loved Me is probably my favorite of the Bridgerton series, much better than The Duke and I in my opinion. And I liked Anne Gracie’s The Winter Bride more than its predecessor, The Autumn Bride — in fact, it was the only keeper from that series, for me.
In the not-romance category, I preferred Tana French’s The Likeness to In the Woods. And Megan Whalen Turner’s The Queen of Attolia blew The Thief completely out of the water!
I very much agree about TVWLM over TDAI.
I am in a different camp about the French. The Likeness is my second least favorite of her books–the plot was just too far fetched for me. But any French is good!
I strongly prefer A Summer to Remember over One Night for Love. They are both Bedawyn prequels, but One Night for Love is full of tropes and cliches, while AStR seemed to have a lot more heart.
I’m not original. The first idea I had was HEATED RIVALRY, better than the first, GAME CHANGER.
But there are other famous #2 better than the first one, IMO. These are a few that I remember now:
Lisa Kleypas: DREAMING OF YOU (Gamblers of Craven’s #2). #1: ‘Then Came You’
Connie Brockway: ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT (Royal Agents #2), #1: Promise Me Heaven
Rachel Gibson: SEE JANE SCORE (Chinooks Hockey Team #2). #1: Simply Irresistible.
Laura Kinsale: THE SHADOW AND THE STAR (Victorian Hearts #2). #1 Hidden Heart.
Nalini Singh: ROCK HARD (Rock Kiss #2). #1: Rock Addiction
Those are the first five that I remember now that I think that ther second book is better than the first one.
Based on this, I went and picked up the first book in Yarros’ series. Apparently, I *was* living under a rock when it came out. 🙂
Besides, the cover is gorgeous!
I really enjoyed it–it’s a very good time. The dragons are AWESOME.
Dragons, *Goooood*. 🙂
I think I’m as excited to see the dragons as I am to see the romance!
I wish I had picked up the first edition. It was printed with black sprayed edges with dragons stenciled onto the edges. It is now a collectible — and Entangled Publishing is coming out with more fantasy hardcovers with gorgeous covers and sprayed edges.
The site has some photos.
They’re lovely, aren’t they?
Thank you for sharing this site! Wish I’d known about it earlier.
Ordered the Fourth Wing US Special ‘Holiday’ Edition…two bonus chapters from Xaden’s point of view (published November 7). The shipment is now delayed two weeks. 🙁
The Bride Test, with far superior romance, if not as hot, is better than The Kiss Quotient for me.
In addition to several already mentioned, IMO:
Suzanne Brockmann’s The Defiant Hero is better than The Unsung Hero in her Troubleshooter’s series.
Robyn Carr’s Shelter Mountain is at least is as good as Virgin River.
JR Ward’s Lover Eternal was more interesting that Dark Lover in the original Black Dagger series.
Penny Reid’s Winston Brothers series Book 3 Beard Science is better than the first two.
Some people liked “A Court of Mist and Fury” more than ACOTAR — particularly because of the relationship with Rhys. 😉 I especially liked the way “A Court of Mist and Fury” ended. (She’s going to do … what?!)
I love Court way more than ACOTAR!
Kathleen Ayers: Arrogant Earls series #2 Chasing the Earl
Mimi Matthews: Belles of London series #2 The Belle of Belgrave Square
Charlie Adhara: Big Bad Wolf series #2 The Wolf at Bay
C.S. Poe: Memento Mori series #2 Subway Slayings
Stella Riley: Brandon Brothers series #2 Under a Dark Moon
T.A. White: The Broken Lands series #2 Mist’s Edge
Loretta Chase: The Carsington Brothers series #2 Mr. Impossible
Sarah J. Maas: Crescent City series #2 House of Sky and Breath
Jayne Castle: St. Helens Series #2 Zinnia and #3 Orchid are better than the first
Lisa Kleypas: The Ravenels Series #2 Marrying Winterborne and Wallflowers series #2 It Happened One Autumn, #3 and #4 are all better than the first.
Beard Science was awesome! Agree with the Rock Hard and Heated Rivalry recs.
Dabney, when I read the title of this blog post, my very first thought was Julie Anne Long’s Pennyroyal Green series! I came late to the series – it was almost complete by the time I started – but I had heard so many good things about it. I finally read The Perils of Pleasure and, sadly, found it only OK (I have never read it again). BUT how could so many readers be wrong? So I read Like No Other Lover and I adored it. As I read the series, I actually liked the books with Redmond main characters much more than those with Everseas except the magnificent What I Did for a Duke.
The other title that popped to mind was Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid, part of the Game Changers series. This is another series where the first few books were out before I started. I am in the minority in that I liked the first book (Game Changer) a lot but I completely admit that the scope and depth of Heated Rivalry far surpassed book 1.
I agree with many of the 2nd novels posted by others, especially Lisa Kleypas’s Marrying Winterborne and It Happened One Autumn and Penny Reid’s Beard Science (actually a 3rd book). I would add:
Briar Prescott’s The Dating Experiment (Better With You series)
Lily Morton’s Charlie Sunshine (Close Proximity series)
Kristen Callihan’s Managed (VIP series)
Coming late to this discussion, but I like the second book in Maria Vale’s Legend of All Wolves — A Wolf Apart — better than the first. I find that with a lot of paranormals the books featuring (normal) humans are the ones that are the best gateway (most relatable?) into the author’s paranormal world. Of course, all the world building had to be done in the first book first!
Interesting. I think I like book one better because I liked Silver so much.
There is an article in Variety about the issues with misprints in “Iron Flame.” I guess I should check my copy…
https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/iron-flame-misprint-apology-fourth-wing-publisher-1235787765/
As long as all the book is there, no text missing, it should be a collector’s item once the series completes. Like the Blue Mauritius
😉