Firelight by Sophie Jordan

Books about dragons are generally not my thing. However, Firelight was an excellent exception. I suspect this is because the main character, Jacinda, spends much more time in her human form than in her dragon form, as do all the other characters. It's more of a human romance and action story than a fantasy dragon book.

Jacinda is a sophomore in high school, and she is a draki. Draki descended from dragons, but they evolved the ability to morph into human form as a way of blending in and protecting themselves. She lives with her mother and twin sister Tamra in her pride's secret mountain town, but after an illegal flying incident outside of the pride territory goes awry (hunters see her and shoot her), her mother takes both girls away under the cover of night to protect Jacinda from the pride's retribution. Jacinda has a special draki power: she can breathe fire. And this makes her especially appealing to the pride's king and his son, Cassian. Jacinda doesn't want to mate with Cassian, however, and her mother doesn't want the pride using her that way either. Indeed, her mother really doesn't want to have anything to do with the draki. So the three resettle in an arid desert town where Jacinda's mother hopes that they won't be found by their pride and that Jacinda's draki self will die from lack of exposure to the moisture and fertile earth it needs to survive. Jacinda is miserable, but she meets the gorgeous (of course) and secretive Will, and he makes her draki come alive whenever she's with him. Romantic tension and plenty of action proceed from there.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will definitely recommend it. One of the great things about it is the development of all the characters, not just Jacinda. Jacinda's relationship with Tamra in particular was very complex and believable. I thought the elements of draki life were also creative and well thought-out.