I borrowed Dragon Bound and Storm’s Heart, by Thea Harrison, from my local library.
Description from Goodreads:
Half-human and half-Wyr, Pia Giovanni spent her life keeping a low profile among the Wyrkind and avoiding the continuing conflict between them and their Dark Fae enemies. But after being blackmailed into stealing a coin from the hoard of a dragon, Pia finds herself targeted by one of the most powerful—and passionate—of the Elder Races.
As the most feared and respected of the Wyrkind, Dragos Cuelebre cannot believe someone had the audacity to steal from him, much less succeed. And when he catches the thief, Dragos spares her life, claiming her as his own to further explore the desire they’ve ignited in each other.
Pia knows she must repay Dragos for her trespass, but refuses to become his slave—although she cannot deny wanting him, body and soul.
Review:
I enjoyed this well enough. I liked Pia’s backbone and thought Dragos was fun. I especially liked the way some of his behaviours came across as dragon-like without it ever being directly described as so. However, there was a lot of head hopping that irritated me, the plot was really only a thin scaffold to hang the romance on and I thought that the writing was really repetitive. Things like the fact that on the first page, which is only really a half page because of the chapter heading, the word ‘so’ is used 7 times (it sucked so bad…, fifteen minutes or so…, she was so freaking dead…, he screwed her over so royally…, etc). Also Dragos is described as ‘aggressive’ about a thousand times and his eyes are raptor-like on every third page. I don’t really understand how or why the book has won so many awards. I wouldn’t call it great, but I did enjoy it in a light, fluffy kind of way.
Description from Goodreads:
During the rule of her murderous Dark Fae uncle, Thistle “Tricks” Periwinkle found sanctuary among the Wyr in New York. Her ethereal beauty and sparkling personality won the hearts of the public, but after her uncle’s death, there are those who don’t want to see her ascend to the throne.
Able to wield thunder and lightning, Wyr sentinel Tiago Black Eagle has ruled the skies for centuries. His massive build and thunderous power make him one of the Wyr’s best weapons. And he’s sent to protect Tricks when she’s almost assassinated in Chicago.
Soon, both Tiago and Tricks will fall prey to the stormy hunger that engulfs them—a passion that will shake the very foundation of all the worlds.
Review:
We’ve all read this book a couple dozen (hundred?) times before, regardless of the character names, environments, species, etc. The big, bad, beastly alpha male is blindsided by his sudden passion for some surprising little slip of a thing, who he worships for her sexy body and what he sees as her amazing inner strength. He shows this beguilement by trying to control every aspect of her life. Meanwhile, she squawks a bit at his overbearing manner, but secretly loves letting him overpower her and spends a third of the book fantasising about how else the barely human man might dominate her. Sound familiar? Yeah, I know.
I’m afraid this was a serious case of ‘meh’ for me. I didn’t hate it, but it did little for me either. The issue is that it’s a bon-bon. I can’t even call it cotton candy, which a person will read for the simple ephemeral wisp of momentary enjoyment. No, this is something you go specifically to the store to buy, curl up on the couch with the box and purposefully indulge in. Indulge in what? Vicariously experiencing what it’s like to have some über-male make you the absolute centre of his universe. That’s what Tiago does to Tricks. He worships her with every ounce of his beastly self and it touches on some primal female desire apparently, because I realise a lot of people love this kind of thing. More power to you, but I need a little more. Yes, I think seeing the “holocaust of a male” go weak at the knees for his mate is sexy, but it’s pretty much all he (or anyone else) did in this book. It’s just page after page after page of him growling how sexy she is, or that she’s his, or what he’s going to do to her when they get to a bed, or how he’d do anything to protect her, or how he’d never leave her, etc. Redundant much? In return, Tricks drools over his muscled, dangerous body and scary, antisocial personality again and again and again. Yep, still redundant. None of this is helped by the tendency to use the same descriptives repeatedly. Tiago’s face is described as some version of hatchet hewn or knife bladed about a million times.
There is a thin thread of plot-line tying everything together, but it’s not much one. The world was essentially set out in book one and the characters were introduced (though by no means gotten to know) in the previous book. So apparently forgoing the character development was seen as acceptable. (There really isn’t any.) So, without much in the line of plot, world-building or character development what do you fill 300 pages with? Yep, you guessed it, internal emotions, declaration off love and sex. That’s about all you’ll get here. As fantasy fodder, it fits the bill, but if you’re looking for ANYTHING more substantial it’s a fail. There’s no substance to it and there isn’t meant to be. And while I can kind of see what people see it in, if it’s all there is to a book it just feels cheap.