Tag Archives: Dragons

Dragon Blue

Book Review of Dragon Blue: A Lie That’s True (The Dragonlords of Xandakar #1), by Macy Babineaux

I picked up a copy of Dragon Blue, by Macy Babineaux at Amazon. It was free and still was at the time of posting.

Description from Goodreads:
Miranda Betts works as a waitress in a roadside diner in Oklahoma. Her life will change when a mysterious female customer leaves an ornate necklace in lieu of paying her check. Later, alone in her trailer, she tries on the necklace and is transported to a strange land full of people who can shift into other creatures, including fearsome dragons. And everyone thinks she’s someone she’s not. 

Corban Everfrost leads the clan of blue dragons and rules the Icelands after the mysterious disappearance of his father. While investigating the appearance of strange interlopers from another world, his sister informs him that he is to be wed to the daughter of the Wildfire clan who has been in exile on Earth since she was an infant. Corban wants nothing to do with a new bride or the Wildfires. But when he sees the dark, fiery woman brought to his world via a magic necklace, she stirs something within him. 

At first, Miranda thinks Corban is a jerk. He thinks she’s an outcast from a clan he despises. But soon they will learn each other’s secrets, and as they learn to love each other their relationship may be the key to saving all of Xandakar from dark forces from another world. 

Review:
WARNING: This review has spoilers and swearing.

OK, look, I knew when I picked this book up that it wasn’t going to be grand literature. I knew I was in for a little pulpy, erotic fiction/romance. But I just can’t with this shit. I JUST CAN’T.

The romance…how to say this….fuck it, it isn’t. This is in no way a romance. The writing isn’t bad. The editing wasn’t abysmal. The pacing is rushed, but in this sort of book it often is. Just like the fact that the plot is so paper thin I could see through it is not unusual. All of that I was willing to accept as par for the course.

But that this is some author’s idea of romance…Fuck you. No it isn’t. (And there’s no where near enough sex to make it erotica either.) Here’s the spoiler: she pointlessly shows up naked (because of course she does, women always seem to have to be put in an embarrassing and uncertain sexual position for no conceivable reason), he insults her and walks away. He then calls his sex slave (the book calls her consort, but she doesn’t seem to have the option of saying no when he calls her for sex and she appears to live in a sheer dress with no characteristics but sex, so I’m going with sex slave) and makes sure she sucks him off with her ass in the air toward the door, such that he smugly comes just as Miranda enters the room to ensure she knows her place and that she isn’t needed or wanted. (Said sex slave is then just dismissed with his cum still dripping off her lips, no consideration for any desire she might or might not have.) He and Miranda exchange a few insults and then she too is dismissed. The next afternoon she approaches him and flirts for some unfathomable reason. Why would she do that? He kisses her and shoves his finger in her vagina and suddenly THEY ARE IN LOVE. People that is literally their entire ‘romance.’ And I’m using literally appropriately here, not hyperbolically. There is not a single pleasant word between them. There is no concession on his part that he’s been an ass and should apologize to her. There is no point at which either opinion of the other has reason to change. NOTHING.

That’s not romance, that’s abuse dresses up as romance. So, fuck off, fuck off, fuck off, fuck off for trying to pass it off as love. I thought there was nothing worse than insta-love, but I was wrong. Love that’s presented as having ‘grown’ between two people when it very obviously has been planted in such barren ash and hasn’t, is in fact worse. Who knew? Fuck it, again, I just can’t with that shit. I’m all ragey.

Then there is the rest of the book, what little there is. Every obstacle is overcome with a deus ex machina solution. EVERY SINGLE ONE. Miranda makes allies of her enemies with nothing more than a hug and easy coincidental solutions present themselves left and right. Bah!

I did appreciate the lesbian (or bi) side character and the heroine’s apparent bisexual leanings, even if it’s obvious she’s never going to pursue them. Having them there and legitimized was nice. I also appreciated that Miranda was given her own sexual agency and not made out to be a slut for having sex for pleasure. (Though this was compromised a little by her calling the sex slave a slut. Guess she can’t give others the same courtesy she receives.)

The only thing I found interesting was the epilogue setting up book two. But I won’t be reading it because I can just imagine all the ways the author could find to ruin it.

The Alchemists of Loom

Book Review of The Alchemists of Loom (Loom Saga #1), by Elise Kova

The Alchemists of LoomI received a copy of Elise Kova‘s The Alchemists of Loom from Netgalley.

Description from Goodreads:
Her vengeance. His vision.

Ari lost everything she once loved when the Five Guilds’ resistance fell to the Dragon King. Now, she uses her unparalleled gift for clockwork machinery in tandem with notoriously unscrupulous morals to contribute to a thriving underground organ market. There isn’t a place on Loom that is secure from the engineer turned thief, and her magical talents are sold to the highest bidder as long as the job defies their Dragon oppressors.

Cvareh would do anything to see his sister usurp the Dragon King and sit on the throne. His family’s house has endured the shame of being the lowest rung in the Dragons’ society for far too long. The Alchemist Guild, down on Loom, may just hold the key to putting his kin in power, if Cvareh can get to them before the Dragon King’s assassins.

When Ari stumbles upon a wounded Cvareh, she sees an opportunity to slaughter an enemy and make a profit off his corpse. But the Dragon sees an opportunity to navigate Loom with the best person to get him where he wants to go.

He offers her the one thing Ari can’t refuse: A wish of her greatest desire, if she brings him to the Alchemists of Loom. 

Review:
I’m vacillating on this book. Some aspects of it I absolutely adored. But I also found it painfully slow at times and was disappointed to find that it didn’t wrap up nicely in the end. It’s not a precipitous cliffhanger, but it’s not really and ending either.

On the positive side of the equation, I found that once I had enough information to understand what was happening (and this took a while) I liked the world and the characters. There is a lot going on here, with the large, multi-cultured world and several races. I appreciated that the romantic subplot was slow to develop and didn’t take over the plot when it did. And I think most of the writing was really lovely. It got a little purple at times, but mostly it was quite lyrical and a pleasure to read. Oh, and the cover is Awesome!

This was the first book by Kova I’ve read, but I’d be well up for another one.

Branded by Flames

Book Review of Branded by Flames (Dragon Soul #1), by Sean Michael

Branded by FlamesI received a copy of Sean Michael‘s Branded by Flames from Netgalley.

Description from Goodreads:
For years, dragon-shifter-slash-firefighter Jake has been searching for his mate, but he’s beginning to tire of the search. Maybe soul mates are only for the lucky few. 

Then he meets Shae. 

A former navy welder, Shae is handsome, talented, into power play and rough sex, and covered in dragon tattoos. All of this suits the shape-shifting dragon just fine—until he finds out that Shae literally has Jake’s family crest already tattooed on him. A coincidence? Or something more… 

Jake must convince Shae to trust him as a man and as a Dom before the heat between them burns out of control. Becoming a dragon’s mate is not without danger, and Shae will need Jake’s guidance—and love—if he’s going to make it through alive. 

Review:
This has dragon shifters. Dragon shifters! I should have loved it. But I’m afraid I just didn’t. The book is too long by half and it’s all sex. I mean ALL SEX.

I understand that it is erotica, not romance. (Though, I didn’t realize that when I requested it from Netgalley.) So, it’s fine that the focus is on sex not relationships, but it is not enough to carry such a long book. I got so tired of sex scenes. You wouldn’t expect them to bore a person, but when it’s just the same thing on repeat, that’s what it is, boring. I literally fell asleep at one point!

And it was painfully repetitive. I mean, there are only so many ways to describe two men having sex. The word ass is used 168 times and cock 202 times, in the novel. Now, the book is 216 pages long. That means that once you take out the front and back matter, it’s basically once per page. So, you can estimate how much non-sex plot there is. Hint: essentially none. It might have worked for 75-100 pages, because Shae and Jake are likable, but not 200.

It also uses one of my personal pet peeves. I hate the whole ‘boy’ thing in BDSM books. Totally personal, that; probably doesn’t annoy others like it does me. But it’s nails on a chalk board, as far as I’m concerned. Maybe it’s because I’m from the American South and, while there is definitely a traditional power play involved in the term, it’s not one I find sexy in the least. In fact, I always unconsciously read it with an unnatural emphasis that rips me right out of a narrative. I just really hate it.

I also disliked that Shae started the book as a somewhat butch, tattooed, pierced, ex-Navy welder and as soon as Jake showed up, he turned into a rather camp ‘queen.’ Either would be fine, but the personality shift was jarring.

Outside of these irritants the writing is fine and there is some humor in the book. Plus, I rather enjoyed Jake’s uncertainties, though I also thought they didn’t match the rest of his character. I appreciated that Shae was supposed to be almost 40. It’s so rare to find older romantic leads. And, of course, the whole this is about dragons, which is always a plus for me.

In the end, I think this may just be a case of a poor pairing between a reader and book.