Tag Archives: Dragons

Book Review of Helen Harper’s Blood Destiny series (Bloodfire, Bloodmagic & Bloodrage)

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I initially grabbed the first of  Helen Harper‘s Blood Destiny series, Bloodfire, off of the KDP free list. I then bought the sequels, Bloodmagic and Bloodrage.

The series follow a woman named Mack who, despite being ostensibly human, has been raised amongst a pack of shape-shifters. She has a fiery temper, penchant for finding trouble, and a sexy were-panther on her tail. Of course there is more to the story than that, but you can check out the Amazon or Goodread links for a breakdown of each book. 

Review of Bloodfire:
I generally really enjoyed this book. Mack is a fun character. She has a forceful personality and an equally strong backbone. I liked seeing her stand up for herself and those that she cared about. She did seem a little too willing to sacrifice herself for them though. I also appreciated that she had accepted herself for who she was, even if there were still lingering regrets that she couldn’t be like everyone else. I must admit that, though her complete lack of verbal filter was fun at times, it did border on suicidal. There is a distinct difference between speaking your mind and not being ABLE to control yourself and what you say. The first is a sign of one’s strength of character, the second a character flaw. There were times I thought it unrealistic that she got away with so blatantly breaching protocol and the chain of command. At the top of that chain of command was Corrigan and he was a sleek, sexy joy. Though I was disappointed at how little progress was made in their ‘relationship.’ In fact, seeing where it would go is the primary reason I picked up and read the second one.

The bare bones of it is that I enjoyed this jaunt through the world of English shifters. I know it might not be true, but it feels like most shifter stories are set in the US and it was nice to find myself in Cornwall for a change. Well worth the read.

Review of Bloodmagic:
Bloodmagic picks up roughly six months after the conclusion of Bloodfire and finds Mack in a whole new environment, facing all new challenges, but many of the same faces. She’s still dancing around Corrigan and trying her absolute hardest to protect her friends and family from him. It’s touching. She does make some new friends, however, and I liked all of them. Mrs. Alcoon is just sweet as can be, if a little eccentric and Solus’ ceaseless arrogance is amusing. As in the first book I thought Mack’s ability to walk into situations in which she was enormously out manned and succeed was a little hard to swallow. I mean in the Bloodfire she took on a Demi-god and here a citadel full of mages! Maybe Solus isn’t the one I should be calling arrogant.

Since the primary reason I decided to continue the series (not the only one, it is just a fun series) is to see what happens between Mack and Corrigan I was completely disappointed at the end of the book. I don’t want to give anything away, but yeah, disappointed in the end. I also noted a few more editorial mishaps and consistency breaches than in the first. For example, Mack refers to a knee buckling kiss at one point that I have no memory of happening. I even went back to reread the passage in question and couldn’t find it. I liked it enough to buy the third though.

Review of Bloodrage:
I’ve officially decided that this is one of those series that might never end. There will always be one more adventure for Mack. I’m a little peeved about that, starting to feel a little strung along. Be that as it may, I enjoyed the book. Perhaps not as much as the first two. Focusing as this one does on Mack’s experience in the school it has a bit more of a Harry Potter feel to it and the series seems to have lost a little of it’s earlier focus. Mack is still a smart mouthed hot head. Corrigan is still a sexy shifter. Alex is still funny and Solus is…well, still Solus. Of all the new characters I like Thomas the best, though I don’t think he grovels anywhere near enough for his initial misdeed and his personality takes about a 180 from his first meeting with Mack to his subsequent meetings. There’s a fairly big reveal in this storyline, but it still ends completely open for the next book, Blood Politics (which is apparently due out later this year). I enjoy the experience of reading the Blood Destiny books, but with no conclusion in sight I don’t know that I’ll be running out for more.

Book Review of Smolder (Dragon Souls #1), by Penelope Fletcher

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I grabbed Penelope Fletcher‘s first Dragon Soul book, Smolder from Smashwords, probably during the Summer/Winter sale last year. I found that I had been really ignoring my Smashwords books lately. I’d largely forgotten about them. So, I’m making a point of reading some of them now.

Description from Goodreads:
Wounded, a dragon drops from the sky to crash in front of Marina in an explosion of fire. She does the only reasonable thing a woman can do – she saves his life. Marina knows any moment may be her last, yet she cannot deny the connection between her and the alluring creature. When fierce dragon lords appear, leading a dangerous assassin to their hiding place, the truth about her dragon is unveiled. The consequences of falling for a beast gifts Marina wonders never before seen … in this world

Review:
Penelope Fletcher’s Smolder is an entertaining read if you are willing to suspend any expectation of realistic behaviour (and I don’t just mean because it is fantasy). Marina and Koen are another stunning example of insta-love, granted it’s also a case of instant hate too. The whole scenario is made more ridiculous by the fact that she is COMPLETELY unfazed by the fact that he is a dragon. This is where my sense of realism is stretched beyond it’s brink. Marina isn’t afraid of anything. She waltzes right into a natural cataclysm of mythical proportion, challenges a dragon several sizes bigger and far more ferocious than herself, falls in love with him, crosses dimensions for him (him who she has known less than 36 hours by best approximation), finds that she’s a wealthy member of the royalty, ignores social protocols, gets everything she wants, adopts her own assassin, and expects to win a challenge after training for one week when her opponents have trained their entire lives.  It’s simply too much. Marina is too brash, to fearless, and too loyal to a man she just met…wait she’s willing to throw her whole life away to be with Koen but falls in love/lust with Daniil too. Seems a little weak-willed to me. But still it’s entertaining enough if you just roll with the punches.

Honestly, even though she is largely too much of just about everything she is also really funny. This kept me reading even when I wanted to yell ‘yeah right they would let you get away with that!’ or ‘Oh, how convenient for you.’ Koen is noble, but you don’t see much of his personality. It is too buried in being honourable and duty bound, but Daniil and Nikolai are fabulous side kicks. They made the book worth reading.

I was even willing to ignore the book’s desperate need for an editor, because though noticeable it wasn’t all that distracting. What I was not willing to overlooks is the fact that it ends on a cliffhanger…no that isn’t right. I don’t consider it a cliffhanger. Yes, the final page of the book is ultra suspenseful, but it isn’t an ending. Marina is literally halfway through the quest she set out on. The book ends as she rushes headlong into the first challenge, the challenge that half the book builds up to. That’s not a cliffhanger, that’s half of a book! Yes ,Smolder is appropriately long, at roughly 250 pages, but it’s only half a story. When did this become the accepted norm? It pisses me off. If I take the time to read 250 pages I expect some sort of conclusion as a payoff before having to wait for the second instalment. I didn’t get that here and I am not a happy camper. Still, I want to know how the story ends so should the second one (Burn) come out before I forget about having read this one I will pick it up.

Immortal Coil

Book Review of C.I. Black’s Immortal Coil

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I grabbed Immortal Coil off of the KDP list. (Now it’s time to return to my official review list, break is over).

Description from Goodreads:
Two souls. One Body. Sharing is not an option…

Terrible news has turned Anaea Salis’s life upside down. There’s nothing she can do to make it right and the stranger who stops to talk to her can’t help. But when that stranger, Hunter, an ancient dragon spirit, is viciously attacked and forced to transfer his spirit into her body, Anaea’s life takes a new terrifying twist.

Hunter should have known by now not to get involved with human affairs, but there was something about the woman that drew him to her and he just couldn’t help himself. Trapped in her body all he wants is to get out, except whoever is trying to kill him is now after her.

Their only hope of survival… plunge into the deadly world of dragons.

Review:

Anaea’s life is in the gutter and she sees no hope of it looking up, until an unfortunate encounter with a good-Samaritan named Hunter turns everything on its head. Both characters, Anaea and Hunter, are easy to engage with. I got a little tired of Anaea’s self-deprivation, but understood it too. Her strength of will, even in her beaten down state, was something I appreciated. Though I did think that her willingness to put herself in danger in order to establish her independence bordered on the stupid at times. I tend to want to slap such females. Luckily her who personality wasn’t based on this characteristic so it wasn’t overwhelming. Hunter was smoke’ hot, no matter his guise, but I never could figure out why he wanted so badly to protect Anaea in the beginning. It seemed out of character for him, or at least like something the man he had been wouldn’t have concerned himself with. I can’t forget good old Grey. He was a joy. I can see a sequel based on his character easily.

I really liked the feel of this book. I know that is nondescript. It probably comes down to the language choice as much as the actual events. The end result was a certain appealing tone. My favourite parts, however, were when Hunter’s dragon nature slipped through (the tendency to hoard things, the desire to woo a female with shinies and meat, etc). It tended to draw a mental ‘Aww’ out of me. It’s so appealing to see a strong man reduced to acting cute.

I’m did see the solution to Hunter’s body problem coming a mile away, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t appreciate the sad, poetic justice of it. I also wasn’t particularly surprised by the actual reveal that brought around the conclusion at the end. (I’m trying not to give anything away here.) It didn’t happen the way I thought it would though, so I still got a surprise. Over all I’m glad to have read it and will be well up for reading the second when it comes out.