Tag Archives: Dragons

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.

Draykon

Book Review of Charlotte English’s Draykon

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I won an ecopy of Charlotte E. English‘s Draykon from Mostly Reviews.

When shy and retiring Llandry Sanfaer discovers a mesmerising new gemstone, she suddenly becomes the most famous jeweller across the Seven Realms. Demand for the coveted stone escalates fast; when people begin dying for it, Llandry finds that she herself has become a target. 

Lady Evastany Glostrum has her life in pristine order. Prestigious, powerful and wealthy, she is on the verge of crowning her successes with the perfect marriage. But when her closest friend is murdered for the jewellery she wears, Eva is drawn into the mystery surrounding the curious “istore” gem. 

The emergence of the stone is causing chaos across the Seven. Gates between the worlds are opening at will, pulling hordes of creatures through from the shadowy Lower Realm and the glittering Uppers. As Eva works to discover the culprit behind the spreading disorder, Llandry must learn the truth about her precious istore stone — before she herself becomes a victim.

Review:

I love the cover of Draykon and was really looking forward to reading it. I have to be honest though, I gave a little groan in the beginning. The first page or so did nothing for me. The language was very flowery. A number of fictional plants were mentioned with little indication of what they were and the word ‘with’ was used six times in the first paragraph. I was worried. I needn’t have been. It settled down very quickly, becoming quite enjoyable. 

The story is split between two main characters, Eva and Llandry. Both of whom I engaged with, but I would have enjoyed a little more indication of which of the two is supposed to be the MAIN character. I think it’s supposed to be Llandry, but not feeling uncertain about it left me with divided loyalties. I also very much liked their male companions (Tren and Devary). Tren had an especially appreciable sense of humour. It might sound strange, but I really liked that these characters weren’t all amazingly talented 18 year olds. Devary and Eva are both represented as 40ish, while Llandry and Tren are both in their twenties. It feels so much more believable when characters are old enough to have become masters of their skills through training, practice and determination, rather than innate talent (which is all too young characters have time to develop). 

The environment of The Seven Realms (and beyond) is described quite vividly, though it has a tendency to change, which can be confusing. However, this very changeability is an important aspect of the story. It’s worth getting you’re head around. Many, many plant and animal species are mentioned and the reader is left to flesh a lot of them out on their own. This is fine. I can extrapolate what a Nivven is supposed to be by the fact that they are ridden and used to pull carriages. Some were not so clear. I spent much of the book thinking a deafly was an animal, or maybe an insect, for example. It’s not, it’s a flower, the sort one tends to find painted on china. 

Draykon leaves you hangin’ when it ends though. The whole thing culminated splendidly, but ends before anyone has any answers (or the reader knows what happens to Llandry after the big reveal). That irked me. Of course I want to know what happens next. That’s to be expected from the first book of a series, but Draykon literally ends at what I’d have expected to be the peak of the plotting graph. That’s difficult…and annoying. Despite this, I would still recommend the book to anyone who likes fantasy.