Lost & Bound Publishing

I picked up a copy of M. Sinclair‘s Blitz as an Amazon freebie.

Three dominant dragon alphas who seemingly have it all… except the one thing they want: me.

My life hasn’t been typical. All I remember is waking up in an alley when I was ten, scrounging for scraps to survive until I was taken to the Bronzeheart estate.

That’s where my life began, where I’ve lived for the past eight years with the ruling family, the Blitz Clan. It’s where I found my best friend Gage, the future leader of this clan.

At the time, I didn’t question my good fortune because I was happy to know I wasn’t alone in this world anymore. But maybe I should have.

After landing a shocking invite to the prestigious Dark Imaginarium Academy, I realized how much of a safe haven the estate was.

The students at this school are out for my blood because somehow I have the attention of not just one, but all three Storm Dragon Clan heirs: Gage Bronzeheart, Breaker Firespell, and Jagger Silvershade.

None of them should have an interest in me, seeing as I’m the only shifter at this academy who hasn’t, you know…shifted. They should want someone powerful at their side. But it doesn’t stop me from wanting them as well.

That is until I find out they’ve been hiding a life-changing secret from me. And now that I know…

Nothing will be the same.

Blitz is book 1 in the Storm Dragons’ Mate series that features a slightly naive but sassy MFC, possessive dragon alphas, and a secret that will change everything. This is not a high school academy book and the contents are intended for mature audiences, with characters who are all 18+. This book includes violence and mature sexual content.

Meh. This was OK, but not the book I had hoped for. However, I acknowledge that it is partly the fault of my own expectations. The description says, “This is not a high school academy book…” and I took that to mean it is not as YA as the blurb sounds. That was apparently wrong of me. Sure, the heroine may be freshly 18, and there may be spice at some point in future books, but this is firmly a YA read. I’m just not a grand lover of the YA genre (too old to relate anymore, I guess).

But I probably could have taken the YA-ness of it all if the heroine wasn’t so strongly infantilized. This is a huge pet peeve of mine, and I’m very sensitive to it. I’ll acknowledge that the book did give reasons that she had been so sheltered and knew so little. But her descriptions are all child-coded. She’s small. She loves pretty sparkly things. She has a set of stuffed animals she takes places with her. She has significantly less knowledge or information than the males her own age, etc. The book description calls her “slightly naive.” I call her too childlike for my tastes.

I did like her and her harem of men, though. I liked that she was willing to tell them plainly what she was thinking. I liked that they were fully willing to show their vulnerabilities and desperation. None of them are well-developed yet. But I accept that this is only the first book, and there is time for that in future books. I liked the book enough to be maybe willing to read more of the series if it was available for free, but I didn’t enjoy it enough to pay for more (if that tells you anything).

Other Reviews:

????Blitz (The Storm Dragons’ Mate Book 1) By M. Sinclair

I received a copy of Soothing Monsters, by M. Sinclair in one of the Supernatural Book Crate boxes I ordered. It’s the “special edition” cover. Annoyingly, they/she also changed the title of the book for this edition. So, elsewhere this is called Soothing Nightmares. That makes reviewing is a bit of a nightmare for me, actually. I’m the sort that gets annoyed if things don’t match. There’s always the underlying anxiety of “the ISBNs line up, but is it actually the same book,” “am I really cross-posting my review in the right place,” etc. It’s a cool cover though.

I didn’t fear my nightmares. I loved them… and they loved me.

I had never been afraid of the dark. Abandoned on the front step of ISS, I’d spent my entire life thriving in the realm of darkness that most humans avoided.
I was a woman living among monsters.

Arabella was abandoned at the front steps of INSTITUTUM SEQUUNTUR SOMNIA (ISS) one stormy night, only to be found and brought in by the monsters that lived there. An institute of nightmares that housed the most dangerous creatures that walked the plane of humanity. A place that trained and harnessed those abilities for their own use, while defending against the humans that were constantly attacking them.

But what happens when a young human woman grows up among the nightmares? Feeling no fear but instead taking comfort in her team that she surrounded herself by? By all regards, Arabella shouldn’t have fit in at the institute. Nothing like the warrior-like creatures around her, the 5’1’’ young woman with pink hair and a vision impairment was absolutely fundamental to her team. Not just for her strategic brilliance but her soothing lack of fear that seemed to tame the nightmares around her. Arabella is bound and determined to keep her monstrous men safe while they are on their missions.

What happens when their most recent mission attracts the wrong type of attention? What happens when ISS comes under attack and everything that she values is destroyed?

I think there is definitely going to be a ‘you love it or you hate it’ divide with readers of this book. Because I’ll be honest, it’s totally over the top bonkers. There is no taking this thing seriously. It’s reverse harem in which the heroine has 7, yes, seven supernatural mates. None of which are just monsters, no, among them are princes of hell (two even) and Death himself. She’s playing with the big boys apparently (literally and figuratively for a 5′ 1″ woman). There’s surprisingly little sex (or plot for that matter), but a whole lot of in your face sexual tension. But it’s a lot of silly fun. I also appreciate the glasses wearing woman with a significant facial scar as the main lust interest, especially the fact that there’s no angst about it. I’m on the love it side…or at least really liked it side and will hunt up book number two. I always appreciate a sexy laugh.