Tag Archives: Paranormal romance

The Dragons Psychic

Book Review of The Dragon’s Psychic (Immortal Dragon #1), by Linzi Baxter

I received a free audible code for a copy of Linzi Baxter‘s The Dragon’s Psychic.

Description from Goodreads:

She was supposed to be just a job. A paycheck. Now she’s his destiny.

Talia hadn’t planned on dying today. Accidentally defying the supernatural council wasn’t exactly her plan either. But when she did her duty and touched a bloody knife to determine guilt or innocence, her vision seemed… off. So was Councilman Gideon’s rush to declare a shivering child guilty of murder. Now Talia’s trying to lose herself in the West Virginia mountains with the child in tow, and the mercenary on their tail has an uncanny ability to find them, no matter how far they run. 

Kirin’s dragon-shifter senses make him the most sought-after mercenary in these parts. But something about this job smells wrong. And when he finally lays his hands on the fugitive, he gets the surprise of his three-hundred-year life. The fragile, determined woman in his arms is his mate, who he’d given up all hope of finding. 

His mercenary target has become his chosen partner, and instead of breathing down her neck, he’s bound to protect her at all costs. But if Kirin and Talia can’t figure out who wants this child dead—and why—they could all wind up sharing the same grave. 

Review:

This was what it was. I didn’t find anything especially impressive about it, but I also didn’t think it a bad version of a basic dragon shifter-find-his-mate story. I liked the characters and thought the inclusion of a child interesting. However, I also thought the child got over losing her parents too easily and the conclusion was too swift (rushed). The narrators (Heather Costa and Jeffrey Kafer) did a fine job and I’d be willing to both read another Baxter book and listen to another of Costa and Kafer’s readings.

Feral Ice

Book Review of Feral Ice (Ice Dragons Book 1), by Ann Gimpel

I borrowed an audio copy of Ann Gimpel‘s Feral Ice through Hoopla.

Description from Goodreads:

Doctor and biochemist, Erin signed up for six months aboard an Antarctic research ship to escape her stifling surgery practice. Jerked from her cozy cabin, she’s dumped in an ice cave by men who assume she’s dead. 

Konstantin and Katya, twins and dragon shifters, have lived miles beneath the polar ice cap for hundreds of years. Other dragons left, but they stuck it out. When several humans—all but two of them dead—end up not far from their lair, the opportunity is too good to pass up. 

If the lore is to be believed, humans can become dragon shifters. Delighted by a simple solution to their enforced isolation, the dragons lure the humans to their home. Surely, they’ll be thrilled by the prospect of becoming magical. 

Or not. 

Too bad no one shared the script with the humans. Science be damned, they’re horrorstruck in the face of fire-breathing dragons. All they want is to escape, but home is thousands of miles away.

Review:

This was bad…like really bad. I thought, in the beginning, I might be able to enjoy it in the ‘it’s so bad it’s amusing’ sort of way. But no, it didn’t even manage that. The story moves along in robotic jerks. The romance is so underdeveloped I literally thought it was going to be between the two humans, instead of the dragon and female human. Honestly, I think it would have been a better pairing. But mostly it just meant I didn’t feel anything for or about the couple. The lore is ridiculous and poorly explained. And dialogue is super cheesy.

The narrator did and OK job. But I don’t understand why Gimpel would choose a male narrator (Gregory Salinas) for a book in which the only first person POV is female.

Seduce Me in Dreams

Book Review of Seduce Me in Dreams (Three Worlds #1), by Jacquelyn Frank

cover of Seduce me in Dreams

I borrowed an audio copy of Seduce Me in Dreams, by Jacquelyn Frank through my local library. It’s narrated by Coleen Marlo.

Description from Goodreads:

Dark. Mysterious. Sensual. When Bronse Chapel, the commander of a specialized unit of the Interplanetary Militia, begins to dream about a beautiful and exotic brunette, he wants to dismiss it as being induced by lack of sleep . . . or perhaps lack of sex. But his instincts tell him it’s something different, something far more dangerous.

Ravenna is the leader of the Chosen Ones, a small group of people from her village born with extraordinary powers. She doesn’t know that draws her to Bronse’s dreams night after night, but she senses that he and his team are in jeopardy. Ravenna can help him, but first Bronse must save the Chosen Ones from those who plan to use their powers for evil. Together, Bronse and Ravenna will be unstoppable. But Ravenna is hiding something that could endanger them all.

Review:

I only have myself to blame. I borrowed this from the library. I’ve passed it up several times, expecting it to be horrible. Experience has taught that older PNR (this is from 2011) and I don’t usually get along. Gender tropes are often too strongly reinforced for me. Women are always small and delicate and men are large and dangerous. Women are victims, men are victors, etc. But I’ve listened to pretty much all the PNR that my library has available via OverDrive/Libby, so I gave in and rented this. 

It tricked me. I thought it started out well and I began to think maybe I’d been wrong….then it all went to shite. Or to be more precise, it all went exactly as I’d previously anticipated. I lost track of how many times phrases like “her sexy little lips,” “her pert little bottom,” “her sweet little hands,” “her bright little eyes,” etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. Ravenna’s character development seemed entirely based on her ability to withstand misery and Bronse’s in his ability to berate himself for his attraction and kill things. Of course, if Ravenna considered killing someone it had to be avoided at all costs, because it would be sooooo harmful to hermental state. Why is this only ever true for women?

I did think the universe this was set in looked interesting. But I didn’t feel like it was well developed. Nor were any of the side characters. Lastly (and importantly), there is a pretty big mystery that moves the plot along. It isn’t solved. The book ends with a, “I guess we’ll never know why.” Ummmmm, no. That’s 100% not acceptable to me. 

All in all, not AS bad as I expected. But not great either.