Quick Shot: Dragon Bound – Thea Harrison

Publisher’s Summary:
“Half-human and half-wyr, Pia Giovanni spent her life keeping a low profile among the wyrkind and avoiding the continuing conflict between them and their Dark Fae enemies. But after being blackmailed into stealing a coin from the hoard of a dragon, Pia finds herself targeted by one of the most powerful–and passionate—of the Elder Races.

As the most feared and respected of the wyrkind, Dragos Cuelebre cannot believe someone had the audacity to steal from him, much less succeed. And when he catches the thief, Dragos spares her life, claiming her as his own to further explore the desire they’ve ignited in one another.”

You know, it’s been a fair while since I last read a paranormal romance. I guess you could say all of those urban fantasy series I love so much – and my YA addiction, and the random I’ll read this! pattern that has recently emerged – has gotten in the way. It was really quite nice to get back into the PNR world, and Dragon Bound was just the type of make-me-feel-light-hearted kind of read I’ve lately been craving.

Basically, I really liked the world Thea Harrison created in the first of her Elder Races novels. It cuts across an oft written about cross section of creatures – shifters, Fae, vampires – but the story avoids feeling tired or clichéd, which owes something to Dragos, the book’s dragon shifter hero, and Pia’s unique identity. Granted, there are a crop of dragon shifters in PNR these days –Tessa Adam’s Dragon Heat novels and Deborah Cooke’s Dragonfire novels come immediately to mind – but Dragos more than holds his own in the field, reminding me, in certain respects, of Nalini Singh’s Raphael.* He’s all teeth and talons and “Mine!”, which, every now and again, can be just what the book-doctor ordered. Pia had one definite thing going for her: She didn’t get on my nerves. And, yes, that really is saying something. (Too often PNR heroines set my teeth on edge.) Alongside the main characters are a cadre of secondary ones that all standout on their own – particularly and especially Gray and Quentin – who will, I hope, be featured in a book of their own.

All in all, Dragon Bound was highly enjoyable, and I’ll be quick to scoop up the next book in the Elder Races’ series, Storm’s Heart.

• The review that prompted me to pick this one up sooner rather than later: Smexy Books

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*Dragos’ looooong life removes him from experiencing finer emotions (so he thinks). His approach to anger and violence, however, is casual as it’s an inbred part of his nature that he sees no reason to snuff. The comparison thins after that because Raphael oozes a tangibly lethal, don’t-cross-me vibe that Dragos can’t touch.

Goddess of Legend ~ P.C. Cast

Publisher’s Summary:
“After her car plummets off a bridge, Isabel, a world-weary photojournalist, struggles between life and death when she’s saved by the Water Goddess-with one tiny caveat: Isabel must travel to another time to seduce the legendary Lancelot du Lac away from Queen Guinevere.

The handsome knight is a dream for any woman in any century. But Isabel is the one who’s seduced by King Arthur. For Isabel, a deal is a deal. Now, the King watches as fate takes from him the mysterious beauty he has come to worship, knowing all too well that any interference on his part could destroy the kingdom he loves.”

I got in on the ground floor, so to speak, when Goddess by Mistake was first (originally) released; I loved it for its humor, its sassy heroine, and its refreshing fantasy spin. Goddess of Spring, an early title in Cast’s Goddess Summoning series, is on my feel-good favorites list. I even enjoyed the House of Night books until, to my mind, the series jumped the shark with Chosen. To say that I am a fan of Cast’s early work would not be inaccurate, and so it saddens me to say that Goddess of Legend was a disappointment.

The characters were childlike in their dialogue and interactions; it was easy to like them despite their overly sweet, easily chastened natures. That said, the incessant verbal back-patting was cloying, and the shallow rendering of robust, legendary characters – Arthur in particular – was hard to swallow. These characters and Camelot wield enormous potential; the paranormal and romantic trappings of the book cannot and should not excuse their complete lack of depth.

Early on, the plot was struck pointless. The set-up of the story is simple: Merlin, depressed by the imminent downfall of Camelot and the man he considers a son, induces a comma-like state to blunt the pain of it all. His lover, the Lady of the Lake, makes a bid to rouse him from his misery by bringing Isabel to Camelot to shake things up. Throughout the story, the Lady references Merlin’s happiness, his well-being, but after the prologue Merlin does not reappear. His role in the story is essentially a non-issue.

Additionally, Isabel’s main goal is to break the relationship between Lance and Gwen. I could count on two hands the number of times Lance was in a scene, and rely on one to count the times he actually spoke. Drama, angst, and reasonable misunderstandings would have pooled up in the wake of this planned seduction, but that entire plot point quickly fell by the wayside in favor of Isabel teaching the servants of Camelot how to play baseball with sticks and stones.

Unfortunately, what transpires in these pages was not a reimagining of the legend. It wasn’t exactly fun, or particularly playful, either. No, harsh as it may sound, it was closer to a mockery. (One swift kick to the shin and suddenly Mordred loves his father without condition? Perhaps, and that’s stretching, but certainly not in this context. Isabel’s habit of talking in Jeopardy speak rubs off on Arthur? And what’s more, her odd speech and irritating use of outdated slang is noted, but entirely taken for granted by the entire kingdom? Bringing contemporary thinking, language, and actions into a bygone place or time has been used in Cast’s previous books with greater success. Here it bordered on the ridiculous.)

If this is the course future Goddess Summoning books are going to take, I hope this book is the last of them. I’d hate to see what was once great degenerate any further.

Afterlight ~ Elle Jasper

Publisher’s Summary:
“As Savannah’s most unconventional tattoo artist, Riley Poe is quite familiar with the local underground scene. She lives and works on the edge of it every day. Now she’s about to step over the edge.

When her younger brother is taken by a sinister cult led by centuries-old vampires, Riley discovers a world of shadows and blood – and those who exist there.

Her ally is the hot-tempered vampire Eli Dupre, who is attracted to Riley’s beauty as well as to her one-of-a-kind blood type – a blood type he is not alone in craving.

To save her brother from certain undeath, Riley will face dangers she’s never dreamed of, ruthless bloodthirsty enemies, and an evil endless hunger that wants to devour all in its vile grasp.”

What follows may suggest that I didn’t care for Afterlight, which isn’t an entirely accurate portrayal of my response. When all is said and done, I liked? enjoyed? the story well enough to read the sequel, Everdark, when it’s released next June. Like many series debuts before it, Afterlight had its ups and downs, pros and cons, and it’s entirely subjective which column outweighs the other. Due to the fact that cons tend to be more easily articulated, at least for me, I’ll start there.

The key players in this book – Riley and Eli – are in their mid-twenties (Eli, of course, in appearance only,) and yet they came across as much younger, perhaps even late teens. As did Eli’s three siblings. To be fair, there is no single moment of immaturity, nothing specific to point at, to explain why I felt that way, but I couldn’t shake that impression throughout the entire story.

For me, the incongruity of Riley’s past to her present may have had something to do with it. Riley goes to great lengths to convince the reader that she’s a tough chick, capable of taking care of herself and kicking major ass when needed; she also couldn’t seem to help but repetitively mention that she spent her misbegotten youth in worse situations than many of us could dream of. But she also wants the reader to know that she’s reformed, kicked her bad habits to the curb, and turned her life around. There is motivation to spare for the latter: a family tragedy, the help of a supportive father-figure, the responsibility of taking care of her kid brother. And yet…I was unable to buy into the fact that she seemingly broke off and smoothed out all of the sharp edges left in the wake of her past. She has one – one – discernible emotional scar: an unwillingness to let people touch her. Otherwise, she uses “freak” or “effing” in place of f*$&, suffers no withdrawal, jitters, or even a remote compulsion to start using when drugs are shoved at her, and closely resembles Suzy Homemaker if Suzy had tattoos and a six pack. The con, as I see it, is that Riley had the potential to be a complex character but wasn’t. Likewise, as dangerous and powerful as Eli is supposed to be, he just seemed…young.

This next one, well, I hesitate to even mention it, but I think it may also be a factor in why the characters read as young to me, so…

A very brief snippet from the preface:

“Vampires. They’re real. They exist. And they’re so not what you think they are.

And I was utterly, irrevocably in love with one.”

I’ll admit, I cringed over the use of the word “irrevocably” in this context and, though I tried to avoid it, my mind immediately drew a comparison to Twilight. (Which is unfair, I know, because the word was not trademarked or coined by Meyer.) Unfortunately there’s more. As the summary states, Riley possesses a “one-of-a-kind blood type” that is irresistible to vampires. Eli has to demonstrate extreme self-control to be around her. Speaking of Eli; he watches over Riley, often in the night, in her bedroom, with her none the wiser for it, though she does at times sense a presence. The entire Dupré family felt a little Cullenesque in that they rally around Riley, bound in part by a contract made with the local Gullah population to keep her (and the community) safe, and is responsible for the bulk of the supernatural exposition. And they all battle a set of vampires that refuse to maintain a humane lifestyle. Though it may not have negatively impacted my reading experience, the comparison was always there for me.

So what about the pros? Despite the quibbles I had, I found all of the characters likeable. I enjoyed the Savannah setting, and how Gullah magic (I hesitate to call it voodoo because I think that’s likely inaccurate) played a role in Riley’s life. I was able to read the book in one sitting. And, as I mentioned previously, I do plan on reading the sequel. Oh, and for once a dog, Riley’s Chaz, doesn’t get hurt and/or killed. Hurray!

While collecting other reviews to include here, it was impossible not to notice that most everyone else flat-out loved this book. I’m glad so many people loved Afterlight and, in this case, being in the minority doesn’t bother me in the least.

Reviews: Fiendishly Bookish Night Owl Romance Bitten by Books

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Assassin’s Honor ~ Monica Burns

Archeologist Emma Zale sees the past when she touches relics. It’s how she uncovered evidence of an ancient order of assassins-the Sicari. When a sinfully dark stranger shows up on her Chicago doorstep demanding an artifact she doesn’t have, he drags her into a world where telekinesis and empaths-someone who can sense the emotions of others- are the norm. Now someone wants her dead, and her only hope of survival is an assassin who’s every bit as dangerous to her body as he is to her heart. [Publisher's Summary]

I genuinely liked Emma and Ares, the couple that take center stage in the first of Monica Burns’ Order of the Sicari novels. And it’s a good thing, too, because they saved the novel from its own trappings.

One of my biggest pet peeves in fiction is repetition. This book had it in spades; words, thoughts, the same ones are pushed on the reader over and over. If Ares or one of his brethren said “Fotte” or “Christus” or “Dues damno id” one more time it surely would have driven me over the edge. The Sicari men uttered, rasped and roared the Italian (Latin?) curses on nearly every other page of the novel. The overuse of these words (and phrase) was so glaring it got in the way of the dialogue, and they became painfully meaningless and unfortunately annoying. And that’s not all, no. Because there is an obvious repetition of thought in the story, too. Ares and Emma go over the same things in their minds time after time in each chapter; there was hardly any progression at all, just the same “he doesn’t love me” and “Fotte! She is the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen, but Christus! He won’t give name to what he’s feeling.” Really, it was a shame.

Also, I was expecting more from the fact that the heroine is an archaeologist and that the hero desperately wants an ancient artifact; I thought some of the plot would see the couple on a dig in some exotic location, or have a bit more adventure to complement the romance. The book may open with Emma in Egypt, but that is about the extent of it.

Despite their shallow characterization, Emma and Ares tugged at me. I was invested in them as a couple and so the romance itself worked on some level. And I have to admit that I will definitely be reading the next book about Lysander, a secondary character in Assassin’s Honor. I just hope that the curses are kept to a minimum and that the characters have a few original thoughts to share.