Book Review: Dragon Actually by G.A. Aiken

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book review, dragon actually, dragon kin, dragon shifters, dragons, first in a series, g.a. aiken, paranormal romance, shifters, witches

Title: Dragon Actually by G. A. Aiken (Dragon Kin #1)

Format: paperback

Published:  September 1, 2008

Genre: Paranormal Romance, Dragons

Synopsis (from Goodreads): It’s not always easy being a female warrior with a nickname like Annwyl the Bloody. Men tend to either cower in fear-a lot-or else salute. It’s true that Annwyl has a knack for decapitating legions of her ruthless brother’s soldiers without pausing for breath. But just once it would be nice to be able to really talk to a man, the way she can talk to Fearghus the Destroyer. Too bad that Fearghus is a dragon, of the large, scaly, and deadly type. With him, Annwyl feels safe-a far cry from the feelings aroused by the hard-bodied, arrogant knight Fearghus has arranged to help train her for battle. With her days spent fighting a man who fills her with fierce, heady desire, and her nights spent in the company of a magical creature who could smite a village just by exhaling, Annwyl is sure life couldn’t get any stranger. She’s wrong. And just wait until you meet the rest of the family? This book has been previously published.

Review: 

Annwyl the Bloody is the bane of her brother’s existence. So much so that he sends his best warriors after her, tasked with bringing her back to him – preferably in pieces.

This novel stars with a bang – at least an action scene. Annwyl fighting many warriors from her brother’s army. She’s almost down for the count, bloody and broken, when a giant and deadly dragon swoops in and saves her. He, Fearghus the Destroyer, nurses her back to health and is enamoured with Annwyl’s fighting spirit.

Under Fearghus and his witch sister’s tender care, Annwyl regains strength and is well on the way to rejoining with her army and readying them to battle her brother. The only problem is that the dragon can see that Annwyl isn’t quite battle ready. No problem! Fearghus just happens to know an experienced knight who will train her until she has the skills to defeat her brother.

Annwyl’s not happy. The knight that is now training her is arrogant. And annoying. And the sexiest man she’s ever seen. He’s haunting her dreams and Annwyl isn’t sure how much longer she can resist him. Why couldn’t the nameless knight have the soul of the caring and charming dragon that has become one of her nearest and dearest friends. If only she knew… that dragons can shape-shift into human form and her arrogant knight is none other than Fearghus the dragon!

I really enjoyed this novel. I loved the chemistry between the two leads and the family interactions amongst Fearghus’ kin after they join the story. It’s a lovely easy-going read that’s as funny and entertaining as it is hot.

The reason I’m only giving it three stars is because it was just a little too predictable for my liking. I like the books I read to have some mystery and wonder about them. I felt like with this novel, I knew everything that was going to happen well before it did. And I was never wrong with my plot predictions. There were no surprises.

It’s well written – I loved the characters and the world they lived in. It was the perfect style of old school fantasy era where everyone lives in caves and live in an electricity free environment BUT they all spoke modern-day English.

I’d recommend this story to anyone who likes their romance novels hot and easy-going. It’s an easy read with a very sweet happily ever after story. It has only reinforced my love of dragon shifters 😉

Rating: 

3 out of 5

Purchase book at:

 Book Depository (paperback) / Amazon

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Book Review: Caressed by Moonlight by Amanda J. Greene

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amanda j greene, book review, caressed by moonlight, historical romance, marriage of convenience, overbearing aunt, regency period, rulers of darkness, vampires, victoria kingston

Title: Caressed by Moonlight by Amanda J. Greene (Rulers of Darkness #1)

Format: ebook

First Published: November 29th 2010

Genre: Historical Romance, Paranormal Romance, Vampires

Synopsis (from Goodreads): “One sweet stolen kiss brings them together. But treachery and death threatens to tear them apart…”

Dorian Vlakhos is no ordinary aristocrat. He is a vampire king, who will do anything to save his clan from complete annihilation, before an ancient curse can claim his immortal life.

Penniless and orphaned, Victoria Kingston has nothing to bring to a marriage, yet she must shackle an unsuspecting gentleman into marriage by the end of the month or forfeit her rights as guardian of her younger sister. With the help of her dearest friend, Victoria begins her hunt, and vows to stay far away from the dark, mysterious, Prince Vlakhos.

After meeting the beautifully innocent Miss Kingston, Dorian had to have her. He would do absolutely anything to make Victoria his. One sweet stolen kiss would bring them together while a force, more powerful than any vampire would bind them for all eternity. But treachery, war, and death rule Dorian’s dark world and Victoria would be fortunate to survive.

Review: 

Generally I try not to judge a book by it’s cover. But I find myself adoring the cover of this book. The beautiful outfits, the tender embrace of the hero and heroine and the gorgeous colours. It all makes for an extremely attractive book cover and one that I was eager to devour. But I find myself asking, “Where’s the paranormal on this cover? Where are the hints to his vampire nature?”

The novel starts off with a beautiful, recently orphaned woman, Miss Victoria Kingston, who is now penniless and relying on her spinster aunt to help her and her sister from ending up on the streets. Evil Aunt Nelly (and even if I could forgive the way she treats Victoria, I could never overlook the way she abused her books by throwing them! She definitely deserves the evil prefixing her name) has despised Victoria since even before her conception, blaming Victoria for her mother’s sins. Instead of caring for the now parentless girls, Nelly sets an ultimatum – Victoria is to be married to a man of means by the end of the month or she shall never see her younger sister again! (cue evil laughter).

The penniless woman seeking marriage to fix her problems is a trope I’ve seen again and again in historical fiction. It seems to be one of their mainstays. However I really enjoyed how Ms Greene approached it. Whilst Victoria would ideally hold out of love and experience the kind of marriage that her parents had and she envied, she is far more practical than that. Victoria’s feisty attitude and her tenacity make her a very likeable heroine. If money is what she needs to keep her aunt’s clutches off her sister, Margaret, then Victoria will find a wealthy man to marry within the month!

Enter Prince Dorian Vlakhos.

From the moment Victoria and Prince Dorian meet, there’s chemistry. Victoria, who from the start has been shown to be a woman on a mission and nothing could sway her from her path, is memorized by the handsome stranger.
“The man turned to face her and she gasped as if she had been struck. he was tall, taller than any man she had ever seen, muscled and thick. Strands of deep brown hair fell across his angelic yet masculine face, her fingers twitched with the desire to brush them away from his magnificent eyes. Those fathoms of blue were like the sea after a tremendous storm, piercing, penetrating, and exotic. His jaw was straight and square, his lips thin and alluring. He was absolutely beautiful, in a dangerous, very masculine way.”  (Location 266)

The formally stoic Miss Kingston has some poetry about her? Who knew? 😉

As you can see, the descriptions in this book are incredibly vivid. The Prince is just as stunned by Victoria but his interest in her is not that of marriage material. No, his feelings are of a much more carnal nature.
“I do wish you luck. The sooner you become tired of your marriage bed the sooner you will come to mine.” (Location 381)

His honesty, whilst refreshing, surprised me. Whilst in many historical romances where the hero is somewhat of a rake, I’ve never known one to be quite so upfront in his desires.

The first half of the book is primarily taken up with Victoria, Dorian and their courting. The vampire storyline is very much in the background and whilst I picked up this book wanting to read a paranormal story, I found myself enjoying the Regency romance and I did not dwell on the lack of vampires. The second half of the novel is very much focused on the uprising in Dorian’s vampire kingdom. I enjoyed how Ms. Greene created her world. The story that Dorian told to Victoria was a brilliant way to let the reader in on the history of the Vampire race whilst not detracting from the story.

There is so much I liked about this novel. Victoria is a strong and as independent as a woman can be during those times. She’s intelligent and understanding. There were a few time when I was worried she was going to throw a tantrum but she managed to stay assertive and not turn into a raving prima donna. Dorian surprised me. A character who started off being a bit of a cad and ladies man changed roles and turned into loving family man. I’d reckon there would be many fights between him and Victoria over who was in charge. I loved the side of Dorian that was scared and worried for Victoria – he came so far from the man who we met in the start of the novel.

I loved the romance between Victoria and Dorian. The writing was clever and steamy – just a kiss was enough to make me want to fan myself. And then, when things got a little more intimate… well it was scorching.

I would have liked the vampire aspect of the novel and the historical romance part to have been a bit more merged. I understand that with the novel as it stand it needed to be set out like this but I think there could have been a bit more of Dorian’s vampire nature come out in the first half.

All in all, I really enjoyed this novel and I can’t wait to start reading the next book in the series.

Rating: 

4 out of 5

Purchase book at:

Book Depository (paperback) / Amazon (kindle version) / FishPond (paperback)

Book Review: Soulless by Gail Carriger

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4 stars, alexia tarabotti, book review, Gail Carriger, historical, historical romance, queen victoria, romance, Soulless, Steam punk, supernatural powers, tea drinking, vampires, vampires and werewolves, Werewolves

Title: Soulless by Gail Carriger (Parasol Protectorate #1)

Format: paperback

First Published: October 1st. 2009

Genre: Steampunk, Paranormal, Historical, Romance

Synopsis (from Goodreads): Alexia Tarabotti is laboring under a great many social tribulations. First, she has no soul. Second, she’s a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette.

Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire—and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate.

With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London’s high society? Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart?

SOULLESS is a comedy of manners set in Victorian London: full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking.

Review: 

Vampires and werewolves and… a woman with a parasol? Oh my! This is the first steam-punk novel I’ve ever read and I have to say I was plesantly surprised. Historical fiction is not generally my cup of tea but this novel has taken the things I like from the Victorian age (corsets and witty spinsters) and combined them with the supernatural. I am a fan.

The heart and soul of this novel (so to speak) is Alexia Tarabotti – on the outskirts of polite society due to her dark skin, slightly too big nose and her love of science and logical conversation. I loved her. She’s clever, daring and for her own sake should probably try to keep control of her tongue but for entertainment purposes, I’m glad she doesn’t. In the first chapter alone, Miss Tarabotti manages to vanquish a vampire with only a hair pin and her trusty parasol and she still manages to lament the loss of a treacle tart. I’m not used to reading about heroines in a historical fiction who can take control of the situation and kick butt whilst still trying to make sure their outfits are in pristine condition.

In between finding out what has happened to the vampires, there’s also a romantic plot brewing in this story. I enjoyed how Carriger developed the relationship between Alexia and Lord Maccon. It was at times scandalous but anything else would have felt untrue to Miss Tarabotti’s character.

The supporting cast were brilliant. Between Alexia’s butler, Lord Maccon’s beta and the fabulously flamboyant Lord Akeldama and his drones there is hardly a dull moment. I am looking forward to reading the other books in this series if only to see more of these characters – and to hopefully find out what exactly is the deal with the octopuses.

Rating: 

4 out of 5

Purchase book at:

Book Depository / Amazon / FishPond