Review: Wonderful Paranormal Romance with minor issues
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 19, 2012
I would give this 3.5 to 4 stars. Noah was/is a dragon who, about 2,500 years ago, decided to live as a man. In the first chapter, Noah is running his antique shop in Nashville when he meets Izzy and her boyfriend as they try to steal from him.  Lila, Izzy's sister, flies in to Nashville to help with her sister.  Very quickly, Izzy is dead - killed by the person who has discovered Noah's secret and wants his dragon blood.  The majority of the book is about Noah and Izzy trying to escape danger and hunt down the man who wants Noah's blood (which has dragon properties to it).The book was well-written with no big typo or grammar issues. I was immediately engaged in the story. Music was integral to the story in that Noah loved playing the saxophone and played one night a week in a bar. And I felt like the characters really did have chemistry between them. I felt like the two were drawn to each other (and I liked the fact that Noah was quicker to express feelings than Lila). Thus, it was satisfying as a romance novel.  It was an action-filled ride with little down-time.  In fact, that was my biggest issue with the book.  Everything happened so fast.  Basically, the book takes place over a few days.  I wish the story had played out a bit to let things develop more deeply between Lila and Noah. I wish we had seen more of Noah's life (e.g. playing the saxophone) or met characters he knew (for example, in Thea Harrison's "Dragon Bound", we see the hero's friends and the heroine interacts with them). Noah talked a lot throughout the book about how much music touched his soul and how much it meant to him and we know he plays the saxophone.  I wish we were told more of his favorite songs or how he came to play the saxophone (since it hasn't been around for 2,500 years!).  This type of background would have made the characters seem more grounded and real to me.I had two minor quibbles - one with a plot hole and another with the ending.  The plot hole that bothered me was that the villain "found out" about Noah as Noah kept returning to Nashville (and never aged). I did have a hard time believing that Noah would keep returning to Nashville.  There are many places around the country (or even overseas) that are known for good music where he could have played.  This made it seem more of a plot device and I wish there was a stronger reason the author developed that kept drawing him back to Nashville.Finally, the ending was just a tiny bit unsatisfying. While everything is resolved with the bad guy and the characters are together, it didn't have the feeling of a "happily ever after" (and how could it as they've only known each other for 4 days!).  I don't know if the author is planning a sequel, but I would be interested in seeing these two characters further develop their relationship.