Review: The Dragonslayer (13th Floor) by Christine Rains
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 23, 2013
The Dragonslayer is the third novella in the series The 13th Floor.This series is turning out to be a highly imaginative entertaining set of stories that are woven together by a skilled author. The reader is pulled in from the very beginning with the sentence "Xan missed the shot," and then Ms. Rains sets the stage. We meet our two main characters and get to know both through Lois King's snarky dialogue. She is smart, confident, and sassy. Poor Xan never had a chance to resist her and when she packed up her pet ferret to take Xan's place I nearly fell out of bed laughing. I loved Lois, everything about her made me smile.Ms. Rains worldbuilding around her dragons was a cunning statement of today's society. "They evolved with human society, taking on mortal forms, and slithered their way into positions of great influence and power." Governor Whittaker was the perfect villain who had aspirations to be President some day. Dragonslayers were no longer celebrated heroes but outlaws having to stay in the shadows. The action was fast paced and the battles were dramatic. The only thing missing from the action was Xan's battle lance, it was hanging on the wall in his spotless bedroom, having been replaced by modern weapons. I enjoyed the way the relationship developed between Xan and Lois, she really tried his patience and was a huge distraction to his dragon slaying as he began to recognize the warrior in her. I think this is my favorite story in the series so far, I can't wait to see what comes next.This is a sweet romance, nothing offensive but there were three F-bombs dropped. I found no significant errors or issues.**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. ** April 19, 2013