Review: The Dragon and His Mate
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 20, 2013
***Received from Entangled Publishing for an honest review***Dragon King Alec Gerald built the Crown Jewel Casino in Las Vegas, NV, as a haven for others like him. Dragons from all over the world will be in attendance for the casino's grand opening and also for the dragon mating ceremony, where they will choose their mates in order for the male dragons to keep their dragon forms. And it's at his casino's grand opening night that he meets his mate.World-renowned gemologist Luciana De Luca is attending the Crown Jewel's grand opening for two reasons: 1)she was invited to appraise the casino's gem exhibit, and 2)to try and save her sorry brother Joey's butt from yet another mess he's gotten himself into. And while the opening ceremony was breath-taking and fascinating to watch, it was the casino's owner, Alec Gerald, who captured her attention.The plot for this story was truly unique--a male dragon discovering his mate is a human female who is bent on stealing from him to save her brother. Alec was patient with Luciana (Lucy), doing everything he could to persuade her to let him help. He knew she was in trouble, but didn't know with what exactly. And Lucy was...stubborn to a fault when it came to her brother who, frankly, doesn't deserve anything she does for him. Lucy was likeable enough except for her iron-clad unwillingness to take up Alec's sincere offer of help. Her inability to trust that he could come through for her proved to be her downfall in the end, breaking the fragile bond she shared with Alec. Her brother's betrayal only added to the heartbreak she felt at having lost the one thing that'd come to matter so much to her--Alec.I enjoyed getting to know Alec, reading how he came to be Jer'ol, or Dragon King. I admired his patience with Lucy, especially in the face of her lies and stubbornness, and I loved how he defended her when it was made known that she, a mere human, was his mate. But I didn't like how quickly he forgave her in the end. I'm not saying he should've held back a little longer, but his decision to give her another chance so quickly (and in the middle of the mating ceremony) seemed hasty.Lucy was difficult for me to like, mainly because of her misplaced loyalty in her brother. "Mr. Center of the Universe" is how he was described early on, and everything in the story drove that point home. So why did she continue to put herself in danger for him? Because she loved him? I'm sure she did. But at some point in the story, perhaps after ***spoiler alert*** Gino (the mob enforcer threatening her brother) died,*** she should've cut him loose but she didn't. She lied for him, stole for him, when the only person who mattered to her brother was himself.Joey was even more difficult to like. For most of the story, he was a pain who need a two-by-four to the side of his head. How he could use his sister like that and still talk to her like life was okay, was beyond my understanding. The help he received from Lucy was undeserved. He would've been better off apologizing and kissing the ground the walked on.I love a good shifter story, and I haven't come across another dragon-shifter story that was quite as enjoyable as this one. Plus, the ending of this story brought a nice surprise that almost hints at a second story. Will there be one? I hope so.