Review: Fantastical Romance or Romantic Fantasy
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 30, 2011
This novella-length story is a great exploration of the origins of some of the myths about dragons.Sorcha is a young and gifted wizard who is living an unconventional life. Against tradition, her mother Elspeth kept her as a baby and raised her as a wizard from a very young age. She has no knowledge of her father, but is a bold and brave young lady. Their kingdom is on the brink of warfare with dragon kind, and Sorcha will do anything to prevent the dragons from destroying humanity, even finding the Heart of Fire. The Heart of Fire is a magical amulet that is very powerful, but there is always a price for wielding it. She invokes the magic of the triune threshold to call forth the Heart of Fire, but she is not alone - a dragon has joined her. To prevent the enemy from capturing the amulet, she places it over her head and is transformed into a dragon! As she learns about dragon culture as one of them, she also finds herself at the mercy of her dragon's body and its instincts for survival.A story of different cultures and species clashing, as well as great love, "Sorcha's Heart" is a fun paranormal romance/fantasy. There is very mild sexual relations for readers of traditional paranormal romance - nothing very explicit - but you may not want anyone younger than emotionally mature teens reading it. The writing is well-done, with Sorcha's character developed fairly early on and the conflict summarized in just a couple of pages. Other characters could use more development, but it is a novella, not a novel. The story is completed satisfactorily, but there is a novel involving the same characters and world if you want more.