Review: Dragon's, get your hot steamy dragons.. and oh MY!
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 01 12, 2013
(This review is intended for 18+ , (no one under that age should be caught close to the computer while reading)Hot Dragons/men/brothers, Explicit Sex, Sex in Water, Magic.. Sex..So ya.... this was my warning provided by the synopsis:Product Warnings: This novel contains explicit sex, sex in water, four super-hot dragon brothers, and a curse born from magical power that has left them wondering who they are all their lives.OH BOY oh ya, OK yes... but...Let's break this down for you, I wanted to really love this book but in the end I liked it, but I did not love it. It was ... good, The story (see synopsis below) starts off a bit mysteriously setting us up the time period of 17th century British Isles. We have the shores outside of London, there is a woman, she ends up being the lone survivor of a horrific ship wreck, but we have no clue why, an we never learn why. Two men find her dying amongst the wreckage. One of these guys decides to take action and basically mercy kills her by doing what he thinks will will end her life quickly only way he knows how, by his bite and as all the others before her, she would die from the poison of said bite....Can you guess what happens? Well I am thinking ooooooooooh the hint of blood magic (because of the synopsis), vampires who are also dragons!!? OK I can deal with it, I have been reading vampire novels again lately as long as they do not sparkle and there are no teenie-boppers involved I am OK with it. I am not a lover of historical romances, but this promised dragons and vampires so I thought another perfect way for me to continue my Harlequin PTSD therapy. What I did not expect was a smart writer, no offense all of you historical romance writers. But Lacy has this one down pat. However...Here is just a few reasons why it is just an OK read I like -1st - It should not have been a novella, because it is not a true novella, just the length, she really had the story idea and it was being set up in the structure of a novel length story.Yes it was focused on just one of the brothers, but that was it. The problem is the art of a novella is to have the story tight and narrowly focused and still with the depth of a full length. The story was like this for the first 65 or so pages, but then it falls apart a bit from there. It starts rushing and skipping and though the villain is introduced he is never explained or fleshed out, so if you do not have a clue about historically accurate erotica, you are going to be let down and a bit lost. The rest of it was OK but even if the aspect of villainy was explained or even more hinted at and is left for the next in the series, there was just to much... well continue reading. Whatever happened, it or he or whatever was never developed bad guy wise, so basically a 2.5-star rating for that aspect. (not to mention what happens to dear old Grandmum!)2nd - Yes, it focused on the one hot-dragon-ish brother, Jordan. She gets a five-star rating on here descriptions and fluffing of said character (yes I said fluffing but not that kind). I can see and picture the hot Jordan, yummy hot, and when he has a bit of showing of his true form, it is hotter than hot. When the first sex scene happens? It is so steamy it makes my girl parts tingly. I absolutely was going to be giving it a solid four-stars about 65 pages (roughly into 60% in). Everything was OK, yes she used my most un-favorite word for the female parts, but historically she is completely accurate, (her website even proves she is, which has the coolest little historical sex phrases and word generator!). Yes quite lovely, I removed the batteries from my 360 controller...I tend to like my erotica from the Victorian era and I know not only is Elizabethan era erotica not as popular but it is one not widely found to compare the style with. With stories from The Pearl being some of the more earlier forms available from the pre 19c, (Victorian) and other really forbidden treats, Edwardian is at times to base and simple and uses terms which many of us (like me) have been taught are crass for our sexy bits. I am betting this is why it was a bit to much for some readers. That said, if a story can make me tingle and want to go take the controller away from my fiance and use all my wiles for a little *insert squeaky bed spring noise here* well, they did a good job. So sex? Sex.. she did good. She gets not only two thumbs up with some of the best researched erotic writing style for the era out there... She gets a full five-star on the combination of historical accuracy and ability to turn this cabin dwelling hippie on! I didn't feel bad my fiance had to sit to close to the TV and couldn't use the battery controller to play Skyrim with! (Ironic, he is killing dragons...). OK but why only a solid three-star and not a four-star rating?3rd - I hit 65 or so pages in, and bam, someone decided she needed to finish the story and burned right through the rest of the novella and cramming things in and trying to use gratuitous (albeit hot) sex scenes to cover up the speed-fest in the story. With all the solid writing and character development so far, having it just stop and starts using sex as a filler it seemed... well argh! Plus, no villain follow up, and *flipping back through the pages* I am not sure happened! I hurumphed a lot, and gave the batteries back to my fiance and sighed some more. I just wanted to have the balance back, it wasn't! She lost me. I probably will read the 2nd in the series because I want to see what happens, but it will be me signing up for a tour again and probably won't pay for it, kind of bad to admit that huh?Lacy darlin'? *pout* why did ya rush it up dang it, you had it going so good I was so impressed by the historically accurate story mixed in with modern day popular style fantasy romance etc and I was gonna get my groove on and the bottom dropped out ... oh the vampires? Well ya it was a duh moment because it was obvious, but since Dracula, which although not the first occurrence of the word vampire in stories (you can go back as far back as 12th century) the actual term was not coined/used till the Gothic era of 19c. with Bram Stoker`s novel. Of course. I think many people do not realize this and feel off when no one says the word vampire so they are all judgy and what not, but I get it, I mean I knew Camilla was a lesbian vampiric story when I was 12!The historically accurate descriptions and sex scenes, the descriptions of clothing and proper conventions of the era were covered and well done. So when she started rushing and filling with all the thrusting, and the heaving and the... well she threw the baby out with the bath water. But again, her writing, her story telling, this is why I mentioned it on the TIE radio show as a promising series. A book for a quiet afternoon with no kids, and nothing else to do. DANG IT I even had stolen back my batteries!! SO... a nice three-star rating. But I am still pouty, and my book has a lot of book marked sections for... later use (adding batteries to the grocery list...) what? Just in case I get sick of my Victorian ones, baby! I mean it does have dragon's after all...A nice solid and fully charged THREE BATTERIES