Review: UF+PRN+Chicklit+Dragons, it worked for me
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 28, 2013
I am not sure that Never Deal with Dragons knew exactly what it wanted to be, but I liked it anyway.Even though Christensen won the 2012 RWA Paranormal Romance Gold Heart Award winner for Never Deal with Dragons (the first book of the DRACIM series), I don't know that I'd have called it paranormal romance. Despite the fact that it lacks the first person POV of Urban Fantasy, the world building here is probably more in that category - the DRACIM universe being based on genetic engineering biting the world on the backside and knocking humans out of their long held place at the top of the food chain leaving the dragons as the ones in charge now. Still, there is that touch of romance and bit of chicklity-ness (clothes shopping and fabulous fashion that has a hard time holding up to dragon encounters) and a wacky tone at the beginning that doesn't really carry through the whole book but which makes appearances from time to time and the end result is that it's hard to pin a genre on Never Deal with Dragons.While the story is pretty mild in the romantic payoff, the conflict between dragonspeaker Myrna and Trian - the guy who did her wrong and left her heart and her previously promising career as a mediator of human/dragon affairs in shambles - is a good one. And while Trian is appealing, since we can see that he regrets his mistake and the cost to Myrna, I really liked that Myrna isn't quick to forgive him and that she takes him to task when she finally finds out the reason for his betrayal. The background story with its fashion demolishing action was good and even though Christensen makes sure that we see where every twist and turn is going ahead of time that didn't bother me - though if I had a nit, I think that Myrna should have seen the last one coming.So bottom line is that with the melange of the world/romance/story Never Deal with Dragons felt like something different and not the same old same old PNR fare, and I liked it and look forward to the next episode as this trilogy continues with Myrna's friend Carol in the lead in Dodging the Dragons.ARC via Netgalley