So here’s my candid review of this paranormal romance book by Gena Showalter.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.felicityheaton.com\/images\/guestblog\/heartofthedragon.jpg\")
<\/a><\/div>\nHeart of the Dragon<\/strong> But there he was, Darius en Kragin, one of a race of shape-shifting warriors bound to guard the gates of Atlantis, and kill all travelers who strayed within its borders.<\/p>\n Now Grace’s life was in his hands, and Darius had to choose between his centuries-old vow and the woman who had slipped beneath his defenses and stolen the heart of Atlantis’s fiercest dragon.<\/p>\n REVIEW<\/strong> Grace Carlyle comes face to face with this beast of a man when she is sucked through one of the gelatinous portals and into Atlantis during her search for her missing archaeologist brother, Alex, who had sent her a package containing a medallion shortly before disappearing off the face of the planet. Grace\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s first reaction to the hulking great monster of a man that is Darius is the same reaction I had. Hubba hubba. The man is a god, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s because of him that I fell hard for this book.<\/p>\n He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a super-sexy warrior with everything a female reader wants in that type of hero\u00e2\u20ac\u201dstrong, protective, possessive, and deadly. Plus, he had the added bonus of being so cold and detached. I love it when a heroine has to work to prise open a man\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s closed-off heart and release his emotions as well as his sexual desire. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s explosive when that happens, and it certainly happens with a bang in this book.<\/p>\n Showalter mercilessly teases with a series of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153almosts\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that had me panting for the hero to give up his inane obsession with his duty and his need to not get involved with Grace and kill her instead. I admit, I was miffed when the suitably strong and unwilling to give up on finding her brother or getting into Darius\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pants Grace went home rather than submit to the delicious dragon warrior, but I guess it helped to show Darius\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s commitment to having her as his… or was that his commitment to killing her?<\/p>\n The only downside to this book is that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re reminded several times too many about Darius\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s duty to kill Grace, and some parts of the book just didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel right. Nothing between the hero and heroine was out of place, but hopping into the head of her brother and a female dragon threw me a bit as I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to read about them. I wanted to stay with the sexy Darius and his would-be mate, Grace. I also felt the sudden relationship between Alex and his female dragon was a bit forced considering that Darius had earlier observed that Javar, another dragon, and this female had been very into each other during their marriage-of-sorts. I think it probably would have been best as a separate story that happened afterwards, but you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have to read the book to see what I mean as I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to give any spoilers. I also felt that the dragons could have been described more clearly when they transformed into their beastly counterparts. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really get a feel for what they looked like and whether they retained any sort of human features or how big they were as dragons.<\/p>\n The big fight at the end was good, although I would have liked more action as it was resolved quickly and fairly easily, or perhaps just better description would have sufficed and I would have been satisfied.<\/p>\n In terms of writing style, there were a few instances where I had to read a sentence over a couple of times to make sense of it, but I find that happens to me a lot in Showalter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s books, so I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t moan too much about it. The writing is very Harlequin too. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard to describe but has that Harlequin light and easy feel about it. Not too dark. Not as dark as I like.<\/p>\n All in all, this is getting a four star review from me because I really did fall hard for Darius. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worth reading this book for… honestly… go get yourself a copy or borrow one from a friend \/ library.<\/p>\n Read reviews of Heart of the Dragon by Gena Showalter on Goodreads: http:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/7721523-heart-of-the-dragon<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It’s that special time of year again. Time for holidays! That means reading as much as possible to me and I managed to squeeze in three books during a recent trip to Istanbul in Turkey. The first book I read … Continue reading
\nGena Showalter<\/strong>
\nSearching for her missing brother, Grace Carlyle never dreamed she would discover a secret world populated by mythological monsters–or find herself facing a sword-wielding being whose looks put mortal men to shame.<\/p>\n
\nI went into this book not expecting much which is perhaps why I got so much out of it. Just like how I really enjoy a movie when I go into the cinema with zero expectations about the film. We enter the book in the past, with Darius as a child taking on the role of a guardian responsible for killing anyone who enters through the portal in his palace. Understandably he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a little reluctant to kill, but he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s driven by a need to protect his dragon people and Atlantis from the kind of brutality that his family suffered. This teasing glimpse of a feelings-laden Darius really provided a sharp contrast to the man we meet shortly afterwards\u00e2\u20ac\u201da battle-hardened and emotionless killer.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/div>\n