AUTHOR: Kathleen Scott
PUBLISHER: Samhain Publishing
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 30k)
GENRE: Fantasy romance
COST: $3.50
IFM agent Serrah Gayle has been called out to the
I love strong, visual openings. They hook me into a story faster and more securely than pretty prose. I find it easier to forgive a lot, too, when I get hooked that soon. Dragon Tamer is one of those stories. It opens with Darion, our hero, at the “deathbed” of one of the dragons on his island. It’s visual, and it’s poignant, and that single scene tells me more about Darion than any other scene that follows. It’s very brief, as are most of the chapters in this book, but that’s necessary. Any more would turn it maudlin. As it stands, I’m pulled into liking this man almost from the very first word.
I’m also sucked into liking Serrah. Her initial meeting with Darion is ripe with promise, lots of snarkiness and an edge that suggests a lot of fun banter yet to come. She’s confrontational, and he refuses to take it, and I was really looking forward to seeing how it played out. Color me disappointed then, when the true nature of Serrah’s abilities was revealed. All of a sudden, the mistrust and edginess that characterized their first few hours together was gone. Serrah became more earth goddess in tone than the kickass agent she originally came across as. It could be that the initial meeting was just a front, but I for one was sorry to find that out. I much preferred her original personality than the one we got for the rest of the story.
Darion, on the other hand, was all over the fact that she could talk to the dragons. His initial dislike for Serrah dissolved completely as soon as the truth was divulged, which made me really question the integrity of the romance. I never believed that Darion was falling for Serrah. I felt that he was falling for the ideal she represented to him, especially considering some of his earlier issues with her. It felt too much a case of pedestal worship for me to truly believe in the happy ending.
However, this is an interesting world the author has created. There’s definitely a lot of potential to further explore it, and if she did, I’d seriously consider reading more. I’m curious about what the deal is with Darion’s brother, Tavil, and the dragons themselves were rather lovely. All in all, this was a solid effort, and even if the romance didn't necessarily satisfy me, it just might satisfy someone else.
| Readability | 8/10 – An engaging beginning and just enough detail to make it sparkle |
| Hero | 6/10 – A lot of potential but a bit too naïve for me to fully enjoy or believe |
| Heroine | 6/10 – The spunkiness in the beginning doesn’t pan out for the rest of the story |
| Entertainment value | 7/10 – I saw the ending coming, and I had issues believing the romance, but smooth prose and some sincere moments made it worthwhile |
| World building | 8/10 – Some really nice details makes the world pop. |
| TOTAL: | 35/50 |
4 comments:
It would seem rather unfair to me that he devotes his life to dragons and she gets to hear them? But then I am staring to get a little tired of heroinbes with great fated magical gifts/destinies etc ;)
When you put it that way, yeah, it really does seem unfair. He's so devoted to the dragons, which is obvious from the rather poignant opening scene. She had fear instilled at her at an early age about ever admitting to or acknowledging her ability (which was one of the things about the world that didn't get explained well enough for me). I think that's why I thought it was more hero worship on his part than real love.
You know I honestly thought the romance interfered with the story in this case.
I kept wanting them to stop the sex and get back to the good stuff.
The world she built was infinitely more interesting than her couple, that's for sure.
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