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Title: Kiss of FuryAuthor: Deborah Cooke
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Dragonfire/Book 2
Published: August 2008
From the back cover ~
For millennia, the shape-shifting dragon warriors known as the Pyr have lived peacefully as commanders of the four elements and guardians of the earth's treasures. But now the final reckoning between the Pyr, who count humans among the earth's treasures, and the Slayers, who would eradicate both humans and the Pyr who protect them, is about to begin…
Scientist Alexandra Madison was on the verge of unveiling an invention that would change the world—then her partner was murdered, their lab burned and their prototype destroyed. When recurring dragon-haunted nightmares threaten to land her in a psychiatric hospital, Alex knows she has to escape to rebuild her prototype in time. But first she must return to her ruined lab…
Handsome, daring, and impulsive, Donovan Shea is more than willing to do his part in the Pyr/Slayer war and save The Madison Project. Assigned to kidnap Alex, Donovan is shocked when her presence ignites the firestorm. He has no desire for a destined mate, but when Alex is attacked by a Slayer, Donovan finds himself meeting fire with fire in her defense. Won over by Alex's intelligence and determination, Donovan fights to rebuild her invention in a race against time. By the time the Slayers close in on their prey, Donovan knows he'll surrender his life to protect Alex, --but will have to lose his heart to possess her...
The second book in the series made me happy I started this series. I think the author did a better job engaging the reader in the romance while still continuing with the world building. I felt more connected with Alex and Donovan than I did with the hero/heroine from the first book.
Donovan isn't as into the mythology of the Pyr as his fellow dragons. He's also decided he will not claim his mate when his firestorm comes. Which is really too bad since it's here and he's been ordered to keep Alex, his destined mate, safe from the people who killed her partner and are now trying to kill her. Donovan's not a happy camper. But he's up for the challenge until he has to deal with Alex. She's not exactly willing to simply put her life in his hands. The friction between these two added to the fact that neither one wanted to get involved with the other but the firestorm had other plans. There's no resisting the desires the firestorm stirs. The more they try to resist the stronger the pull becomes.
Alex is an intelligent woman but it's more book smarts than street smarts. That's not to say she's stupid and innocent of the outside world but the world that she's thrown into isn't anything like she's ever experienced. There's no way to plan for having men who turn into dragons hunting you down. At first she's not sure who to trust. Her partner is attacked and killed by dragons then Donovan shows up doing a "Come with me if you want to live" routine. She knows she needs help but is still wary of Donovan and not willing to follow his orders. Alex definitely makes Donovan work to keep her safe!
The tension between Donovan and Alex continues to increase as does the continued threat from the Slayers and the zombie dragons the Slayers have created. Yes, zombie dragons. And like zombies they're hard to fight and harder to kill. I liked the way Donovan and Alex worked together towards their goal once they got past their initial distrust. They seemed to fit together well and even though they are "destined" to be together it still felt there would have been an attraction without the firestorm.
The rest of the Pyr rally around their brethren to offer help in completing Alex's "green machine". It was nice to see the Pyr that we got to know in Kiss of Fire. (read my review here) Cooke continues to give the reader more information on each of the Pyr, keeping up the interest in the Pyrs' with stories still to be told. The Slayers that lived through book 1 are also in attendence with new Slayers showing up to give the Pyr more trouble and some of the fun fight scenes that I enjoy. I have to say the Slayers are down right nasty. These guys aren't wimps and could swap stories with Attila the Hun. This definitely appeals to me because it evens up the odds against the Pyr. Which makes it much more interesting. I don't like it when the good guys win every time. Not very realistic and I want realism when reading about dragons. LOL
Overall, better than book one. Now to see about book three. And book four just came out. Wow! Dragons all over the place. And if dragons aren't your thing Deborah Cooke also writes historicals under the name Claire Delacroix.
Deborah Cooke and Claire Delacroix can be found here.
Rating: B+
The second book in the series made me happy I started this series. I think the author did a better job engaging the reader in the romance while still continuing with the world building. I felt more connected with Alex and Donovan than I did with the hero/heroine from the first book.
Donovan isn't as into the mythology of the Pyr as his fellow dragons. He's also decided he will not claim his mate when his firestorm comes. Which is really too bad since it's here and he's been ordered to keep Alex, his destined mate, safe from the people who killed her partner and are now trying to kill her. Donovan's not a happy camper. But he's up for the challenge until he has to deal with Alex. She's not exactly willing to simply put her life in his hands. The friction between these two added to the fact that neither one wanted to get involved with the other but the firestorm had other plans. There's no resisting the desires the firestorm stirs. The more they try to resist the stronger the pull becomes.
Alex is an intelligent woman but it's more book smarts than street smarts. That's not to say she's stupid and innocent of the outside world but the world that she's thrown into isn't anything like she's ever experienced. There's no way to plan for having men who turn into dragons hunting you down. At first she's not sure who to trust. Her partner is attacked and killed by dragons then Donovan shows up doing a "Come with me if you want to live" routine. She knows she needs help but is still wary of Donovan and not willing to follow his orders. Alex definitely makes Donovan work to keep her safe!
The tension between Donovan and Alex continues to increase as does the continued threat from the Slayers and the zombie dragons the Slayers have created. Yes, zombie dragons. And like zombies they're hard to fight and harder to kill. I liked the way Donovan and Alex worked together towards their goal once they got past their initial distrust. They seemed to fit together well and even though they are "destined" to be together it still felt there would have been an attraction without the firestorm.
The rest of the Pyr rally around their brethren to offer help in completing Alex's "green machine". It was nice to see the Pyr that we got to know in Kiss of Fire. (read my review here) Cooke continues to give the reader more information on each of the Pyr, keeping up the interest in the Pyrs' with stories still to be told. The Slayers that lived through book 1 are also in attendence with new Slayers showing up to give the Pyr more trouble and some of the fun fight scenes that I enjoy. I have to say the Slayers are down right nasty. These guys aren't wimps and could swap stories with Attila the Hun. This definitely appeals to me because it evens up the odds against the Pyr. Which makes it much more interesting. I don't like it when the good guys win every time. Not very realistic and I want realism when reading about dragons. LOL
Overall, better than book one. Now to see about book three. And book four just came out. Wow! Dragons all over the place. And if dragons aren't your thing Deborah Cooke also writes historicals under the name Claire Delacroix.
Deborah Cooke and Claire Delacroix can be found here.
Rating: B+
I'm so glad I read your review!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed book 1, and bought Kiss of Fury as soon as it came out, but it's just been sitting on my tbr shelf, unread. It just keeps getting passed up for newer "shinier" releases.
I'll definitely have to grab this one off of my shelf! :-)
Renee ~ I think Cooke was feeling more comfortable with her characters in this one. Better than first IMO.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comment about things not always going right for the good guys (not an easy victory). Jessica Andersen's Final Prophecy is the same.
ReplyDeleteSomething actually goes right for them in Book 3 -- though it is balanced out by a heavy price.
I want to read a few Christmas themed stories before reading Winter Kiss (which doesn't take place during Christmas -- darn).
Christina ~ I've got Andersen's 1st book on the TBR pile - it's huge!
ReplyDeleteI just started Sarah Mayberry's newest - Home for the Holidays. She's one of my newest, favorite authors. :)