Tina's Reading Books

Pia Giovanni has a special talent. It is one that she shared with her loser (now) ex-boyfriend in a moment of weakness that he chose to exploit. Because of it she is blackmailed into stealing something from a very powerful being.

That theft sets off a chain of events that brings Pia to the attention of a lot of other-worldly beings, much to her dismay. Being a halfling (half human, half wyr) is a dicey proposition in Pia's world. All of her life her mother had impressed upon her the absolute necessity of keeping her head down, making no attachments, and learning how to pick up and run at the drop of a hat. Pia had forgotten all of this until it was too late.

Dragos is a Dragon Wyr. When Pia steals from his hoarde, his anger is felt all over Manhattan. But when he finally finds her, instead of killing her he instead decides to keep her for himself.

I was very excited to read this because it had gotten a couple write-ups in review blogs that made it sound like it had a very new, fresh take on PNR. I tend to get a little weary of the sub-genre because it feels sometimes like it is just very...done. A few authors have created such complete, immersive worlds that they are still my go-tos (Nalini Singh, Ilona Andrews, Patricia Briggs). But by and large I tend to shy away from new entries into the field unless they are bringing something new to the table.

That didn't happen here. Don't get me wrong...this was a fun and quick read with lots of snappy dialogue and witty characters. but in the end of the day there really wasn't much that felt new.

Dragos is the head of the Wyr -- which is basically another way of saying shapeshifters. He has created a corporation that on one level works as a multi-national business that employs the various Wyrfolk and builds his immense wealth and on another level works as a feudal system where he is the undisputed king and the rest of the wyrfolk tend to be his minions. It is also a collective because they are in opposition to the Dark Fae and the Elves.

So there is some world building there that sets the scene, but again it didn't wow we over with something that felt really different.

What was really cool was the type of shifter that Pia was. I thought that was great and explained a lot why her mother had drummed all the stuff into Pia's head. All the mythology surrounding Pia herself was well done.

Dragos, otoh, was a run of the mill Alpha Dragon male shifter who meets the One Woman who matters after millenia of living and not having anyone to love. All the aggression with mating, possessiveness, protectiveness etc. etc. is all there. Again not a bad thing, but fairly typical.

Normally this might have even been a 4-star read for me because like I said it was fun and I do like PNR that falls on the lighter side of things because so many are so angsty. But there were a few things that bugged.

Firstly, I tend to dislike the idea of a long lived creature like Dragos having lived milennia and having had not a single meaningful relationship with a female until Pia. Especially since it seems he's absolute magic in the sack! I know it is fantasy and it is romance but that always seems implausible to me.

Secondly, I just had to roll my eyes with how quickly and easily she was accepted as part of his inner sanctum. He has these guards called Sentinels who watch his back and have been with him for centuries. They are stone cold bad-asses! Within, like, 3 days, Pia has won them over completely. They thawed out when she rejected Dragos' Black American Express card. See? She's good people! Not a gold-digger. She must be ok! I could sort of accept it because like I said the story is on the lighter side, but it just yanks a few of my 'gimme a break' chains.

Thirdly, Pia has a stupid heroine moment which I saw a coming from a mile away because she had to do something to get her kidnapped by the bad guy. The minute the scene started I knew exactly where it was gonna go. And it did.

and Finally, the main villain was kinda lame. Ok very lame. In the end it pretty anti-climactic.

So yeah, not a 5-star read for me. Not even close. But still fun enough hat I will most likely read any follow up books.