Alan F. Troop

This book is surprisingly rare, and it's taken me actual decades to finally get my hands on it. The series is a favorite of mine, and I wasn't disappointed. There's plenty of action, drama, and strife here, and an ending that at least suggests the possibility of a peace and happiness in the long term.

Which is just as well, because, sadly, the author doesn't seem inclined to pen any more.

If you root for man-eating dragons, this book will make you happy. As usual, Troop does a marvelous job of getting into the heads of creatures that are sapient and have rich emotional lives, but aren't the least bit human.… (meer)

A lot of people have been complaining that this is a book about dragons who eat a lot of people and have sex.

I'm saying, if you love to read books about critters that eat a lot of people are are portrayed engaging in all of their natural life's behaviors (including sex), this book will amaze you. You'll love it.

Raised by humans, the protagonist is fairly young for his species (flying, scaled, predatory warm-blooded animals that can shapeshift into the form of a human for camouflage). He's alone, and he's a little confused due to his upbringing. He gets out some of his adolescent feelings by having flings with human females, and his emotions over that issue are also more than a little confused. What do you expect from a being who is, essentially, a teenager?

But raising a lion with lambs doesn't turn it into a lamb. He was never human, and no amount of mimicking or emotional confusion will turn him into a human. Human morality does not apply to other species. Our protagonist is a predator who has been brought up to prey upon humans, and he does so without guilt. A bit of confusion, yes, but no real guilt. Why should he feel guilty? Dragons don't really feel guilt.

He learns the hard way that his confusion can be deadly for his family. It's a lesson learned the hard way.

As for dragon mating--I love the way it was portrayed. Dragons mate for life with the first fertile female they can win. It's a strong bond that neither could even conceive of voluntarily breaking--they just aren't capable of it. They're mated, even if their personalities are completely opposite. They'll stay together for life, and raise their offspring, because that's what their instincts drive them to do. Little things like opinions over how to treat humans, or personality, are of lesser importance. Unlike humans, the bond is much more important than any other considerations. I greatly approve of this very good characterization of non-human relationships. People who don't 'get' non-human ways of thinking won't understand the mated dragons, of course.

Many authors portray other species as humans who just look funny and have funny habits, but deep inside, emotionally, they're just like us. The dragons aren't like us at all. The protagonist is not someone you would ever want to meet, because he'd eat you. That doesn't mean he isn't likeable. He's a fascinating member of a completely different species. One you'd want to observe through binoculars, behind a steel barrier, carefully camouflaged.

If you love stories with werewolves and vampires as protagonists, give The Dragon Delasangre a try. You'll be pleasantly surprised. I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 simply because it is a first book, and is a little rocky in places. The sequels are smoother.… (meer)

A Hearts On Fire Review

THREE & A HALF STARS--This was an interesting paranormal read from Nulli Para Ora. We have interracial paranormal love triangle! When in the world do you read about that? A Chinese male lead! Loved it. Angelique has a crush on co-worker/friend David and they go together on a business trip to China. And they almost start something, both admit to being in love with one another...then during their business meeting, they meet Gao. Alpha werewolf of the Yuen clan and...Angelique's mate. But wait, there's more! Later that night, a rogue werewolf will change these three lives forever. Drama for your mama!

Gao was an awesome hero, he possessed a lot of the qualities that I look for in a hero - an alpha when he needed to be, understanding to his lady and patient. Plus his bedroom skills were yummy! ;P He truly loved Angelique and appreciated the author not making this a 'you're my mate, you're mine, now open your legs instantly' kind of love story. This is a love triangle story technically but it's really loose because there's no back forth with Angelique and both men throughout the story. It's Angelique and David, then Angelique and Gao. When David is reintroduced, it's a weird love fest but there NO CHEATING involved.

Here's my issues with not rating it a five star read:

-The heroine came across too perfect in the beginning. Though her reasons of why she is so great eased up towards the middle, it didn't endear her to me as a heroine. So I was not invested as I was with Gao or even David (and I'm not his biggest fan)

-Also, the fortune cookie proverbs everyone seemed to bust out of nowhere. The first two times weren't so bad but when other characters was joining in with odd metaphors, it made me roll my eyes a few times. When Angelique, her father, Gao's father, Cheng and others kept giving this weird philosophical quotes: Not every snowflake falls silently. The sesame seed is never split twice. Wet Cornflakes can be soggy but the milk is dry. Those might not be from the story but it felt like it could be good stand-ins.

-Another issue, the mythology of werewolves, it was touched upon but fully delved in. Like are werewolves immortal in this series or really long-living? Yuen family is stated to have lived hundreds of years already and Gao has been an Alpha for two hundred years.

- The transitioning from scene to scene was not as smooth. Also the author might have characters figure out something but the characters would know, the reader not so much. I had to re-read some passages to try to understand what was happening. Not a lot but more than once.

-This limbo David and Angelique seems to be in. Sometimes it felt as if the author was going to have her forget about Gao and run into David's arms which kind of blew the werewolf/mate bond out of the water. (I'm not to keen of this pairing and hope it does not come to fruition in future books)

There's action, a love story, drama and memorable secondary characters (Jin! He's cute). the story actually felt like reading two books in one, so I felt I got a good deal. I will continue on with this series because I'm curious of the ideas this author has for these three (hopefully a mate for David that's not already taken) and maybe a mate for Jin too? Just wondering. Pretty good story. It was enjoyable."… (meer)