FEEL THE BURN
Dragon Kin #8
G.A. Aiken
Released Nov 24th, 2015
Zebra Imprint
Rating: 4 Stars
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received
this book for review from Tasty Book Tours, the publisher, and the
author. I was not compensated nor was I required to write a positive
review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am posting this
in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255:
"Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising".
Blurb: War makes strange bedfellows.
I, Gaius Domitus, one-eyed rebel dragon king of the Provinces, know that better than most, since I have to fight off half my ungrateful family on a regular basis to keep law and order here in my lands. But I never expected to have to consort with a barbarian human woman.
Kachka is beautiful, if you like them fierce—and of course I do. But she keeps complaining about how spoiled and decadent I am, and how a feared Daughter of the Steppes has no time for foolish dragons. I think she likes my eye patch, though. It is quite dashing. With death always at our tails, we take our passion like we take our allies. As they say, love the barbarian you’re with…
BUY NOW:
Kachka Shestakova is a woman with a mind of her own. She wants to know that her life has purpose. And she doesn’t like males. Gaius Lucius Domitus isn’t going to allow
anyone to tell him what to do. You
expect dragons to be larger then life characters and this author delivers that
here. I don’t think you have to read
this series in order but I think that if I could do things over again, I would
start from the beginning. Especially
since Kachka’s sister is in book seven titled Light My Fire.
If you’re a dreamer, or up for the possibilities of dragons
actually existing, then this might be the book for you. You’ll have no trouble having this story play
out in your mind. A great inspiration is
the Dennis Quaid and Sean Connery movie Dragonheart. This is what caught my attention as I was
reading. I felt that any romance was
just icing on the cake.
It’s a fantasy that could be funny at times and during this hectic
time of year a book that can make you forget the stressors of the day is always
a good thing. And if it can make you
laugh on top of it, this can’t be a bad thing.
One thing that I asked myself though was why didn’t I ever read this
author before and the sad thing is that I had no answer. But now that I’ve read a piece of her work, I
will certainly keep my eyes open for more of her work.
One thing that I was impressed with is how strong a personality
our author made her Kachka character.
Gaius is a man with a physical disability but that doesn’t stop him from
doing what he must do. It’s also a book
that couldn’t be rushed. If you try to
rush through the scenes, you may find yourself missing out on something important
- especially since it’s over 400 pages long.
Better to take your time and plan on reading it for a couple of
days. In my copy of the book there is no
mention of a next book in the series so we will just have to wait for the
author to keep us informed. So in the
meantime, happy reading.
Elina’s
suggestion that they play a game was not helping Kachka’s current emotional
state. If anything, it just made her feel even more useless.
Elina
studied the game board with her one good eye, debating her next move.
This
was the life of the Shestakova sisters now.
Decadent.
Lazy. Spoiled. Sitting around. Playing board games like children.
It
amazed Kachka that adults played these games. Daughters of the Steppes had
their three-year-olds playing these games to help them understand the concept
of “divide, conquer, and destroy so that the next city or town over just gives
us what we ask for.”
So
for the two sisters to be playing these games again appalled Kachka on a
visceral level. How far she’d fallen back. Would it never get better?
Finally,
after much thought, Elina went to make her move . . . and her hand missed the
piece by a few inches. Although, based on Elina’s reaction, it might as well
have been a mile.
Kachka’s
sister growled, then she swiped her hand at the board . . . which she also
missed.
That’s
when the entire board went flying, her sister’s bellow of rage startling the
weak, delusional servants who worked for these rich, decadent royals.
sighed. “You were winning.”
“Shut
up!”
Kachka
leaned back in her chair. “Such whining. Like baby, you whine!”
“I am
still weak!”
“You
took down bear last week.”
“Took
me three shots!”
“That’s
not eye. That’s this life we now live.” She pointed at one of the dragons
walking by. “Decadent! Like that dragon.”
The
dragon stopped, placed a hand on his chest. “Me? Kachka, you love me!”
“I
love your beauty. I have no use for you personally. You represent all that we
hate.”
“Why
do you talk to him so?” Elina asked. “He cannot help that he is beautiful but
worthless.”
“I am
not
worthless!
I am Gwenvael the—”
“We
do not care, lizard!” Kachka barked.
“Do
not yell at him!”
“Do
not be so pathetic! So you miss eye! Get over it!”
That’s
when Elina kicked Kachka under the table. So Kachka kicked her back.
“Ow!”
“Whine!”
Elina
reached and grabbed Kachka by her leather buckskin shirt. That
Elina
could grip with no problem.
Kachka
punched her sister’s arm, but that only made Elina drag Kachka out of the
chair. Kachka gripped Elina by her shoulders, shoving her back against the
table.
“Stop
it! Both of you!” the dragon called out. “I have enough beauty to share with
everyone!”
Ignoring
the beautiful but useless dragon, Kachka drew back her arm to punch her sister,
but it was caught and held.
She
assumed it was the dragon, but when she looked, it was the queen who held her.
What worried her, though, was the look on the queen’s face. She stared at
Kachka as if she’d never seen her before.
“You,”
the queen said.
“What
about me?”
She
didn’t answer at first. Simply stared. Then, suddenly, she yanked Kachka off
her sister. “Come with me,” she ordered.
“No!”
Elina cried out, grabbing Kachka’s other arm. “Do not kill her!”
The
queen blinked. “What?”
“It
is all right, sister,” Kachka soothed. “I am ready for death.”
“What
are you two—?”
“Don’t
worry,” the beautiful dragon tossed in. “I’ll make sure you have a beautiful
funeral.”
“Gwenvael!”
Annwyl roared.
“Why
are you yelling at me? I didn’t do anything. It was the outsider!”
Annwyl
yanked Kachka from her sister’s grip. “She’ll be fine,” she snapped before
Elina could complain further.
“Do
not worry, sister,” Kachka said as the queen dragged her off. “I will go to my
death
bravely!”
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Originally from Long Island, New York Times bestselling author G.A. Aiken has resigned herself to West Coast living, which involves healthy food, mostly sunny days, and lots of guys not wearing shirts when they really should be. Writing as Shelly Laurenston, she is also the creator of the wickedly funny Pride series for Brava. For more info about G.A. Aiken’s dangerously and arrogantly sexy dragons, go to www.gaaiken.com.
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