Book Review: Dragon Actually by G.A. Aiken

Dragon Actually by G.A. Aiken
*I am sharing another of my Goodreads reviews here*
Why do I ever think a paranormal romance will ever be anything but awkward sex scenes tethered together by a thin line of plot? This book started out as interesting as the blurb of a summary suggested it would be but quickly degenerated once the romantic pairing was consummated.

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Allow me to provide a little context for my brief but vehement rant. I personally prefer a good book set in a well crafted world with quirky characters and a plot that has enough action to keep it interesting during the moments of character development and world building and spiced with a small element of romance. I usually read urban fantasy series for fun. I also love to read a good epic fiction series too but lately it seems my mind has been choosing simpler reads for its down time (I blame all the dry reading I am doing for school). I have been reading YA paranormal for a few years now too because I find that too many books with a romantic element in the adult version dips too heavily from the Laurel K. Hamilton pond (in case you don't get this reference, Hamilton's Anita Blake series started out very strong but after book 4 or 5 the sex scenes ate the plot).

I used to read full out romance novels when I was in my early teens. I was fond of the historical romance genre (I read Robert Jordan's historical romance written under the pen name of Regan O'Neal before I read the Wheel of Time series). The novelty of reading something I was not allowed to read glossed over the formulaic plots and all the cheesy "heaving breasts and throbbing manhood" lines. As with most things new and forbidden, the novelty wore off and I moved onto different genres.

Don't get me wrong, I am not a prude. I don't mind a really steamy sex scene or two in a book but only if they are written well. Most are not. Let's face it, most sexual encounters are awkward to begin with once you put them into words, so it is not surprising that few writers master describing the deed with any sort of skill. Now these statements are very obviously my own personal opinion on the romance genre. I understand that I am not the norm for which all must be measured against and my opinion does not represent what mainstream female readers like and desire. Proof of this lies in the sales for books like Dragon Actually (Laurel K. Hamilton is a very rich woman from her Anita Blake series and has many loyal and rabid fans who will drop what they are doing to defend their favorite author in a heartbeat). Take a look at the statistics on the RWA's (Romance Writers of America) website to see what I mean about mainstream opinion. Clearly romance novels are the norm.

So with this background information in place, let me tell you one more thing. Every now and again I see a summary for a romance novel (usually paranormal) that catches my attention. The plot sounds complex enough to be the main focus of the book and the characters sound down right interesting. Interest piqued, I pick up the book and think that this might be one of those few romances that are balanced and well written. I am usually proven wrong. I loathe that I was suckered in against my better judgement and end up frustrated with the book because it turns out to be everything I did not want it to be (formulaic, shallow plot, shallow characters that do mirror time as a Mary Jane, and every other page filled with awkward sex scenes with trite cliches peppering the text). This was the case with Dragon Actually.

There are some exceptions, even for the ones that lack the balance of plot and sex scenes. I have enjoyed a few romances series that had characters that were well developed enough that I cared to follow their story even through the multitude of awkward sex scenes. Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter series is one example of this type. There are also the few books that embrace their cheesy nature and temper the tone with lots of humor. In fact, I recently read one of this type of exception and will review it here soon.

This is a Test.

Coveted by Shawntelle Madison
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book is flawed but it still provides a very entertaining read. I started reading the book while I was looking for something light, cute, fluffy even and what is more cute and fluffy than a werewolf who suffers from OCD and hordes Christmas ornaments?

While the storyline has some issues with continuity, really temporal issues rather than inconsistency with the world building or the characters. In fact the character development is something Shawntelle Madison gets right immediately. She manages to humanize her supernatural characters in such a way that it is hard not to keep reading, despite the awkward beginning and any blips in the storyline, just so you get to find out more about them. In my opinion, this book and its sequel is a perfect beach read.

View all my reviews Kept by Shawntelle Madison
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A very satisfying sequel to Coveted. The second book in the trilogy has less flaws, less awkward moments in the storyline than the first and Ms. Madison improves on her already excellent character development. The story had just the right amount of suspense to keep a reader interested but did not try to be more of a complex plot than the story called for. I look forward to the third book in the series.

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I was testing to see if I could simply embed My reviews from Goodreads on my blog. Goodreads provides the code to do just this but I have never bothered to play with such things before and I was curious.  I do not usually summarize the books when I review straight to Goodreads because the synopsis is always posted at the top of the page, it is just redundant, so sorry there is not much info about the books themselves but the titles are linked to the Goodread synopsis. I am pleased with the effect but I don't know if I continue to repost my Goodread reviews here or not. I often provide a cut down version on Goodreads of my blog review and quite frankly, I prefer to continue the practice but it was nice not to have to do any work for the book images and links ('cause you know it is sooo hard to do a Google search then cut and paste the links).