Lunes & Lords Bundle

by Emily Ryan-Davis, E.R. Davis

*Includes bonus short story CHANGING THUMBELINA*

DRAGON CALL

Insomnia does things to a girl’s head, drives her to perform acts she would have scoffed at if not for a bad case of desperation. Yoga. Meditation. Getting in touch with her inner Lune via witchy rituals she doesn’t even realize she’s enacting until she’s naked in the dark with an aggressive dragon…or two.

Cora Phillips has spent her life denying the Lune tradition but with two dragons--and their masters--hounding her with mating claims, her denying days have come to an end. Like it or not, the dragons have come.

And she doesn’t like it one bit.

DRAGON DANCE

A dragon knows how to find his mate no matter how far she runs, and Lune-witch Cora’s dragon knows exactly how to lure her back for another dance with his master. Returning to New York on a mission to save her Dragonkeeper from his own self-destruction, she discovers this waltz is even more complicated than the first.

When a Lune has three different partners, which one leads?

DRAGON BOUND

Wrists bound to a hotel bed. Wrong dragon in her head. Flavor of fire on her tongue. That’s how the end begins.

Cora can’t run anymore. Not ever again. The mysteries of her life, the heritage she’s denied, the lovers and enemies she’s fled have all caught up to her, ready to eat her from the inside out if she doesn’t embrace her birthright, bind her draconic subjects, and rule like the queen she was born to be.

Genres: Dragons, Paranormal

316 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 8, 2014

About the author

Emily Ryan-Davis is a lifelong East Coaster whose passion for the written word saw her through jobs writing obituaries, press releases and grants before she decided “I’m going to do this” and sat down to write a book. She made that decision in 2005 and has since published several short stories and novellas with digital publishers including Ellora’s Cave. On May 24, 2012, Emily left supervisors and payrolls behind in order to focus her efforts on writing and raising her son.


Emily has been a member of the Writer’s Digest-recognized writing community Romance Divas, where she volunteers as a moderator and organizes the annual “Not Going to Conference” Virtual Conference, since 2006.

Reviews

[Sadie Forsythe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though it might be a little repetitive I think the best way to go about this review is just to cut and paste the three reviews I wrote for the books that make up the bundle. But before I do that a word or two on the series as a whole. First and foremost I see NO REASON that these are cut into three novellas. This is one story, literally. Books one and two do not wrap up or conclude in any fashion. Secondly, Cora is a whiny bitch who cant seem to make up her mind about anything, but she is also systematically denied information with which to make decisions. Third, I would have liked a lot more interaction with the dragons. I got almost no feel for the personalities of these sentient creatures. Heck, I almost don't even know what they look like. Fourth, I could have used a calm moment or two. It felt very much like a screaming bunch of second graders on the verge of panic. No one ever seemed to just stop and think for a moment before racing off into some ill-concieved action. Having said all of that. I do very much like the idea of the story. It is very imaginative. And the actual writing--word choice, punctuation, etc is all well done.

Mating Call
I basically thought the book was ok. I just thought it felt a little rushed all over. I liked Cora but didn't have enough time to get to know her. I liked the dragonlords (well, until one went all crazy) but didn't feel like I was given much depth of character. I liked Cora's sister and mother, as well as their odd family dynamic but it felt superficial since there was so little of it. I was intrigued by the calling of a dragon mate, but it all happened so fast I barely grasped what was happening. And then, AND THEN the whole thing just ended! This is not a cliffhanger. This is an abrupt cessation of story. Nothing concludes here. This enrages me.

Now as true a testament as any to the fact that I was enjoying the story is that I bought the bundle so I could finish up ('cause if one ended so abruptly you know the next one will too). But I have to admit I did so begrudgingly. I have no qualm buying sequels, but it rankles the hell out of me to have to buy the second half of a book. Which is what it feels like one is doing when books end mid story with no, and I mean no, wrap up.

On a positive note I thought the writing was fine. I didn't notice too many typos and I have to give major props to the author for having a sexy, beautiful, size 18 heroine. Yea that rocks big time.

Dragon Dance
I'm struggling between 2 and 3 here. The reason for the low rating is two-fold. One, I've kind of lost track of what is happening here. There is something about a pearl. One minute Greg is forcing it on her; the next he is beating her to get it back and then he's telling her to take it. I'm lost. I don't know what he actually wants from her. Plus she's supposed to choose a dragon, then seems to think she can claim one and mate one. I don't know.

Two, like the first book (but worse) it just ends. I mean it just suddenly ends. This is by no means a complete novel on it's own. Nope, not even by stretching the definition of novella does this qualify as anything complete. Irritatingly it's not a beginning of anything either, being the middle book. So on it's own it just the middle of a story. Who picks up a book and just reads the middle third? No one I know.

But why not just a one start then? Because despite my tenuous grasp of what is actually happening I am invested in how the story eventually comes to fruition. (I just hope I don't get to the end of the third one and find it's not the end of the series.) And I generally think the writing is pretty good. Pending the third book contains an ending I would strongly post my preference to see the story firmly ensconced in a single binding. There doesn't seem to be any real reason for it to be three books. It just creates frustration for the reader.

Dragon Bound
I am thrilled to say the series does actually wrap up here in the third book. I was a little worried that it wouldn't. There is so much potential to this story. I really really wanted to love it. I just really didn't. The whole thing was rushed, nothing was explained deeply enough, and though I initially liked most of the characters I didn't anymore by the end. Cora especially. Her indecision and refusal to face things made me want to shake her by the end. Both because I didn't appreciate her weakness as a character and because as a reader I wanted to see those things she avoided. Most of the other characters piqued my ire by simply refusing information that they could have provided and thereby avoided all of the drama. Cora's mother especially. Then after forcing Cora to deal with everyone's obfuscation, almost everyone was absolved in some fashion. In the end it felt like Ryan-Davis couldn't allow anyone to remain a bad guy. I felt cheated of my anger. Cora deserved to be angry at these people, so by extension did I as a reader.

I also found the book full of small inconsistencies, or matters that were unclear and I misunderstood. For example: one moment Miranda is informing Cora that women can't support dragons, the next she is claiming one of her own. One thing I can't complain about though is the writing or editing. Both were fine. All-in-all I'm fairly torn on how I feel about this one.

[Jo Cochrane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy enough to read, with not much need for a brain cell! The main character starts off by getting my understanding and sympathy, with so much promise of what she could become. Unfortunately the 'heroine' not only doesn't evolve as she could have she actually gets more frustrating! She's a whiner who expects to much without asking, I'm not a fan of girly girl characters but thought she would evolve as the dragons became more prevalent! Shame that she didn't, it wasn't helped by the lack of dragons as characters! With the books being called individually cause Dragons call etc I expected more from them as well! In fact none of the characters we're given much depth leaving the book readable but very forgettable!

[Lj · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm hovering between a 3 and a 4. I concur with previous reviewers that this book should not have been a three parter. Its definitely one book and should be read in one slice. Hence the hovering towards the 3. However, reading all portions sequentially made for a good read.

Cora was hard to like. Which for me, it is imperative to like my leading charactors. She perpetuated a 'victim mentality' throughout the book(s). That got really tiring.

I love dragon stories. However, I can't say I'll seek out this author again.

[Tory · Rating 2 out of 5]

Each of the stories picks up where the others end. I think I would have liked the story better if it had more from Salims perspective. Cora was so whiny and kept changing her mind, and that got frustrating. I liked the premise of this story, and if Cora stays as strong as she was in the end it would be interesting to see how she handles the dragons she acquires.

[Robin Temple · Rating 2 out of 5]

I agree with a lot of the other reviews these books should be read together it is one story. And about half way through book2 I really really started to hate cora. She is a complainer can't decide and stick to anything and she is like that through 90 percent of the book. I really forced myself to finish..

[Lucie Kaestner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book, read the first one as a free e-book, bought the collection afterwards.
The story drew me in, witches and dragons are a powerful combination. Add some hit sex and this is the result. I can only recommend it.