LUCIAN I am a Dragon Prince of the House of Smoke… and I am dying. Five hundred years is truly enough for a man like me. A monster. Yet a ten-thousand-year treaty will die with me, if I don’t spawn a dragonling to take my place. My two brothers are no use in this task. It falls to me, the eldest by a hair’s breadth, and yet, I cannot face the horror of another sealing. Another death. Another woman’s blood on my hands.
ARABELLA I was saved from death in a dark Seattle alley by an impossibly beautiful man who swooped in on golden wings. Now he’s taken me to his lair, opened my eyes to a world of immortals I didn’t know existed, and given me an impossible task—find him a mate. Then, and only then, will he set me free.
He needs her more than he wants; she wants him more than she should; and the fate of both the mortal and immortal worlds depends on not just repairing their hearts, but finding a Love that’s True…
Another instafreebie disappointment. Why are there so few paranormal het romances with female protagonists who act, rather than get acted on? This one started out promising, with our heroine working as a lawyer for abused women, and holding her own against a man who is attacking her. But of course our hero, dragon shifter prince Lucien, barges in and rescues her. And then takes her to his lair to seduce her into becoming his mate and bearing his dragonling. And of course she is kidnapped by the bad dragons and is threatened with sexual abuse. And is rescued by the hero. The only active choice our heroine makes is to reject the hero's lies that he doesn't love her (sacrificing himself to protect her).
Really really hate paranormal/romantic suspense that is all about putting the female in sexual danger, and then saving her from same: "Oh God... she recognized that look. That horrible, terrible look in a man's eyes when he knows he has all the power to hurt you any way he wishes... and he wishes to very much. Oh, fuck" (1891). Being a voyeur to a woman's impending violation just grosses me out.
I really like this book! Bought the next 2 already! But I’m giving it 4.5 stars bc I don’t like a love story broken into 3 parts. At least it wasn’t exactly on a cliffie that it ended. But still.
So Lucian is my kind of Hero: knows how to love, loved before and lost that love to devastating circumstances, really ripe to meet the ONE, and not a man whore while waiting!! Yay!!
Arabella is a strong woman. Tough, came thru dark things. I like that once she knows he’s for real she sticks with it, doesn’t let him push her away, which is why I’m ok with the ending.
Not sure why it has to be told I’m 3 parts tho. Don’t like these trilogy things. Do appreciate the world building. Hot bits aren’t the hottest I’ve read - def could use hotter. But ok. I read it for the emotional intensity and clear writing.
The following ratings are out of 5: Romance: 💚🖤💙❤️ Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥 Story/Plot: 📕📗📙📘📔 World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏 Character development: ☹️🙃😍😘 Narration: 🎙🎙🎙🎙🎙 Narration Type: Dual Narration
The Hero:Lucian Smoke - he funded the first openly shifter bar in Seattle where humans and shifters can hook up. Business was good, and he was hoping it would help humans and shifters to get along. It was his job to keep things settled between humans and shifters while Seattle got back on its feet. Lucian’s needs had gone too long since being met. He was a half fae dragon shifter and was over 500 years old. He had a lot of expectations weighing on him.
The heroine:Arabella - she was a human woman, a lawyer, in a dark alley fighting a demon. Though she didn’t know that he was a demon, she just knew he was her clients ex who couldn’t take a hint when things were over. She ended up cracking her head and falling unconscious. She woke up very posh room on a couch. Soon finding out that dragon shifters actually exist.
The Story: Lucian and his two brothers Leksander and Leonidas had been born minutes apart. Though Lucian was the crown prince and needed to pass the crown on to a son. Though Lucian had nightmares of blood and screams when he attempted a sealing with a woman who was not his mate. Dragons usually mated with humans and the female usually died, either in the sealing ceremony or with the birth of their young. He didn’t want to go through that again but needed an heir, to keep the treaty that kept the fae out of the world of humans. Lucian can only create a dragonling with a female who is in love with him and he gets Arabella to help him find one, even knowing it is her that he wants.
I liked the fact that this story was more magical than many other shifter stories. Lucian could conjure clothes for both himself and Arabella, his blood healed Arabella and the dragons have the ability to cloak. I bought this audiobook and started it before finding out that the story of these two is a trilogy so I wasn’t too happy about that. I hate having to buy 3 or more audiobooks, especially when each book is only 5 or 6 hours. I did like the storyline and I love dragon shifters. Though I didn’t like the fact that Lucian was still grieving a past love, I hate that in romance books.
Narrated by Joe Arden and Maxine Mitchell, this book was told in dual points of view via dual narration. These two have both narrated a lot of books and are very good at sounding like they are talking more than reading. They are great at showing emotions through their narration and I really like both of their voices. Joe has a gravelly sexy voice and Maxine has a clear feminine voice which is very pleasing.
Dragons? Romance? Expecting some dragon-hot passion, right? Right! Imagine using this line on a girl: I’m nearing the end of my life if I don’t have a dragonling, so I need to find my true love, she must be human and have a baby so I can live longer…okay, so that isn’t EXACTLY what Lucian, the head of the House of Smoke said, but he certainly got the attention of human attorney Arabella. Then again, it could have been stealing her away to his keep, via dragon power…
KISS OF A DRAGON by Alisa Woods has humor, danger and an unlikely ally in the quest to find Lucian a mate. He also has the vile dark fae trying to make sure his plan doesn’t come to fruition and a house full of dragon brothers who seem to have no filters and are as different as night and day to Lucian.
Seems Lucian is so bent on finding his true love, he is willing to hold Arabella captive until she finds one for him, or is that just smoke and mirrors to get Arabella to notice him? In a classic case of denial, Arabella refuse to think of how much it bothers her that Lucian will be making love to another, while Lucian needs her more than he is willing to admit and it is all because of his past, a desperate act that cost him both his first wife and his child. Can Arabella and Lucian find what they both are looking for in each other? Will the evil lies and half-truths of the fae turn Arabella into a fearful and mistrusting female?
Well-written, full of surprises along with some easy to see romance coming, but hey, isn’t the journey most of the fun? Be prepared to sweat as a 500 year old dragon uses his “talents” to his best advantage to find love, but is he searching in the right place?
Series: Fallen Immortals - Book 1 Publisher: Sworn Secrets Publishing (July 5, 2016) Publication Date: July 5, 2016 Genre: Paranormal Romance Print Length: 281 pages Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble For Reviews & More: http://tometender.blogspot.com
originally I gave this one around 3,5 stars, but I am lowering it to 2 instead… this review will be quite short, since I already forgot basically everything about this book and it has been only like 6 weeks since I finished it… I sort of remember my over all feelings about it, so here it goes… the writing style was ok, nothing spectacular, but nothing truly horrible either… the characters and the story itself, yeah… from what I can (very) vaguely recall, he’s the very alpha arrogant type, who knows what’s best for everyone and is all being stubborn because of the bad thing that happened in the past… our heroine seems like a competent person, but then turns out to be another damsel needing rescue, because of utterly stupid decisions she made… I mean, just think for a minute people… is that too much to ask? *sighs* I think there’s some sort of push and pull between them that made me feel exhausted form the whiplash really fast… all relevant details about the story fled my mind terrifyingly fast after finishing this book, and even though it was only the first part of the trilogy about this couple I have no desire whatsoever to read more about them…
3.5 stars. I like this one and it has potential. It features a dragon shifter who needs to find a mate and have a dragonling to keep his line going or he will die. Lucian of House Smoke is the oldest of triplet dragons as well as the leader who rescues a human lawyer named Arabella. Lucian begins to court Arabella but he doesn't want to love her. He just wants someone who loves him and has his young (*roll my eyes). Arabella doesn't just want to be a baby mama, she wants to belong to someone and she doesn't want to settle.
The writing could use some tightening up as well as better development. But the characters intrigued me enough to want to continue with the series. This book does end in cliffhanger so I got book 2 already.
Another great series from Ms. Woods. I think the dragons are now my favorite instead of the wolves. Lots of twists and turns. It was packed with action and romance. Can't wait to see where this series is going to go.
It was slow to start, but once it for going, I was hooked! Bad news, it's s cliffy!! 😡 Good news, the series is complete! 😁 Move right to book 2. Happy reading!
So Lucian is not only a dragon shifter, he's also: - royalty - half fae - bulletproof (in both human and dragon forms) - has healing blood - has runes that allow him to identify demons - those same runes allow him to remove demons from half human, half demon creatures
Then to top it all off, there 's a dead ex? 🤣🤣🤣
Yeah, that's way to OTT even for me.
The narration is not great either - I'm way too distracted by the fact its Joe Arden and Maxine Mitchell.
Docked a star because... Mind you they did get their smut on a few times.
But damnit man, what a cliffy! And not in a good way. Like damnit SHE IS RIGHT THERE READY FOR THE TAKING! MATE HER ALREADY! But noooooo I (Lucian) cannot because I'm a Monster in disguise. I don't deserve you, blah, blah, blah. Oh woe is mee! I killed my ex-mate for reasons. So I'm just going to sulk like a petulant child not getting my way when you, my mate, my love, my life, don't leave and save yourself when I ask you too.
But I guess in a way I'm happy that it didn't end in one book and that book two starts off right after the last line in book one. But stillllllll.... Please give me more smuttttttt. ["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>
Bam. Right in the middle of a scene, IT QUITS. ARGH!!! If you want to sell another book, fine. But you sure as bananas aren't selling it to me. Any writer worth her salt knows how to segue properly to the next book in a series. This one is definitely not worth it.
This is the start to another riveting series by this highly talented author, a definite alpha in the creation of enthralling paranormal series! In previous novels by her the shifters have been wolves but in this new series they’re dragons!
In this story, Lucian, the Dragon Prince of the House of Smoke, is five centuries old and he knows that if he doesn’t find a mate with whom to have dragonling then a treaty to keep the peace between paranormal factions will come to an end with his death. However, he is reluctant to take a chance on love again after his previous experience . . . Well, that’s true until he rescues the Seattle lawyer, Arabella, from a half demon attack and then flew her back to his lair. The two come to an agreement that she’ll keep the existence of dragon shifters secret and find him his true mate in exchange for her freedom. That’s the start of a highly entertaining adventure with villains, kidnapping, double dealing and treachery as well as a healthy dose of romance and that elusive true love!
I found this another well paced, action packed read from this highly talented author. There are plenty of twists and turns on this roller coaster ride - including some upside down, on your head, moments and some nasty drops! This is a great start to the new and very different series, a fascinating story to escape into and one I have no hesitation in highly recommending to anyone who enjoys shifter romances with mystery and intrigue throughout!
Thanks to the author for letting me read an e-copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.
Sigh. Another KU flop for me. I started to like it but then I hated it. Im not even going to write a review. Well maybe ill talk for a minute. This is one of those series books. Where instead of writing 1 full length book it's separated into 3 short books. WHY. Seriously why does this happen and why do I not look at that before I start the book?
New to the author, but I love these types of stories! It took awhile for it to pick up steam. Also, I'm used to sizzling hot love stories, this did not have it. Overall, this book was okay.
The only way this genre works - for me at least - is when it's funny. Kiss of a Dragon takes itself way too seriously. I wanted smut and humour. I got melodrama and self-sacrifice and yet another billionaire because god knows only billionaires with big dicks are loveable. Lighten up already!
Lucian is nearing the end of his dragon’s life. Only if he finds a mate who loves him with a True Love (a love without any doubt) and they produce a dragonling, a dragon child who will grow up to take Lucian’s place as head of the House of Smoke one day — if this happens, he is granted a longer life as he and his mate raise up the new leader. Lucian’s first mate died during the delivery of their dragonling, both mother and child perished. He has blamed himself for their deaths and cannot imagine loving another human woman. But he must convince a human to love him with a True Love in order to continue the dragon line of the House of Smoke.
Arabella is a lawyer who specializes in helping women in desperate situations, abusive situations or ones where the ex doesn’t not comprehend the meaning of “no – it’s over”. She doesn’t really believe in the happy ever after type of romance, mainly because she hasn’t seen it in action. On the night that will change her life forever she is attacked in an alley close to her office. When she is rescued by… a dragon who turns into the most handsome, sexiest man she’s ever laid eyes on… well, let’s say it knocked her out cold.
Lucian takes Arabella back to his lair. He recognizes that she is his mate, but he will not ever again put a woman he loves in the type of danger that loving him brings. No, he’ll find a woman he can seduce, convince to love him and produce the heir needed… he will not risk a woman he could so easily see himself loving for eternity to a bloody death – not again. He in effect holds Arabella prisoner, since she now knows about dragons, until she finds him a mate. Once she does that, Lucian will release her from his lair.
Men – and immortals – with their crazy logic.
Kiss of a Dragon takes us on an amazing journey to find True Love – and the rocky romance of two very stubborn people. It’s obvious that these two belong together. It’s also crystal clear that Lucian is going to be a bullheaded dragon and deny himself the love of a lifetime based on his fear of repeating the past. The world building in this first story is deliciously seductive. It’s so very easy to see the Keep of the Smoke Dragons. Vivid details pulled me into this story with ease. The secondary characters are lively and believable – even the most vile villains around. This is a world of magic, of treaties that barter for the safety of humans with the lives of immortals. The deeper I get into this world the more fascinating it becomes.
I enjoyed this first story in the serial very much – enough to need to know what happens in the next story. Whether it’s a series or a serial (of the new type).. if an author can capture my imagination and give me at least a temporary ending – then I’ll gladly continue the journey. I have no hesitation in recommending Kiss of a Dragon and the Fallen Immortals serial (series). It’s a sexy, danger filled, edge of the seat adventure that hopefully ends in the discovery of a True Love for everyone involved.
I’ve not hidden the fact that I am not a huge fan of serials. I do not like cliffhangers. Every reader is different. I’m a reader who wants a complete story by the last page.
Having said that – there seems to be (thankfully) a new trend in the “serial” stories across genre. A story that ends with a Happy For Now – knowing that the couple’s story is not complete, but they’ve reached an acceptable point where this addition can end and the next will pick up another continuation of their epic story. That is the type of serial story I can enjoy, it gives me what I need and holds out the temptation for more… not quite the same as a series, but I can fall into that type of romance. There are a few authors I’ve read and enjoyed who do it – and do it very well. The Fallen Immortals series begins with three stories that tell Arabella and Lucian’s tale. The series has nine (9) stories planned at this time.
I'm gonna keep this short and sweet because I'm ready to hop right in to the next book. It seems I've maybe finally broken my bad luck streak because I really enjoyed this one. The author actually engaged in a lot of world building. She created an intriguing world and backed it up with detail. At times though there was a little too much going on in the world. Didn't detract a whole lot but it somewhat cluttered things by making me have to understand things that weren't wholly necessary to the plot. The plot was interesting though after the cliffhanger ending i'm left wondering which parts were true and which were lies. The characters were enjoyable. h has a traumatic past but she let it shape her into a badass even if an emotionally scarred one. Bonus points for her being a do gooder attny but with no inaccurate legal scenes to annoy me. H was yummy and protective though he ended on a jerk note doing the whole "push her away for her own good" bit. My gripe with this trope is why can no one ever just be like thanks but no thanks why do they have to say every hurtful thing they can think of to accomplish this goal when theres almost always a less sleazy way out of it. My biggest issues with the characters was that they both had major trauma in their past but they only brooded over it for too much of the book. h's issues are revealed somewhere around 50%ish but by the time we got there i was more ready to just get it over with so it didnt have the same emotional impact as if it had been revealed prior to lots of almost reveals. H's past is hinted at for the entire book but only revealed in the next to last chapter and for such a huge event it wasn't given very much air time, so it too lacked the emotional punch it should've had. Cliffhanger ending so I'll end it here and either revise this later or add any thoughts I forgot into the review of the next
I quite liked the premise of Kiss of a Dragon, the first book in the Fallen Immortals series. It’s quite dark and gritty, more so when it’s revealed Lucian was forced to sacrifice his previous mate in a bid to save their child. It’s not just your average , run-of-the-mill paranormal romance. It’s got all-you-can-eat-restaurant-size-portions of drama and heartache locked within its pages. What I quite liked about Kiss of a Dragon is that it’s different in the sense that Lucian tries so damn hard not to fall for Arabella. It’s so common for paranormal romance males to see a nice woman and think “My dick’s hard, it must be eternal love”. Not only is he reluctant to relive his previous heartache, he’s reluctant – no, scrap that, he’s unable – to force such a miserable fate on Arabella. Though he’s not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, he does possess a good set of morals. Plus he’s part fae and has awesome magical, demon-ass-kicking abilities. And can transform into a golden dragon. The latter alone is enough to persuade me to bear his dragonling babies.
I feel the phrase “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” is quite apt when describing Arabella. Like Lucian, Arabella has experienced more trauma and heartache then ten people combined have in their entire lifetime. Although Arabella is plagued by memories of one particular incident, she utilizes all of her experiences to help other women in similar situations. She’s such a brave, strong woman and I think Alisa wrote her character perfectly.
Lucian Smoke Prince of the House of Smoke and first born of triple Dragon Shifters. Lucian leaving Shifter Right his shifter bar were humans and shifters get together for sex and drinks. Upon leaving he witnesses Arabella Sharp fighting off a Demon Shifter in an alley. Arabella is a Lawyer who defends abused women of domestic violence. Lucian dispatches the demon half of the human and Arabella not understanding seeing a full blow dragon shots him but the bullet ricochets and hits her in the shoulder. Lucian flies Arabella to his lair which looks like a penthouse for a billionaire. Which of course he is. Lucian is 500 hundred years old and he must find a mate and spawn a dragonling baby or the world between immortals and mortals humans are in danger!!
This is a fast paced action packed sexy hot romance the builds between Arabella and Lucian. I liked both of these characters and they are very well written. The troupe of characters and the world building by the author is very well done. There is lots of back story to give readers a clear understanding of this wonderful fantasy world of dragon, wolf, fee, angles, demon shifters.
The reason for 4 stars instead of 5 is the ending is abrupt almost a cliffhanger to get readers to read the next part of Lucian and Arabella's story.
At 500 years old Lucian is ready to fall in love....again. With no prospects in sight all hope was nearly gone until he meets Arabella in the most unlikely of ways.
Arabella is used to fighting for her clients but the last thing she expected was to be fighting for her life in a dark Seattle alley. Luckily for her Lucian shows up to save the day...or does he? Read and find out!
I received this book as an ARC for my honest review
I really liked this book. It was crazy funny, packed with action and romance. One thing I can say is that Alisa Woods can always create a world for her readers to get lost in with. With new characters and even some hints about old characters that keep you coming back for more.
Right now this book is listed as free on Kindle Unlimited and .99 cents on Amazon Kindle and honestly you can't beat that price. Very good job Alisa, I cant wait to see what you come out with next
I felt the relationship was a bit too easy and sporadic....
I loved the supernatural world that had started to build, along with a brpthers unrequited love and the others promiscuity, i definitely want to see how things will progress in book two
Got this book for free and reading the synopsis i wasn't expecting a lot. I thought it was going to be badly-written romance with cheesy characters and horrible development.
Well, it was not bad but not the best romance i would say. I felt that the romance between the two MC could have been better development but i can see how they are a thing. I like the female MC cos she seemed strong and very assertive of her actions, though i feel that she was kinda underused in the novel and was more of a plot device rather than a character. on the other hand we spend more time with Lucian, i guess our actual main character for the book, and he wasn't that bad of a character imo. He had his own intentions and he was probably the most distinct character out of all of the shapeshifter characters (cos i literally could not differentiate between his brothers).
The main antagonist didnt really feel that scary and i did not feel an imposing intimidation from him. He was just kinda there in the distance and while he did do something sort of villainous, the problem was solved super quickly and way too easily.
Also something else that really bothered me in this book is the phrase 'her lady parts'. This phrase is used about 5 times in the book to express the female's MC sexual drive and her trying to hold them back. And i would like to say WHY CAN'T YOU JUST SAY VAJAJAY? It's weird because there is smut in this novel so the whole sex thing isn't really much of a taboo topic so using 'her lady parts' as a euphemism for her vajajay and ovaries just seem a little too comedic and ironic for the book.
Apart from that, i had a relatively entertaining time with the book. The story could use a little more work and the characters could have more development, but looking at how long the book is, i was alright with it. Oh yeah Rachel is probably the best and most relatable character in this book lmao
3.5 Stars This was a really good series, though by the time the third brother and his mate had their baby, some things were predictable. A major no-no for me was that each story (brother, mate and baby) took up three books, and one brother has a book about his backstory! At $4.99 a piece for most of them, that's a lot of money. Yes, I spent it, but I'm kicking myself for doing it. I broke my own rule. Alisa Woods just made a chunk of change off of me. But considering all the free books I get through Book Bub and other such connections, I guess I really shouldn't complain. The stories were done well with each one being different for each brother and yet working together enough to remain part of the overarching storyline. The characters were very interesting. The three brothers were similar, but different. The three mates were very different but compatible so that they got along. The Summer Queen, Nyssa was quite the character! Razeal, the last mate's real father, was quite amazing, too! I was suspicious of Tajeal throughout the story. He always seemed like he was up to something, sort of sneaky. And the blue dragon, it's amazing he ever found time to have anything like a life of his own. Ms. Wood is a stand up writer, so I'm sure her other series are pretty good to read as well. Recommended.
I will not be providing any explanation as to why I read this. I am just taking one for the team by logging it.
THIS WAS AWFUL. BITCHWHAT. Notes 1) don’t refer to them as your “lady parts” we are not in kindergarten. 2) the word “mate” makes my skin crawl. So hard pass. 3) the female narrator for the audio book 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 what the fuuuuuuck why is everything a question? Why is she confused as to why she’s here?
It got one star instead of none bc shout out to Joe arden, the male narrator. He carried this shit all the way.
I was frustrated to find this wasn't a whole book but part of a trilogy. I got to the end and was all "What? What???" which is why 1 star is removed. I usually avoid books like this. I am persevering. I was enjoying it though