Review: Dancing with Dragons

Dancing with Dragons by Lorenda Christensen

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Chased by dragons, accused as a dragon killer, set up by your boyfriend, what else can go wrong for Carol Jenski? Ah yes, all her beautiful new designer clothing she purchased in Budapest are now lost to her. Even the new shoes are gone. This is what depresses her most. Carol Jenski is in a world of hurt as she's barely survived a dragon attack. She wakes up in a hospital confused and completely ignorant of the allegations against her. When her dire situation is revealed, her boyfriend Richard is long gone and she's now depending on a suspicious reporter.

Daniel Wallent is a reporter who smells a big story. He finds Carol and wants an exclusive with her boyfriend Richard. When Richard gives him the slip, he settles for Carol. From a character standpoint, Carol is a bit appalling. She admittedly makes bad choices in lovers and on top of it, she comes across as both stupid and shallow. The first half of the story, she's a TSTL character who should be killed off just so the readers can stop listening to her whine about her red hair chopped off. Vain much?

Daniel is a shady character at first and someone I wanted to kill off immediately. Many of these so called reporters nowadays are merely tabloid fiction writers. They have no morals and don't understand the concept of research. Personally, I find most of these "reporters" despicable and this rubs off on my view of Daniel.

The reader must suspend disbelief on how Carol and Daniel escape out of Budapest and enter India. Because it is a bit far-fetched. However, once in India, the story really picks up. The conflict soon becomes apparent. Ms. Christensen does a nice job of creating it. It is a bit rushed in the setup and execution. My recommendation would have been to cut the first fifty percent of the book down by half. Then spend the middle section focused on building out this conflict and what is going on to India's Dragon Lord. The resolution of this conflict is anticlimactic as it resolves within a few pages. This is a bit of a letdown.

The issue with Carol's situation is also resolved so quickly and too easily. It also makes the North American Dragon Lord look stupid. Because when the real villain is revealed to the Dragon Lord, he seems not to believe it and instead of completing thorough sleuthing, he is easily misled. This discredits the dragons in North America. It makes them look inept with logic, strategy and ability to assess this situation correctly. Basically, they look weak. If I think they look weak, what do the other dragon lords think? This is a plot problem which I believe Ms. Christensen needs to address. I could go on about the perception of the India Dragon Lord too. She's coming across as weak and easily controlled despite the reader told over and over again she's strong. When the actions and results don't match the story, it will be hard for the reader to buy into it.

Still, this is a quick read with characters that I ended up growing to like. I can't say I exactly admired them, but they did grow on me. This paranormal romance is recommended for dragon lovers.

*provided by NetGalley


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