Sandy M’s review of Vampire Dragon (Works Like Magick, Book 3) by Annette Blair
Paranormal Romance published by Berkley 5 Apr 11
Well, this is a first. And one that puzzles the hell out of me. This is the first time an Annette Blair book hasn’t blown me away, hasn’t made me laugh as much, hasn’t drawn me in as completely as all of her previous books. Very disconcerting when this happens with one of your all-time favorite authors.
I kept thinking while reading the first half that we read a lot of the same in the first Dragonelli book, Naked Dragon, particularly the way Bastien had to learn being human again. Those are very funny scenes in that book, especially concerning his “man lance” and other endearing oddities he comes up with in his relearning. But after an entire story with all of those new-found things, I guess I was expecting something a tad different with Darkwyn once he makes the transition from dragon to man. Vampire Dragon seems to mirror Naked Dragon in those little details, with only characters and place different than before. I realize the idea for this part of the series is to bring all of the dragon brothers out of their captured state to find their heart mates, but it’s a little much with each experiencing much of the same the previous dragon does. Darkwyn does buck the system, so to speak, by leaving his “classes” early to be with Bronte, thus causing some cute semantics confusion, but that also happened with Bastien before his education as well as after.
It’s not until more than halfway through the book that it picks up and goes an interesting direction. Bronte and her nephew Zachary have been hiding in plain site from their deceased mother’s husband, a mob head honcho who wants them back in the fold because they know too much. Bronte runs a vampire club of sorts, with fairgrounds and other entertainment, for real and fake vamps, and this is where Darkwyn falls at her feet after his transformation – he’s got great aim when it comes to his heart mate – and where he eventually finds employment. Later when Bronte is nearly fatally injured by a mob spy, Darkwyn’s dragon emerges, scoops her and Zachary up to fly to safety where he can begin to heal Bronte. I did enjoy these scenes quite a bit, especially Darkwyn’s shifting and healing abilities, along with his emotional upheaval in his perceived allowing Bronte to be injured.
Now that she and Zachary have been found, Bronte decides to confront the issue head on by returning to Canada where the family estate is and to locate the evidence Zachary has hidden there – there’s a whole part of the story concerning this thirteen-year-old that’s pretty intriguing and interwoven into it quite nicely. Of course, once there with evidence in hand, they’re discovered and taken to Bronte’s stepfather where a confusing and inept fight goes on between the two factions, good versus bad, and at one point I had reread the part where Darkwyn and company lose control of the situation. It would seem that for a huge, though injured, dragon, a little more effort by the bad guys should have been had before their ultimate defeat when Darkwyn rallies and it all comes to an end.
Through the entire book, Bronte wears a mask. First it’s due to her business, all employees wear masks to make it easier for her and Zachary to hide out in the open. Then Darkwyn has his own ideas why she wears it and tries to get her to remove it for him, but he agrees to take her as she is. For the time being anyway. After all the time of Bronte wearing this mask, I’d thought we’d get a little more fanfare when it comes off, but it’s the last few pages where that happens, and I feel a tad let down by that – and the fact there’s nothing special going on when she does de-mask. Just seems there should have been something more, since it’s such a big deal for so long.
All this being said, Ms. Blair’s characters are still endearing and charming, especially the Dragonellis. I did enjoy seeing Bastien again, and Jaydun and Vivica make an interesting couple. The confrontations with Killian of Chaos are nail-biters, and having their Goddess Andra thwart her at every turn is fun. With the vampire theme throughout this book, though, Ms. Blair’s humor doesn’t come through as well as it has in previous books, which is a shame, because she’s one of the best when it comes to laughs. I still had fun, however, with the story and I’m still looking forward to the rest of the series.
Grade: B-
Summary:
Welcome to Drak’s, A Place for Vampires, where nobody is who–or what–they say they are, good and evil, alike. Learn to tell the vamps from the role players and the tourists from the mob. Meet Darkwyn Dragonelli, man and dragon, and Bronte McBride, the Vampiress who steals his heart.
Say hello to Puck, the sarcastic Macaw; flying cats Lila and Scorch; and a twelve-year old boy with a century’s worth of memories. Ride in a casket at the amusement park, and drink some blood at “Bite Me” but don’t forget to try blood soup, blood pudding, and blood sausage, too. Yum.
In the final, deadly, confrontation: It’s a magickal shape shifting dragon in all his furious glory and the Vampiress he loves…against the mob boss from hell and Killian the evil sorceress.
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
