Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Le sigh. This was very disappointing to me, which was surprising. It had DRAGONS in it, FFS! So, as per usual when I'm not sure how I want to structure something, let's go with the proven number system... PS - ***spoilers*** ***spoilers*** ***spoilers*** Issue #1: The World-Building I've gotten very jaded in my world-building rendezvous. After being spoiled now by such amazing world-builders for so many years and series, I find that the bar of my satisfaction is pretty high these days. And for those who scoff and say, but this is romance, not high fantasy...I say...Look no further than Nalini Singh, JD Robb, Kresley Cole, JR Ward, and numerous others and you will find authors who can marry romance and solid world-building just fine. And not to say that the world-building here was AWFUL - it wasn't. It just wasn't as cohesive and fully fleshed out as I would have liked, especially when the characters actually traveled to a supposed different realm. 2) The Magic System... ...seemed to lack any actual system. We learn early on that Gabriel (the Hero of the book) is a dragon from "Paragon" *eye roll* with all these supposed magical dragon powers (none of which are ever fully explained or which we even get to see) because he has been cursed by some voodoo witch named Crimson who dresses like she works at a New Orleans carnival - which apparently she does. As a cover. But fear not, because Raven (short for Ravenna), the heroine of the book (whom Gabriel saved from a Cancerous near-death by feeding her a dragon tooth he ripped from his mouth, thus "bonding" them) is apparently some bada$$ "sorceress" (which is apparently more betta than a common witch), which Gabriel was able to sense based on a random picture of her in the newspaper. *side eye* Raven's "powers" are never fully explained or realized, except to say that she can absorb the spells and magic from...stuff. 3) The Hero As I mentioned earlier, the book starts with Gabriel already very weakened by the curse Crimson the drug-addled, voodoo Stevie Nicks lookalike witch put on him...somehow. And he kinda, sorta, uses the last of his magic to "bond" Raven to him using said tooth. So she can come to his mansion and use the magic she isn't even aware she has at that point to read grimoires (you know, spell books) he has gathered to figure out how to un-curse him. Oh, and apparently the girl he bonded to him before Raven - who was a witch who could talk to spirits - had a scary abusive father who kept harassing her while she was at Gabriel's mansion. But instead of just vaporizing the guy like a badass, Gabriel helps her dye her hair blonde and sets her up as the manager of some rock band, you know, as a cover. *scoff* I'm sorry, but I like my PNR heroes to be badasses. And nothing about Gabriel was badass. I mean, after he and Raven discover they are mates and discuss ad nauseam how possessive he is of her, how he won't let her out of his sight, how all the other dragons in Paragon would be drawn to her because FEMALE...what's the first thing he does when they arrive in Paragon? "Here, stay here by yourself all alone while I go talk to these people and gather intel" aka leave you completely vulnerable in this world you've never been to that I've described as totally dangerous so you can get captured by the enemy because PLOT POINT. 4) The BS Ending In the end, as you can probably imagine - or perhaps not since this "review" is kind of all over the place - the ending boils down to a magical showdown between Raven and Voodoo. Or, as I like to call it, a Wizard's Duel... Which probably has to be one of the worst finales of all time. Crimson is supposedly this crazy strong voodoo witch who has honed her magic badassery over the course of 300 long years. Meaning, lady got skills, right? While Raven is this chick with barely discovered witch - I'm sorry, sorceress - powers, which she apparently has because she's a descendant of Circe. You know, the famous witch from Greek mythology. Sorry to throw that on you so randomly, but since it was thrown on us pretty randomly in the book, I thought it was only fitting. I mean, it was an insult to Greek Mythology, really. Like an attempt to piggy-back a legit story to make your story make sense. AnyBS, the wizard's duel goes back and forth a bit, in a random way where nothing actually makes sense. Crimson somehow throws some magic black powder at Raven, thereby sending her back into the past, where she is being burned alive at the stake. Or something. But now that she's all dragon tooth infused (or something) she can't burn. Or something. So instead, she grabs past-Crimson and throws her into the fire. Somehow. They then return to the present and Raven says nanner nanner nanner. And Crimson dies. Unfortunately, however, before throwing Raven into the past (somehow), Crimson "killed" Gabriel by turning him into stone. Somehow. And so after Crismon dies, Raven does some wazoo spell she pulled out of...somewhere...and brings Gabriel back to life. Somehow. And there you have it folks. Somehow, something happened somewhere. And they all lived happily ever after.