Book Faery: Chains and Flames by G.A. Aiken

A Note:

6/2/13

I once told myself: IF I am accepted into grad school, this blog would no longer be updated. As it turns out, in April, I received news of my acceptance for the Fall 2013 semester, where I will attain a Master's degree of Science in Nutrition.

Running a blog, as many of you may already know, is a demanding side job once the excitement wears off. And once I fell out of the blogging community's loop (have you SEEN how many blogs there are now? Wow!), it was like the kiss of death. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't get into a blogging routine once this happened due to the disconnect I felt from the community.

So I took a break. I struggled with the loss and with missing my blog. And then I realized I didn't have to run Book Faery to still be a book reviewer; I could read my books and post reviews online. I'm still a book review blogger, just not in the traditional sense.

I'll still be online. You can chat with me on Twitter, where I'll be posting links to my reviews and talking books. I'll also be posting links to nutrition articles. And if you'd like to connect with me where I guarantee I will post reviews, just add me as a friend on Goodreads.

So that's all, folks! It's been a fun and amazing journey, and I thank you all for listening to my thoughts about books. I hope we all can keep in touch elsewhere :)

Tori

Monday, March 1, 2010

Chains and Flames by G.A. Aiken

It's not always easy being a female with a nickname like Annwyl the Bloody. Men tend to either cower in fear--a lot--or else salute. It's true that Annwyl has a knack for decapitating legions of her ruthless brother's soldiers without pausing for breath. But just once it would be nice to be able to really talk to a man, the way she can talk to Fearghus the Destroyer.

Too bad that Fearghus is a dragon, of the large, scaly, and deadly type. With him, Annwyl feels safe--a far cry from the feelings aroused by the hard-bodied, arrogant knight Fearghus has arranged to help train her for battle. With her days spent fighting a man who fills her with fierce, heady desire, and her nights spent in the company of a magical creature who could smite a village just by exhaling, Annwyl is sure life couldn't get any stranger. She's wrong...

[And just wait until you meet the rest of the family...]

Chains and Flames
Note: This review focuses solely on the second part of this book featuring Bercelak and Rhiannon. You can see the first part of this review about Dragon Actually here.

Obtained: Bought
Genre: Paranormal Romance/Fantasy Romance
Series: Dragon Kin, Book #1
My Rating:

I cannot say enough how much more I enjoyed this story in comparison to Fearghus and Annwyl's. I read this in one night, and decided to reread it again, just so it would be fresh when I went to review it.

Story:
One would think that being a dragon princess is great. You're royalty, you can pretty much do whatever you want without being reprimanded, you're royalty, all the male dragons want to sleep with you, and, you're royalty! Well, one would think that anyway, but it would appear that life in the dragon court is anything but nice for Rhiannon. Her mother, not entirely too fond of her eldest daughter, promises the young princess to her finest warrior, Bercelak. In fact, the queen is so generous that she offers to send Rhiannon to Bercelak's doorstep.

Sounds lovely, except that Rhiannon absolutely detests the "Low Born". And the fact that she's suddenly forced from her dragon form and crashes down outside of Bercelak's cave as a human? Well, you're just going to have to find out what happens next by reading the story!

What I think:
So I had mentioned in my other review that I did not enjoy the speed in which Fearghus and Annwyl's relationship formed. I had a slight problem with the pace in Chains and Flames also, but I think that had more to do with the length of the story itself as opposed to time in the actual story.

Rhiannon and Bercelak appeared more realistic, which makes me believe that Aiken needs to work on making the humans in this universe more... human, and less like cannon fodder. I mean, that's what dragons view them as, don't get me wrong, but Annwyl's story did not exactly frame them in a positive light either (her included).

That story aside, I feel that Bercelak and Rhiannon complimented each other perfectly. Enter tall-dark-and-handsome-serious-dragon and his bratty little princess mate. They would go from serious, to trying to sleep with each other, to serious again. Poor Rhiannon!

And the seduction? Let me just say that I would not mind having Bercelak try to seduce me.

Overall I think Dragon Actually was worth buying. The dragon characters were hilarious and definitely kept me coming back for more.