M.L. Guida

In this Magic, New Mexico series novella, dragon shifter Rhain is working for his obsessive father, Ian, and a cruel voodoo priestess in order to find a magical amulet.
Sunshine is part dragon but doesn’t have the ability to shape shift. After a witch tasks Sunshine and Rhain for an urgent mission—they have to save the lives of three sisters who are fated mates to three unborn dragons—she has no choice but to trust Rhain with her life.
I really liked Sunshine and Rhain. They were strong, intelligent, and personable characters.
A little bit of background info… Several authors are writing for the Magic, New Mexico series and are creating their own mini-series within the larger group set. This book sets up the next three books to come in Ms. Guida’s individual series. After a little bit of research online, I realized the dragons in this story are from the same race of dragons in another series from Ms. Guida. Even though I haven’t read those books, I wasn’t confused reading this novella. The amount of world building was kept to a minimum, but there was enough to keep me interested.
There are, however, some loose ends/unanswered questions. Why did Marta abandon Theo, and what’s going to happen now that she’s back? How did Ian and the priestess escape the town? With luck, these questions and more will be cleared up in later books.
This story needs an edit to fix misplaced commas, misspellings, and the wrong form of a word being used, and to add in missing words. Content and plot-wise, everything flowed well. The pacing is fast and kept driving the narrative.
Overall, I enjoyed this story for the characters and plot.
3.5 Stars
… (mais)

I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

I like books with vampires. I like books with pirates. I like books with shape-shifters. But for some reason, the combination of them all was just a bit much for me in this book. Throw in demons trying to inexplicably kidnap people and take over the world and I was kind of confused. I think it would have helped having read book 1 in this series. I spent the first chapter or so kind of overwhelmed by the introduction of these characters and their situations. But once we got more into the story, things started making more sense. I unfortunately never fell in love with any of the characters. I didn't care much for William. The man gets turned into a dragon, yet he constantly denies magic. Mariah was okay, but I never understood her attraction to William. Kane kept going back and forth between supporting Mariah and threatening to kill her. So I never understood Hannah's attraction to him. I really liked Hannah, though. And Solstice. And Mariah's grandmother. They were interesting side characters that I really enjoyed.

Overall, the book held my interest. I really think I would have benefited having read book 1 in the series first because the set up for book 3 in the series and the next adventures Mariah and William and the rest the crew seems very interesting.… (mais)

Well, I really wanted to love this book. It was full of hot, steamy romantic type scenes and a lot of suspense and intense emotion. The characters, while unrealistic in the nature of what they are, were believable and likable for the good guys, and the bad guys are the type you love to hate. I will say that I did not dislike it, but I had kind of a luke-warm feeling and a lot of this had to do with the editing. Now, this may not be an issue for others as much as it is for me and if you are not that distracted by it, by all means please read this book because the story itself was awesome.

I was able to visualize what I was reading and the descriptive details were enough to make me actually FEEL what was happening in the book. Overall, the story was excellent in terms of characterization and descriptive detail, and I really felt drawn to the story itself. Hence, my rating. The editing to me is a huge thing, and I had to deduct one star. However, it is a testament to the storytelling prowess of the author that I was not able to walk away from the book due to the editing.

The book had a little more erotic content than I would like, but it did not detract from the story at all and I still found the story enjoyable, and would recommend that you read this book if you want a paranormal romance that is something new and different. In terms of paranormal romance, we expect vampires, werewolves, you know the usual suspects. This was so different. You will just have to see for yourself.… (mais)

Well, I really wanted to love this book. It was full of hot, steamy romantic type scenes and a lot of suspense and intense emotion. The characters, while unrealistic in the nature of what they are, were believable and likable for the good guys, and the bad guys are the type you love to hate. I will say that I did not dislike it, but I had kind of a luke-warm feeling and a lot of this had to do with the editing. Now, this may not be an issue for others as much as it is for me and if you are not that distracted by it, by all means please read this book because the story itself was awesome.

I was able to visualize what I was reading and the descriptive details were enough to make me actually FEEL what was happening in the book. Overall, the story was excellent in terms of characterization and descriptive detail, and I really felt drawn to the story itself. Hence, my rating. The editing to me is a huge thing, and I had to deduct one star. However, it is a testament to the storytelling prowess of the author that I was not able to walk away from the book due to the editing.

The book had a little more erotic content than I would like, but it did not detract from the story at all and I still found the story enjoyable, and would recommend that you read this book if you want a paranormal romance that is something new and different. In terms of paranormal romance, we expect vampires, werewolves, you know the usual suspects. This was so different. You will just have to see for yourself.… (mais)