STOP DRAGON MY HEART AROUND by Susannah Scott is a sizzling emotional drama that continues the fantastic story of the dragon shape shifters' quest to save their race. I give 3 stars and continue to recommend this series to all dragon lovers.
In the novel, Tee (Tallulah) is a Native American woman living off her reservation and working as a concierge at the Crown Jewel casino hotel. Aside from trouble on the reservation and the cut-throat competition between Tee and another concierge for the title of best/highest grossing concierge and the accompanying bonus, Tee struggles with her feelings for Leonidas, her boss and the second in command at the Crown Jewel. They recently shared a passionate kiss, but Leo is suddenly fighting his desire for her.
Leonidas has been left in command of the Crown Jewel by the honeymooning Alec, the King of the Dragons. He feels the pressure to keep the business running smoothly, but even more so, he feels the struggle between his incredible desire for Tee and his natural desire to continue his family line. Only his destined mate will help him save his waning dragon form. Since Tee doesn't have his dragon mark, Leo accepts that he must look elsewhere for his mate, but he is beginning to wonder whether he wants anyone else besides Tee.
I enjoyed STOP DRAGON MY HEART AROUND. This second installment of the Las Vegas Dragons series was more dramatic and less action-packed than the first, but such is life; not every person's story is the same. I applaud Susannah Scott's varying the challenges in each character's life. The book title is also a nice play on words.
I liked the characters, especially Tee with her inner struggle to move on from Leo even though she is in love with him. Since it has been a while since I read the last novel, I could have used some more substantive scenes with Leo and Tee that establish their relationship. The declarations of love were just a bit thin and unsubstantiated for me.
The romance was graphic and sufficiently pervasive to make this novel appropriate for adults only.
I also appreciated the description of tribe politics and the tension between the old and young members of the tribe when discussing the tribe's future; that aspect provided some interesting depth to the plot. I would have liked to see some more drama with Roy. In the beginning of the novel, he seems like a major character, and I expected more drama surrounding the competition--more scheming, more back-stabbing. While we hear what happens to him in the end, I would have liked to see a scene involving Roy and Leo's confrontation. I feel like Roy's character provided such an opportunity to add complexity and depth to the overall plotline, but ultimately, I felt like the opportunity was missed. As with Roy's character, the reader learns very little about Leo's family in Australia, though they could have been a greater presence in the novel.
On the technical side, there were a few typos and blocking issues, but they weren't overly distracting.
Overall, I liked STOP DRAGON MY HEART AROUND and look forward to the next book in the series about Jane and Nico.
**Review originally written for The Romance Reviews.com at http://www.theromancereviews.com/viewbooks.php?bookid=13744.
