Thursday, September 12, 2013

Favored Dragon's Release (Hidden By Dragons #1) by D. Renee Bagby - 2 stars

FAVORED DRAGON'S RELEASE by D. ReneƩ Bagby is an occasionally humorous fantasy combining time travel and parallel dimensions that really could use a different title and some extra revisions. I give it 2 stars.

In FAVORED DRAGON'S RELEASE, Yolette and some "frenemies" go on a couple's camping trip. Yolette's date for the trip flakes out at the last minute, and in an attempt to get away from the obnoxious enamored couples, Yolette falls asleep alone in a clearing and wakes up in another dimension, farther back in time when dragons still roamed the Earth.

Yolette meets Shurik, a black dragon and prince of the realm, who is fated to break a curse on the dragon community by mating a willing human female. What starts out as curiosity on Shurik's part ends up with him falling in love with Yolette and vice versa. However, deceit can destroy any relationship, and this relationship is no different. Will Shurik and Yolette actually mate? Will the curse be broken?

FAVORED DRAGON'S RELEASE showed promise at the beginning; the idea was fresh and interesting, and there were no pesky typos to distract the reader. Occasionally, though, the sentence, paragraph and chapter structuring were a bit awkward. The pace was also slow in the beginning, and at times the plotline felt a bit aimless. A more streamlined courtship portion of the novel would address the meandering feeling of the "getting to know you" part of the love story.

While I thought Yolette's character was consistent and well-illustrated, she fell victim to the typical melodrama that plagues romance novels, but at least that melodrama fits with her self-deprecating personality. I felt that Shurik's character was a bit thin and could have used greater illustration, especially when dealing with the reasons Yolette falls for Shurik instead of another dragon she spends time with.

About half way through the novel, the pace improves, and the plotline gains direction. However, the plot transforms from simple to complicated, introducing new characters and unexpected drama in the last 50 pages. Moderation at this point, focusing on the final resolution of Shurik and Yolette's relationship, would have served the storyline better.

Overall, I was intrigued by the concepts behind the plot, but was disappointed in the way the story unfolded. If you are a fan of fantasy novels, you probably won't want to miss this one, but look for a revised version, if available.



**Review originally written for The Romance Reviews.com at http://www.theromancereviews.com/viewbooks.php?bookid=10213