Violca's Dragon by Leilani Love: Review & Excerpt

Violca’s Dragon

(The Dragon Ruby Series, Book 1)

by Leilani Love

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Violca knows life can change instantly. Her parents died suddenly, leaving her to raise four younger sisters and keep them safe ~ even from the golden-eyed stranger. 

Chase knows the Grey sisters possibly hold the key to his fate. He is determined to to get close, protect them and bring them to his Dragon King. What Violca doesn't know is that once a dragon decides he wants something, there is no stopping him from getting it.

Chase stays behind her as she walks on a path that leads away from the cabin, heading near the direction of the river. He knows Violca is aware of him and smiles to himself, knowing she is not turning around because she is trying to ignore him.

When she stumbles, he reacts quickly and is at her side, his arms around her before she can fall. She squirms, pushing away from him, almost falling with the effort.

Once he is sure she’s okay he carefully releases her. Standing in front of her, he looks her over and when she finally looks up at him, he notices that her violet eyes are darker as she looks at him angrily. “I didn’t ask you for your help,” she snaps.

Chase knows that smiling at her right now will not help him, nor will telling her she looks beautiful when she’s angry. Watching her breasts rising up and down as she breathes, her violet eyes sparkling with anger and the straight line of her lips, he fights the urge to kiss her. “You didn’t, but that doesn’t mean I want to see you hurt.”

She glares at him. “Why are you here? What do you want with me?”

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

When Violca's parents die suddenly, she is determined to keep her family together and commits to raising her four sisters on her own.  Life isn't without challenges, but as the years pass the sisters have begun to heal from their loss and are settled into a new normal.

Then Violca begins to have vivid and sometimes disturbing dreams of her mother. In fact, all of the sisters are noticing unusual changes occurring, and they are about to discover that nothing in life is ever as straightforward it seems.

I enjoyed the premise of VIOLCA'S DRAGON immensely, as well as the promising new paranormal concepts contained within the plot line.  I would have liked to see further development of the series' foundation in the beginning as the relatively vague introduction made some of the earlier scenes difficult to understand. Fortunately, by the second half of the story enough details had been filled in to resolve most of the initial issues I had encountered.

I loved the close family dynamics between Violca and her sisters. Each girl has her own distinct personality that comes through quite clearly.  I felt that the romance between Violca and Chase would have been enhanced by additional scenes that further explored their emotional connection, but the sexual chemistry between them was amazing. I also enjoyed the relaxed and occasionally antagonistic relationship between Scott and Eryk; it was quite clear they are brothers.

There is a lot of story packed into VIOLCA'S DRAGON as Leilani Love introduced both the series general story line and the book's individual plot. The pacing is on the slow side, but this isn't a boring book by any means. I noted multiple editorial errors that consisted primarily of fragmented sentences and frequent changes between past and present tense mid-scene.

Examples: "she slowly gliding him into her" and "She heads toward it."

While these errors slowed my reading pace, they did not significantly detract from the overall story line or it's impact on me as a reader.

In summary, VIOLCA'S DRAGON is a fresh addition to the paranormal romance genre and I found it to be an entertaining story. A good beginning for this first-time author whose stories are sure to only improve over time.

View all my reviews

Leilani Love is a proud mother of two very active boys. A military wife she loves getting to meet new people wherever they move. She loves to read books crossing many genres. Her love affair with dragons started when she was young and one day dreams of having her own dragon and black panther.

Twitter

*OVER*

Follow the tour for more chances to win!