You're in for a treat if you decide to pick up this book. I dove right into it, only knowing that it would be about dragons and I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that it was a historical paranormal novel involving dragons, magic and romance. You can't really blame me because I tend to be attracted to anything dragon so I didn't read the synopsis, but if I would have, I would have known that the book was set in Victorian England. I'm quite glad the book doesn't have any steampunk elements like most Victorian paranormal series seem to have these days. However, one might find some similarities to well known series such as The Parasol Protectorate because of the eccentric characters, the comical comments and the constant presence of tea. Fans of Gail Carriger will most likely enjoy this new series and it will surely please a good amount of historical romance buffs.
Mina Seymour is the perfect main character for this novel because while she is a free thinking and independent woman of Victorian England, she still believes and follows society's morals. While she might like stretching the rules from time to time, and does consider herself a modern woman, I really appreciate the fact that the author didn't modernize Mina too much and ruin the historical elements. She's a working class secretary/typist and absolutely has no part in the London scene, which is uncommon but refreshing for an historical romance novel of this era.
Her relationship with Lord Stephen MacAlasdair begins as a working relationship, Stephen hiring Mina as his personal secretary because of extreme circumstances and because she unexpectedly finds out he's a dragon. As things heat up, they become more and more attracted to one other which creates wonderful scenes between the characters. Obviously, living in the same house will do that to a couple and Stephen has given himself the role of protector since Mina is now at risk from a supernatural attack because of her links to him. Stephen is a mystery that unravels as the story progresses, but for some reason, despite his imposing stature, he really didn't do it for me. His personality was a little bland and he was a little hard to read. However, his feelings for Mina, and the scenes they shared alone together did make up for that small detail.
I really enjoyed reading the banter between Mina and Stephen, and their inability to ignore one another, even after agreeing that being together would be sociably unacceptable. One of the minor letdowns of the book is that with all the heat and the buildup of lust, Mina and Stephen finally fold and make love in a disgusting building full of grime and dust. I don't see the setting as romantic and I thought it was a poor choice. I can understand kissing while waiting to be rescued, but to actually do the deed for the first time in a creepy setting, it's not too pleasant for the reader, let alone for the characters.
Isabel Cooper keeps my obsession with dragons alive with this new series of hers. I can't wait to read the next installment, not just to see what happens in Mina and Stephen's lives but also to read more about Colin, Stephen's brother. Cooper has only briefly introduced us to her world of dragons and magic and I hope she elaborates on it in future books. This fast paced book is easily addictive if you like dragons and historical romance.
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