| Series: | Dragon Hunter #1 |
| Pub. Date: | Aug. 28, 2018 |
| Publisher: | Forever |
| Length: | 384 pgs |
| Source: | NetGalley |
Let me start out by saying that I am a big fan of Katie MacAlister - I absolutely loved her Dragon Septs series/world. So this book is a bit of an anomaly for me in that I could not bring myself to like it, no matter how hard I tried. And try I did, I would not let myself DNF this one. But not every book works for me, and this one was a miss in several areas.
Our hero is Ian Iskander, a half-demon, half-dragon, hot hunk of man meat, who also happens to be a dragon hunter. Don't let the name fool you... the dragon hunters don't actually hunt dragons. They hunt demons. (Confusing, I know.) So Ian is a tortured soul forced into demon servitude, but still grasping his goodness by the tips of his fingers. For the most part, I liked Ian's character. I got his broody conflict and admired his compassion for animals, espirit, and lost souls like Sasha. I thought Ian would be similar to MacAlister's dragony goodness in her earlier books... alpha male with a touch of humor. But Ian needed more spine, more maturity, and didn't have enough flavor for my taste.
Our heroine, Veronica (a/k/a Ronnie) is a strange bird. From the outset, we are confronted with Ronnie's OCD and neuroses. But while this could have been a cute and unique heroine, she came off as over-the-top and downright ridiculous (and not in a good way). Her behavior was so beyond extreme and silly that it threw me out of the story and nearly caused me to abandon the book on several occasions. Ronnie is a total spaz, hot and cold with her afflictions and her emotions, and a drama queen to no end. She just really worked on my last nerve.
Now, I'm not expecting a story about dragon hunters to be plausible. That being said... sometimes the implausibility of the story went so far out there to have me shaking my head in bewilderment. The plot lacked a cohesive quality and seemed to jump around at times, leaving plot holes or unanswered questions. I wasn't able to connect to any one character, nor do I feel like the world building was sufficiently developed. It was a bit shocking given what I know of MacAlister's fun and fiery dragons in the Dragon Septs world. I almost feel like I need to go back and read those books quickly to cleanse my palette.
Despite not caring for this initial installment, I am not giving up on the Dragon Hunter series quite yet. I want to see if we get back to classic MacAlister in the next book, Day of the Dragon. Hopefully I see that old dragony spark with our next dragon hunting pair, as I have been excited for a new series by this author.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from the publisher, Forever Romance.
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