DRAGON TOUCHED by JB McDonald

Publisher: Torquere Press

Date published: 01/30/13

ISBN: 978-1-61040-428-0

MM, erotic, paranormal

E-book

Reviewed by Helen

Weblink: http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=96&products_id=3802

Obtained via publisher

 

Ashe hates having to stay in the palace all day, as Katsu is fully occupied helping Chieko, who has still not returned to full strength. When Ashe begs Katsu to go back to his home, as Katsu has promised they will do, Katsu is torn between staying to do the tasks only he, with all his healing skills, can do, and being with the man he loves.

Ashe takes a trip outside the palace, and that doesn’t go very well. Both men have some serious thinking to do.

I was attracted to this book by the blurb as it sounded quite a different approach to an MM story, and besides, I love stories with dragons in them. The dragon is a great character, as are both men, the Queen, Chieko, and Daisuke. The author has great talent for creating entrancing characters, with many layers to unpeel, and complex thoughts and motivations. The sex scenes are well written and hot too.

What I hadn’t realized was that this is just one story in a long series of books about these characters, therefore it’s not a traditional romance with an ending, but rather, one scene from their lives with much more to come and who knows what or where the ending will be. That doesn’t make it a bad story, but readers need to go into the book understanding that, and also aware they may find themselves racing out to buy all the earlier books to get more of these characters!

The world building is very well done. Obviously, since the characters have been here for a while, the basics of the world are not explained, but enough description is given that everything makes sense and the heat and magic really pours off the page, allowing the reader to understand some of the external pressures on the characters. Rather than keep telling the reader how hot it is , the author says things like, “the only person he’d met whose skin was not sweaty when he touched it”, very neatly encapsulating the facts and adding depth.

A good read.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.