Rating: 
Summary: Good but rushed...
Review: This was a pretty good book and I rate it 3.5 stars. However I must admit, the plot was one that I had read before in another book -- a father (and landowner) is killed and a king sends his champion out to wed one of the surviving daughters to make sure that his kingdom holds onto the lands. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the story, which contained some twists and turns that made it differ slightly from the other book, and added interest. Suffice it to say, I enjoyed the plot. I also enjoyed the characters. The Dragon Lord was just as reluctant to marry as was the sister he wound up with and neither were shy about letting the other know this. Naturally, this set up the tension that would follow as the two found themselves forced together in matrimony. And if that weren't bad enough, one of Dragon's spurned lovers wasn't at all happy with the union and wasn't shy about letting him and his new bride know. The dialog was also refreshing. Rose was particularly blunt and asked questions that you would hope she'd ask rather than sit back and wonder what Dragon's thoughts were. I really appreciated that touch. And because Rose was forever getting herself into one scrape after another, there was a decent bit of action in the story as well, with the Dragon running to her rescue. If you like sensual books, this one almost hits the mark. This is where the book fell short in my ratings. The romance and the intimate scenes seemed a little rushed, as did parts of the story. I got the feeling that the author had a lot to say but tried to compress the story in as few words as possible. While it's okay to skimp in some areas, it's not a good idea to skimp on the romantic build-ups. While the romance and the romantic scenes were enoyable, they could have been much moreso with just a few more pages added to each scene. Despite this minor flaw, the events in the book made for a very enjoyable story. There was always something going on and Rose and Dragon were two very likeable characters. I very much enjoyed this book and I will definitely read another book by this author.
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