Review of "Naked Dragon" by Annette Blair

I'll be honest.. I picked this book up because I saw the next book in the series was called "Bedeviled Angel" and I wanted to see if I would like this author. That... and okay, I couldn't wait. No judging.

Disclaimer: This book is on loan from my local library. I was not given this book, nor any sort of monetary incentive, for a review. I am, however, an Amazon.com Affiliate, and will earn an (extremely) small percentage if you buy this book through my Amazon.com link.

Type: Paranormal Romance, Dragons, Certain types of Prehensile Appendages, Magic, Stubborn People, Literal ThinkersFrom the back of the book: "   McKenna Greylock contacts Vivica in desperate need of a jack-of-all-trades handyman to help repair her Victorian bed-and-breakfast. She has a shoestring budget and ninety days to meet the building inspectors approval - or the house will be repossessed and purchased by a duplicitous developer. To McKenna's surprise, Vivica sends the gorgeous Bastian Dragonelli, who not only possesses the speed, strength, and agility to get the job done, but also sets her soul ablaze with a fiery passion she's never experienced before. And if McKenna can accept Bastian's true nature - as a dragon warrior - she'll find her life heating up in more ways than one... "

On a side note, I like book descriptions that end in elipses. It just.. adds a little something extra. Some mystery, some "add in your own thoughts here!" so to speak. And that cover is rather yum-worthy, wouldn't you say? The tattoo is a nice touch, and is actually featured in the story - so not just a randomly added bit of cover image. And I'll admit, I love a man in a tool belt. Especially shirtless. And I know those viewing that small picture can't see it, but Bastian's other tattoo is shown on the cover as well, so kudos to the art designer on this one!

I mentioned earlier that this is my first novel by this author, so I haven't read any of the previous books, which I believe are all set in this world. So that might account for my confusion at the beginning of this book. It wasn't so bad that I didn't want to keep reading, obviously, but I felt like I should know this stuff already, and the quick entrance was more of a refresher course than an explanation. Though now that I've read this one, I do hope to be able to find more by her in the future. And especially read the next one. Because.. well, you know, it says Angel in the title, of course I'm interested.

As for the characters, Bastian was a hoot. English is not his first language (he was a dragon after all), so he takes things extremely literally. And if he doesn't understand a word, his response is "Define [word]." I was amused. And when he finally got a handle on the idea of snark, it was even better. I could generally tell when he was being sarcastic or not, but I did not get the same ease of understanding with McKenna. There were a few times it wasn't until Bastian asked if she was being literal or not that it sunk in that she was being sarcastic. And there were times I was really annoyed with her as a character. I loved that she was strong, and had a goal, and damned if she was going to let a handyman get in the way of her goal... but dang was she stubborn. And there were plenty of times where she would tell herself how much she liked or loved him, and would be biting his head off two seconds later. It was consistant with her type of character, but I think it would have seemed a little more real if her disbelieving comments to him would have softened a little more over time.

And, uh... I think after this book, I'm not sure I will ever look at a "man-lance" the same way again. I won't go into details (because that would be some.. interesting possible spoilers..) but holy cow, it's an interesting read. Seriously people, I suggest picking up this book for the sex scenes alone!! I mean, if you're into that sort of thing.

Well, time for the final verdict! I'm going to rate "Naked Dragon" by Annette Blair a FOUR out of FIVE (4/5). Yes, McKenna drove me nuts to the point of wanting to shake some sense into her, but Bastian more than made up for it. And I liked this author's humor well enough that I do hope to pick up some more books by her in the future.

Have you read "Naked Dragon" or another book by Annette Blair? Tell me your thoughts in the comments. Want to pick up a copy of this book for yourself? Find it at Amazon.com - just follow my link above.

Until next time - Curl up with a good book!
~!~ Morning Glow