Review – Never Deal with Dragons by Lorenda Christensen

Publisher: Carina Press

Publish Date: July 22nd

How I got this book: NetGalley

 

Consoling a sobbing dragon and serving pig buffets are just part of the job for Myrna Banks. Working for a mediation firm, it’s her job to get humans compensated for damages caused by the dragons who now rule. But her “typical” day is interrupted by Trian Chobardan, an old flame who sneaked out of her bed two years ago, taking her heart and a handful of classified documents with him.

Myrna would love to show Trian the door, but he’s been sent by North America’s reigning dragon lord for help negotiating a truce with a powerful rival to avert war. Myrna agrees to help, even though she’ll be stuck with Trian as a partner.

As the two work together, Myrna finds Trian to be surprisingly supportive—and still irresistibly attractive. Though her brain tells her not to forget his betrayal, her body feels differently. When they learn the enemy dragon lord is planning something no one could have imagined, Myrna has to learn who she can trust before she loses not only her heart, but her life.

*Blurb from Goodreads*

 

I love a good dragon story, so when I saw this paranormal romance on NetGalley, I was intrigued by the blurb and the world. I am so glad I got this one, because it was such a fun read.

Myrna has the ability to speak to dragons, who were created by man in a freak accidental lab experiment. She works for an organization that settles disputes between dragons and humans. When the Dragon Lord of the area requests someone to work on a dragon to dragon mediation, Myrna jumps at the chance to kick-start her career.

Trian left Myrna in the middle of the night with no words, and having to deal with the fallout of stolen paperwork. Now he is working as her bodyguard, and finding out just how much he really misses her. But as Myrna finds herself in trouble again and again, Trian will have to reveal his secrets and past in order to keep Myrna safe.

I really loved the world building of this story. It was so unique and different and so incredibly engaging. Usually with paranormal stories that feature dragons there is a magical aspect, or a lot of fantasy undertones. With Christensen, she took a completely different approach and had her dragons be genetically made within a lab, while humans were trying to find a cure for cancer. I absolutely loved that. It was so awesome and kept me flipping pages as fast as I could read.

I do have to say that this story had a very urban fantasy feel to it. The romance was VERY slow to develop, and although I really liked Trian and Myrna. However, I was okay with that as the plot was so wonderfully written. I loved the political aspect, and all the crap that Myrna had to muddle through in order to do her job. I don’t know if Christensen has any plans to make this a series, but if she does, I can only hope that we either get to see more of Myrna and Trian’s adventures, or that we get to meet more couples in this world.

I really liked Myrna, despite her occasional TSTL moments. Although she did some training before going into her medications, she still made some pretty bold – and in my opinion, stupid – moves while dealing with the dragons. That being said, I kinda adored everything else about her. Despite the way she was forced to deal with the downfall of her career, she was still hopeful and optimistic for her life. I feel like there is so much more to her story, and I hope that we get to see more from her.

Since this book was told in the first person, I didn’t feel like we got to know Trian very well. He was kind of a jerk, especially since his history with Myrna is a little muddy. I never really felt like we got a good understanding of who his character really was. Again, if Christensen continues writing about this couple, I hope that we get a chance to delve more into his character.

All in all I think this was a wonderful debut paranormal book. I loved the world building, and Myrna was an all around great heroine. The plot was a great mix of political mayhem, and action. I hope that Christensen continues to grow this world and these characters and that we get to see more of Myrna, get to know Trian better, and spend more time within the dragons world.

I give Never Deal with Dragons a B+

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