Review // Drakon's Promise by N.J. Walters

She was already a part of him, a piece of his soul. Maybe she even was his soul.

Drakon's Promise by N.J. Walters

Standalone - Blood of the Drakon #1
Release - December 5, 2016
Genre - Paranormal Romance/dragon shifters
Primarily Dual POV - 3rd person
Heat Level - 3.5 out of 5
Format/Source - Kindle purchase
Length - 352 pages
Publisher - Entangled: Select Otherworld

Goodreads / Amazon

Darius Varkas is a drakon. He's neither human nor dragon.

He's both.

He's also the target of an ancient order who want to capture all drakons for their blood. When fresh, a drakon's blood can cure any illness and prolong a human's life, and the Knights will stop at nothing to get it.

When librarian Sarah Anderson stumbles across a rare book belonging to the Knights of the Dragon, she's quickly thrust into a dangerous world of secrets and shifters and things she never would have believed possible. When the Knights realize Sarah has a secret of her own, she becomes just as much a target as Darius. Her scary dragon shifter just might be her best chance at survival.

After falling so deeply in love with The Forgotten Brotherhood series by N.J. Walters, I added her all of her books to my to-read list. Drakon's Promise is the first in a series about dragon shifters and I was super excited to read it because... DRAGONS!!

Darius - a four thousand year old drakon, he has only feared one thing... either himself or one of his brothers being captured by the Knights of the Dragon, where they would be tortured and drained for the power in their blood. This was a fear he was familiar with, however, when he met Sarah, he realized that his long, lonely existence would never be the same and that fear for her safety was a whole other terror of its own.

Sarah - quiet and unassuming, she had a special affinity for objects, especially books. Her new job comes with new problems and when she finds out her new boss intends to kidnap and possibly kill someone (Darius), she feels duty bound to warn him.

Karina Azarov - a young, ruthless woman who happened to be the learder of the Knights.

I absolutely loved Darius and I'm intrigued by his brothers. I'll definitely be continuing this series because I have to know how these drakons eradicate the Knights. While this story was just as brilliantly written as I expected it to be, the heroine was a drag and took away from how much I could have enjoyed it.

My Notes

I haven't come across a heroine I've disliked as much as Sarah in a while. Every moment spent with her was its own special torture. Her words and actions inspired huge eye rolls and anger.

I'm not a feminist. I'm a realist. In my opinion, women cannot do everything a man can do, just like men cannot do everything a woman can do. Yes, we are equals, but it's our very uniqueness that makes life interesting. There's a reason for the difference in the sexes. So when a woman like the heroine of this story, who has never done anything heroic, has no physical strength, and merely has a strong will, comes across a male who is half-man and half-dragon, who has lived for thousands of years, who is battle tested and possesses strengths far greater than any human, she shouldn't expect to be able to do what he can do. When this man knows more about the world he lives in than you because he's lived for thousands of years and until recently you didn't have a clue that the supernatural world even existed... maybe take his direction. Maybe you don't complicate things with your nonsense. Maybe tone down the harpy and act like a sensible person.

“Sarah, it’s vitally important I get that book. I need you to think about the security at work. Cameras, guards, alarms, everything.” He’d need to get schematics of the building and more. But he’d start here, with his best inside source. Of course, if she was working with the Knights, this might be nothing more than an elaborate plot to capture him. It was a risk he had to take.

“You don’t need to know that,” she began.

Darius caught her face in his hands and cradled her cheeks in his palms. “I do, Sarah, I really do. I’m not worried about my life, but those of people close to me.” That was the most he could give her.

“No, you don’t.”

Disappointment seeped into him, and he released her and straightened to his full height. “How much?”

“What?” She sounded bewildered, but he wasn’t buying it. If she wasn’t willing to give him the information he needed, it was because she wanted something. In his vast experience with humans, that meant money in one form or another. It used to be gold and jewels. Nowadays, it was more likely to be a simple bank transfer.

He put his hands on his hips and simply stared at her, trying not to get lost in her chocolate-brown eyes. They appeared so innocent. “How much for the information?”

She jumped to her feet and glared at him. “You son of a bitch. I’m risking a lot to warn you about the book and everything else.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.” No way could he let her go until he had the information he needed. “The quicker you give it to me, the faster I can pay you. Then you can leave.”

She fisted her hands at her sides. “I ought to let you pay for it.” Then she fumbled with her knapsack and yanked open the zipper. He wondered if she had a weapon of some kind, and cursed himself for not searching her earlier. Not that it would do her much good. Most conventional weapons, at least any that could fit in her bag, wouldn’t do much damage to him. But it would piss him off.

She reached inside the bag and, instead of a weapon, pulled out an old, leather-bound book. She thrust it against his stomach, and he caught it before it dropped to the floor.

“Here’s your damn book. I smuggled it out of work at great personal risk. You’re welcome.” She stepped around him and strode to the elevator. Sarah slapped her palm against the panel, but nothing happened. Only he could make it work.

Darius stared at the book and then back at the very angry woman waiting for an elevator that would never come.

An unusual sensation enveloped him, one he’d rarely felt in the thousands of years he’d been alive. It was shame with a hint of bewilderment.

He might have just made the biggest mistake of his life.

Once upon a time N.J. had the idea that she would like to quit her job at the bookstore, sell everything she owned, leave her hometown, and write romance novels in a place where no one knew her. And she did. Two years later, she went back to the bookstore and her hometown and settled in for another seven years.

One day she gave notice at her job on a Friday morning. On Sunday afternoon, she received a tentative acceptance for her first erotic romance novel and life would never be the same. N.J. has always been a voracious reader, and now she spends her days writing novels of her own. Vampires, werewolves, dragons, time-travelers, seductive handymen, and next-door neighbors with smoldering good looks—all vie for her attention. It’s a tough life, but someone’s got to live it.

Visit http://www.njwalters.com/ for more information!