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Reviewed by Stephanie Chapman for Readers' Favorite
The first edition of G.S. Carline’s Dragon Shadows series, Blood Dragon Rising, focuses on Lisette. For fifteen years, a dragon arrived on her birthday intending to kill her, yet he never followed through. Lisette’s family dismissed her claims. Now engaged to a man for political reasons, Lisette finds Eric in the company of Mercedes, who offers to hold Lisette’s drink while Eric escorts her to the dance floor. Mercedes gives the drink back to Lisette and follows the couple outside. Lisette feels dizzy and awakens on a pirate ship. They had paid captain Rocco to take her to Count Antonio. Lisette finds herself attracted to Rocco and devises a plan to stay aboard his ship. Unfortunately, Lisette was soon to discover a secret that would tear her world even further apart.
I enjoyed the amazing depiction of Lisette’s time on the ship. G.S. Carline painted a vivid picture and I could imagine the ship speeding through the water from a vantage point in the crow's nest. The tension between Lisette and Rocco was undeniable. Chunk seemed to be a father figure to Lisette, especially in the way he encouraged her to face her fear of heights. Lisette’s thoughts of revenge fitted perfectly with her unintended role. Rocco’s plan for revenge aligned with Lisette’s, though he plotted on a larger scale. Captain Begum’s crew of all women was an interesting feature in the story. The transitioning between each scene is seamless, the dialogue is realistic, and the action scenes are frequent enough to avoid any lulls in this epic fantasy novel. I recommend Blood Dragon Rising to anyone who enjoys reading about a character who changes from a naïve girl into a formidable woman.
