"A fantastic romantic , fantasy suspense with a delightful ethnic twist"
In spite of the whimsical beliefs of the grandmother who
raised her, Carol Juan is firmly grounded in the "real." She
is a ruthless business woman, whose major goal in life is to
take the family restaurant business national so that the
loved ones who took her in and raised her after her parents'
death would never want for anything. It was a debt of honor.
She had no time for anything else, especially not romance.
Not that men were often attracted to her strong, relentless
type. Now if only she could convince her grandmother to take
the original Ming Ue's Dim Sum restaurant into the modern
age. But Ming Ue believes in traditional values. She also
believes in the impossible things like magic and dragons.
She even claimed that a few of their friends like Caleb,
Malcolm and Carol's best friend Lisa were dragons. No, Carol
certainly didn't believe in dragons, that is, until a tall
and gorgeous, naked, red headed man accosted her in the
alley behind Ming Ue's and accused her of summoning him. Seth, who claims to be a fire dragon, believes her to be a
powerful Dragon Master who had ripped him from his beloved
Dragonspace to do her bidding. He is not new to the
experience although he's never before taken human form.
Carol swears she's done nothing of the kind, possesses no
magic whatsoever, yet somehow the song of his true name is
wrapped around her brain and she can't seem to let it go now
that he's here. Though he should be furious, Seth is
curiously drawn to the dark haired, almond eyed,
businesslike beauty. He is like no man she's ever known,
capable of bringing out her wild side and at the same time
touching her heart. When it becomes apparent that Seth had actually been
summoned by an old nemesis, one bound up with the Chinese
gang responsible for her parents' death, the two become
determined to draw her power forth to defeat their mutual enemy.
Unfortunately this is not going to be an easy task as Carol
is wholly unprepared and it would appear that a powerful
demon god is involved, as well as the ancient Dragon Master
who'd summoned Seth. It will take the help of all of her
family and friends, magical and otherwise to get her up to
speed with her latent abilities and, as the Baku Axel
explains, a personal sacrifice as well. Carol has no desire
to lose any of her friends, most particularly not the hotter
than Hades fire dragon she's come to love. Will she be able
to master her power in time to save them all? It is said that if you love something you must set it free
and the only way Carol can be sure that Seth's love for her
is real is to let him go. Will she find the strength to do
so, and if she does will he return to her? I love that fact that although this novel is a complete
romance in itself, the story also continues the world that
Ms. James has created with her previous two dragon novels,
DRAGON HEAT and THE BLACK DRAGON. I strongly recommend that
these be read before delving into THE DRAGON MASTER. Carol,
her grandmother and their connections in San Francisco's
Chinatown have appeared previously and these novels will
bring one up to speed with the back story. The black, golden and
silver dragons who are Carol's close friends are featured in
these. Once one has read these, Carol's story flows quite
naturally and though I've loved each and every one of those
sexy, arrogant dragons, I think one will find Seth to be the
hottest of them all. No pun intended. For a fantastic
romantic, fantasy suspense with a delightful ethnic twist I
recommend THE DRAGON MASTER.
Reviewed by Leslie Tramposch
Posted December 12, 2008
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The power is aroused. The passion burns.
**A PNR Staff Recommended Read** Carol Juan doesn't really believe that her grandmother's friends are dragons, though she'll admit that Caleb and Malcolm are unusual. But when a Fire Dragon, a very rare creature who can not only take human form but turn himself into pure flame, seeks her out, she has to put her disbelief behind her. The arrogant and wild Seth teaches Carol not only about fire dragons, but about her own latent mage powers that pulled him instinctively to her. The secret of the Fire Dragon might help Carol win the day or be the means to her destruction.
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