To read my interview with CiCi Cordelia (the pen name of writing team Cheryl Yeko and Char Chaffin), please see the January issue of Uncaged Book Reviews.
One of January’s Top Reads.
Realm of the Dragon
CiCi Cordelia
Fantasy Romance
An ancient legend spanning eras, continents, and worlds. To some, it’s nothing more than a dream. To others, a pretty fairy tale handed down through the generations.
For those in critical need of their own happy ending, a gift.
For sheltered Lily Kiers, it’s all too real. Her escape from danger, straight into the arms of her destiny.
Thrust into a realm made of fantasy and unbridled passion, Lily faces violent resentment and jealousy from extremely powerful enemies. Amidst fierce creatures whose very existence defy all common sense, Lily pieces together a past she could never have imagined.
Claimed by Kord, Prince of Battle Draconian, their love will not be denied, even as malevolent forces plot to rip them apart
Excerpt
Dragon.
Her mouth gaped.
She lay within the curved tail of a living, breathing dragon.
I’m hallucinating. How can this be? The moment she’d stumbled across that tree, her world had turned upside-down and inside-out. Maybe I hit my head.
She blinked slowly, trying to clear the fog obscuring her memories, and muttered under her breath, “This has got to be a dream.”
The dragon pinned her with a glittering stare. Then freaked her out even more when it spoke in a low, gravelly rumble. “This is no dream, little one.”
Fresh screams poured from her throat as panic sliced through her. Lily attempted to scramble away. Where she thought she was going, she didn’t know or care, as long as she escaped. The dragon’s tail tightened around her body, effectively imprisoning her. Shivering violently, she stared up at him through her tangled hair.
Trapped.
Like an animal. Or a predator’s evening meal.
About to die. Again.
The dragon’s face loomed closer, the tip of a slender, red-tinged forked tongue protruded from between wicked fangs, and it actually tilted its head, as if curious.
If she were not so completely, absolutely terrified beyond her own sanity, she might have reached out and touched the scales covering its face. They were savagely beautiful.
The creature blinked, heavy lids flickering, and she stared into its slitted golden eyes.
“I won’t hurt you.” The dragon’s powerful voice held a soothing quality. Then it ruined the moment by leaning down to sniff her. “Mmm. You smell like apples and honey.” To her amazement, that long, forked tongue re-emerged and flicked gently along her neck. Its texture felt incongruously like velvet.
Lily managed to bite back a hysterical shriek even as her lower lip trembled. She clamped it between her teeth to steady it, before venturing, “A-Are you going to eat me?”
Every muscle and bone in her body hurt. Her world had upended itself. Beyond exhausted, she longed for this nightmare to end.
If a dragon could frown, then this dragon was definitely frowning. Its fierce expression sent additional shudders through her, and she fully expected those massive jaws to come for her at any moment.
As hard as she struggled for calm, tears leaked from her eyes when he raised long, sharp claws and reached for her. Too frightened to move, she turned her head away. The thrumming of her heart pounded through her entire body as she waited for the sharp talons to slash into her. Instead, the dragon carefully nudged her cheek until she was forced to raise her face and meet its magnetic stare.
“I said I wouldn’t hurt you.” Then slowly and gently the creature unfurled its tail, the very tip pressing against her lower back as if encouraging her to gain her feet, and held her steady until she was standing securely on the ground.
Before Lily had a chance to run, there was a bright flash of light, then a shimmering of brilliant colors. Her jaw slackened at the sight of a man standing before her.
An extremely handsome, naked man.
Uncaged Review: First of all, I’d like to thank the authors for the ARC of this book. It’s always a treat when a reader gets to read a book before it’s released.
This has to be the most fun I’ve had with a dragon fantasy book in a very long time. I’ve read quite a few different dragon worlds that are so popular within the genre right now, but this one is definitely a stand out.
Our main character – Lily, is being stalked, and after leaving her shift at a coffee shop, the man stalking her, runs her off the road and she gets out of her car and runs into the woods. Falling down, she hears whispers in her mind, and the voice coming from a very old tree. She falls over a cliff and passes out before she hits the bottom, but she never hits the bottom, she lands on the back of a dragon. When she awakens, she believes she’s still sleeping in a nightmare, even when the beautiful dragon talks to her, and then shifts into a human form. And wow, what a human. Kord, the dragon and Prince, believes he sees the one he’s been dreaming of in Lily. But Lily can only remember her name and her home, and the rest is lost to her with blinding headaches when she tries to remember. Kord and his royal family, vow to protect her as she tries to regain her memories.
Finding out she’s been thrust in the Dragon Realm from Earth, the mystery of how and why will begin to unravel. There is suspense and danger for Lily in this world, with jealousy and greed. There is also some fun humor and banter between Kord and his brother Bakka, and a warm family relationship with his mother and father, the Queen and King. I laughed out loud at some of Bakka’s antics, and I was engaged throughout the story. Well written with an original storyline, developed characters and world, and some interesting new fantasy critters on the side. And who doesn’t love a dragon? Reviewed by Cyrene
5 Stars
