Customer Reviews

Paradox

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Courtesy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques

In Fly with a Dragon by Rosemary Laurey, Myfanwy has been chosen as the next virgin sacrifice to the dragon plaguing her village. Terrified of what is to come, but standing brave in hopes of saving her home, she is prepared to make a bargain. What she finds out when Arragh claims her is unlike anything she expected. Now comes the time for an awakening like Myfanwy never expected.

Who would have ever thought a dragon could be so sexy? Arragh proves everything we know about dragons may not be true in this tantalizing fairy tale. Laurey has woven her own world of dragons that is sure to capture the senses of her readers. Arragh needs Myfanwy to save his kind and his home. As she discovers all those stories she's been told about dragons aren't true, she is free to give herself over fully to this sensual new world. Readers will thrill at the fiery love that develops between Arragh and Myfanwy as she learns to Fly with a Dragon.

In Heart of the Raven by J C Wilder, Dani's entire life has been one of imprisonment. Sold as a slave to the Overseer, by her own father, she swears to gain her freedom at any costs. Haaken is cursed, forced to spend much of his life in the form of a raven. Time is running out for him to find the one person who can free his soul forever. Now he must convince Dani to willingly give herself to him so they can both be free.

Curses which can only be broken by true love... this is a fairy tale so many of us love. What could be better than love conquering all to save a soul? Here Wilder explores this concept with a passionate story in which a life can only be redeemed by the Heart of a Raven. Haaken is desperate to liberate himself from the binds of the curse. Dani is strong willed and determined to be free at any costs. What they come to learn together, at great delight to the readers, is that sometimes only by total submission of the heart can a person ever be free.

I love how each duo of tales in the Paradox books by Rosemary Laurey and J C Wilder center around one element of nature. Here we experience pleasures of the wind by spending time with a dragon and a raven in a truly sensual and fascinating pair of tales.

© Kelley A. Hartsell, December 2006. All rights reserved.

Throughout this entire novel I felt like I was watching a badly acted out soap opera with an odd dragon and a bald heroine. First off it wasn't original - virgin tied to a tree as a sacrifice. Hungry villain villagers are trying to appease falls in love instead of hunger. Yeah. Deja vu big time. If you want a little erotic entertainment, by all means partake, but don't expect to be intelligently titillated. But, than I wouldn't watch a porno movie and expect to see academy award winning acting right, so what the heck do I know right?

I alternately loved this book and hated this book at the same time. I loved the second story in the book, I loved how she was fiesty, independent, but still a damsel in need of rescuing. The story line was amazing and the world created was very enthralling. The first story almost had me stop reading the book entirely. I did not like the character at all. The story line moved way too fast for me, (I know its a short story but how can she be rushed from the home she grew up in to a world of dragons and be totally okay with it?) it just seemed way too unrealistic of how a character would behave in that situation. I didn't like it. But the second story is why I gave it 5 stars. I wish it was its own book so I could have read more of it.

The 2nd book was better than the 1st. If it hadn't been for the 2nd book, I would have been giving this a 1 star. The 1st book didn't make much sense to me. It really had no begin or ending. I had no real understanding about either of the two main characters. The 2nd book was much better. The only problem with it was the ending. It just stopped. I don't think the store was tied up well. But even with the ending problem, it was a lot better than the first book. The first was just an idea with no meat to it.

I really enjoyed both of the books. Both introduce you to unique worlds and of course have some steamy scenes.

If these hadn't been free...I'd be upset. But they were free to me, on my Kindle, so I guess I can't complain.

PARADOXES contains two novellas by two authors. They're similar in that they both start with some very grim situation - in one, a girl tied to a tree as a village's sacrifice to a dragon and in the other, a girl sold in slavery to a foreboding traveler - but quickly transform into very sweet, positive, gentle sexual scenarios. Both books had a bait-and-switch quality to me, where I started out reading one book and somehow ended up in another. They are erotic, and feature prominent sex scenes, which are of the "lavish the lady with exquisite care and see to her pleasure above all things," type.

FLY WITH A DRAGON by Rosemary Laurey is the first, much shorter novella about a virgin tied to a tree and left in a sacred grove as a sacrifice to a dragon. Myfanwy was selected because she was nearly the only virgin left in her backwards, medieval-style village - all the other girls took steps to make sure they weren't eligible. She's terrified, but she doesn't need to be: it turns out that dragons are technologically and culturally advanced creatures whose biggest quirk is a strong dislike for body hair. After the fright of her journey to the dragon's home, Myfanwy's only challenge is deciding which luxury to enjoy first: hot water, good food, a comfortable bed, loving sex.

HEART OF A RAVEN by J.C. Wilder maintains its dark atmosphere for a little longer than the first novella. Dani is a vagabond, who has spent her short life traveling aimlessly with her nasty, brutish father and brother. Her life is unspeakably horrible; her father keeps her in chains so she can't run away, and she sleeps on a grass mat under her father's ramshackle wagon even in freezing weather. Meanwhile, her father and brother drink and gamble. When two wealthy travelers stop for a while at the campfire, Dani's father and brother think that they can use loaded dice to cheat the gentleman out of their gold; instead, the travelers win again and again. Broke as he is, Dani's father sells her as a slave to the gentlemen in order to cancel out his debt.

For a short while Dani is uncertain of her fate with her new master Haaken, but soon enough he spots a birthmark on her back singling her out as "the one" who can break his family's curse. Haaken is cursed to spend his days as a raven unless he can "find his true love and learn the importance of love." He tries to break the curse by cheating, thinking it will be enough if he marries Dani and makes sure she lives in luxury, but it turns out that to break the curse he has to make an emotional breakthrough, too.

I don't normally go for romance but this was free. Turned out to be a pleasant surprise.

"Fly With A Dragon" by Rosemary Laurey
Myfanwy attempts to shore her trepidation as she waits helplessly to become the dragon's next victim. She had witnessed the charred remains of his last two victims and was determined to face her inevitable death with courage. How had she, the daughter of the village chieftain come to this? It had been the dragon's request for a virgin that had sealed her fate.

The dragon of Cader Bala is most pleased with his offering. He has little respect for humans, but this feisty little one seemed different. Arragh could not help admire Myfawnwy, who had faced him with unusual bravery. She would not be his victim, for in truth dragons did not kill. He had a different fate in store for her. She would be the hope of his people, his mate. The pleasure of his lips on her body gives her pause to wonder at her true fate as they wing their way to Cader Ambris, the fire mountain.
With a dragon it could only be hot, hot, hot!

Whew! Have some ice water handy. If this extremely erotic fantasy doesn't make you break out in a sweat, nothing will!

"Heart of a Raven" by J. C. Wilder
Ms. Wilder has taken a woman of pure heart, and passionate soul, and transformed her into a woman capable of winning the hearts of her lover's people while saving his tortured soul with the power of her love. Never has a fairytale sizzled like this one! HEART OF THE RAVEN is a highly sensual combination of Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella, which will leave readers yearning for more of its kind.

Dani had the misfortune of being born into a pack of shiftless travelers, a caste to too lowly to be even considered common. Drunks, gamblers, and thieves, they drifted from town to town quickly wearing out their welcome. Dani dreamed of getting away. Her biggest fear is that she'll be sold into slavery, as her older sister had been.

That is exactly what happens one night when two well dressed strangers ask to share their fire. Seeing a chance to make some easy money, her father and uncle invite the two men to gamble. Dani's uncle plays them deeply debt and Con offers the men Dani in payment.

Finding herself in much changed circumstances, Dani felt she could do almost anything for Haaken. But he is the Overseer of the city, descended from a long line of overseers, all cursed. The tale of the curse is told in stained glass in the Overseer's bedchamber. Long ago Haaken's ancestor had proven to be a heartless man. A curse was cast upon him and the first born sons of his descendants, to be a man by night, and a raven by day until he could give his heart fully to his one true love.

But Haaken is anything but a beast. He is well loved by his siblings, his men, and his people. He is well on his way to winning Dani's heart too. Can she be "The One"? Can he afford to risk his heart? As his thirtieth birthday approaches, and the curse threatens to swallow what's left of his humanity, how can he not?

If you've ever dreamed of living passionately ever after, this one's for you!

Leslie Tramposch ~ PNR Reviews

There are two stories in Paradox, both incredibly great reads and hot to boot. Fly with the Dragon by Rosemary Laurey starts you out with a new view of Dragons through Arragh and Myfanwy sees that different is better in her case. Heart of the Raven by J C Wilder shows Dani eventually capturing the heart of the tough Haaken and breaking a long-standing family curse in the process.

Once I received this book I could not put it down until I was good and finished. Great old story premises for both but totally hot and new by these two authors - definitely need to check out their backlist.

Courtesy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques

In Fly with a Dragon by Rosemary Laurey, Myfanwy has been chosen as the next virgin sacrifice to the dragon plaguing her village. Terrified of what is to come, but standing brave in hopes of saving her home, she is prepared to make a bargain. What she finds out when Arragh claims her is unlike anything she expected. Now comes the time for an awakening like Myfanwy never expected.

Who would have ever thought a dragon could be so sexy? Arragh proves everything we know about dragons may not be true in this tantalizing fairy tale. Laurey has woven her own world of dragons that is sure to capture the senses of her readers. Arragh needs Myfanwy to save his kind and his home. As she discovers all those stories she's been told about dragons aren't true, she is free to give herself over fully to this sensual new world. Readers will thrill at the fiery love that develops between Arragh and Myfanwy as she learns to Fly with a Dragon.

In Heart of the Raven by J C Wilder, Dani's entire life has been one of imprisonment. Sold as a slave to the Overseer, by her own father, she swears to gain her freedom at any costs. Haaken is cursed, forced to spend much of his life in the form of a raven. Time is running out for him to find the one person who can free his soul forever. Now he must convince Dani to willingly give herself to him so they can both be free.

Curses which can only be broken by true love... this is a fairy tale so many of us love. What could be better than love conquering all to save a soul? Here Wilder explores this concept with a passionate story in which a life can only be redeemed by the Heart of a Raven. Haaken is desperate to liberate himself from the binds of the curse. Dani is strong willed and determined to be free at any costs. What they come to learn together, at great delight to the readers, is that sometimes only by total submission of the heart can a person ever be free.

I love how each duo of tales in the Paradox books by Rosemary Laurey and J C Wilder center around one element of nature. Here we experience pleasures of the wind by spending time with a dragon and a raven in a truly sensual and fascinating pair of tales.

© Kelley A. Hartsell, December 2006. All rights reserved.