Vampire Dragon by Annette Blair
Review by Cynthia F. (frazerc)
This is a fun paranormal read with an action plot. Third book in the Works Like Magick series and closely related to the first book Naked Dragon.
Practicing good witch Vivica has a calling, she collects the strays she calls chameleons who arrive on earth from other planes and times and helps them acclimate and find jobs. To this end she has developed a step-by-step series of lessons which will help the individual understand the technology, language and culture of the current here-and-now. Too bad our hero has a touch of ADD, refuses to do the lessons in order and is much more interested in returning to his new found heartmate than finding out silly stuff about laws and governments and where Canada is.
Meet Darkwyn Dragonelli – an ex-Roman soldier who spent the last dozen centuries as a dragon on the Isle of Stars – now returned to earth in the 21st century. He arrives naked [and fortunately BEHIND the bar] of the Salem’s Bite Me pub. The very first person he meets is a masked woman with long purple hair dressed as a vampire – and his heart says ‘mate’ while his head says ‘maybe’. Vivica arrives – man sized cloak in hand – and escorts him out.
Bronte is the owner of the building which he materialized in – it houses Bite Me [vampire pub], Fangs for the Memories [vampire themed fun/haunted house], and Drak, a private nightclub for real vampires, LARP vampires, and the occasional wannabe. She plays the Vampire Mistress at Drak’s and she really needs a Vampire Master to act as host, maitre d’, and bouncer. And the now-cloaked stranger looked like he really qualified – now if she could only trust him with her real problems…
Darkwyn blows off most of the indoctrination process – including the part where he was supposed to learn to be circumspect about his origins. The result is his first night as Vampire Master he tells the truth to a slimy reporter/talk show host which then gets him, Bronte, and her nephew Zachary, spread across the front pages of various newspapers under the headline ‘Vampire Dragon?’
What the book has is a great plot with fun characters. The plot has enough twists and turns to satisfy: involving a wedding, an evil witch armed with the weather, death scenes, reincarnation and the Canadian mob. The supporting characters are delightful. The human [well mostly human] cast includes 12-year-old Zachary who seems to know far more than he should, Vivica who keeps trying to ‘orchestrate’ things with great intentions but poor success, and Darkwyn’s two dragon brothers who preceded him into our world. The animal [again, mostly animal] cast includes Puck the parrot who quotes Ambrose Bierce while giving advice, two winged kittens who are occasionally dangerous and sometimes just kittens, and Jaggidy an invisible, hand-sized dragon elder who came through the veil with Darkwyn and is enamored of Bronte and her magnificent cleavage.
What the book hasn’t is vampires. Oh, they’re there but play no major roles – they only have bit parts. So if you’re looking for vampires, try another book. If you’re looking for a fun, fairly fast read – Vampire Dragon has your name on it.
Can you read this book without reading Bedeviled Angel or Naked Dragon? Yes. There is almost no overlap between Bedeviled Angel and Vampire Dragon. Naked Dragon gives you some additional insight into Works Like Magick and the whole Roman soldier/dragon/dragonshifter thing but Vampire Dragon gives you enough to skip it if you need to.
Works Like Magick
1. Naked Dragon (2010)
2. Bedeviled Angel (2010)
3. Vampire Dragon (2011)
I find myself more and more intrigued with paranormal genre, my daughter loves them. I just might have to take the plunge. Great review thanks!