Guest Review: Drakon’s Prey by N.J. Walters

Reviewer: Jen
Drakon's Prey by N.J. Walters
Series: Blood of the Drakon #2
Also in this series: Drakon's Promise, Drakon's Plunder, Drakon's Past (Blood of the Drakon, #4)

Publication Date: April 24th 2017
Genres: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 330
Add It: Goodreads
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Series Rating:

Valeriya Azarov turned her back on the family business to write and illustrate children’s books. But with a sister who leads the Knights of the Dragon, it’s impossible to get away from the secret society whose mission is to destroy and enslave dragons. When information falls into her hands along with the opportunity to save at least one of the ancient creatures, she can’t turn away any longer.

When a woman moves into the cabin above Tarrant Cooper’s secret underground lair, he’s both suspicious and intrigued. He hasn’t lasted four thousand years being careless, so when he suspects her of being a part of the Knights, the plan is to kidnap her and find out how much the organization knows about him and his brothers.

He’s drawn to Valeriya, but trusting her could get him killed. Even if she’s a pawn in the war between drakons and Knights, giving her his heart would mean forever.

It’s time for drakon brother #2! To quickly recap the premise, the series follows four half human, half dragon brothers who are being hunted by an ancient evil organization (Knights of the Dragon) that wants to capture them and use their blood to achieve immortality. Somehow, the group found brother #1, Darius, but they don’t actually know about the other three brothers. All the brothers are trying to stop the Knights without being discovered. You could certainly understand the plot if you started with this book, but you’ll get the most out of the build up if you start with book 1.

We briefly met Valeriya Azarov in book 1. She’s the sister of Karina Azarov, the ruthless leader of the Knights of the Dragon. (An Azarov has apparently long been head of the Knights; Karina is the latest.) Valeriya is nothing like her sister, however. She’s a children’s book author mostly raised by her kind-hearted grandparents, who helped keep her away from the Knights. Valeriya doesn’t actually believe in the dragon part of their mission, but she knows the Knights are bad news. Though she feels a certain warmth for her sister, Valeriya’s not stupid and recognizes that Karina probably wouldn’t hesitate to get rid of her if the need arose. When Valeriya learns the Knights are hunting someone named Darius, she decides she can’t ignore that info and goes to try and warn him. When she and brother #2, Tarrant, cross paths, he isn’t sure what to do with her. She acts innocent, but she’s the sister of their enemy. He decides to keep her with him until he figures out what is going on.

I enjoyed this book even more than book 1, mostly because of Tarrant and Valeriya. They are both so awesome. Tarrant is a tech genius and the one who’s most security conscious among the brothers. He’s built this incredible underground home that has some truly bananas security measures, which end up coming in very handy! I loved that he tried to be sensitive to Valeriya’s feelings and needs, once he started to trust her. There’s a scene where he calls up the heroine from book 1 to ask about “girl food” because he wants to make Valeriya happy and understand her needs. (And Sarah’s advice is perfection too–just ask what she wants, ha.) Valeriya is the perfect foil for him. On the surface she seems fragile, but she takes a major stand by trying to help Darius, despite the fact that she knows nothing at all about him. She just knows it’s the right thing to do, and while at first she hopes she can do it without her sister knowing, she recognizes the risk and does the right thing despite the consequences for her own life. My favorite part of this book is the way both Tarrant and Valeriya will do anything to protect the other. That kind of willingness to sacrifice is totally my catnip, and I gobbled it up.

It’s important to note that Tarrant does technically kidnap Valeriya and hold her against her will for a while. It’s partly for her own good, since she’s got bad guys after her too, but mostly it’s for Tarrant because a) he wants to find out what she knows so he can protect his brothers, b) he wants to stop her from causing trouble and c) he’s curious about her (and it doens’t hurt that he finds her hot). Honestly, it didn’t bother me much because Tarrant is part dragon, and as the books repeatedly emphasize their natural instinct is to hoard everything, including sexy ladies. Valeriya also isn’t an idiot and while there is major insta-lust, she doesn’t exactly trust him immediately either. YMMV depending on how you feel about kidnapping plots, though. The kidnapping also means most of the book takes place inside Tarrant’s underground home. There’s some action, but there’s a lot of talking, a lot of puzzling out the larger plot, and, naturally, a lot of sex time since that seems to be drakons’ favorite pastime. 

This is my favorite book in the series so far. These sexy drakon brothers are my jam, and I want more!

Grade: 4 out of 5

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