Dancing with Dragons

Never Deal with Dragons #2

by Lorenda Christensen

If Carol Jenski knows anything, it's fashion—and it's not in fashion to consort with dragons, even though they've coexisted with humans since World War III. Still, she would never have agreed to take part in a plot against them. Now a dragon lord has called for her head, her boyfriend is MIA and she's been abandoned in a foreign country.

Only reporter Daniel Wallent is on Carol's side…sort of. He offers his assistance if she helps him investigate his latest story. He'll need Carol's language skills to infiltrate an organization run by one of the most dangerous and secretive dragons in the world.

Escaping one sociopathic dragon's claws only to walk into another's is an insane risk—and so is falling for Daniel. Posing as his blushing—and very affectionate—new bride as cover soon leads to an all-too-real attraction. But fighting off dragons and her desire for Daniel may be more of a challenge than Carol can handle….

Genres: Paranormal Romance, Dragons, Urban Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal, Shapeshifters

184 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 17, 2014

About the author

A native of Eastern Oklahoma, Lorenda lives with her husband and two sons in a house that feels far too small during the stay-inside winter months. Lorenda loves chocolate, hates snakes, and despite living two years in Bangalore next-door to a native preparer of Indian cuisine, cannot cook anything but ground beef. She is a recovering nail biter, and is currently celebrating five years bite-
free.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Buddy read with Angela (who thankfully enjoyed it a lot more than I did!)

I hate not finishing a book, especially when it's part of a series that I think has a lot of potential but I just can't bring myself to carry on with this one. It says a lot when I start making excuses not to read because I'm not enjoying a book and that's exactly what happened here. I put it to one side and 3 weeks later I still couldn't make myself pick it back up again.

I made it through 66% of the story before I stopped reading so I feel like I gave it a fair shot but the plot was incredibly slow moving and I was bored out of my mind. The only time I wasn't bored is when I was raging at the actions of both the hero and the heroine.

Carol is completely shallow and pretty damn stupid, she lusts over Daniel from the moment she meets him even he acts like a complete ass towards her and lets not forget that she already has a boyfriend! OK so we know her boyfriend is a complete twat but she spends most of her time trying to defend him and saying how wonderful he is while the rest of her internal monologue is about how hot Daniel is and how wrong it is that she's attracted to him. I just wanted to shake some sense into her.

As for Daniel, well let's just say I wouldn't wish him on my worst enemy. He bullies her and emotionally manipulates her into dangerous situations just so he can get a story. She has just been released from hospital after spending a week in a coma, she is still covered in bruises, she only has the clothes she was wearing, no ID, no money and no clue who to trust but he threatens to just leave her in the middle of a strange country if she doesn't do what he wants. He justifies it by saying "Listen. I'm not trying to be a dick about this." Excuse me Daniel but if you weren't being a dick then you wouldn't have felt the need to say that.

When she does what he wants he buys her pretty clothes and new shoes and suddenly Carol completely forgets about the way he acted towards her - because of course a new designer wardrobe is the best apology anyone could ever give someone as shallow and pathetic as her.

Quite frankly the two of them deserve each other. I'm not sure if they'll get a happily ever after but I'm kind of hoping that they both get eaten by dragons before the end of the book so I guess you could say that I'm not buying their romance!

[BookAddict ✒ La Crimson Femme · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chased by dragons, accused as a dragon killer, set up by your boyfriend, what else can go wrong for Carol Jenski? Ah yes, all her beautiful new designer clothing she purchased in Budapest are now lost to her. Even the new shoes are gone. This is what depresses her most. Carol Jenski is in a world of hurt as she's barely survived a dragon attack. She wakes up in a hospital confused and completely ignorant of the allegations against her. When her dire situation is revealed, her boyfriend Richard is long gone and she's now depending on a suspicious reporter.

Daniel Wallent is a reporter who smells a big story. He finds Carol and wants an exclusive with her boyfriend Richard. When Richard gives him the slip, he settles for Carol. From a character standpoint, Carol is a bit appalling. She admittedly makes bad choices in lovers and on top of it, she comes across as both stupid and shallow. The first half of the story, she's a TSTL character who should be killed off just so the readers can stop listening to her whine about her red hair chopped off. Vain much?

Daniel is a shady character at first and someone I wanted to kill off immediately. Many of these so called reporters nowadays are merely tabloid fiction writers. They have no morals and don't understand the concept of research. Personally, I find most of these "reporters" despicable and this rubs off on my view of Daniel.

The reader must suspend disbelief on how Carol and Daniel escape out of Budapest and enter India. Because it is a bit far-fetched. However, once in India, the story really picks up. The conflict soon becomes apparent. Ms. Christensen does a nice job of creating it. It is a bit rushed in the setup and execution. My recommendation would have been to cut the first fifty percent of the book down by half. Then spend the middle section focused on building out this conflict and what is going on to India's Dragon Lord. The resolution of this conflict is anticlimactic as it resolves within a few pages. This is a bit of a letdown.

The issue with Carol's situation is also resolved so quickly and too easily. It also makes the North American Dragon Lord look stupid. Because when the real villain is revealed to the Dragon Lord, he seems not to believe it and instead of completing thorough sleuthing, he is easily misled. This discredits the dragons in North America. It makes them look inept with logic, strategy and ability to assess this situation correctly. Basically, they look weak. If I think they look weak, what do the other dragon lords think? This is a plot problem which I believe Ms. Christensen needs to address. I could go on about the perception of the India Dragon Lord too. She's coming across as weak and easily controlled despite the reader told over and over again she's strong. When the actions and results don't match the story, it will be hard for the reader to buy into it.

Still, this is a quick read with characters that I ended up growing to like. I can't say I exactly admired them, but they did grow on me. This paranormal romance is recommended for dragon lovers.

*provided by NetGalley

[Lynn Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lorenda Christensen is back with the second entry in her DRACIM series, and I found Dancing With Dragons even stronger than its predecessor. Picking up right where Never Deal With Dragons left off, this installment follows Carol Jenski, a secondary character from the first book, on a snarky and romantic adventure of her own.

In the first novel, Carol fell in love with Richard, a leader at DRACIM and man believed to be a true pioneer in dragon-human relations in North America. As readers of the first book will recall, he is really working to destroy dragons and as his plot was partially discovered, he has framed Carol. Now with a price on her head, she's on the run to escape trial and possible execution while trying to prove her innocence.

While on the run, she crosses paths with reporter Daniel Wallent, who helps her out. Sure, he's also trying to get a story and so his help originally comes at a price, but Carol ends up being more than just a means to an end for him. The quest to clear her name takes both of them to Bangalore, where Carol is able to put her dragonspeaking abilities to work as a translator for the local dragon lord. Not only does she discover that the dragons she fears have more to them than meets the eye, she also uncovers some intrigues in the Bangalore dragon lord's court. And of course, Daniel starts to see her as more than just a source. Thankfully, he also starts evolving into less of a jerk and more of a hero as well.

As with its predecessor, Dancing With Dragons is told in first person - and clears one big hurdle right away. The first book in this series had a narrator with a clever, snarky voice. Carol's voice also has a humorous and snarky touch to it, but manages to be different from the first, and I was glad that Christensen convinced me as a reader that someone different was telling this story.
This is a partial review. You can find the complete text at All About Romance: http://likesbooks.com/cgi-bin/bookRev...

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is a great world with dragons that live with humans. When I read the first book, I thought was more of a UF, because that is how the story read. More action that a standard PNR novel. I think this world is great.

In this story, there is a huge difference from most PNR novels. Both hero and heroine are human. Still makes for a great story as they deal with the dragon world.

We have the heroine who has been charged with treason against dragons. She is not able to return home. A journalist who believes she is not the one at fault has offered to help research who the real traitor is. He only wants the exclusive story. They decide to hide out in India and pretend to be a married couple while trying to research in a particular dragon's territory.

Although, this story seemed a little slow in the beginning, it really picks up. I think the overall story is better than the first book. You can see how the author's abilities have improved over book one. I can't wait to get to book three. I have no idea who the hero and heroine will be, but the world is so interesting, I just can't wait to get more of it.

[Feminista · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

In a world where genetically modified dragons rule territories, the attempted destruction of the dragon lords is considered particularly heinous. Carol Jenski knows this fact and so when she is wanted for the very same reason, she joins forces with a reporter, Daniel Wallent to uncover the truth and hopefully, in the process, absolve her of the allegations.

The setting of this novel was intriguing. The plot kept me engaged and the characters were fun to read about as they were stuck in a love-hate relationship.

I would recommend this novel to paranormal romance lovers, especially those with a taste for dragons!

ARC Courtesy of NetGalley and Carina Press

[Marlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

This dual review was originally published at Reading Reality

Cass: I deeply - and unexpectedly - loved the everloving shit out of Never Deal with Dragons. (Though I still maintain it was inappropriately classified as PNR, and was really UF. Because I must justify this to myself in some way.)

Marlene: Whatever you want to call it, I read Never Deal with Dragons just because you liked it. I was flabbergasted that you liked anything with even a smidgen of romance!

Cass: That’s entirely fair. I read it because I was having a bad week, and I “knew” she’d ruin my dragons. I wanted to hate it and write and ALL CAPS RAGE REVIEW.

Then it turned out to be awesome. The romance wasn’t love-at-first-sight. It wasn’t the driving plot of the book. Myrna was brilliant and capable. Trian acknowledged his douchebaggery, and made appropriate amends. (And he continued to do so as a bit player here in Dancing with Dragons.)

Anyways. With all this in mind, I was actually quite excited to jump into Dancing with Dragons. Though I struggled with the realization that this would make THREE goddamn PNR series that I enjoy (see also: The Edge by Ilona Andrews and The Iron Seas by MelJean Brook).

Marlene: Never Deal with Dragons was terrific (see review)! Myrna was a great heroine who used her brains rather than her brawn to be absolutely kick-ass awesome. And there was none of the dreaded insta-love. I don’t mind in the least following another PNR series (well, duh) but it has to be good. This one got off to a great start, but then, we get Dancing with Dragons, and let’s just say the sophmore book does not live up to the promise of the first one.

Cass: I am absolutely devastated to agree. The opening chapter was riveting - a dragon car chase! BAM AMAZING. GIVE ME MORE. I was practically squealing with excitement (much to the consternation of the family trapped on the plane with me.)

Then Carol wakes up in the hospital (post-head trauma), and the whole thing went careening downhill. I actually stopped to re-read the end of Never Deal with Dragons, because I recalled that Carol knew what Richard had done, and chose to go with him anyways. Also that Richard was deeply and obsessively in love with her blah blah blah dragon killing terrorists need love too. I was correct. Although the author seems to have forgotten.

Carol went from dragonscript expert with shitass taste in men to every possible blonde stereotype in the book (never mind that she’s a ginger.) She threw a goddamn public hissy fit in the hospital when she discovered the surgeons had to cut her hair in order to deal with the head trauma and possible bleeding her her brain. You are alive. WHO CARES ABOUT YOUR HAIR?! It didn’t help that this was a recurring bitch for her throughout the rest of the book. Woe is me, people think I’m a terrorist, I’m a fugitive from the law, and my boyfriend ditched me….but MY HAIR IS GONE!

Basically, I couldn’t stand her. She was TSTL.

Marlene: I’m sitting here watching the rant appear on my screen and just nodding. Or chortling.

Carol was such a poor choice for a heroine, even if it was set up in the first book. I don’t care. It wasn’t just her repeated bad taste in men (it happens) but that she seemed to have regressed from the first book, possibly back to the teenage hormonal-drama stage.

The repeated hair-fits--either screeching or bewailing her short-haired fate, seemed stupid and short-sighted considering that she was on the run for her life through the entire story. WTF?

Repeating her awful judgment of the male of the species by continuing to believe Richard the douche after he abandons her in the hospital in Budapest, leaving her with nothing but the hospital gown on her front. I’d be sending a dragon after his ass, not continuing to justify his assholishness.

Cass: Now, I’ll admit I was willing to give Carol a wee bit of a temporary pass due to the traumatic brain injury. But when you find out that you are wanted for questioning in connection with a terrorist attack that took place while you were in a coma, you TURN YOURSELF IN. Why? Because you have IRREFUTABLE PROOF YOU ARE INNOCENT. A hospital full of people who can document your coma is what we call an airtight alibi.

Or you can take the Carol route, and climb onto the back of a reporter's motorcycle while wearing nothing but your hospital gown and go on the lam with him in a foreign country.

I guess I should take a moment to lay off Carol, and point out that my usually brilliant and competent Myrna failed to take the requisite 5 minutes on the phone to explain to Carol just what the bloody hell was going on - and instead said, “Oh hey, glad that coma’s over! I suggest you get lost. Bye! Call me. Love you.”

Regardless of Myrna’s temporary failure as a friend, Carol really should have started making logical decisions at some point in the book. But she never did. She repeatedly refused to take advantage of possible routes to immediately clear her name, did not even consider that Richard was guilty, and instead felt SUPER BAD about giving Mr. Sexy Reporter blue balls that one time. Which was like, totally, the worst thing ever! Because how could he cope with such pain?! (Clearly, she’s never heard of masturbation.)

Marlene: If he didn’t go into the shower and take care of business, then they are absolutely perfect for each other, because that would make him equally TSTL. Which would have been the end of the story, because he’s clearly the brains of the outfit, such as they are.

After all, he keeps manipulating Carol (not that that’s not a piece of cake!) and everyone else he comes into contact with. I could sort of understand why she believed him in the first place, but that she kept on believing as his cover got more elaborate, not so much. If his paper could supposedly afford her new designer wardrobe, why didn’t the budget run to a dragonspeaker?

Not to mention, the simple idea that she accepted that it was better to go deceive a second dragon lord rather than finding a straightforward way to get out of her problems with the first one was just bizarre.

If this was intended as screwball comedy, it falls heavily on the screwball side.

Cass: Carol’s stupidity was clearly a plot contrivance. In Never Deal with Dragons, she was put forth as an incomparable language expert, contract genius, and diplomat extraordinaire. Getting that Carol to engage in wee bit of international espionage while under investigation for bioterrorism would have been such a pain in the ass. Ergo, moronic Carol.

By the time we got to the James Bond portion of the book, I was sorely tempted to just stop reading. Carol clearly wasn’t going to get eaten by a dragon, which she richly deserved, and I was done. However, in this respect, her stupidity finally paid off, and we got an actual interesting and engaging dragon plot! Much like the first book, I was fascinated with dragon society, dragon laws, dragon customs, and dragon-human interactions.

Why couldn’t Carol have turned herself in at the beginning of the book, cleared her name (with ease), and been sweet-talked by whatever sexy piece of mancake they had on hand to go undercover for Lord Relobu in India and help avert another international dragon incident?! We could have gotten to the actual plot that much faster, and had a plausible reason for it, while capitalizing on Carol’s overactive hormones and shit judgement all in one go. She still could have hooked up with Mr. Sexy Reporter for their extremely tepid love scenes. And I could have spent more time actually caring about the book.

Marlene: Just in case anyone has missed the point, we don’t like the version of Carol that comes out of her trauma-induced coma in Dancing with Dragons!

Cass: We loved the actual dragon parts of the book! Especially the interlude in India.

Marlene: The Indian dragon lord and the whole story of the plots and counterplots to take over/save/protect the ex-Chinese dragon lord’s former territory was awesome. (Carol did finally get a clue once the entire compound was captured by the rapacious would-be dragon lord and his cronies.

Cass: Trian made a bloody brilliant entrance at this point! The suffering we endured at the beginning was largely worth his hilarious machinations and manipulation of the siege-laying dragonfolk.

Marlene: And just as Trian is resolving everything, Carol of course loses faith in the rescue that she set up and asks him to cart her back to the U.S. This is the point where she should have stuck it out, but Carol continues her pattern of making the worst decisions possible every time.

ARRGGHH!

Cass: I can’t spoil the ending for you, but let’s just make it known that the lawyer has OPINIONS about the Trial of the Century. I believe there is a military term appropriate to this situation: FUBAR.

Escape Rating: Carol gets a D for dumbfuck, but all the other parts (dragons!!!!) are pushing A material (except Lord Relobu. He’s clearly infected with Carol’s stupidity by association). I’ll split the difference and go with a C+. The + is dragon-induced.

Marlene: Carol is way too TSTL to make a half-way decent heroine. Adding the insta-love trope between her and Mr. Sexy Reporter as an attempt to justify why she goes on the lam with him does not make things better. (And some of his behavior does border on TSTL, it doesn’t take much brains to seem smarter than this version of Carol)

Escape Rating C: The dragon politics and backstabbing (or is that front-clawing) were generally awesome, but the choice of Carol as point-of-view character made the non-dragon parts very rough going. If she screeched one more time about her hair or her post-coma lack of muscle tone I was seriously tempted to hope a dragon would eat her. Maybe there’s hope for the next book?

Cass: Note: Stunningly for a PNR, there was no obvious set-up for the next protagonist. Maybe Myrna’s new assistant back in Tulsa? Or one of the bit players in India?

[Coral · Rating 3 out of 5]

1st POV. Good plot but frustrating characters.

[Jaclyn]

Not bad but not my thing. DNF at page 71.

[Ken Liljengren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank You Ms Christensen

Ken

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the story but the book was poorly edited with many grammatical errors, and why was Carol referred to as Mrs Green as Julia?

[Gail Koger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it

Very entertaining story. Great characters and hiss worthy villain s. This is a great series and I highly recommend it

[Tory Michaels · Rating 5 out of 5]

I reviewed the first book in this series on another blog (under a different name). This woman won a Golden Heart in 2012 with Never Deal With Dragons and I thoroughly agree with the fact that she deserved the Golden Heart. There is fantastic world-building to be found in Ms. Christensen's books, an interesting explanation for how dragons came to be, and a completely transformed world in the fact of the birth of the dragon race.

This book takes place overlapping the very end of Never Deal. I read that book more than a year ago, so my memory of it is very fuzzy, though as it turned out not quite as fuzzy as I'd thought once I got into reading this book. The book starts out with Caroline in the hospital in the aftermath of an attack which (as it turned out) was one of the climactic final events in the first book, and she's being looked after by Richard Green (who, SPOILER ALERT!!!, was identified as the major villain from the first book). I was confused, given I remembered Richard being the villain, but as the book continued, his presence here made sense.

Daniel - I was thoroughly prepared to dislike him and was initially expecting him to be the villain (no, I rarely actually remember reading the blurbs before hand or I would have known he was the hero) after his first appearance in the hospital at Carol's bedside. In the end though, he turned out to be a great guy and really loyal to those he's working for. Carol definitely gets a good one when she lands him in the end.

This book starts out in Hungary, but the bulk of it is spent in India, which made for a nice break in the American settings of so many of the books I read. Ms. Christensen gave an expansive description of the female dress of Indian women and given how much I love this saris and salwar kameez, it was fantastic to finally get an idea of how intricate the clothes really are.

The dragon lords make for some formidable foes, but Ms. Christensen also shows their very human (pardon the expression) emotions and side with the Indian dragon lord Savitra and the dragon's fierce loyalty to her mate. That (so to speak) humanizing of the dragons just made me fall in love that much more with this world and its dragons and humans trying to rebuild the world after the human/dragon wars (aka World War III in a form no one ever saw coming).

I dearly hope there will be more books in this series and look forward to finding more by Ms. Christensen in the future (whether or not they're dragon books). Five thrilled dragon stars for this book!

Book provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[All Things Urban Fantasy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy

DANCING WITH DRAGONS, the second book in the DRACIM series, follows in the footsteps of it’s slightly spunkier predecessor – it’s got dragons, predictable action, and romance. All of these things are obvious. Having the two main characters be humans though really changed the dynamic from NEVER DEAL WITH DRAGONS, and left me a little disappointed.

I really enjoy the DRACIM world, as it is a very different setting from most paranormal romances these days. The dragons and dragon politics didn’t feel as prominent in this book, however, as the book obviously focused on the relationship between Carol and Daniel, two humans. Carol was DANCING WITH DRAGONS‘ saving grace. Christensen clearly knows how to write a great heroine. Carol was enjoyable to read, put in a crummy position due to previous bad taste in men, but she just kept persisting, doing whatever it took to get her name cleared. She’s smart, and that definitely shows through. Plus, she wasn’t wishy-washy, she acted when necessary, and she never gave the impression of fawning after Daniel. Daniel isn’t ever going to achieve book boyfriend status but he was a good hero. He was polite, nice to Carol, and really sweet. Their relationship evolved over such a short amount of time that I had a hard time buying it, but the moments between them were tender and cute, which definitely helped me gloss over the time period.

One issue I had with NEVER DEAL WITH DRAGONS persisted in DANCING WITH DRAGONS – there was a serious tendency toward predictability. In a romance novel that can be good, or bad, depending on what how you’re feeling that day. Luckily, this time around, it started getting less predictable about halfway through, which I appreciated, since the ending I had predicted was not as good as the real ending.

Hopefully I get another chance with the DRACIM series – I’m kind of in love with Christensen’s heroines and I really love the dragons. Plus, with the improvement in plotting over book one, I can see this series only getting better.

Sexual content: Several non-explicit sex scenes

[Vilia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review was originally posted on Backchatting Books

Carol Jenski, the best friend of Myrna (book #1's heroine), got severely injured in Budapest by a dragon. When she wakes up in hospital, she finds out there has been an attack on DRACIM in Tulsa and she is the prime suspect. Rather than explain her actions to the authorities or even an angry dragon lord, she goes on the run with a dishy reporter.

Carol is not that likeable. She's a whiner and is far more concerned about losing her luscious locks and looking ugly than she is about being identified as a mass murderer. Still, even superficial people deserve due process and I couldn't relegate Carol to the TSTL category without finishing the book. Carol did shine in a few places when using her specialist abilities as a dragonspeaker but she irked me more than she entertained me. Her attachment to her boyfriend Richard was admirable at the start but became nonsensical as his sleezy ways were revealed.

Journalist Daniel wasn't much better than Carol as he blackmailed her into helping him get evidence for his story, taking advantage of her head injury and general inability to think sensibly. He did redeem himself over time but I needed more of a back-story to understand why he acted the way he did and to get more emotionally invested in him.

Dancing with Dragons was pretty unevenly plotted. The intrigue and political shenanigans in India were the highlight of the book and I relished every page. Unfortunately this section was sandwiched between a fairly fanciful escape from Budapest and an overly fast denouement. I actually enjoyed the world building more than Carol and Daniel's relationship because it was unpredictable and felt fresh - no easy feat considering how many PNR and urban fantasy books I have read in the last few years.

So where does that leave me? I didn't enjoy this book as much as the previous one but I still enjoyed it enough to want to stick with the series.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dancing with Dragons is the second book in the DRACIM series by Lorenda Christensen. The first book, Never Deal with Dragons, I really enjoyed. I hate to say it but I just didn't connect with this book like I did the first.

This book picks up during the end of book 1, but told from the perspective of Carol Jenski, Myrna's best friend, roommate and fashion expert. During the fighting that went on in Budapest, Carol ended up injured and in the hospital. She is still recuperating and coming to terms with having half her head shaved due to stitches, when the fall out of the attack on DRACIM in Tulsa brings a reporter to her hospital room. As it turns out, her boyfriend Richard has placed the blame for the attack squarely on her shoulders and Lord Relobu wants her brought in for "questioning". With no where to go and no one to turn to, trusting the reporter Daniel Wallent seems to be her only option.

Daniel Wallent is a reporter on the trail of a huge story. He believes that there is a war brewing concerning the now empty Chinese territory. It appears that the Lady Savitiri, the dragon lord of India, Pakistan and Nepal is getting ready to move her troops into China and take over. But he needs definitive proof before it can go to press. And that's where Carol and her dragonspeak abilities come in. Daniel gets Carol to go undercover in Lady Savitiri's headquarters and help him get the proof he needs.

I wanted to like this book. I really did. The first one was so good, that when I saw Netgalley had this one, I quickly requested it. Unfortunately, there were many times that I kept putting the story down and coming back to it days later. There were exciting parts, and the pacing was good. My problem is that I just couldn't connect with Carol. OMG, it felt like all she did was whine, complain and whine some more. Every time she turned around she was needing to be rescued. I don't know who that is supposed to be on the cover, but trust me, its not Carol. Daniel was a great character and getting a chance to check in on Trian and Myrna was nice. Overall I gave this book 3 stars, but I really am hoping for a stronger female protagonist in the next book.

[Angela Carr · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars



Lorenda Christensen’s post-apocalyptic world where humans live with dragons continue to intrigue me. Since reading the first installment, Never Deal With Dragons, I have waited to read more of this world.

First let me say that a world with sexy and dangerous dragons is just sexy to begin with. Seeing the hero, Trian from the last book was such a treat. I actually thought this installment is a continuation of his story; poor research on my part. Nevertheless, the hero in this book Daniel Wallent is a reporter covering dragon politics around the world. I didn’t like Daniel at first, and it took a while, but he ended up to be a good guy in disguise. I enjoyed getting to know him.

Just like Daniel, Carol was not easy to like…at first. Don’t get me wrong, she still kept me interested. She was put in a dangerous predicament, and all she thought of was her clothes and how she looked. I thought she was funny and fairly entertaining. There was also a hint of cheating in her relationships. Her ex-beau was a classified A.hole but still; it was too easy for her to forget him and move on. It wasn’t until after half way through that Carol’s situation starts sinking in and her persona started to change. She’s not my favorite heroine, but I did like her in the end.

It wasn’t easy rating this book. I was torn about a few things. I like the protagonist and their love story but getting to that point took a while. The dragon appearances and any kind of action were also delayed until passed 60-70%. Once the tempo picked up to exciting, I couldn’t put the book down. I’m hoping Ms. Christensen ups her game and move up to the good parts of the book sooner than later. Her world of the DRACIM has so much potential.

Review copy provided by publisher

[Eva Millien · Rating 5 out of 5]

The drama continues in the second thrilling DRACIM novel of dragons and romance. The dragon lord has called for her head, her boyfriend is MIA and Carol Jenski has been abandoned in a foreign country. In exchange for help from reporter Daniel Wallent, she’s agreed to go undercover in another dragon lord’s territory and gets caught up in another dramatic and dangerous dragon challenge.

This fast paced and smooth flowing plot keeps readers on their toes with lots of action, suspense, betrayals, drama and romance. The author describes the scenes and events with well written details that inspire vivid images and capture the imagination. Spine tingling tension builds throughout as the story progress and the danger escalates and the strong compelling characters are easily related to and grab the reader’s attention from the very beginning.

The attraction between Carol and Daniel radiates heat from every page and the sex scenes are hot and steamy, but the relationship has sparks exploding from every direction as the two collide with lots of arguments and snarky dialogue. The reader can’t help but empathize with Carol’s situation as she is betrayed by one boyfriend and attracted to another that might only be after the next big story, not to mention the hazardous condition of being around dragons. Daniel’s ruthless attitude inspires sparks of outrage, but then he makes up for those moments with sweet and thoughtful moments that he tries to disguise.

The danger and tension of the dragon lord takeover adds even more drama to Carol’s story, just how much can one girl take and all this because she understands dragonspeak? The author has created a fascinating futuristic world where dragons are the norm and the humans have to deal with them on an everyday basis. I enjoyed the first one immensely, but I enjoyed this one even more there was lots of twists and surprises to keep me on my toes and the characters were captivating and fun in the middle of all the action packed drama and I can’t wait to read the next one.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book picks up with Carol and the events that take place immediately after chaos really exploded at the hotel. There's a few good chapters of catch up, so even though it's been a while since I read the last book, I was okay with hitting the ground running (literally for Carol). Sadly, she has managed to miss the fact that Richard and her are on the run due to a pesky coma that occupied a lot of her time. Lucky for her, after waking, she finds herself confronted by a hottie that she assumes is her doctor. Shockingly, he's not actually her doctor, but he does set off a chain of events that throws Carol into even more trouble (if that's possible).

The setting for these books is a sort of dystopian future, which breaks one of my genre rules for reading. However, I freely ignore my previous preferences for this series. It's fun and light hearted but still has some serious action and adventure elements. There's oodles of sizzle (Daniel and Carol really know how to heat up a scene together), but it all fades to black (for those of you worried about that sort of stuff). Dragons in these stories are really dragons (not slightly dragon-ized people) and sometimes they are big scary monster. It's a really neat world that the author has created, with some really fun characters. I hope it continues to get better and better.

[MB (What she read) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not buying the illogical premise of this plot.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dancing With Dragons is book two in the DRACIM series. Never Deal With Dragons is book one.

I liked book one and book two is just as good. This time we are with Carol Jenski right after the end of book one. Myrna and Trian from book one have small parts but Carol and Daniel are the main characters in Dancing With Dragons.

Carol is a great character. She says what she thinks and is not always easy to get along with. She has also had very bad taste in men. She is in the hospital recovering from a dragon attack when the book opens. It turns out she has been set up and has to go on the run.

Daniel Wallent is the one who offers to help. He is a good guy even though you have to wonder at first. Even though he is using Carol he is attracted and the attraction is mutual. While Carol sometimes doubts him I never did. He is a truly stand up guy.

The problem: DRAGONS and not just one. Someone wants to wipe them out and put the blame on Carol. Another dragon is trying to take over China and Carol stands in the way. All this goes together to make a great plot that has just the right amount of danger mixed with romance.

Dancing With Dragons is published by Carina Press. Like all Carina Press books this is not a long read. You can curl up for an afternoon and have a great time reading Dancing With Dragons.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't realize this book was a sequel but that ended up not mattering; it didn't get in the way. I wasn't left behind in terms of information and I could just dive right in and enjoy the story and where it took me.
The chemistry between the leads was hotter than some established couples I've read or couples in erotica and strict romance. Kudos to the author - having natural and sizzling chemistry between characters isn't easy, and she makes it look super easy.
The dragon politics took a little bit to understand and get used to, but I found it very interesting. I do wonder why the dragon lord of Asia didn't fight back, or if she just truly was that terrified for her mate (which is completely possible and understandable).
Only complaint is the ending was a bit abrupt.

[Rhenna Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I swear, I always end up laughing out loud when reading Lorenda's books. So much so the people around me give me funny looks. She has such an easy-going author voice! And it's filled with humor and just the right touch of sexual tension.

I love the way the story hooked in with the first in the series two--the bit of overlap while still being able to stand on its own feet. Her world building is also exceptional--the way she's taken reality and woven it into her post war status.

Seriously, this is a very well thought out, cleverly designed story with just the right amount of humor and sweet sensual tension. Definitely looking forward to book three!

[Kim · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have no idea what was going on in this book. I didn't read the first in the series, so maybe that's why I was confused. Although, I'm not sure reading of the first book was required. I made it to 19% and just could not get in to it. One character would ask a question or make a comment and there would be two pages of info dumping before the second character would respond. I couldn't remember what the hell the first character said and would have to go back and re-read before the second character's response made sense. Maybe it gets a lot better based on the good reviews I based my purchase on, but I won't be finding out. I returned it for a refund.

[Nicole]

I think I'm going to DNF this book. Besides the fact that the beginning of this book was SUPER SLOW, I'm really struggling with the heroine. While we as the reader know how big of a dick her boyfriend Richard is, she is still defending him on page 100. However, she is also making out with the new hero. So, with the same breath she is defending her boyfriend, and stringing Daniel along. I can't get past that.

I really wanted to love this book, I think the world building is so exciting, so interesting. But Carol is a heroine that I just can't get behind.

[Darcy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was a bit disappointed with this one. I had a hard time believing that these all powerful dragons would be snowed by a mere human and for so long. I also had a hard time believing that Carol would just go with a random report and let him manipulate her like he did. With that being said I did like how this one ended, that Carol was vindicated.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book but accidentally deleted the my rating and review by mistake.Thankfully I have all my reviews saved to my laptop.

Won from Goodread's First Reads Giveaways.Thank you to the author for sending it :)


*4.5 dragon stars*

[Bobbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story line is interesting. The characters are engaging. Another good series to follow.

[Rita · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't enjoying it much at first but it improved as the story got going and it ended well.

[Fenley Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't like this one as much as the first, because the main character didn't appeal to me the way the first book's main character did. Still, I love the dragon-world and the concept.

[Brenda Leatherman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the fast pace, likeable characters and good storyline. Will definitely read more from this author.