Kris long ago accepted his life of crime in Dixon’s Dragon Mafia, loyal to the Boss who sheltered him after his parents’ deaths. For years, muscles and intimidation moved him up the ranks. He never questioned his actions in the kill-or-be-killed world… until now.
However, when his long-denied mate returns home, everything changes. Feelings magnify. Guilt cripples. Kris is losing his edge, a deadly risk in the dragon world. That should not his largest problem, right? No. It’s realizing that after all the questionable choices in his life, he’s truly unfit for the pure angel fate chose for him. Worst… she’s forbidden fruit… she's the boss's daughter.
Abigail Dixon isn’t sure why she moved home after college. Yes, she gets to pay off loans, and do what she loves… teach. But it was the hefty dose of guilt that got Abi back under her dad’s lock and key. Yet, quicker than the ink dries on her diploma does Abigail realize her dad’s house is the same ole drama. And she’s the same failure, with the same broken dragon reputation as before.
Fate’s scheming agenda is the only bright side to living at home. Abigail’s dream man traipses through her house daily. The damage paralyzes her heart, watching her childhood crush follow in her dad's footsteps. Kris always had a rough exterior, earned it the hard way but underneath, only Abigail ever saw his big heart.
Could her touch heal the bad boy? Would this beast of a man even want a broken mate, or would Abi burn in his flame?
Unleashed: Dixon's Dragon Mafia is the mirrored timeline and peeks behind the scenes of the criminal organization in Shattered Illusions: Bear Shifter Paranormal Romance. It’s a steamy, opposites attract, bad-boy mafia romance with a redeemable hero. HEA, no cheating.
Annie Rae lives in Texas with her own sexy, suited mountain man (beard included), two kids, and a house full of pets. The self-proclaimed sunflower loves to be outside or on the water.
Annie loves escaping into a great novel where you ride the ride and feel the emotions of great characters, laughing with them, crying with them, and missing them after "the end." It is a dream come true to be able to write about protective heroes, fated love, and happy endings.
Yeah this is a fated mate shifter romance and I think it is quite excellent, partly because I really like the Fated Mate Trope. There is a lot of action and a little bit of smut. I thought it was worth reading.
This is a shifter mafia romance. I love the idea of a shadowy underworld run by mafia dragons. These dragons are super tough and not to be messed with. I adore everything to do with dragons, so this was really my jam. I have to admit I'm usually not a fan of the whole shifter romance thing, but that's with wolves, not dragons. The mafia boss's daughter, Abigail, is a bit of a creampuff. She is a very kind soul and the apple of her father's eyes. Always under his thumb and control, she yearns to be free. He just wants the best for his daughter and will do anything to protect her from the nastier sides of his business. I like a female main character who makes up her own mind, and thankfully Abilgale has a lot of spunk. The chemistry between her and Kis is immediate and builds to a crescendo as the story progresses. Kris is everything you need a book boyfriend to be, a heart of gold, protective, and a hunk. I found myself rooting for these two to figure it all out and get together asap. The ending is satisfying, and I found this was a very enjoyable and spicy read with a very nice HEA.
I don't normally like reading romance books, but mix in some supernaturals and dragons, then I'll definitely give it a try. I have to say I wasn't disappointed and had me glued as there was so much action and things happening that had me gripped and didn't want to stop reading. Would definitely recommend it.
This did start a little slow for me but it did engage me once I got a little further into the story. Abi is an overprotected child of a Mafia boss and part of a Dragon family. Kris was a child when Dixon found him. He is all business and wants to eliminate his attraction to Abi. They have to fight against a lot of odds to make their love work.
This is a romance. It does have a paranormal twist to it, but it's very focused on the romance between Kris and Abigail. Which leads me to talk about Kris and Abigail. I do love the fated trope but this book almost took it too far. They were so focused on the physical aspects of their relationship and then took forever to make progress in that area. I guess it didn't really see it. I liked Abigail, she was easier to connect with, but Kris was just all over the place. Likely because he was forced to be violent when he didn't want to be so he came off as overly angry and gritty, to almost annoying levels. Though he seemed smoking hot, so there's that. Overall the plot was okay and Abigail was great, but Kris was just...so-so.
Overall.
The major issue I had was the writing style. The unnecessary repetition took away from the story rather than adding to it, in my opinion. So if you like the more reinforcement when you're reading and a bit of a tease of a novel, then you'll love this. I just didn't. Mostly because the context seemed to come after something happened. I also hated the way Kris characterized Abigail in comparison to 'other females.' I do think this is a classic shifter romance, but I just didn't connect with it. It was interesting enough for me to finish, but the ending was sort of an awkward let down. Also please note that the blurb is written in 3rd person but the book is in 1st person.
Rating
3 stars
I didn't hate, I didn't love it, it is what it is.
Annie Rae is without a doubt the description Queeeeeeeen! So much description and not all books have it, but Annie Rae has it in spades. It took me a while to twig that the woman they were tailing is the main character from Shattered Illusions, but I think that's just me being slow. Kris was a believable character and is easy to like, Abigail however seems much older than her actual age suggests much like the main character from Shattered Illusion. Let's talk about the chemistry between Abigail and Kris, don't get me wrong Annie knows how to build chemistry and some people will love it, however for me it felt like start and stop, start and stop which in the end left me feeling bored of it. Also the sex scene is very identical to the Shattered illusion sex scene. There's very minor grammar errors in this one, but there is a duplicate chapter towards the end. Overall Unleashed is a very good descriptive world and is easy to read, most people will think the chemistry is hot though not for me.