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The Tracker
Love. Magic. Dragons.In the land of Odri, the youngest princess of the royal family has broken her betrothal and run away. The zookeeper Arden is sent out with a creature called a tracker to bring her back to the palace. A servant of the king, Arden was born with a magical penchant to control animals. But the tracker turns out to be a handsome man, not a beast, kidnapped from his home and used to find people against his will. Although Arden tries to keep his distance, he is falling in love with the man in the cage.
131 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 26, 2014
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90 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
January 15, 2016
very little of this story unfolds as a result of MC agency. the conclusion is abrupt, unsatisfying, and largely empty of emotion.
still, most of the prose is nicely done, even if the dialogue sometimes grated.
the enormous chunk of time spent complaining about the attentions of a stubborn and witless scullery maid baffled me, as it served no purpose but to shit on some ancillary wench of no import and with zero impact on the plot.
overall, a random jumble of almost-but-not-quite. thirty pages for the simpleton; two for the princess; and the story fades to black before anyone gets where they want to go or do much beyond anticipate an exciting future together.
pantser foolishness, in other words.
still, most of the prose is nicely done, even if the dialogue sometimes grated.
the enormous chunk of time spent complaining about the attentions of a stubborn and witless scullery maid baffled me, as it served no purpose but to shit on some ancillary wench of no import and with zero impact on the plot.
overall, a random jumble of almost-but-not-quite. thirty pages for the simpleton; two for the princess; and the story fades to black before anyone gets where they want to go or do much beyond anticipate an exciting future together.
pantser foolishness, in other words.
January 30, 2015
This was absolutely lovely! I was lucky enough to catch it when it was a freebie and I am SO glad I did. It's awesome when you find yourself utterly enamored with a freebie.
Jordan Reece is most definitely on my radar now!
Before I gush...did you check out the cover?
*Ooooo's and Ahhhh's*
It's gorgeous, isn't it?
Some authors simply have the nitch for creating fantasy worlds and sucking you right in. Reece has this touch. Perhaps she got a little long winded at times, but I find her writing similar to Andrea Speed's. Paragraphs easily become an entire page. Yet, I was never bored or lost.
Arden Sadall is a young man, two decades old and lives in Odri. He has a rare gift, a penchant for animals. He can reach into their minds and command them to bid his requests. For this reason alone, he was granted a position with the King's servants...as a 'zookeeper'. He manages all of the animals; unicorns, pegasus' and of course, the dragons. He was orphaned and taken from his quiet life in the orphanage nearly 13 years prior.
Arden is....lonely.
He only wish is to have a family. A man to come home to and possibly children to raise.
An obnoxious leech, Leefa, has her sights set on Arden. She's bound and determined to make him take her as his wife, despite his insistence that he prefers men.
Arden fears confrontation and flee's her relentless courting.
When one of the Princesses disappears, Arden's special skills are required.
He is to travel with a discreet searching party and a vile and dangerous 'tracker' to hunt the Princess down.
He never expected the beast to be...a man.
Their trek was...well, I highly recommend you tag along.
*4 want-it-will-it-take-it stars*
Jordan Reece is most definitely on my radar now!
Before I gush...did you check out the cover?
*Ooooo's and Ahhhh's*
It's gorgeous, isn't it?
Some authors simply have the nitch for creating fantasy worlds and sucking you right in. Reece has this touch. Perhaps she got a little long winded at times, but I find her writing similar to Andrea Speed's. Paragraphs easily become an entire page. Yet, I was never bored or lost.
Arden Sadall is a young man, two decades old and lives in Odri. He has a rare gift, a penchant for animals. He can reach into their minds and command them to bid his requests. For this reason alone, he was granted a position with the King's servants...as a 'zookeeper'. He manages all of the animals; unicorns, pegasus' and of course, the dragons. He was orphaned and taken from his quiet life in the orphanage nearly 13 years prior.
Arden is....lonely.
He only wish is to have a family. A man to come home to and possibly children to raise.
An obnoxious leech, Leefa, has her sights set on Arden. She's bound and determined to make him take her as his wife, despite his insistence that he prefers men.
Arden fears confrontation and flee's her relentless courting.
When one of the Princesses disappears, Arden's special skills are required.
He is to travel with a discreet searching party and a vile and dangerous 'tracker' to hunt the Princess down.
He never expected the beast to be...a man.
Their trek was...well, I highly recommend you tag along.
*4 want-it-will-it-take-it stars*
February 10, 2017
2.5*
It kept me interested, add insomnia and I read it in one go.
The writing is in turns to the point and long winded; there's pages detailing the irrelevant yet no pause to ponder or develop the pertinent. I found some things hard to visualise. Also there's little emotion, Arden feels discomfort, at one point he worries but nothing visceral; it all comes across as too distant. I felt sorry for the poor 'stupid' Dragons. Arden seems to hold all the animals he has a penchant for in contempt. The Mermaid song amused me though.
Everything happens to the character, he sort of makes up his mind on one course of action but then fate plays it hands and he goes along with it. Attraction seemed to be on appearance rather than any bond. They talk but.. a little more effort there, some back-bone and it would have got another star.
The main star-stealer was the ending though, a bewildering display then nothing. Seriously. They wander off towards....The end. It made the whole book feel pointless to me, the whole journey was for what? Zero conclusion.
This could really do with an epilogue, I actually came to check if it was one of a series but no, that really is it.
Romance - Well the reader is left to assume they get together.
Plot - Happens to them or around them never because of them.
Conclusion - meh!
It kept me interested, add insomnia and I read it in one go.
The writing is in turns to the point and long winded; there's pages detailing the irrelevant yet no pause to ponder or develop the pertinent. I found some things hard to visualise. Also there's little emotion, Arden feels discomfort, at one point he worries but nothing visceral; it all comes across as too distant. I felt sorry for the poor 'stupid' Dragons. Arden seems to hold all the animals he has a penchant for in contempt. The Mermaid song amused me though.
Everything happens to the character, he sort of makes up his mind on one course of action but then fate plays it hands and he goes along with it. Attraction seemed to be on appearance rather than any bond. They talk but.. a little more effort there, some back-bone and it would have got another star.
The main star-stealer was the ending though, a bewildering display then nothing. Seriously. They wander off towards....The end. It made the whole book feel pointless to me, the whole journey was for what? Zero conclusion.
This could really do with an epilogue, I actually came to check if it was one of a series but no, that really is it.
Romance - Well the reader is left to assume they get together.
Plot - Happens to them or around them never because of them.
Conclusion - meh!
March 23, 2015
This fantasy sucked me right in from the start. It went in a very hopeful direction once the story got going and reading about Arden and "The Tracker", Volos, was really quite sweet. It turns in a romantic direction but you should know there is no sexin' going on. It would have had to have been a lot longer to fit that in in a realistic way, and the hopeful romance of the story was perfect as is.
May 23, 2015
This little -quite short a novella, I should say- M/M fantasy romance is a pleasant find.
The author weaves his (or her?) story placidly at first, adding elements of tension along the way to a climactic conclusion, but the tone remains quiet and unsensational, feelings expressed but not shouted.
This is always a dangerous stylistical choice in the over-the-top fantasy genre but it works here.
We get to know Arden, his feelings and his reasons, and through his eyes we look at the rest of the cast, where noone is really evil even though his behaviour may be questionable.
Arden gets his HEA but he has to work for it, the fantasy elements of the setting being of import to the narration but never an easy solution.
I missed a bit of excitement and I will not award a fifth star. That said this is a good, if somewhat expensive, work.
The author weaves his (or her?) story placidly at first, adding elements of tension along the way to a climactic conclusion, but the tone remains quiet and unsensational, feelings expressed but not shouted.
This is always a dangerous stylistical choice in the over-the-top fantasy genre but it works here.
We get to know Arden, his feelings and his reasons, and through his eyes we look at the rest of the cast, where noone is really evil even though his behaviour may be questionable.
Arden gets his HEA but he has to work for it, the fantasy elements of the setting being of import to the narration but never an easy solution.
I missed a bit of excitement and I will not award a fifth star. That said this is a good, if somewhat expensive, work.
February 20, 2018
**grm**
Too bad that this book was so short, bcs I was really starting to like it, but in the end since I wanted to know more about the MCs and their future lives, and nothing of this happened, I decided I couldn't rate it more than 4 stars. I had also many questions and almost none got answered. Like for example, I'm sure that Arden was the little prince from Loria who had been kidnapped when small. Idk why but I have this idea, and many things made me believe it could be possible. I really wish that the author had said something more about that incident.
If u expect to find sex in this book, well, maybe u should skip it. There is no sex scenes, and only 2 chaste kisses, one on an hand and the other on the lips, but all this actually made sense. Arden and Volos didn't meet under the best circumstances. Volos was a pet of a rich man, that used him to track people or as show off, (luckily he was never abused in the sexual way). The man liked to starve him and punish him, but Volos never lost his spirit, and had actually a pretty bad temper himself and he had his reasons. No one wants to be kidnapped and become a slave and be used for his tracking gift. Arden may not have been a slave, but sure as hell, not even him was free. The saddest thing was that probably his prison wasn't made of steel, but he still had bars around him and had to follow the others of his boss and the King, his master. When they meet Volos isn't kind, he wants to hurt Arden with his words, to try and make him feel the same pain he is feeling being trapped and used by the people that consider him nothing more than a beast, when he is a man with a bestly gift, to say so, and for this reason Arden's gift of commanding beasts doesn't work on him. Arden knew from the first moment he saw the other boy (well, Volos is 22 and Arden 20) that he was no beast and felt pity for him, while Volos pitied him and his invisible cage.
In the end the boys start stealing glances and touches and words, and decide that they'll both be free in the end and be together.
There was little romance yes, but you could still feel their growing love, also if they sure had a long way before saying these words to each other. And sadly the book ends before we can see any of that.
I was happy to see that the princess and her lover were able to be free, and thanks to her lover's gift they were able to help also Volos and Arden to reach their freedom.
I would have liked to read more about these chars, about Volos past with his first real lover Leith, or about what happened to Arden's mother, who was his father, how the story (well night) btw him and his first lover Etto really went (ye I'm a perv!), but mostly about how he and Volos one day will have many kids and how these will be.
No guys there is no mpreg, but the author explained pretty well, with Volos' words, that many children with no family live in the Cascades(Volos's country) and that any couple can adopt them, yes ANY, and both of the boys want to have kids.
Damn I really wish this one was a series...
Too bad that this book was so short, bcs I was really starting to like it, but in the end since I wanted to know more about the MCs and their future lives, and nothing of this happened, I decided I couldn't rate it more than 4 stars. I had also many questions and almost none got answered. Like for example, I'm sure that Arden was the little prince from Loria who had been kidnapped when small. Idk why but I have this idea, and many things made me believe it could be possible. I really wish that the author had said something more about that incident.
If u expect to find sex in this book, well, maybe u should skip it. There is no sex scenes, and only 2 chaste kisses, one on an hand and the other on the lips, but all this actually made sense. Arden and Volos didn't meet under the best circumstances. Volos was a pet of a rich man, that used him to track people or as show off, (luckily he was never abused in the sexual way). The man liked to starve him and punish him, but Volos never lost his spirit, and had actually a pretty bad temper himself and he had his reasons. No one wants to be kidnapped and become a slave and be used for his tracking gift. Arden may not have been a slave, but sure as hell, not even him was free. The saddest thing was that probably his prison wasn't made of steel, but he still had bars around him and had to follow the others of his boss and the King, his master. When they meet Volos isn't kind, he wants to hurt Arden with his words, to try and make him feel the same pain he is feeling being trapped and used by the people that consider him nothing more than a beast, when he is a man with a bestly gift, to say so, and for this reason Arden's gift of commanding beasts doesn't work on him. Arden knew from the first moment he saw the other boy (well, Volos is 22 and Arden 20) that he was no beast and felt pity for him, while Volos pitied him and his invisible cage.
In the end the boys start stealing glances and touches and words, and decide that they'll both be free in the end and be together.
There was little romance yes, but you could still feel their growing love, also if they sure had a long way before saying these words to each other. And sadly the book ends before we can see any of that.
I was happy to see that the princess and her lover were able to be free, and thanks to her lover's gift they were able to help also Volos and Arden to reach their freedom.
I would have liked to read more about these chars, about Volos past with his first real lover Leith, or about what happened to Arden's mother, who was his father, how the story (well night) btw him and his first lover Etto really went (ye I'm a perv!), but mostly about how he and Volos one day will have many kids and how these will be.
No guys there is no mpreg, but the author explained pretty well, with Volos' words, that many children with no family live in the Cascades(Volos's country) and that any couple can adopt them, yes ANY, and both of the boys want to have kids.
Damn I really wish this one was a series...
February 28, 2015
I liked this fantasy M/M romance that was surprisingly clean with only a few kisses (the first on the back of a hand)!
The lowly zookeeper, Arden knew love when he as little but since being orphaned and then forced into the King's service because of this animal magic so when he finds love with the 'beast' tracker, he can identify its rare sweetness and does the right thing to find freedom.
No spoilers from me, but the freedom theme makes everything very obvious.
I liked Volos, but not nearly as much as sweet innocent Arden.
Wonderful world building and a fun road trip story.
131 pages and kindle freebie
3 and half stars
The lowly zookeeper, Arden knew love when he as little but since being orphaned and then forced into the King's service because of this animal magic so when he finds love with the 'beast' tracker, he can identify its rare sweetness and does the right thing to find freedom.
No spoilers from me, but the freedom theme makes everything very obvious.
I liked Volos, but not nearly as much as sweet innocent Arden.
Wonderful world building and a fun road trip story.
131 pages and kindle freebie
3 and half stars
May 21, 2016
Beautifully written. Not a word was wasted. The story theme of freedom was poignantly and vividly expressed. There was adventure, suspense, fantasy, and love. The tracker was an eloquent and intelligent character--I was charmed by his tales of home and the wisdom they held. Arden grows tremendously and I was cheering him on, hoping he followed through on things after his eyes were opened. Each member of the traveling party was so distinctive and gave the book a lot of color--it's nice when not just the main characters have a story to tell. I was so lucky to have happened upon this gem and can't wait to read more form this author.
September 27, 2015
The ending was a huge let down. I didn't feel the payoff I wanted to feel for the long journey I had just taken with all of the characters. I think an epilogue could have done the job nicely and this would have gotten four stars.
December 11, 2025
Interesting concept, I liked the descriptions of the different places reactions to ‘penchants’ or special skill. I felt the ending was little rushed and anti climatic. Both romance and plot wise things were a bit under developed.
I feel a little disappointed, I read the hunter by Jordan Reece and was absolutely engrossed by so I wanted to love this as well but now I’m thinking my expectations were a little too high for something as short as this. So for that I’ll give it a 3
I feel a little disappointed, I read the hunter by Jordan Reece and was absolutely engrossed by so I wanted to love this as well but now I’m thinking my expectations were a little too high for something as short as this. So for that I’ll give it a 3
November 20, 2018
Great beginning
I really loved the beginning of the story and the characters. However it was all wrapped up too quickly and I wasn't happy how some of the characters were portrayed later in the story.
I really loved the beginning of the story and the characters. However it was all wrapped up too quickly and I wasn't happy how some of the characters were portrayed later in the story.
March 14, 2018
Definitely inventive.
March 2, 2016
Another remarkable setting
Jordan Reese creates another magical setting to explore the relationship between two men . In this case both are slaves , but one of them only realizes it after his interaction with the other. I loved the world this is set in, especially the stupid cranky dragons ! Again, excellent editing.
I hate slavery and violence, and almost gave up on this after the first 25 pages or so, but it was worth going through to the happy ending.
Jordan Reese creates another magical setting to explore the relationship between two men . In this case both are slaves , but one of them only realizes it after his interaction with the other. I loved the world this is set in, especially the stupid cranky dragons ! Again, excellent editing.
I hate slavery and violence, and almost gave up on this after the first 25 pages or so, but it was worth going through to the happy ending.
June 20, 2016
KU
What most impressed me about this book is the author's ability to write descriptions. I got completely submerged into the zoo world and stumbled my way through, gagging and shivering the entire way. The rest of the book was good, as were the characters.
What most impressed me about this book is the author's ability to write descriptions. I got completely submerged into the zoo world and stumbled my way through, gagging and shivering the entire way. The rest of the book was good, as were the characters.
September 26, 2016
Not bad for a book with absolutely NO sex! I would have liked to see more of the MC's HEA though. Perhaps a short story of their return would do? Anyway, this was well written and a real page turner. Highly recommended!
February 3, 2015
A lovely story to go with a lovely cover!
Read
February 4, 2016Dnf.
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