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Works Like Magick #1
Naked Dragon
This national bestselling sensation has some new tricks up her sleeve...
First in the Works like Magick series!
The Works like Magick Employment Agency has a reputation for perfectly matching clients with magical temps. So when McKenna Greylock requests a handyman, the gorgeous Bastian Dragonelli arrives to repair her B&B- and fire up her bedroom.
First in the Works like Magick series!
The Works like Magick Employment Agency has a reputation for perfectly matching clients with magical temps. So when McKenna Greylock requests a handyman, the gorgeous Bastian Dragonelli arrives to repair her B&B- and fire up her bedroom.
302 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 5, 2010
13 people are currently reading
2321 people want to read
About the author
Annette Blair
43 books1,007 followersAnnette Blair's romantic comedies owe their beginnings to a root canal and a reluctant trip to Salem Massachusetts. Though she had once proclaimed she'd never write a contemporary, she stumbled into the serendipitous role of Accidental Witch Writer on that trip. Funny how she managed to eat her words even with an aching jaw. Magic or destiny; Annette's Bewitching Romantic Comedies became her first National Bestsellers.
Her August '07 release, SEX AND THE PSYCHIC WITCH, the first in her Triplet Witch Trilogy, hit the #1 bestselling spot for contemporary romance-humorous on Barnes & Noble. It also hit B & N's overall bestseller lists for mass market and fiction mass market and #7 for romance mass market, topping Nielsen BookScan and Borders Bestseller lists as well.
Her August '07 release, SEX AND THE PSYCHIC WITCH, the first in her Triplet Witch Trilogy, hit the #1 bestselling spot for contemporary romance-humorous on Barnes & Noble. It also hit B & N's overall bestseller lists for mass market and fiction mass market and #7 for romance mass market, topping Nielsen BookScan and Borders Bestseller lists as well.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 128 reviews
August 7, 2010
When I looked at this series this book wasn't the first one to catch my eye. I actually wanted to read the second book in the series, Bedeviled Angel. I have a bit of a love affair with angels. Because of my series order OCD I had to read this one first. It was no big deal though, I love dragons too. After reading this one I can safely say that I won't be reading the next book. This author is way too silly and over the top for me.
I liked the beginning of the book. It was actually pretty cute. Because English was not Bastien's first language there were lots of hilarious conversations. He takes everything literally and frustrates (but also amuses) McKenna horribly. When being trained how to interact with people he was instructed to say "Okay" whenever he didn't understand anything. It turned out to be pretty funny.
I also thought Bastien's thoughts about the "bony females" following him around were cute. His inner thoughts and the terms he used were great. His little helper dragon, Jock, was adorable too. I loved his eagerness to pop smoke. Unfortunately my enjoyment of the book soon turned.
I found McKenna to be a little irritating. I do not like women with "hourglass figures" who have annoyingly false insecurities. Bastien was afraid to get naked in front of her, but his fear actually made sense. Also, I just didn't get McKenna. She wears shorts under her dresses because she works on a farm. Why not just wear shorts? Why wear a long dress when doing manual labor? Odd. She's really cutesy and irritating too. She's always referring to Bastien as "buster" and using juvenile replacements for curse words. It just made her seem very unnatural.
Even though I had some issues with it, I didn't actually start actively disliking it until around page 180. Bastien had a habit of referring to his penis as his "man lance" or his "dragon lance." It didn't seem odd coming from him though, it really worked for him. I have no clue why, during the first sex scene, McKenna continued the trend. Being a modern female used to the English language I would expect her to have a healthy grasp of the words used to describe sex and the body parts involved in it. I did not expect her to (in all seriousness) refer to his penis as a "dragon lance" and a "magickal jock-sock puppet." What?!? That was really the beginning of the end for me.
Everything started to get way too over the top from then on. Jokes that were funny in the beginning became tired and old. You can only use the same joke for so long before it seems like you're beating a dead horse. We know, McKenna's a real woman and all the other skinny bitches are poor creatures. I do have to admit it was funny when he got a tear in his eye after watching models on TV.
I got really ticked when Bastien's ability to sense McKenna's pain got used as soapbox trigger for how horrible life is for women. McKenna is down on any man who wants to have sex while she's on her period. Only Bastien, who would never "put her through such discomfort" really understands what it means to be a woman. Then they both lay around for three days babying each other with a heating pad. What? I know McKenna's her own boss, but if she tried to take three days off from a normal job because she was on her period, her butt would be fired. I just dislike books that use things like that to beat down men for not knowing how hard it is to be a woman. Get over it!
***SPOILER***
The prehensile penis thing was really weird for me. When Bastien first made comments about being nervous about not looking like other men I just assumed it would lead to him being abnormally large, which he was. There was another part when they're swimming where she thinks she gets touched by a snake. That just seemed to imply more of the same; he's clown-shoe large. Boy, I didn't know the half of it! His penis is shaped like a dragon tail. The head is referred to as a "spade." It has movable scales underneath the skin and it can move enough to grab things and wrap around her hand because it's eager. Very weird.
McKenna's friend, Lizzie, popping out three babies at home in a matter of minutes and then being right as rain seemed fantastical. Also, her family ghosts giving Bastien advice was kind of weird. They didn't strike me as cute or sweet, just an odd plot device.
***END SPOILERS***
Everything in this story seemed skimmed over and hunky dory two seconds later. Even the climax of the story and the ending were ho-hum and silly. It was a very light book with no real depth of plot or character at all.
I liked the beginning of the book. It was actually pretty cute. Because English was not Bastien's first language there were lots of hilarious conversations. He takes everything literally and frustrates (but also amuses) McKenna horribly. When being trained how to interact with people he was instructed to say "Okay" whenever he didn't understand anything. It turned out to be pretty funny.
I also thought Bastien's thoughts about the "bony females" following him around were cute. His inner thoughts and the terms he used were great. His little helper dragon, Jock, was adorable too. I loved his eagerness to pop smoke. Unfortunately my enjoyment of the book soon turned.
I found McKenna to be a little irritating. I do not like women with "hourglass figures" who have annoyingly false insecurities. Bastien was afraid to get naked in front of her, but his fear actually made sense. Also, I just didn't get McKenna. She wears shorts under her dresses because she works on a farm. Why not just wear shorts? Why wear a long dress when doing manual labor? Odd. She's really cutesy and irritating too. She's always referring to Bastien as "buster" and using juvenile replacements for curse words. It just made her seem very unnatural.
Even though I had some issues with it, I didn't actually start actively disliking it until around page 180. Bastien had a habit of referring to his penis as his "man lance" or his "dragon lance." It didn't seem odd coming from him though, it really worked for him. I have no clue why, during the first sex scene, McKenna continued the trend. Being a modern female used to the English language I would expect her to have a healthy grasp of the words used to describe sex and the body parts involved in it. I did not expect her to (in all seriousness) refer to his penis as a "dragon lance" and a "magickal jock-sock puppet." What?!? That was really the beginning of the end for me.
Everything started to get way too over the top from then on. Jokes that were funny in the beginning became tired and old. You can only use the same joke for so long before it seems like you're beating a dead horse. We know, McKenna's a real woman and all the other skinny bitches are poor creatures. I do have to admit it was funny when he got a tear in his eye after watching models on TV.
I got really ticked when Bastien's ability to sense McKenna's pain got used as soapbox trigger for how horrible life is for women. McKenna is down on any man who wants to have sex while she's on her period. Only Bastien, who would never "put her through such discomfort" really understands what it means to be a woman. Then they both lay around for three days babying each other with a heating pad. What? I know McKenna's her own boss, but if she tried to take three days off from a normal job because she was on her period, her butt would be fired. I just dislike books that use things like that to beat down men for not knowing how hard it is to be a woman. Get over it!
***SPOILER***
The prehensile penis thing was really weird for me. When Bastien first made comments about being nervous about not looking like other men I just assumed it would lead to him being abnormally large, which he was. There was another part when they're swimming where she thinks she gets touched by a snake. That just seemed to imply more of the same; he's clown-shoe large. Boy, I didn't know the half of it! His penis is shaped like a dragon tail. The head is referred to as a "spade." It has movable scales underneath the skin and it can move enough to grab things and wrap around her hand because it's eager. Very weird.
McKenna's friend, Lizzie, popping out three babies at home in a matter of minutes and then being right as rain seemed fantastical. Also, her family ghosts giving Bastien advice was kind of weird. They didn't strike me as cute or sweet, just an odd plot device.
***END SPOILERS***
Everything in this story seemed skimmed over and hunky dory two seconds later. Even the climax of the story and the ending were ho-hum and silly. It was a very light book with no real depth of plot or character at all.
May 21, 2011
haha. Not what I was expecting. At all. This kept me entertained, I guess. And that thing about his "thing" *raises eyebrows* Oy vey. I don't think even Angela Knight traveled down that road. I didnt know whether to laugh or cry.
March 7, 2010
I knew nothing about this book or author when I picked it up, but was looking for a book that would help me complete a challenge, and frankly didn't expect much from it. So imagine my surprise when this book turned out to be a fun campy book that had me in fits of giggles with all the talk about the man lance. If you are looking for a light, fun, easy read that is heavy on the sexual innuendo this is the perfect book.
McKenna comes from a long line of witches, however she does not have any powers. She is trying to save the family house from forclosure by trying to turn it into a B&B, trying because there are a ton of renovations that need to be done and not a lot of time. After some problems at the start she needs a handyman and goes to her cousin's employment agency.
Enter Bastian, he was around when Romans were soldiers, but ended up getting turned into a dragon, now he is a man again with the chance to save himself and his brother dragons if he can find his heart mate. He turns up in modern times and find his way to the employment agency, where he is taken under the wing of McKenna's cousin to acclimate him to the "new" world he is in. Bastin's learning of things makes for some great scenes as he takes so many things literally.
Of course Bastian becomes McKenna's handyman and the craziness ensues. During the course of things can seem far fetched and if you just go with it the story is funny and enjoyable.
I will definitely be checking out other books by this author and keep reading this series.
McKenna comes from a long line of witches, however she does not have any powers. She is trying to save the family house from forclosure by trying to turn it into a B&B, trying because there are a ton of renovations that need to be done and not a lot of time. After some problems at the start she needs a handyman and goes to her cousin's employment agency.
Enter Bastian, he was around when Romans were soldiers, but ended up getting turned into a dragon, now he is a man again with the chance to save himself and his brother dragons if he can find his heart mate. He turns up in modern times and find his way to the employment agency, where he is taken under the wing of McKenna's cousin to acclimate him to the "new" world he is in. Bastin's learning of things makes for some great scenes as he takes so many things literally.
Of course Bastian becomes McKenna's handyman and the craziness ensues. During the course of things can seem far fetched and if you just go with it the story is funny and enjoyable.
I will definitely be checking out other books by this author and keep reading this series.
July 26, 2011
I’ve been a fan of Annette Blair’s since her first witch trilogy, and I loved every one of those books through two series. Her humor is her mainstay, something you know will be in every story and will keep you entertained throughout the read, as well as her imagination that gives you charming characters in various storylines, all of which are wrapped in magic. You cannot go wrong with an Annette Blair book.
What I love most about this book is not only Bastian himself, sexy, naked dragon that he is, but when we first meet him, he’s just come back to the human realm, once again a man after being a dragon for so many years. He has to reabsorb things that he knew as a Roman warrior. So it’s his innocence, or, as McKenna is told, his literal-ness, that makes him so endearing. Ms. Blair’s humor helps him along; I found myself laughing out loud a number of times at his responses to situations. Bastian’s the first of his brothers to make it back via the magic of the Goddess of Hope, so all are relying on him to defeat the Sorceress of Chaos and to pave the way for the others to follow. If he fails, all is lost.
McKenna is a direct descendant of Ciarra, a Salem witch who survived the witch trials. Alas, McKenna has no magic and that’s why she’s in need of a handyman, pronto. She’s running against the clock to turn her rundown familial Victorian home into a bed and breakfast. She refuses to be the one to lose it after so many centuries. She has a developer who’s hot for the land and won’t leave her be, constantly making her offers. So she turns to her cousin, Vivica Quinlann, who does possess magic and owns the Works Like Magic Employment Agency. Vivica has taken Bastian in when he arrives and now has the perfect place for him - McKenna’s jack-of-all-trades.
When these two come together, the fun starts and never lets up. Bastian loves the internet. He looks up every little thing he doesn’t understand anymore, and that’s a lot. He also speed reads, so his learning curve is quite high. Some things are still the same that he remembers from before, like the attraction to a beautiful woman. But then there are other things that confound him a little, his man lance being one. And that’s where most of my laughter came from. Bastian and his man lance are something else, first humorous and then sexy and erotic as all get-out.
Of course, there are serious moments to be had. McKenna has just lost her mother. Bastian is able to see all of McKenna’s past ancestors on the Greylock property, something McKenna has to learn to believe in on her own. The evil coming at them from both the human and the magic side is very real and they have to work together to conquer all. We don’t get to see Bastian’s dragon until the very end of the book when he can no longer control his inner beast as McKenna physically has to fight her rotten developer. Those scenes that come after when McKenna learns Bastian still lives are the best in the book. Ms. Blair can pull at the heart strings as well as she can hit the funny bone.
Secondary characters are just as wonderfully written as the hero and heroine. I especially love Dewcup, a miniature fairy who gets into trouble every time she turns around, and also Steve and Lizzie, McKenna’s friends, and their children. Scenes with these characters go from hilarious to heart wrenching.
This is a terrific start for Ms. Blair’s new series. Her writing is still invitingly fresh, especially the banter between characters no matter who they are. Her take on magic is just as fresh and very different from most of what’s out there to read nowadays. As her fans have learned from her previous series, each coming book will be a delight, will stand on its own, but will remain true and consistent to the essence of the series.
Isn’t it time you learned that too?
See my complete review at http://www.goodbadandunread.com
What I love most about this book is not only Bastian himself, sexy, naked dragon that he is, but when we first meet him, he’s just come back to the human realm, once again a man after being a dragon for so many years. He has to reabsorb things that he knew as a Roman warrior. So it’s his innocence, or, as McKenna is told, his literal-ness, that makes him so endearing. Ms. Blair’s humor helps him along; I found myself laughing out loud a number of times at his responses to situations. Bastian’s the first of his brothers to make it back via the magic of the Goddess of Hope, so all are relying on him to defeat the Sorceress of Chaos and to pave the way for the others to follow. If he fails, all is lost.
McKenna is a direct descendant of Ciarra, a Salem witch who survived the witch trials. Alas, McKenna has no magic and that’s why she’s in need of a handyman, pronto. She’s running against the clock to turn her rundown familial Victorian home into a bed and breakfast. She refuses to be the one to lose it after so many centuries. She has a developer who’s hot for the land and won’t leave her be, constantly making her offers. So she turns to her cousin, Vivica Quinlann, who does possess magic and owns the Works Like Magic Employment Agency. Vivica has taken Bastian in when he arrives and now has the perfect place for him - McKenna’s jack-of-all-trades.
When these two come together, the fun starts and never lets up. Bastian loves the internet. He looks up every little thing he doesn’t understand anymore, and that’s a lot. He also speed reads, so his learning curve is quite high. Some things are still the same that he remembers from before, like the attraction to a beautiful woman. But then there are other things that confound him a little, his man lance being one. And that’s where most of my laughter came from. Bastian and his man lance are something else, first humorous and then sexy and erotic as all get-out.
Of course, there are serious moments to be had. McKenna has just lost her mother. Bastian is able to see all of McKenna’s past ancestors on the Greylock property, something McKenna has to learn to believe in on her own. The evil coming at them from both the human and the magic side is very real and they have to work together to conquer all. We don’t get to see Bastian’s dragon until the very end of the book when he can no longer control his inner beast as McKenna physically has to fight her rotten developer. Those scenes that come after when McKenna learns Bastian still lives are the best in the book. Ms. Blair can pull at the heart strings as well as she can hit the funny bone.
Secondary characters are just as wonderfully written as the hero and heroine. I especially love Dewcup, a miniature fairy who gets into trouble every time she turns around, and also Steve and Lizzie, McKenna’s friends, and their children. Scenes with these characters go from hilarious to heart wrenching.
This is a terrific start for Ms. Blair’s new series. Her writing is still invitingly fresh, especially the banter between characters no matter who they are. Her take on magic is just as fresh and very different from most of what’s out there to read nowadays. As her fans have learned from her previous series, each coming book will be a delight, will stand on its own, but will remain true and consistent to the essence of the series.
Isn’t it time you learned that too?
See my complete review at http://www.goodbadandunread.com
March 1, 2012
A dragon/turned man, Bastain, falls from the sky into a circle of witched. He looks like a cross between Hugh Jackman & Jeffery Dean Morgan. A woman Vivica who is another witch collects him & brings him to her employment agency "Works Like Magick" Okaaaay... Good so far. He is very literal and requires training. Bastians origins are more complex, but why waste time explaining.
Vivica hires him out as a handyman to her cousin McKenna, a Red haired Fat girl who wear flowered hippie caftans to hide her body. He is to help her fix her B & B so she doesn't lose it to an evil guy. This is the only description we get, except she has a great chest, so do I picture her a size 10 or 20? who knows.
The character that makes this book is a faery "Dewdrop" who rides the cat & small children see her as a flying Barbie.
This book had potential, but so many times McKenna is sarcastic & she has to reexplain to this literal dragon guy. AND It goes from one point to another so quickly I had to constantly see if I missed something.
For example, Bastian falls from the roof while being pelted by hail & lands wrong breaking things. He yells at McKenna to move his hands to his back to help heal himself. Next page says "He's fine. are you sure he fell?" as man removes squeezy thing from his arm.
Obviously it implies the ambulance was called they came & he had already healed himself, but no mention of anything after he was repositioned. Where did his audience come from? Constantly. It's a whole lot of filling in the blanks youself. I hate that.
Oh... and his man lance. It's alive with a mind of it's own & is like a seperate being attached to him. It does not look like anything you can find on the internet either & curls itself around the girls arm. OOOkaaay! Out there for sure.
To sum it all up, it's funny at times, annoying at others, jumps around too much & is totally non descriptive.
Vivica hires him out as a handyman to her cousin McKenna, a Red haired Fat girl who wear flowered hippie caftans to hide her body. He is to help her fix her B & B so she doesn't lose it to an evil guy. This is the only description we get, except she has a great chest, so do I picture her a size 10 or 20? who knows.
The character that makes this book is a faery "Dewdrop" who rides the cat & small children see her as a flying Barbie.
This book had potential, but so many times McKenna is sarcastic & she has to reexplain to this literal dragon guy. AND It goes from one point to another so quickly I had to constantly see if I missed something.
For example, Bastian falls from the roof while being pelted by hail & lands wrong breaking things. He yells at McKenna to move his hands to his back to help heal himself. Next page says "He's fine. are you sure he fell?" as man removes squeezy thing from his arm.
Obviously it implies the ambulance was called they came & he had already healed himself, but no mention of anything after he was repositioned. Where did his audience come from? Constantly. It's a whole lot of filling in the blanks youself. I hate that.
Oh... and his man lance. It's alive with a mind of it's own & is like a seperate being attached to him. It does not look like anything you can find on the internet either & curls itself around the girls arm. OOOkaaay! Out there for sure.
To sum it all up, it's funny at times, annoying at others, jumps around too much & is totally non descriptive.
April 23, 2010
Hm, where can I start about just how bad this book was? Can I find anything good about it? Maybe the cover. I needed a book for a long flight, picked it up in the airport, and it just made the flight that much longer. The "dragon" guy goes from picking up ideas quickly just by reading a book, but then the author has him revert back to his caveman me-not-know-what-you-say moron state, unless he talks about his "man-lance," a reference to which appears on practically every page. I needed some wine and crackers to go with something this cheesy. Had to find another book right away to wash the bad taste out of my brain.
August 13, 2010
Oh boy - I wanted to like this book but it just didn't happen. It was like Henny Youngman took over the body of the heroine McKenna and she just wouldn't stop. Bastian doesn't understand slang, so she keeps using it constantly. All I needed was a snare drum. Bastian was not only slow in understanding slang, but "slow" in a slow way. I like humerous books like Katie MacAlister's but not this one. I don't think I'll be reading her books anytime soon.
April 12, 2010
I'm sure this was intended to be a lighthearted, somewhat campy paranormal romance. It did have a few cute LOL moments but overall I found it to be a juvenile effort. I probably won't be reading any more of Blair's work if this is indicative of what to expect.
March 25, 2012
Review brought to you by OBS staff member Heidi
Beware of spoilers
The dragons were all taken from the Earth and banished to the Island of the stars by an evil sorceress, Killian. The Goddess of Hope, Andra, is trying to turn the dragons back to human form one by one and send them back to Earth; each with their own mission.
The first to be turned is the Alpha Dragon, Bastian, and his mission is to find his heart mate. If he fails his brother dragons will not be able to come back to Earth and Andra will lose some of her magick as well. Bastian is quickly found by Vivica who runs an employment agency for magical beings.
Meanwhile, Mckenna Greylock is in a terrible bind. She has inherited her family’s land from her mother who recently passed away and with that land she also inherited a ton of debt. Her family’s dream has always been to turn the property into a bed and breakfast. She hired a contractor who fell off of a roof shortly after drawing up her permit and is now confined to a wheelchair. Greedy developer, Elliot Huntley, can’t wait for her to default on the property so he can snap it up at a severely cheap price. Mckenna decides to go to Vivica to find a worker that her contractor can direct so they can get the B&B open in time and be able to save herself from losing the property.
Vivica sends Bastian to help McKenna out, but he doesn’t know his own strength and at first does more harm than good. But he eventually gets himself under control and teaches himself every night by reading books so he can fix the property up and so he can understand the things McKenna says. He feels that she is in fact his heart mate. McKenna is attracted to him, but tries to deny her feelings for him to herself. But they eventually give in to their feelings and discover the other loves all of them even their faults.
Bastian ends up getting the Bed and Breakfast fixed up in time, even giving her a theme based on the enchanting murals of his fellow dragons he painted in the bedrooms. McKenna has her first guests booked and it looks like everything will work out when she wakes up to Huntley showing up with bulldozers ready to destroy all of their hard work. Bastian runs out to stop him in a confrontation that leads both Bastian and McKenna thinking that the other is dead.
When I read the blurb on this book, I really didn’t WANT to read it. I felt like this was going to just be a smutty romance novel. Don’t get me wrong I’m fine with a little smut, but I tend to avoid the more obvious sources of it. It wasn’t nearly as smutty as I expected, but I’m sad to say that this book still wasn’t any good in my opinion and felt like a juvenile attempt overall.
I found the majority of the novel excruciatingly painful to read. From the very beginning Bastian was worried about his deformed “man lance” and it seemed like it became its own character, the main character of the story even and that Bastian and McKenna were just supporting cast.
Also, I thought the characters were very weak and hard to read about. I found McKenna to be immature and flaky. She would have an opinion and change it on the spot with no warning. For example, when Bastian painted the first bedroom she hated it, but was quickly persuaded to turn it into her theme for the B&B. Why would you make it your theme if you hated it? It makes no sense to me. Also, for someone who seemed so dead-set on being single she let herself have a helluva lot of sexual thoughts about Bastian. I found Bastian obnoxious as well with him not understanding things people were saying and being too literal and of course his obsession with his man lance that I mentioned above.
The storyline itself was as weak as the characters themselves and didn’t even get tolerable until the very end. There were many times in reading this book that I just wanted to put it down and never pick it up again. I would not recommend this book to anybody…in fact I found the whole story to be an insult to my intelligence and I’m amazed that some people did actually enjoyed it.
Beware of spoilers
The dragons were all taken from the Earth and banished to the Island of the stars by an evil sorceress, Killian. The Goddess of Hope, Andra, is trying to turn the dragons back to human form one by one and send them back to Earth; each with their own mission.
The first to be turned is the Alpha Dragon, Bastian, and his mission is to find his heart mate. If he fails his brother dragons will not be able to come back to Earth and Andra will lose some of her magick as well. Bastian is quickly found by Vivica who runs an employment agency for magical beings.
Meanwhile, Mckenna Greylock is in a terrible bind. She has inherited her family’s land from her mother who recently passed away and with that land she also inherited a ton of debt. Her family’s dream has always been to turn the property into a bed and breakfast. She hired a contractor who fell off of a roof shortly after drawing up her permit and is now confined to a wheelchair. Greedy developer, Elliot Huntley, can’t wait for her to default on the property so he can snap it up at a severely cheap price. Mckenna decides to go to Vivica to find a worker that her contractor can direct so they can get the B&B open in time and be able to save herself from losing the property.
Vivica sends Bastian to help McKenna out, but he doesn’t know his own strength and at first does more harm than good. But he eventually gets himself under control and teaches himself every night by reading books so he can fix the property up and so he can understand the things McKenna says. He feels that she is in fact his heart mate. McKenna is attracted to him, but tries to deny her feelings for him to herself. But they eventually give in to their feelings and discover the other loves all of them even their faults.
Bastian ends up getting the Bed and Breakfast fixed up in time, even giving her a theme based on the enchanting murals of his fellow dragons he painted in the bedrooms. McKenna has her first guests booked and it looks like everything will work out when she wakes up to Huntley showing up with bulldozers ready to destroy all of their hard work. Bastian runs out to stop him in a confrontation that leads both Bastian and McKenna thinking that the other is dead.
When I read the blurb on this book, I really didn’t WANT to read it. I felt like this was going to just be a smutty romance novel. Don’t get me wrong I’m fine with a little smut, but I tend to avoid the more obvious sources of it. It wasn’t nearly as smutty as I expected, but I’m sad to say that this book still wasn’t any good in my opinion and felt like a juvenile attempt overall.
I found the majority of the novel excruciatingly painful to read. From the very beginning Bastian was worried about his deformed “man lance” and it seemed like it became its own character, the main character of the story even and that Bastian and McKenna were just supporting cast.
Also, I thought the characters were very weak and hard to read about. I found McKenna to be immature and flaky. She would have an opinion and change it on the spot with no warning. For example, when Bastian painted the first bedroom she hated it, but was quickly persuaded to turn it into her theme for the B&B. Why would you make it your theme if you hated it? It makes no sense to me. Also, for someone who seemed so dead-set on being single she let herself have a helluva lot of sexual thoughts about Bastian. I found Bastian obnoxious as well with him not understanding things people were saying and being too literal and of course his obsession with his man lance that I mentioned above.
The storyline itself was as weak as the characters themselves and didn’t even get tolerable until the very end. There were many times in reading this book that I just wanted to put it down and never pick it up again. I would not recommend this book to anybody…in fact I found the whole story to be an insult to my intelligence and I’m amazed that some people did actually enjoyed it.
April 11, 2011
So Bastian is a Roman soldier cursed into another dimension as a dragon. He's returned to this plane by a goddess and has to save his fellow dragon-Roman soldiers from some evil sorceress or something. McKenna has body image issues, money issues and is in desperate need of a handyman to help her fix up her B&B. Enter her witchy cousin Vivica who is sets these two up because...well it's magic and a romance, so why not.
The only way I can really describe this story is - weird. I didn't love it but I didn't hate it, either. I'm just not recommending it. The beginning is way, way off and made it a real chore to get into the story. Then there is the lead characters are just a bit off. Bastian was too often 'childlike' and that made it hard to connect with him as a smoking hot romantic hero. I get it that he was learning about being human again and esp in the 21st century but...again, too childlike for too long. McKenna had her own problems and became a bit of the one dimensional 'large' heroine with body issues.
This story was amusing at spots but totally dragged in others. I was really expecting more fluff and humor and was rather sadly disappointed. There was also too much going on this story. Too many little side plots. It was like having a chocolate cake in front of you and then someone decides to throw in some fudge sauce, ice cream, chocolate chips, caramel, sprinkles, whipped cream and a cherry on top. So now you are wondering if you even want the cake anymore.
The only way I can really describe this story is - weird. I didn't love it but I didn't hate it, either. I'm just not recommending it. The beginning is way, way off and made it a real chore to get into the story. Then there is the lead characters are just a bit off. Bastian was too often 'childlike' and that made it hard to connect with him as a smoking hot romantic hero. I get it that he was learning about being human again and esp in the 21st century but...again, too childlike for too long. McKenna had her own problems and became a bit of the one dimensional 'large' heroine with body issues.
This story was amusing at spots but totally dragged in others. I was really expecting more fluff and humor and was rather sadly disappointed. There was also too much going on this story. Too many little side plots. It was like having a chocolate cake in front of you and then someone decides to throw in some fudge sauce, ice cream, chocolate chips, caramel, sprinkles, whipped cream and a cherry on top. So now you are wondering if you even want the cake anymore.
August 3, 2022
McKenna Greylock is trying to save an old family house. An evil developer is trying to buy up the land to put in condos.
She has 90 days to fix it up and bring the taxes and mortgage up to date.
Her friend Vivica sends a handsome handyman who is more than he seems.
Bastien Dragonelli, who is in fact a dragon now turned into a man.
He is very strong and very fast in being able to do the renovations needed.
McKenna needs all the help she can get.
An interesting magical tale with ghosts, dragons and plenty of romance.
She has 90 days to fix it up and bring the taxes and mortgage up to date.
Her friend Vivica sends a handsome handyman who is more than he seems.
Bastien Dragonelli, who is in fact a dragon now turned into a man.
He is very strong and very fast in being able to do the renovations needed.
McKenna needs all the help she can get.
An interesting magical tale with ghosts, dragons and plenty of romance.
November 19, 2022
Funny in a cute/silly way. His ‘man-lance’ was of course larger than anything she could buy condoms for. He called it his greatest flaw. I liked the plus sized heroine theme. I’d read more by this author.
April 30, 2011
enh... 1 1/2 stars, I think.
Honestly, I'm not even sure why I tried this. I've had mixed results with Ms. Blair's work before, and I guess I was feeling optimistic. Unrealistically optimistic, as it turns out.
I realize that fluff is exactly that - that's not the problem. The problem is that I expect the writing to still be good, or at least consistent to itself. It's not. These are probably the most sloppily under-developed characters I've read in quite a while. There are too many of them, and even though she takes 300 pages, Ms. Blair leaves the characters unevenly developed to a point where I couldn't really care less about them. I wanted to like Bastian and McKenna, but I don't know enough about them to decide. McKenna is - apparently - so damaged as to have no self-esteem and a very poor body image. That would be ok, if we ever learned why. Did something happen? Was it just the way she was raised (but no, it can't be that because all her ancestors love her so much they won't move on...). Meanwhile, Bastian learns some euphamisms and idioms rapidly, but not others, and McKenna's conversational style is crammed absurdly full of both just so we can watch Bastian ask for clarification again. The result is contrived dialogue that set my teeth on edge.
I really like Ms. Blair's Vintage Magic series, and will continue to read it, but I definitely will not read another of this series and more than I would another of the series that The Kitchen Witch came from. Ms. Blair may get my "uneven author" of the decade award.
Honestly, I'm not even sure why I tried this. I've had mixed results with Ms. Blair's work before, and I guess I was feeling optimistic. Unrealistically optimistic, as it turns out.
I realize that fluff is exactly that - that's not the problem. The problem is that I expect the writing to still be good, or at least consistent to itself. It's not. These are probably the most sloppily under-developed characters I've read in quite a while. There are too many of them, and even though she takes 300 pages, Ms. Blair leaves the characters unevenly developed to a point where I couldn't really care less about them. I wanted to like Bastian and McKenna, but I don't know enough about them to decide. McKenna is - apparently - so damaged as to have no self-esteem and a very poor body image. That would be ok, if we ever learned why. Did something happen? Was it just the way she was raised (but no, it can't be that because all her ancestors love her so much they won't move on...). Meanwhile, Bastian learns some euphamisms and idioms rapidly, but not others, and McKenna's conversational style is crammed absurdly full of both just so we can watch Bastian ask for clarification again. The result is contrived dialogue that set my teeth on edge.
I really like Ms. Blair's Vintage Magic series, and will continue to read it, but I definitely will not read another of this series and more than I would another of the series that The Kitchen Witch came from. Ms. Blair may get my "uneven author" of the decade award.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 21, 2011
This is a paranormal romance, through and through. If you hate the soul mate formula, don't bother picking up this book. It's the literary equivalent of Cheetos or Pixie Stix - nothing to brag about consuming, but so yummy when you're in the mood for them. The writing in this book is so-so, the story predictable and clichéd, but I still enjoyed reading it.
This book is about a drop-dead gorgeous dragon shifter from another plane of existence who is transported to Salem, MA with a mission to help his soul mate fulfill her destiny, but first he has to find her. A magical temp agency takes care of that by assigning him to a handyman job getting a bed and breakfast into shape to open. The owner is (of course) a spunky, curvy (fat, if you want to be honest), scarlet-haired young woman will a chip on her shoulder and the threat of foreclosure over her head and a pushy developer out to grab her land. Sparks fly, magic happens, happily ever after, bad guys vanquished, the end. There are also magical sidekicks and cute scenes with animals and children. Chick wish fulfillment, all the way. Oh, and the dragon has a prehensile penis. Nice touch, there, Ms. Blair.
This book is about a drop-dead gorgeous dragon shifter from another plane of existence who is transported to Salem, MA with a mission to help his soul mate fulfill her destiny, but first he has to find her. A magical temp agency takes care of that by assigning him to a handyman job getting a bed and breakfast into shape to open. The owner is (of course) a spunky, curvy (fat, if you want to be honest), scarlet-haired young woman will a chip on her shoulder and the threat of foreclosure over her head and a pushy developer out to grab her land. Sparks fly, magic happens, happily ever after, bad guys vanquished, the end. There are also magical sidekicks and cute scenes with animals and children. Chick wish fulfillment, all the way. Oh, and the dragon has a prehensile penis. Nice touch, there, Ms. Blair.
January 27, 2010
Naked Dragon - Review by Doni
5/5 Screams from the Backseat
A Sliver of Hope
“On the Island of Stars, on a plane beyond ours, A Roman legion exists.
Cursed for performing their duty with spirit and might… One Dragon per phase might be turned and sent back.”
And so begins the story of the Naked Dragon, the first in the Works Like Magick series. I hope there are many more to come. Annette Blair is an awesome writer. When I read her books, I get lost in the magick. I can put myself in the world(s) that she creates. The writing is crisp and concise without being too formal or stuffy. On the down side, it is over too soon. Ms. Blair is often an author that I can read in one sitting, and then I am left wanting more. Unfortunately that means waiting for the next book which never comes out soon enough for me.... read the rest at...
http://romanceinthebackseat.com/paran...
5/5 Screams from the Backseat
A Sliver of Hope
“On the Island of Stars, on a plane beyond ours, A Roman legion exists.
Cursed for performing their duty with spirit and might… One Dragon per phase might be turned and sent back.”
And so begins the story of the Naked Dragon, the first in the Works Like Magick series. I hope there are many more to come. Annette Blair is an awesome writer. When I read her books, I get lost in the magick. I can put myself in the world(s) that she creates. The writing is crisp and concise without being too formal or stuffy. On the down side, it is over too soon. Ms. Blair is often an author that I can read in one sitting, and then I am left wanting more. Unfortunately that means waiting for the next book which never comes out soon enough for me.... read the rest at...
http://romanceinthebackseat.com/paran...
January 9, 2010
Annette Blair has an unique writing style, her books are full of humor, magic, animals (cats mostly), and romance.
What would you do when you hire a handyman, then find him in your basement destroying your B&B foundation? Well, you have to read to she what McKenna does…
****very few spoilers below****
This book was really good.. Both McKenna and Bastian has there own body problems to over come with each other, I will say Bastian has the biggest because its his manhood!! I have never read anything like it:)
The story line was different, it can get a little confusing at first but remember Bastian has not been on earth for a while so it takes him a little to catch up on the new language terms..
Annette also brings in someone form one of her past book..
Over all if your looking for a fun romance with a little mystery this one is a good easy read..
What would you do when you hire a handyman, then find him in your basement destroying your B&B foundation? Well, you have to read to she what McKenna does…
****very few spoilers below****
This book was really good.. Both McKenna and Bastian has there own body problems to over come with each other, I will say Bastian has the biggest because its his manhood!! I have never read anything like it:)
The story line was different, it can get a little confusing at first but remember Bastian has not been on earth for a while so it takes him a little to catch up on the new language terms..
Annette also brings in someone form one of her past book..
Over all if your looking for a fun romance with a little mystery this one is a good easy read..
February 12, 2010
I read so many rave reviews about this that I was really excited to read it. Boy what a disappointment! Apparently I am not a fan of paranormal romance. Urban fantasy yes. Paranormal romance no.
Reading about a prehensile dragon tail shaped and scaled "man lance" over and over and over again was ridiculous, not sexy! The story line only existed to serve as a rumpled sex den for the hero and heroine. The caliber was an insult to my intelligence. Good grief.
Reading about a prehensile dragon tail shaped and scaled "man lance" over and over and over again was ridiculous, not sexy! The story line only existed to serve as a rumpled sex den for the hero and heroine. The caliber was an insult to my intelligence. Good grief.
September 18, 2010
Light, fun read that got better as it went on. I enjoyed the characters; Kenna and Bastian. Bastian was so much fun and one hell of a looker too. Kenna was a strong, determined women who lacked self confidence in herself and so she built walls and Bastian was man enough to break those walls down.
Good read...recommend it.
Good read...recommend it.
February 19, 2010
Ugh. Not for me. Not for me at all.
I got to page 41 of 178. So I don't think it's fair for me to add a rating.
This was my first Annette Blair book and I was a big fan of her writing style (among other things) so I won't be eager to read another one of her books anytime soon.
I got to page 41 of 178. So I don't think it's fair for me to add a rating.
This was my first Annette Blair book and I was a big fan of her writing style (among other things) so I won't be eager to read another one of her books anytime soon.
December 6, 2013
Man lance and scales. Thats all im gonna say.
May 22, 2020
There is something so simple and easy about Blair’s writing that hooks me every damn time. It’s not quite a guilty pleasure, because you just feel so at peace when you’re reading her works. But it’s also not exactly the kind of book that I rave about. After all, the very simplicity and joy that her writing brings isn’t the kind of earth-shattering, life altering storyline that my loved ones really care about. That, and the fact that the overarching synopsis of this story – dragon falls to earth, works as a handyman at a future B&B, falls for the owner, they battle an evil developer… it’s not the kind of synopsis that is going to make people say “tell me more”.
I really like that Blair tends to feature women who aren’t necessarily what you would consider typical – whatever their deal. In the case of MacKenna, she is curvy, a bit of a farm girl and definitely of the nurturing type. In fact, you can tell in every action that she yearns to nurture and love others. Even if others haven’t returned that favour. Blair is able to deal with and highlight issues that we all have about our own feelings of worth and self-image in a way that makes you reflect on your own issues and perceptions of self. Yet, it is done in such a gorgeously gentle way that left me with a huge smile on my face.
No matter how many books I read, I will always love stories that feature a dragon. Although this is a dragon stuck in man form, he still has a small dragon that flies around and assists him in his adventures. I love the cuteness of Jock, especially since he seems to just backup whatever it is that Bastian wants done. I would love to have a handy little dragon assisting me in all of my many endeavours. That, and an annoying little fairy that likes to nest in hair… the optimum sidekicks in this gorgeous little romance.
I absolutely adored this novel. And the moment that I finished it, I picked up Bedeviled Angel. In fact, as I’m writing this review (24 hours after finishing Naked Dragon), I am already halfway through the next novel. Blair’s work may be somewhat simple and calm, but it is also a great read. One that you can pick up and put down whenever you want that great feeling, a pick me up, or just something to occupy yourself when your going for a nice, long walk…
I really like that Blair tends to feature women who aren’t necessarily what you would consider typical – whatever their deal. In the case of MacKenna, she is curvy, a bit of a farm girl and definitely of the nurturing type. In fact, you can tell in every action that she yearns to nurture and love others. Even if others haven’t returned that favour. Blair is able to deal with and highlight issues that we all have about our own feelings of worth and self-image in a way that makes you reflect on your own issues and perceptions of self. Yet, it is done in such a gorgeously gentle way that left me with a huge smile on my face.
No matter how many books I read, I will always love stories that feature a dragon. Although this is a dragon stuck in man form, he still has a small dragon that flies around and assists him in his adventures. I love the cuteness of Jock, especially since he seems to just backup whatever it is that Bastian wants done. I would love to have a handy little dragon assisting me in all of my many endeavours. That, and an annoying little fairy that likes to nest in hair… the optimum sidekicks in this gorgeous little romance.
I absolutely adored this novel. And the moment that I finished it, I picked up Bedeviled Angel. In fact, as I’m writing this review (24 hours after finishing Naked Dragon), I am already halfway through the next novel. Blair’s work may be somewhat simple and calm, but it is also a great read. One that you can pick up and put down whenever you want that great feeling, a pick me up, or just something to occupy yourself when your going for a nice, long walk…
June 25, 2020
This is the first book I’ve picked up from this author and it won’t be the last.Annette paints a vivid world with very likeable characters and a well thought out plot sprinkled with enough humour and smut to keep things spicy.
Bastion,a former Roman warrior,who spent a couple of millennia cursed as a dragon and back in human form in the 21st century, must complete a quest bestowed upon him by the goddess of hope in order to liberate his other dragon cursed brethren. On the way, he meets McKenna, the last descendant of a magickal bloodline, who struggles to restore and repair her inn and pay old debts.
Sparks fly between them from the first pages, and while there is flirting, it doesn’t progress too fast like other novels do.On the contrary, it feels natural,and as Bastian slowly acclimatises to the modern world,he becomes more in tune with Mckenna’s emotional needs as well. The prehensile man-lance is one of the parts where I had to majorly suspend my disbelief though.
The side characters are also engaging and make you care about them without feeling like they take up a lot of the attention. Special shout-out to Jock the mini dragon guardian and Dewcup, the troublesome pixie fairy.
Definitely a book recommended if you like a healthy dose of humour and smut along with your paranormal romance.
👍🏻😍🧚🏻🐉🧙🏻
Bastion,a former Roman warrior,who spent a couple of millennia cursed as a dragon and back in human form in the 21st century, must complete a quest bestowed upon him by the goddess of hope in order to liberate his other dragon cursed brethren. On the way, he meets McKenna, the last descendant of a magickal bloodline, who struggles to restore and repair her inn and pay old debts.
Sparks fly between them from the first pages, and while there is flirting, it doesn’t progress too fast like other novels do.On the contrary, it feels natural,and as Bastian slowly acclimatises to the modern world,he becomes more in tune with Mckenna’s emotional needs as well. The prehensile man-lance is one of the parts where I had to majorly suspend my disbelief though.
The side characters are also engaging and make you care about them without feeling like they take up a lot of the attention. Special shout-out to Jock the mini dragon guardian and Dewcup, the troublesome pixie fairy.
Definitely a book recommended if you like a healthy dose of humour and smut along with your paranormal romance.
👍🏻😍🧚🏻🐉🧙🏻
March 24, 2017
This was really funny. The tissue box wearing cat. The popsicle stick eating fish out of water dragon man hero.
But why on earth were his wings located at hip height if flying supposedly gave him great chest muscles?
Why was the end so rushed?
Why did they introduce a new dragon refugee hero at the end if the next book is about some angel and the handsome dragon never shows again?
Why were the love scenes so brief after such a big build up?
Again the book was funny but there was so much more that could have been done with it. It seemed incomplete even without the next book being misplaced.
But why on earth were his wings located at hip height if flying supposedly gave him great chest muscles?
Why was the end so rushed?
Why did they introduce a new dragon refugee hero at the end if the next book is about some angel and the handsome dragon never shows again?
Why were the love scenes so brief after such a big build up?
Again the book was funny but there was so much more that could have been done with it. It seemed incomplete even without the next book being misplaced.
October 22, 2017
I was at my house for years intill I have grown and
I left and I found this village and they said that
They were going to get a tack so I started to go
And find who was a tacking them but he didn't
Find the person but they said it wasent a
Person so they said it was a naked. So then he
Herd something breathing and he turned around
And he saw the dragon and it was flying to the town an then
He cut him in the throat and the naked dragon was dead
I left and I found this village and they said that
They were going to get a tack so I started to go
And find who was a tacking them but he didn't
Find the person but they said it wasent a
Person so they said it was a naked. So then he
Herd something breathing and he turned around
And he saw the dragon and it was flying to the town an then
He cut him in the throat and the naked dragon was dead
Read
January 10, 2021 i giggled helplessly and repeatedly over her use of 'man lance' and 'dragon lance'. especially because i've seen jousting at the renaissance festival and read books about knights, and a lance is a long wooden pole, the goal of which is to SHATTER it against your opponents chest. so lance in place of dick just doesn't work for my visual brain/imagination.
the rest of the book was pretty good, man lance aside.
the rest of the book was pretty good, man lance aside.
August 8, 2017
This was a decent paranormal romance. The story was cute, if unsurprising. The word choices, however, were off-putting. I get that a non-human male might use different terminology, but every time he mentioned his "lance" it threw me out of the story.
December 9, 2020
I really enjoyed this book. I laughed, was teary-eyed, and smiled. The story was well done, the writing also well done. Only 1 typo. I will be reading the next in the series. Thinking about buying them in Kindle format to be able to keep and read over again.
March 16, 2018
Funny, snarky, larger woman struggling to save the family hertiage. Dragon shifter must aid his heart mate in her quest to strengthen his goddess
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 29, 2019
I need more!
This story is fun and had me so excited to see what happens next. The characters are funny and engaging. They share a great friendships. This is a must read!
This story is fun and had me so excited to see what happens next. The characters are funny and engaging. They share a great friendships. This is a must read!
February 26, 2022
Awesome and fun to read.
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