Drakon's Plunder by N.J. Walters

Life is not going well for archaeologist Sam Bellamy. She’s stuck in the middle of the ocean on a salvage boat with people who want her dead. It wasn’t her gift for being able to sense objects of power that got her here, rather her need to make a secret society called the Knights of the Dragon pay for killing her mentor. Sam doesn’t believe in dragons, but the Knights do, and if she can get one of the sacred artifacts they’re searching for away from them, she’ll consider it payback.

Ezra Easton is content to run his marine salvage company and live alone on his private island. He may be a four-thousand-year-old water drakon, but he’s civilized enough to know just because he pulls an injured woman from the ocean, doesn’t mean he gets to keep her...

When she wakes up, she has a few tall tales to share, and it seems the Knights are after her. But this drakon won’t give up his treasure.

Series: Blood of the Drakon #3 | Publisher: Entangled Select Otherworld | Genre: Paranormal | Source: Publisher | Rating: 2.5 Cups

When this one was offered for review, I was intrigued but I wasn’t really sure I wanted to start in the middle of a series but the fact the heroine was named after my favorite pirate had me saying yes.

 

Here’s what’s going on. Sam’s an archaeologist with a special power, she’s able to sense powerful artifacts, which is why the Knights of the Dragon hired her. Although the Knights haven’t a clue that she’s onboard to steal the object they’re looking for in hopes of avenging her mentor that the Knights murdered. When her escape plan doesn’t go as planned and she finds herself injured, Sam’s rescued by the sexy yet mysterious Ezra Easton. Ezra’s a water drakon and he has an agenda of his own. He wants to stop the Knights before they can get their hands on the artifacts that can destroy his kind. He was expecting to rescue Sam but now that he has, his drakon sees her as it’s treasure and the man agrees. Although figuring out if Sam is friend or foe is going to be a bit tricky.

 

This one was a super quick and occasionally fun little read yet it left me slightly disappointed.

 

Sam and Ezra are cute together but that was about it. While they were attracted to each other and intrigued by each other, it never really went beyond that. I didn’t feel that chemistry between them. He was like ooh, you’re my treasure and I’m not letting you go and she was like okay, but it’s dangerous for me to stay so I’m going to mention this fact a million times while you’re taking me to bed. He spent most of the book waiting for her to react to him being a water drakon and she verged on the border of being TSTL.

 

It was definitely an instalove romance and normally they don’t bother me with paranormal romances but this one just didn’t work for me. Rather giving off the feeling of being fated mates, this one was more like I’m going to claim you as another treasure for my vast collection. Of course, dragons and treasures go hand-in-hand, but the way it was used in this one made Sam feel like his possession rather than his mate. I never felt that there was anything different about Sam that attracted him to her other than the fact he found her.

 

The suspense aspect was a major letdown. It arcs over the entire series and, while I don’t mind when this happens, I didn’t feel like the arc of this book went anywhere or accomplished anything. There were so many questions brought up and no answers given and it left me feeling frustrated. And it wasn’t because I started with the third book, there was enough backstory given to follow along. It’s because nothing was accomplished.

 

Because this was a paranormal romance, I was expecting some world/lore building and I didn’t really get any. I wanted more believability with Ezra being a drakon rather than him just going through the motions. There were also a few paranormal things brought up such as the tattoo Ezra was born with was trying to leap onto Sam’s skin then never fleshed out or mentioned again.

 

Overall, this one lacked a bit of everything. The paranormal elements, the suspense, the mystery, and the relationship seemed like it only scratched the surface of what it could have been.

 

 

The Blood of the Drakon Series

#1: Drakon’s Promise

#2: Drakon’s Prey

#3: Drakon's Plunder