Heart of the Dragon by Gena Showalter has received some pretty mixed reviews on Amazon and the like, so when I saw it in my library I snatched it up and decided I would see what I thought.
And 367 pages later, I still don’t really know what to think. The book definitely had good and bad, starting with the sexy man on the cover and the unique premise – good – and every other man in the book and the flat characters – bad.
In Showalter’s fantasy world, the reader finds human Grace Carlyle stumbling around the rain forest in Brazil searching for her adventure-seeking brother when she accidentally is sucked into a cave leading to Atlantis, and Darius en Kragin, the most beautiful man Grace has ever seen.
Darius, a shape-shifting dragon warrior, is the leader of a clan of dragons. He’s a warrior and the guardian of the mist, charged with killing any person who wanders into the cave. His current mission, upon Grace’s arrival, is to kill the red-headed female so that she never discovers the secrets of his underworld.
Gena Showalter’s Characters
Like the book, Grace, as a heroine, is both good and bad. As a freckle-faced, plump, 20-something woman, it’s easy to relate to Grace. What woman doesn’t dream of being loved by a supremely sexy man, regardless of weight or complexion? Who among us women is not overly critical of themselves, yet believes they, too, deserve a Darius?
So yes, Grace is definitely relatable. But she’s also pretty stupid. Though she wavers between what she wants to do and what Darius wants her to do, she ultimately follows his directions nearly every time as if she does not have her own brain in her head. In addition, Grace goes from lusting after Darius to falling deeply in love with Darius in a matter of two pages or so. It’s difficult for the reader to follow that progression because, well, there isn’t really much of a progression there at all.
Darius also is sort of flat at times. Before Grace’s arrival, Darius cannot be shaken. He does not show any emotion to his men and he does not experience senses. As in, he cannot see colors or taste food. As soon as Grace arrives, though, that all changes. Darius goes from being a cool, never flustered character to an easily enraged fool in the matter of a couple pages, also. Again, very little progression.
But he’s pretty sexy, anyway. I think I love him.
Atlantis Series by Showalter
The rest of the book, despite the interesting premise, is pretty slow. Grace enlists Darius’ help in searching for her brother. Grace’s brother is a flat character; those surrounding his disappearance are flat characters; the descriptions of events are him are flat descriptions. The dialogue throughout the book is less-than-enthralling and too many loose ends are left untied.
Which, I suppose was the point, since Heart of the Dragon is the first in Showalter’s Atlantis series.
So, considering the good and the bad, would I recommend the book? I think so. Though it can be a bit tedious at times, the romance scenes move quickly and the book is definitely an easy read. It’s an entertaining way to spend the afternoon if you don’t have anything else to do, but you likely will not be turning the pages as quickly as you can.
Heart of the Dragon was published by HQN in 2005. ISBN: 9780373775255
Read about other books by Gena Showalter:
The Amazon’s Curse – Short story featuring amazon Nola and vampire Zane
The Darkest Fire – Prequel novella to Lords of the Underworld series
