Fury of Ice (Dragonfury)

Welcome to back to Washington State.

If you read the first installment, Fury of Fire, then you are already familiar with the characters; if not you really should check it out. This book picks up immediately following [[ASIN:1612182720 Fury of Fire (Dragonfury Series #1)]]. This review contains spoilers for [[ASIN:1612182720 Fury of Fire (Dragonfury Series #1)]]. I don't want to spoil anything for those who haven't read it yet, but WoW~~~~.
This is a primal example of a paranormal romance.

The author has created a group of characters and fine-tuned their individual personalities so well that you experience their emotions as your own. The struggles, the heartbreak, everything is so very well written that each event drags you fully into the experience. I read this entire book in a single day; couldn't put it down. I am glad the next installment, [[ASIN:1612182968 Fury of Seduction (Dragonfury Series #3)]], is coming soon.

Rikar is the last of his kind; a frost dragon shifter, an all-male race born of human females. As 2nd in command of the Nightfury dragon clan it is his duty to protect humankind. Just great he seemed to be following in Bastian's footsteps. He had only met the female once...and now he felt the bond between them; it is ~~ Undeniable ~~ Powerful ~~ Addictive.

When, his female, Angela Keene, a homicide detective, is kidnapped by the enemy he will do anything to save her.

I didn't like this book. The author drops F-bombs frequently. The prose is basic and boring, lacking elegance or grace. And you can see upcoming events a mile away.

The book had tremendous potential - I am a Sci Fi and PNR fan, especially Dragon Sci Fi and was very interested in the premise of humans shape shifting into dragons and all the different types of dragons in this world. I did like the descriptions of the sensation of changing into a dragon and the various powers and abilities. And the varieties dragons and their quirks and idiosyncrasies was well done. But the crude language and the wooden writing style was too much of a distraction.

I am definitely in the minority today - I thought "Twilight" was also poorly written and wooden but clearly with the millions and millions of copies sold many people didn't care. It seems like the authors of today's popular romance lit are going for the "fast money" with strong, romantic male characters and strong but "damsel in distress" female characters and don't really care if the writing is lacking, as long as it get the female pulse going.

Fans of J.R. Ward's "Black Dagger Brotherhood" will find this novel (and most likely this series) just right to add to their collection of slang-slinging ancients, especially if Rhage (the dragon-shifting vamp in Ward's "[[ASIN:0451218043 Lover Eternal (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 2)]]") was the fudge frosting on their cake.

Dragons who can shift to human form (always preferable to humans who can shift to dragon form) ahoy in this 2nd in the Dragonfury series, and from their names, their "shitkickers" to their "loads of WTF", could stand next to their vamp warrior brethen with ease. Even the females would seem familiar; both fulfill the need of feed for their male mate counterparts, be it by blood or, in this case, "energy".

As someone who loves dragons, I couldn't resist this book... but the parallels to Ward's series --IMO-- were present enough to be a distraction for me (especially as it isn't my bag). Overall, I found it mildly entertaining, and as I like dragons better than vampires, more fun to read than the BDB novels. However, if Fury of Ice had less trendy-speak and brand-dropping (ala Ward) I would have enjoyed it much more. I may even purchase more of the series simply because I love its *concept* so much. So score one for Callahan for her dragon use. :-) Also, score another for Callahan for her realistic portrayal of her heroine, Angela, and her dragon mate, Rikar. Angela was a good blend of being a strong woman with a warm fuzzy core... and ditto for Rikar. *G* Neither one of them got on my nerves and I was able to enjoy them as individuals as well as a couple throughout the storyline... unlike Rhage and Mary (GAH!!!!). They both owned their roles and interactions with others, and the overall group rapport was well done.

That aside, if dragons weren't a factor, I can't say for sure that I would continue reading this series. The writing is good; that slang just... it drives me crazy and not in a good way. Of course, Ward's sold thousands of her BDB series -- obviously this writing style appeals to a multitude -- so what do I know. LOL... In that regard, Callahan's series is certain to be a success, and at the end of the day when it's time to pay the bills, that's all that matters. ;-) LOL...

Some situational spoilers:

Second in an ongoing series, set in modern day where shape shifting dragons live secretly among normal humanity. The setting is a little over the top where gorgeous dragon men must mate with human women to have offspring, but where an imbalance of magical energy leaves the female dead during the process. Dragons don't have female offspring, and to continue their race the group of "good" dragons must find a way to take a Mate without destroying her when they conceive a child. Add to that a group of very BAD dragons who just grab women and treats them like property, are the only ones who know how to keep the females alive during childbirth.

Convenient, right? So the book is mostly Rikar going nuts cuz his special girl Angela, a cop, has been stolen and endures horrible abuse by bad dragons. Resourceful Angela manages to take down her dragon captor by taking advantage of circumstances, but doesn't kill him so that he can go all psychopath on her later on. Now despite being raped of energy, and perhaps physically ( couldn't really tale because the writing danced around the bush so much ) Angela winds up thinking her fated dragon mate Rikar, of the good dragons, who rescues her from the pursuit of bad psycho dragon, is hot stuff and can't bed him fast enough. @_@ yeah... But it's fantasy so I'll give a little on the details. I honestly did not dislike it as much as I thought I might. The characterizations were nice, and the flow of events was smooth and quick paced. I just had a lot of resistance to the general over all concept. I normally love modern fantasy, but this left me feeling moe meh than anything else.

Okay to pass to time with, I had to force myself to finish it but others may find it more to their liking.

Love this series.

Fury of Ice by Coreene Callahan

Rikar, the Ice Dragon needs to rescue the cop, Angela, from the evil Razorbacks. But Angela is not one to wait around for rescue and escapes from the dragon's lair on her own.

I really liked this second book in the Dragon series. While there were many complaints from reviewers about the first book and how closely it may have followed another author series, this one stands out individually and I don't feel it's a copy of anything. The pacing is edge-of-your-seat most of the time and I was anxious to get back to it. Since the first book was a cliff hanger I was really worried about secondary characters near the end. It's not a problem in this book.

Angela is a very strong woman who is good at escaping, self analysis, and shooting. I'd want her on my team. And I love the unrelated brother sister roles that Angela and Mac take on.

"he wanted to say something--anything to refute her, but…hell. His brain was on hiatus, giving him nothing but a load of blankety-blank-blank." Excerpt from a Fury of Ice by Coreene Callahan.

Coreene is a super writer and this series is wonderful

These dragons got under my skin! I enjoyed very much this book! The Nightfuries are a bunch of intriguing warriors, each and every one of them is captivating and I'm curious to know more about them.

I enjoyed the romance between Rikar and Angela; the fact that the author explores also the story from the point of view of other characters, like Tania, or Mac, or even the mean Lothair, brings a higly dinamic that kept me glued to the reading.

I love Mac and Forge, right now they are the warriors that captive my interest the most; also Wick, he's so mysterious.

Ever since reading book 1 I find myself imagining dragons flying in the sky, dragons fighting in the air - and WOW!

Just finished the first in the series and it was nail biting good, Hey where can I get me my own sexy, tall, dark, and scaly dragon,,,, this series is awesome

wonderfully series, each is different. Very sexy and well written. The endings for each book is an ending and yet another character is introduced you want to know better.