Erik, one of the Loch Arach family members (and a dragon), has been sent away from the battle between the Scottish and English to find a treasure supposedly hidden by the Templars. As it’s apparently located on an island in the middle of the Atlantic, he’ll need a ship to get there. Luckily, he runs into Toinette (another dragon), who he was fostered with at Loch Arach, and now captain of the ship Hawk. While they were attracted to each other as teens, nothing more than a kiss happened before Toinette was sent away, and it’s been quite a long time since they’ve seen each other.
This was not at all what I was expecting. I binge read the first two books in the series before this one, so coming off of Moiread and Madoc’s road-trip-style romance, I initially thought this would be another fun traveling story. Then things took a surprisingly decided turn sideways, and I realized . While I wouldn’t call any of Ms. Cooper’s books that I’ve read so far light reading – they usually have multiple layers, and have several philosophical and religious layers – this on was heavier than most. It quickly goes from “OK, this is weird” to “creepy” to “OMG WHY am I reading this at night???”, while at the same time exploring sacrifice, friendship, and understanding the price of both.
“It’s all pride, as far as I’m concerned. Kings and crowns and banners—it’s all pride, it’s all stupid, and none of it’s worth a drop of my men’s blood.”
I admired Toinette. Unlike the MacAlasdair dragons, who are Scottish nobles, Toinette grew up poor and English, and she’s on her own when she suddenly starts manifesting her dragon powers as a teen. Somehow, she manages to end up at Loch Arach, where she’s taken in and learns to control her powers. Even there, though, it’s obvious she’s not one of them, and when she’s eighteen, she leaves to forge her own life. And she does! She marries, is widowed, and then inherits the captaincy of the Hawk. Her crew respects her, and from everything we see of her, she’s a good and prosperous captain. While Erik owes his loyalty to his MacAlasdair family, Toinette’s family is her crew, and she knows it.
One of my favorite parts of this book is the interactions between Erik, Toinette, and her crew, especially Marcus, her second in command. During a storm, Erik and Toinette are forced to reveal their dragon selves in order to save the ship and its crew, so threaded along with the rest of the plot is the crews’ reactions to, well, their captain turning into a giant fire-breathing monster. Each of the crew are distinct and well-characterized, and each have their own reactions to the dragons and being stranded on the island.
And as a note, since I was not expecting this – this book reads as straight horror at times. It’s more of an existential horror rather than blood and guts-type, though there’s a bit of that, but this is a book I would most definitely NOT recommend reading before bed! While I’m only an occasional horror reader, I thought the quality of it was well-done, and the explanation behind it was fascinating, as well as keeping with the series’ fourteenth-century take on religion.
Overall, while this was not at all what I was expecting, this was excellent. Recommended for anyone looking for an exciting paranormal romance with a large dose of horror!
I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.