Title:  Dragon Fall
Series:  Black Dragons #1
Author:  Katie macAlister
Genre:  Paranormal Romance
Published:  July 28, 2015
Publisher:  Forever (Grand Central Publishing)
My Rating:  4 stars
Source:  NetGalley
Cover Description:

YOU FLIRT WITH FIRE…

For Aoife Dakar, seeing is believing-and she’s seen some extraordinary things. It’s too bad no one else believes that she witnessed a supernatural murder at an outdoor fair. Returning to the scene for proof, Aoife encounters a wise-cracking demon dog-and a gloriously naked man who can shift into a dragon and kiss like a god. Now thrust into a fantastical world that’s both exhilarating and terrifying, Aoife is about to learn just how hot a dragon’s fire burns.

WHEN YOU DATE A DRAGON

Kostya has no time for a human woman with endless questions, no matter how gorgeous or tempting she is. He must break the curse that has splintered the dragon clans before more of his kind die. But his powerful attraction to Aoife runs much deeper than the physical-and there may be more to her than even his sharp dragon eyes can see. To survive the coming battle for the fate of his race, he needs a mate of true heart and soul.

Read on for my thoughts on Dragon Fall.  No true spoilers, promise.

So, alright…maybe trying to tell the parents about a murder when there isn’t a body to be found was a mistake.  And just maybe also trying to explain about the disappearing act involving the black smoke should have just stayed in her head and not been spoken out loud.  But Aoife knew what she saw, she did.  All the electric shock treatments in the world were not about to erase that scene.  Now two years later and an asylum for the insane former address, Aoife is ready to put what she thinks she saw, but didn’t see, even though she’s sure she saw… well, to put that madness behind her.  If Only.

When she runs into a dog (actually runs into a dog) and it turns out to be a talking demon dog named Jim of all things.  And rescues a man on the beach (when will she ever learn to leave things alone) and he morphs into a dragon – well, it’s easy to think that she needs to revisit her former home for the insane address ‘cos this is just not happening to her.

Actually what Aoife is – is not insane, but perhaps more sane than most of the people around her.  She is the key, she holds the answer to breaking a curse, she is the fated mate of a dragon shifter… and she is perhaps much more.  Insane she is not – she is essential to one dragon’s heart.

I will admit that I love shifter stories, and I love dragon lore – but for some odd reason I have never before read a shifter dragon tale.  Why?  I have no clue, but I now know how to remedy that sad fact.  In some ways I wish I would have had the time to go back and read the Aisling Grey series by Ms MacAlister before I dove into this story.  Not that I feel it was absolutely necessary, but I would have had a better understanding of the lore of this amazing world.  I will take care of that oversight in the near future, that is without a doubt in my mind because this novel captured my heart and my imagination, so now I need the back story.  But I digress.

Dragon Fall is such a fun, quirky, intriguing and entertaining story.  The “quirky” part of that statement is because of the characters Aoife and Kostya.  I absolutely love the interactions between Aoife, Kostya and of course the demon pup, Jim.  For a smooth dragon shifter, Kostya has some, well let’s say unique ways of turning a phrase to mean so much more than it should mean.  His delivery is simply amazing and I admit, even at his blowhard most arrogant moments I simply loved to hear him talk.  Aoife may have started out as what could be seen as weak and confused, but she is a strength to be reckoned with – and Kostya will soon learn that as well.

While I understand that this is a created world that many readers already know, for a first time reader it is simply stunning.  I enjoyed the world building, the lore and as strange as it may seem.. knowing that I need to step into the next story to get all the answers I want.  I have never shied away from the need to pick up another book to continue my enjoyment of a tale.

I would not hesitate to recommend Dragon Fall to readers who enjoy paranormal romance or shifters.  While I enjoyed this novel, given a choice I would go back and start at the beginning of the dragon tales to get the nuances that I’m certain I missed.  That opinion is on me not the author – when possible, it’s alway a good idea to start at the beginning.

*I received an e-ARC of Dragon Fall from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. That does not change what I think of this novel.*

Available in paperback, audio and for the Kindle