Not His Dragon: Not This Series Book 1, Annie Nicholas

Right from the start we get a clear picture of the scattered Angie.  Being flustered right at the start makes for an amazing meet-cute with the dark and severely annoyed Eoin.  When Eoin "mistakes" her for a dragon encroaching on his territory he unwittingly opens the door to Angie's past, one she has no clue exists.  Angie's scratching business is finally starting to see success and there's no way she'll let an egotistical crazy man, even one who may or may not be incredibly attractive and compelling, drive her out of the city.  But desperation on both sides and Angie's bills combine to give them the opportunity to forge a connection, maybe a forever one.

An interesting take on mating rituals stood out to me the most in this story.  It was quite different from what we normally get with shifter stories.  Instead of a pull toward a fated mate, in this story we get regular dating but with a feeling similar to a mating frenzy going on inside because of circumstances rather than what we get in the fated-mate trope.  There's both a literal and a metaphorical take on the "mating dance" and the possibility of "cutting in" on that dance was a bit of a shock.  I kind of liked it.  No, I didn't like the potential for heartbreak and pain, but the concept was one that was so different that I couldn't hate it in the least.

There were a couple things that did bother me in this story, though.  First is the slightly sketchy side characters.  Some of them turn out to be rather innocent but still make you question if we're getting the whole truth.  It becomes unsettling because of who these people are and what their roles are as well.

Second is that important identity information was downplayed.  Angie's background is a mystery and when we finally see what she is and how rare she is, in more ways than one, the details are given the brush off when there were so many to be had about other dragons.  It felt like a cop out.  Like the author didn't want to go into detail for a world she didn't fully create rather than a feeling of acceptance and reluctance on the part of the MC's, but mainly for Angie.

The whole story overall is cute, funny, and sexy.  Between broody, committed Eoin and feisty, strong-willed Angie we get an interesting interplay of confusion, lust, softening, and love.  Both have a history to overcome if they want a happy future and I felt that they were a good match for one another.  Their passion was strong and their bond stronger.  The world that was created (as far as it was anyway...) was engaging and drew me in.  There are many characters I wouldn't mind finding out more about and am looking forward to their stories.

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