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September 20, 2014

Review: The Highland Dragon's Lady (Highland Dragon #2) by Isabel Cooper

The Highland Dragon's Lady
(Highland Dragon #2)
by Isabel Cooper

Genre: Historical Paranormal Romance
Trade Paperback/e-book, 352 pages
Expected publication: December 2nd 2014 by Sourcebooks Casablanca

Rating: 2.5 stars of 5

Synopsis:

Regina Talbot-Jones has always known her rambling family home was haunted. She also knows her brother has invited one of his friends to attend an ill-conceived séance. She didn't count on that friend being so handsome... and she certainly didn't expect him to be a dragon.

Scottish Highlander Colin MacAlasdair has hidden his true nature for his entire life, but the moment he sets eyes on Regina, he knows he has to have her. In his hundreds of years, he's never met a woman who could understand him so thoroughly... or touch him so deeply. Bound by their mutual loneliness, drawn by the fire awakening inside of them, Colin and Regina must work together to defeat a vengeful spirit - and discover whether their growing love is powerful enough to defy convention.

Review:

(I was provided an advance copy of The Highland Dragon's Lady (#2) in exchange for an honest review.)

I hate to say this, because I know the work, love and commitment that goes into writing a book, but I have to be honest; I couldn't even finish the second chapter. I can't remember the last time I rated a book this low, but the reading was very difficult with over-use of complex and non-sensical words (in context), thus making the story and characters get buried under it all. I couldn't even track where the story was going, or gain anything from the characters because of the wordiness - and word choice. 

Deciding to look at the authors other titles (I was curious if it was just me), I see a common theme - my observations are fairly standard. I suspect if she re-thought her word usage, simplifying her descriptions, that her ratings would go far beyond three because there is no doubt she is creative. Sometimes, the best story told is with the fewest use of words (or complex words). In this case, it worked my brain too hard to be enjoyable.

As a reader, when I have to re-read the same sentence repeated times, trying to understand what the author was saying, it gets frustrating. Reading should not be work; this was laborious. As an Author...I honestly do not understand why this wasn't send for re-writes the minute it hit the editors desk. In all fairness, it could be that, had I trudged on, the story evened out, or the author calmed down her wordiness,. But as we all know, the first chapter can make or break the story and, sadly, the first chapter shattered it for me, ending it all.

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