Review: Border Lair by Bianca D’Arc

Format read: ebook purchased from Amazon
Formats available: ebook
Genre: Fantasy romance
Series: Dragon Knights, #2
Length: 127 pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Date Released: September 25, 2012
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble

As a young widow, Adora raised her daughter by herself, never dreaming that love could cross her path again. But now that her girl is married to a pair of dragon knights, Adora’s eyes are opened to all the possibilities the Border Lair has to offer…including two handsome men who catch her eye.

Lord Darian Vordekrais is about to turn traitor, giving up his title, his lands, and his home in order to warn the dragons and knights of his treacherous king’s evil plan. But after he meets the beautiful widow, his sacrifice seems worth the cost. Meanwhile, Darian’s old friend Sir Jared, who lost his first wife and child to treachery, is shaken by his own intense attraction to Adora. But Jared’s broken heart is frozen in solid ice. Or is it?

As war looms on the horizon, the knights and dragons of the Border Lair rise to the occasion. New allies rally to their side, and romance blossoms and grows even as evil invades the land. The knights and dragons must stand fast against the onslaught, the beautiful woman of royal blood bringing them hope, healing and love.

Warning: This book contains a couple of meddling, matchmaking dragons who won’t stop until two sexy knights realize the lady of their dreams can love them both separately and together. Ménage a trois and a bit of exhibitionism compete with the dragons for smoking hotness.

My Review:

After The Dragon Healer (review here), I wanted to read at least one more book in this series, because I kept getting teased by the prospect of a romance between Adora and General Jaden, but not actually having it come to pass.

It’s always nice when you get your bookish wishes fulfilled.

In the case of this series, it was also good to get a helping of plot along with the hot ménage sex. This time out, we finally start to see some of the history and especially the politics of the kingdom of Draconia, and why they are at war with the Skithdron.

Since this series is fantasy, it helps to know why things are the way they are, at least for this reader!

Adora, and her daughter Belora, can hear dragons. They’ve been told before that this is a very rare and treasured talent, but when Prince Nico of the Royal House turns up in the Border Lair, they find out the full picture.

Adora is a lost princess. Nico calls one of the other dragons who is able to identify exactly which princess and how she and Nico are related. (The way the dragon does this is actually kind of cool) Adora is overwhelmed, especially when she learns where her talents come from.

Nico transforms into a black dragon before her eyes. All the royal house are part dragon. The males can shapeshift into dragon form. The females have the ability to hear dragons, and to heal both dragons and humans.

Meanwhile in the Skithdron Empire, one of the last honorable men of that country discovers that his emperor is trafficking in forbidden magicks–magicks that have transformed him partially into one of the skith-lizards. Also that the Emperor is stark-raving mad.

Darian leaves his home, his country, and everything he has known to warn the people of Draconia that Skithdron is breeding advanced skith that are tearing through the countryside like a herd of killer-beasts, heading straight for Draconia. He also has worse news to bring. He only hopes that he will be left alive long enough to tell someone what he knows.

Darian knows his mission is suicide. But he has never had a family or a home. And his country is no longer worth serving.

He barely makes it to the Border Lair alive, even under a flag of truce. But in becoming a traitor to all he once knew, Darian finds his true destiny.

Escape Rating B: This story hit more of its marks for me as a fantasy, compared to the previous stories. There was a LOT more worldbuilding.

The sex is still hot, by the way, but in this story there is way more plot, as opposed to the story being an excuse for the sex.

Finding out that the royal family can shape-shift into dragons is fascinating, although I do wonder why only the men? Will we ever find out why that is? But we do get much more of the history, and it helps make the story. I hope we find out about Adora’s stolen daughters, there was certainly foreshadowing in that direction.

The love story between Jaden, Adora and Darian was more developed as an actual love story than the insta-love in the earlier stories too. Jaden and Adora have been dancing around each other since the moment they met, so that pot has been boiling for some time. Neither of them exactly rushed into anything, and Jaden had a ton of healing to do first.

Having a mama dragon for a matchmaker may have helped things along a bit!

Darian’s addition to the mix was a bit fast, but it didn’t feel that way because Jaden had been so reluctant for too long. He really needed a push, and Darian was it.

After reading Border Lair, I’m probably going to get another book in the series and see if it’s as plot-filled as this one, or more like the first two (Maiden Flight (see review)and The Dragon Healer). If it’s as good as this one, I may go all in.