Review: The Dragon Healer by Bianca D’Arc

Format read: ebook provided by the publisher
Formats available: ebook
Genre: Fantasy romance
Series: Dragon Knights #1.5
Length: 63 pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Date Released: July 2, 2013
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble

What’s better than a knight sweeping you off your feet? Two knights.

Silla is a healer riding circuit on the border, helping those in need. When she hears the pained cries of a dragon in distress, she comes to his aid, using most of her precious supplies to help the badly injured creature.

The dragon’s knight, Brodie, is fascinated by the woman – the miracle worker – who has come to help his friend. She is both beautiful and kind hearted and he quickly realizes she is his destined mate. And if she is Brodie’s mate, she is Geoff’s as well, for Brodie’s dragon was mated to Geoff’s dragon many years ago.

Geoff doesn’t believe in the tales of love at first sight among knights, but he knows that when either he or Brodie finds a wife, they will share her. Hearing about the dragon’s injury, Geoff and his dragon race to help, only to find the dragon on the mend and Brodie in bed with the most stunning woman Geoff has ever seen.

Love at first sight turns out to be real and it strikes them all as they come together and realize that no matter what the obstacles, they are meant to be together. Silla is the missing link that will join their lives and make them a true Lair family.

My Review:

Silla is a journeyman healer. Her life is on the road. She hopes that in another five years she will have accumulated enough experience credit with the healer’s guild to allow her to return to the city to practice her craft in a little more comfort than the wagon she currently drives around the countryside.

Fate has other plans.

At her next stop, she finds herself treating an injured dragon instead of her more usual human patient. It doesn’t matter to her, the dragon needs healing and she is a healer. She works through the night, using up most of her supply of healing herbs, to bring ease to the wounded creature. Working with her is the dragon’s knight, Brodie, helping her at every step to save his companion.

As they strive together, Brodie becomes certain that Silla is his destined mate. She is not only healing his friend, she is talking with him, soothing him. That mind-talk is the sign of a woman who is born to be part of a lair.

Silla may be more than willing to heal the dragon, but she doesn’t trust Brodie, or any other man. She’s been down that road before, and it only ended in pain. But after a night working beside him, watching him with the dragon, she feels like she deserves something for herself, just once.

Once the dragon is out of danger, Silla and Brodie spend what remains of the night together. And wake to find another man in the room.

Geoff is the knight to Brodie’s dragon Phelan’s mate. If Brodie has found a mate, then their dragons can mate again. Only the dragons of mated knights can mate. Brodie and Geoff’s dragons have been waiting for decades.

But Silla, who thought to indulge herself for a night and then be on her way, is suddenly faced with the choice of lifetime. Should she leave her life behind and go with Brodie and Geoff to the lair? Can she trust them? Can she love them? Can they love her? Should she try?

Can she make a better life for herself this time?

Escape Rating B-: This story was more of a single piece than Maiden Flight, but it was very short. Also, I was disappointed because I wanted the next story to be Adora and Jaden’s story and this wasn’t. (That story turned out to be in Border Lair reviewed here.)

I liked Silla better than Belora in Maiden Flight (see review for details). She was more in control of her own life. She’d initially made a bad choice, but after a lot of hard times, had dusted herself and made a new life for herself. It made it difficult for her to trust Brodie or her own decisions about men, but that wasn’t unreasonable under the circumstances.

However, because Silla was so distrusting of men, it was kind of surprising that she would be willing to change so easily from a completely celibate life to a menage. Brodie was her first foray back into sexuality in a very long time. While it was much more successful (and hot!) than anything in her previous experience, she accepts the drastic change in her life incredibly easily.