A. Nelson

Just my opinion

I like this author's style, her intentionality in addressing traumatic characters, and what I've read of her other stories are good as well. This is just my opinion on this novel in particular because I love reading Christian romance novels because I love the romance without the spicy stuff. A lot of Christians support and encourage the practice of waiting until marriage for sex for a wide variety of reasons. While I fully agree it was wrong for the church/her family to shun Isabel for what happened, I am a bit disappointed in Mark (who is portrayed as a devout believer) that he jumps Isabel's bones the second he can. It just felt very out of character compared to the rest of the story. He's so patient, kind, and thinking about the long run with their interactions. It just felt odd. Again, it was a lovely story, so I don't mean to be hard on the author by any means. But it would have been awesome to see him asking her to wait with him (which is very counter-cultural to many ideals and stories we see) and watch their love and trust develop through waiting for each other. If you really want/need to add a spicy scene, you could always address the excitement of their wedding night of finally being together sexually. It can also be a good challenge to write romance and intimacy without sex.

I don't usually write reviews but...

Couldn't NOT leave a review. It was a really gripping story, I had a hard time putting it down. I loved the sharpness to it. Kali especially had a solid tongue on her and could quip out some insults. She didn't feel like a "Mary Jane", some overpowered protagonist who handled everything with ease. She had a thick skin and handled insults - until she actually cared about someone enough to care about their opinion. There might have been a couple grammar things, but I can't remember them right now. Never hurts to re-read old work and double check if you have time. Keeping my fingers crossed for a sequel because I want to know what adventures they go on now, how their relationship is able to progress (especially in light of the "dragon f-cker" insult seeing as he's also dragon now), and if maybe the dragons seeing her as their "queen" is going to go anywhere?