Dragon Heat (Berkley Sensation) [Mass Market Paperback]

Caleb, a golden dragon has been under the control of human witches for hundreds of years after they discover his true name. With mankind losing belief in magic, he resides in Dragonspace thinking his true name to be at last lost by the coven who enslaved him, until he suddenly finds himself called again by three witches; Donna, Grizelda and Saba. Summoned to modern day San Francisco he is ordered to protect Lisa Singleton, a woman with no knowledge of the power she wields.

When her beloved grandmother Li Na dies, Lisa inherits her apartment, complete with protective Chinese magic and a gateway to Dragonspace in the spare bedroom; a place where she meets a beautiful golden dragon. Yet when Lisa finds her life threatened by Malcolm, a powerful black dragon determined to use her magic to return to Dragonspace at any cost, Caleb pleas with Saba to allow him to leave his own world and enter Earth in human form.

Bound to protect Lisa until her safety is ensured, Caleb finds himself falling in love with her before he even assumes his human form. Unlike other solitary dragons, Caleb has known love and companionship in the past and reveals his tender side by caring for his gem stones (I love the reason AJ gives for a dragon's legendary love of its treasure hoard). Lisa too finds herself falling for her golden warrior; only too aware they can't possibly have a future together.

"Dragon Heat" is a wonderful book, filled with charm, magic, deadly power struggles, romance and passion. As Lisa, the witches and both dragons search for the dragon orb; an object infused with magic powerful enough to destroy the Earth, we learn that some of the good guys are up to no good and the bad guys may just save the day. In fact the cursed black dragon Malcolm who intends to so ruthlessly use Lisa and her magic in order to return home gets his own story later this year; "The Black Dragon" due for pub. Nov 07. I am a huge fan of this author's "Tales of the Shareem" series but must say that this book is even better. AJ has created a wonderful new world of dragons; from the warrior goldens to the logical, ruthless black dragons, and from the animalistic reds and blues, to the most magical and rare being in existence; the silver dragon. Although Caleb and Malcolm have never seen one during their hundreds of years in both Dragonspace and Earth; it will take a silver dragon's magic to halt the devastating results if the dragon orb is wielded.

This was my first appointment with Ms. James as an author, and will most likely be my last. I had to get to page 72 before the whole thing got off the ground. The story itself seemed promising. I like dragons and romance and action. This book had all of those, but the combination just didn't work for me. It got a 2 because it actually got off the ground and was written well enough for me to stick with it until it did so.

Trying to review this book is quite difficult - i changed my mind about it several times while reading; so i settled on a middle of the road 3 stars. The beginning of the book held promise - a girl that has a sarcastic dragon living in her spare room is quite amusing for a start. Caleb the dragon becoming human - again perfectly good but the story itself took a while to get going and even when it did it was average. I can't help but feel that the story could have been better somehow.
The overall plot was about stopping the dragon orb falling into the wrong hands; witch or dragon. The book seemed to take ages to get round to the final showdown and it was just anti-climactic or something.

The better part of the book was Lisa and Caleb's growing relationship. With him being a dragon and not totally understanding human ways made for some funny moments. The flaw with this couple for me personally relates to the belief that golden dragons (like Caleb) are not the sharpest beings. He constantly states that goldens are not as stupid as they are thought to be but he did come across as pretty thick sometimes. He was sweet and had many good qualities and the black dragon (much more intelligent) came across as a bit of a prick at times but there is something attractive about intelligence. I can't help it but dumb guys don't do it for me and i think he got less intelligent as the story progressed!

I am very torn over whether to keep reading because i did like the book but i have read so much better previously. The next one is about Malcolm, the black dragon from this book which may be better as he has a brain but I am not particularly desperate to get my hands on the next installment.