Monday, October 7, 2024

Audio Book Review: Secrets of the Sword 1 by Lindsay Buroker

Secrets of the Sword I (Death Before Dragons, #7)Secrets of the Sword I by Lindsay Buroker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Val's not one to be...gentle about how she handles things. Especially a strange artifact that's poisoning wildlife at a farm. The magic from the artifact turns Chopper into a beacon for any and all magical beings in this world and others to come take it.

Val is great at fighting, and crowing stronger with her magic usage but there's only so many attacks at one time a person can defend against. Zav will help. Either scare them off or fight them off.

Seeing Zav and Val together, fighting and interacting, is fun. Their relationship is growing and their banter is fun as Zav is still learning sayings and things in the human world. However, there are still men that hit on his mate. Zav doesn't like it. He can't figure out why humans don't see the magical mark he's put on Val.

Willard points out that there's a way to show men that Val's taken. Put a ring on her finger...Marriage is the human way. Now, Zav is determined to find the perfect ring for Val. One with magic. However, Val doesn't think she's ready for marriage. Not yet...

Val has someone after her in all of this!

I like seeing how Val is starting to control her Elven magic and use it. She's gaining the ability to defend and even starting to learn something that could be offensive too. We also see that Val is growing in her personal relationships! We see her with her daughter and those who have become close friends. She still has moments where people are in danger because of their connection to Val, but it doesn't feel to be as personal as when the series started. These people know the risks and accept them. Heck, they even dive in to the risks to help Val.

It's so fun that people think she's weird. Val has her own way about things, and she's found the perfect person, erm dragon, that fits her. What she likes to do and say, they fit as a pair.

In spending all this time together, and then what Zav does for her, Val will start to see what she truly feels of their relationship... will she be ready to get married?

Val also starts to see Chopper, her dragon slaying sword, in a new light. Finding out more about this sword would be a great idea...

I'm loving these books. I'll be on to the next soon!

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Thursday, October 3, 2024

Audio Book Review: Storm Forged by Lindsay Buroker

Storm Forged (Death Before Dragons, #6)Storm Forged by Lindsay Buroker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Val comes face to face with more of Zav's family problems. Politics mostly. Dragons are all about politics among the Dragon Court for power. And Val is just a tiny mongrel in the mix.

Val is moved into her new home with her new roommates... Dimitri, Freysha, and the vampire in the basement, Zoltan. As she feared, the house is full of mold. And Val's lungs aren't dealing well with the mold. She doesn't want anyone to know she has a weakness as Zav and others are seeing her as a warrior. And if Zav knew....would he still want her at his side?

At their first "family" dinner, where Val's ex-husband and daughter come along with others, things go sideways when a gnome rushes into the back yard and collapses.

Darn. Val really didn't want the supernatural world to know where she lived...

The trolls and dragons find her shortly after.

And a Dragon that's sent to mate with Zav. By his mother.
Val's potential love life might be over before it even gets started. If this mate can help Zav and his family with their standing on the Dragon Court...it might be for the best for his family. And he's an honorable guy like that. Right?

This book felt slightly slower for me. We learn more about Zav's family and their history, Val's father when here, and a few other details on gnomes and Nin's grandfather. Lots of great information about everything, and we need it.

I do love that Lindsay is blending details and people from previous books into this book. Nothing is forgotten and is helpful along the way.

I'm breezing right through these audio books and I'm ready to dive into the next.

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