DRAGONBANE – Sherrilyn Kenyon
Dark-Hunter Universe , Book 31
St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 978-1-250-02994-2
August 2015
Paranormal Romance

New Orleans – Present Day

Maxis has lived in Sanctuary for many years, even made himself at home there with a proper dragon's nest. Content to live his life alone in hiding, everything was going smoothly—until his mate shows up after centuries. After she had treated him as if he were less than her and her people for so long, they had parted ways—and not in the best of circumstances. He knows he should just send her back on her way, or kill her and be done with it entirely, but then she mentions something that has him stopping dead in his tracks—his children are in trouble.

Seraphina knew she had done wrong by her mate, but her bond to her sister-tribe was stronger than her love for Maxis. At least, until her tribeswoman betrayed her by kidnapping her children, to be held for ransom until she delivers Maxis to be killed. She was set to send him to his death until she was in his presence again. The love she had for him, while small in the beginning, had grown over their time apart, as did her grief and sorrow for what she had done to him. But maybe together they can save their children, stop her sister-tribe from taking over the world, and find a chance for a future together.

Author Sherrilyn Kenyon knows how to write a tragic love story, and a painful back story even more so. Maxis and Seraphina's story is enough to make any reader get a little weepy, and make any female desperate for a Maxis of her own. The characterization and world-building in this novel are absolutely stunning. And long-time readers of the series will love the cameos of previous characters and creatures.

Fast-paced and plot-heavy, the romance of this novel plays second string to the world destroying events going on around the couple. But that does not mean that Ms. Kenyon doesn't create a good story for the hero and heroine. Their coming together does not happen in sweet dates or time alone, but instead their love will be forged in fire as they battle for their own lives and that of their children and family. Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark-Hunter series is a staple in the paranormal romance world, and DRAGONBANE is no exception.

DRAGONBANE is the newest in the Dark-Hunter universe, and also features a convergence of multiple series in the universe. For that reason, this book isn't for anyone new to the series. Be sure to check out the next book in the series, DRAGONMARK, featuring Maxis's brother, out in August 2016.

Amanda Toth