14
Nov192010
BOOK REVIEW: ‘Love in the Time of Dragons’ by Katie MacAlister
by Carolyn • Posted in 1.5 Star Reviews, Authors M-P, Book Reviews, Katie McAlister, Paranormal Romance, Romance
Title: Love in the Time of Dragons (Light Dragons #1)
Author: Katie MacAlister
Publisher: Hodder (UK) / Signet (US)
Publication Date: Oct 2010 (UK) / May 2010 (US)
Paperback: 331 pages
Genre: Paranormal Romance
RATING: 3/10 – wish I hadn’t bothered
GOODREADS SUMMARY:
Tully Sullivan just woke up in a strange place, surrounded by people she’s never met. Which is quite bad enough. But then the strange people insist they are dragons. And, worse, that she is also a dragon, named Ysolde de Bouchier, one of the most notorious figures in dragon history. She doesn’t buy it. She can’t breath fire or shapeshift. She’s not even bothered by gold. But they’re adamant. And she’s in trouble…Because these dragons also want to sentence her to death. If she’s going to survive, Tully realises she is going to have to find a way to solve the crimes she’s being accused of. Even though they happened in a past she has absolutely no memory of living.
REVIEW:
This is my first book by Katie MacAlister and I can’t say I liked it. I am so disappointed as I’d heard that MacAlister’s books are funny and very entertaining. Sadly, ‘Love in the Time of Dragons‘ was neither. In fact I thought it was pretty terrible. It’s not particularly well written and it’s not well structured either – it’s a mess.
‘Love in the Time of Dragons‘ is very confusing, mainly due to the ‘mind time travel’ or ‘dream sequences’ and there are also numerous characters present as well as the two/three main protagonists. The first few chapters were sort of entertaining but it very quickly lost all appeal.
Tully Sullivan is a present day woman learning magic. She’s also married to Gareth and a mother to nine year old Brom. A few times a year she goes into a ‘fugue’ like state and while she lays sleeping for a few weeks, her mind travels back in time to that of Ysolde, a seventeen year old girl.
Most of the time when Tully goes back to Ysolde it’s mid page, sometimes mid sentence without warning and I’m left wondering what the hell is going on, who is who and who’s saying what!
The only way I could differentiate between the two was the fact that seventeen year old Ysolde and twenty-something Tully are like chalk and cheese, with Ysolde being the more interesting of the two. She has spirit and she’s feisty. Tully on the other hand let’s her husband call her a “stupid bitch” without as much as a pause in the conversation to slap him one! Although, now I know that this was only added so I would dislike Gareth and therefore certain things could happen between Tully and her real love interest Baltic.
After a while Tully is told that she is the reincarnation of Ysolde and a few more chapters in Tully becomes Ysodle and there are no more ‘fugue’ episodes. Tully accepts this without question and no further explanation is given.
When Tully learns that Baltic (Ysolde’s lover) has also been reincarnated she doesn’t remember him, or have any feelings for him. But then things change literally over night. Tully suddenly loves Baltic! Passionately! Which of course means ripping each others clothes off (even though Tully is married I may add). Tully does try and stop all the shenanigans due to the fact she’s married but doesn’t quite manage it. They may not have sex but they do practically everything else. And because she didn’t allow Baltic to have sex she offers to please him as compensation! Isn’t that nice of her… although this is also cheating on your husband me thinks!
Baltic is the only character I remotely liked *and it was remote* – he is on the side of Neanderthal but he’s quite funny in places, but sadly this is overused and becomes tiresome.
I also felt as though I was dumped mid series. Despite the fact that this is the first in a new spin off from the author’s dragon series, I got the feeling that I needed to have read the other books to understand this one a little better. The mention of dragons and powers by the characters was as if they were talking about the weather. I didn’t have a clue if their world was known to the world at large or a secret or if the magical world was the actual world. See – confusing! Although, to be honest, there wasn’t much world-building at all which is probably why it was so ambiguous.
This book tries to be funny – it fails. The banter between Tully and Baltic is forced and irritating. The romance is non existent and the sexual content left me feeling uncomfortable rather than hot and bothered. Their banter is childish rather than humorous, which towards the end was mostly about Baltic being jealous of the fact that Tully might like to watch a bit of man on man action – it just went on and on…
Also, on a few occasions, Tully’s son Brom kept looking at his mother’s ‘boobs’ and then talks about her nipples… well, this just left a bad taste in my mouth. I realise this was during the incessant banter between characters and was meant to be comical, but it just didn’t work for me.
VERDICT:
‘Love in the Time of Dragons‘ is pretty awful in my opinion with not one really interesting character. The sexual content is cringe-worthy, rather than hot and romantic, and the plot is very confusing and weak. Because of these faults I can’t really recommend it.
However, I have heard that some of the authors other books are great and very entertaining, which I hope is true as I already have a couple on my shelf – but I definitely won’t be picking up the next book in this series.
SOURCE: Thank you to Hodder from sending me this book for review.
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14 Comments
This really doesn't sound like my kind of thing! I have issues with those 'dream sequence that take you to a paranormal world' plot devices.
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The 'dream sequences' or 'time travel' were just so confusing. This whole book was confusing! When Tully went back in time she *was* Ysolde and then further along in the book Tully was looking at Ysolde as an outsider! I didn't have a clue what was going on, but I don't think the author did either lol
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I reviewed this earlier this year, and was a bit confused because I hadn't read the series that leads into this one. I thought it was silly fun, but the dream sequences were extremely confusing.
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Ohh I've ready quite a few of Katie Nacalister's vampire series and they are funny. But this sounds dreadful, I'm not a fan of the cheating on your husband thing
Such a gorgeous cover too..
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I'm a coward when it comes to confusing 'world-building'. I tend to quit instead of trying to make sense of it!
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Hi Stephanie – I read your review – you seem to have enjoyed it a bit more than me. I will definitely try one of her other books but won't be carrying on with this series. It sure it silly but I didn't really find it fun, if I had I would have been able to forgive some of the other stuff I disliked…
Hi L – I think it's the vampire series I have on my shelf *will have to check* and they do look like fun. Are the a bit like the 'Betsy' books by MJD? And I agree the UK cover is lush
Hi Z – I think I should be stronger and give up on a few more books. I don't know why but I always plug away with them even though I don't like them or not enjoying them. I must be getting better though as I did hand off a book I found utterly boring to Laura…
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Ack, I think Katie MacAlister is one of those highly overrated writers, and I refuse to try her stuff anymore. She has snappy titles and fabulous covers, but the story inside never matches the hype. I just don't get what others see in her writing- it's neither funny, clever, or original – and yet her stuff is pushed and promoted to the ninth degree. It makes me a wee bit pissy when sub-par authors get the royal treatment.
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"I must be getting better though as I did hand off a book I found utterly boring to Laura…"
How generous. Hopefully I'm too far away for that kind of generosity!
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LOL Laura didn't mind as she loved the author and wanted to read it anyway, so thought why struggle through it myself when Laura wanted it
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He he Zosia! Not quite as it sounds, the book @BookChickcity sent me was one I really wanted to read (and she knew because i'd mentioned it several times lol). Plus, I disagree, it had a couple of problems, but I enjoyed it
(review next week)
@BookChickCity yep the vamp ones, silly but fun. Although I've not read any for a while. If you want fun, vamp romances by Lynsay Sands are very good
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Hi Rebecca – Yes, it annoys me too when an author gets so much publicity and yet their work doesn't match up to it, but I suppose it's subjective – I didn't like this book but there are many others who do, maybe I'm just the odd one out
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I've got quite a few MacAlister stories and the first few of the vampire books are quite entertaining. The dragon books are enough to stop at the first (I've not even considered buying this one as I didn't finish 'Me and My Shadow').
Her contemporaries are moderately amusing and 'Steamed' was a hoot.
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Hi GB – I'm glad I'm not the only one that has found this author's books difficult to like
I think the books I have are from her vamp series so I will try one of those, but as you make 'Steamed' sound like a fun read, I think I will try that too, thanks for the rec 
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I like Katie Macalister's books and I love dragons but I don't like her dragon series. I tried to but I just don't. I do however like her Dark Ones series and am looking forward to the new one. My suggestion is to skip the Dragon series and read the Dark Ones.
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