THE BASTARD KING (The Bastard Duology 1: The Dragon Kings) by Donna Grant

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date October 14, 2024

With just one fiery embrace I could destroy her…or love her until the end of time.

I am fire and death. My very presence brings terror and panic. For most, I am the last thing they will ever see. For there is only one thing I live for — freeing my kin.

Every action, every battle brings me a step closer. Nothing distracts me from my purpose.

Until she crosses my path.

Brave and fearless, she holds me utterly enthralled. I have to know her. Her past and her future. But especially the secrets she keeps closely guarded.

One taste of her lips, and I’m caught. Trapped. Seized. The more I’m with her, the harder it is to leave. But I have sworn allegiance to another who promises to free the dragons.

Her or my kin. It was once an easy choice.

Before my heart got involved.

••••

REVIEW: THE BASTARD KING is the first instalment in Donna Grant’s adult THE BASTARD DUOLOGY paranormal, romance duet, set in the author’s THE DRAGON KINGS series. This is dragon shifter Derek and Kora’s story line. The BASTARD KING should not be read as a stand alone. I recommend reading the series in order as there is an ongoing premise including the search for a missing King, and the history as to how the dragons came to live in Zora.

SOME BACKGROUND: For tens of thousands of years the Dragons have lived and ruled on Earth but a war between the dragons and humans forced the Dragon Kings to send the other dragons through a portal into an unknown world. Fast forward to present day, the portal has been revealed, and the Dragon Kings have been reunited in Zora, with their family and kin, but a new war is on the horizon between the Dragons, the Divine, the people of Stonemore, and a woman known as Villette

Told from omniscient third person perspectives including Derek and Kora THE BASTARD KING follows Kora as she searches for the woman known as Villette, hidden behind the stronghold called Stonemore but along the way Kora is killed not once, but twice, and each time she believes she has been rescued by a man name Derek. As Derek aids Kora on her quest to find Villette, little does Kora know that Derek knows, and is more, than she could have ever imagined. Kora has her own secrets that she fears will send Derek into places unknown but Derek’s secrets are a threat to our heroine, a threat that grows stronger as Derek and Kora find themselves falling for one another on their journey to take down Villette.

The world building now focuses on the hunt for Villette: a need for avenge the past; and Derek’s discovery that he is not alone on his trek to free the dragon but Derek has been naïve to presume he is alone in the world, taking orders from a woman who plans to destroy them all.

The relationship between Kora and Dederick aka Derek begins as friends but neither one trust the other; both have secrets that could end their lives but Derek’s attraction to Kora cannot be explained by simple attraction. As the couple enters Stonemore, secrets and lies threaten their existence, betrayal comes at every turn. The $ex scenes are limited but passionate.

The secondary and supporting characters are numerous-most are questionable and often threatening and dangerous. A missing Dragon King is discovered, Villette and her sister Miena reveal their plans for the dragons.

THE BASTARD KING is a story of secrets and lies, power and control, magic and murder, mistrust and betrayal, vengeance and madness. The premise is detailed and complex; the romance is passionate but struggles in the face of secrets and lies; the characters are desperate and determined. THE BASTARD KING ends on a cliff hanger-you have been warned.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews

Prequel-Ignite the Magic
Dragon Revealed
Dragon Mine
Dragon Unbound
Dragon Eternal
Dragon Lover
Frost Dragon
Dragon Kiss
Dragon Born

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Donna Grant is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the sizzling Dark King series featuring dragons, immortal Highlanders, and the Fae.

She was born and raised in Texas but loves to travel. Her adventures have taken her throughout the United States as well as to Jamaica, Mexico, and Scotland. Growing up on the Texas/Louisiana border, Donna’s Cajun side of the family taught her the “spicy” side of life while her Texas roots gave her two-steppin’ and bareback riding.

Despite deadlines and voracious reading, Donna still manages to keep up with her two children, four cats, and one long haired Chihuahua.

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