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Blood Charged, Dragon Blood Book 3

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This is the book where things start getting really good. We see more of the characters we know and love and, best of all, they get more time to interact with each other. Which I completely love. We also meet one of my favorite grumpy characters of all time, Colonel Therrik. Well, we meet him for just a brief little while before he gets tossed on the side of the road.

This book is one of two true “cliff hangers” in the Dragon Blood Series, so be prepared to immediately go and pick up Book 4 to find out what you need to know about Tolemek’s sister and, most of all, where is all that dragon blood coming from?

The audiobook version of this story is only available as part of the three book Omnibus and well worth the value.

From the Publisher: Sardelle Terushan, sorceress and healer, should be lying low. Magic is forbidden in Iskandia, and magic users are drowned, shot, or otherwise slain. The problem? She’s fallen in love with ace fighter pilot and national hero, Colonel Ridge Zirkander, a man whom everybody notices, including the king. It’s not long before Sardelle has spies dogging her steps and people trying to blow her up. Worse, her presence is jeopardizing Ridge’s career. If she can’t find a solution to the nation’s centuries-old hatred of magic, the only way to protect Ridge—and herself—may be to leave.

Ridge Zirkander isn’t used to worrying about more than shooting down Cofah airships and keeping the officers in his squadron alive, but his world has gotten more complicated since giving his heart to Sardelle. It’s difficult to keep people from noticing a mysterious and enigmatic woman, not to mention her chatty sentient sword. He’s been passing her off as an archaeologist to his fellow pilots, but when the king calls him in to a private meeting, Ridge fears his secret has been discovered.

But the king—and the rest of the country—has a greater problem. Cofah military scientists have acquired something that shouldn’t exist in the world any longer: dragon blood. In addition to having countless mysterious properties, it’s a powerful energy source that can be used to create devastating weapons. Ridge, Sardelle, and their allies must travel to the empire as part of a secret strike force to steal the dragon blood. If they fail, the Cofah will finally have the power to destroy all of Iskandia.

Death Maker, Dragon Blood Book 2

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I found the pacing of this book to be quicker and more intense than Book 1, making for a nice change of pace from many sequels which often seem to drag. Not this book. While the banter between the characters is not as prevalent in the scenes with just Caslin and Tolemek, it’s because of their personalities and not from poor writing. As a fan of the enemies forced to work together kind of stories, this story is one of my favorites in the series.

The Audiobook version is lovely but only available as part of the Omnibus with Books 1, 2, and 3, which makes it a steal.

From the Publisher: When Lieutenant Caslin Ahn joined Wolf Squadron, she was prepared for the reality that she might one day be killed in the line of duty. She was less prepared for being shot down, assumed dead by her own people, and dragged off to the Cofah Empire as a prisoner of war. As if being thrust into a dungeon and interrogated wasn’t bad enough, the sadistic commandant decides to give her a cellmate: the notorious pirate Deathmaker. Given the crimes he’s committed against Iskandia, Cas owes it to her people to try and kill him.

Part warrior and part scientist, Tolemek “Deathmaker” Targoson has not only slain thousands with his deadly concoctions, but he has a special loathing for Iskandian pilots. It was Ahn’s commander, Colonel Zirkander, who ruined his military career, forcing him to leave his country in shame and join a pirate organization. Years later, he uses his dreadful reputation like a shield to keep people away; all he wants is to be left alone to work in his laboratory. But when fate lands him in a cell with Zirkander’s protégé, he sees a chance for revenge. Why kill the lieutenant when he can use her to get to his old nemesis?

There’s just one problem: it’s hard to plot against your enemies when you’re in prison with them. Cas and Tolemek will have to work together if they hope to escape the Cofah dungeon. In the process, they may find that neither is what the other expects, and that they have far greater problems to worry about than ensnaring each other…

Deathmaker is a full-length 85,000-word novel. It is set after the events in Balanced on the Blade’s Edge, but it can be enjoyed even if you haven’t read the first book.

Balanced on the Blade’s Edge, Dragon Blood Book 1

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Balanced on the Blade’s Edge, Dragon Blood Book 1, was originally written as a stand-alone happily-for-now, and it shows with the pacing of the romantic relationship. Not quite insta-love it was pretty quick nonetheless and forced proximity makes it more believable. I’m very glad that Buroker continued the series and gave even more time for the characters, and their lovely relationship, to continue.

Sardelle is probably one of my favorite female lead characters ever. Because she is seemingly unflappable, serene in the face of stressful situations, and tends to give people the benefit of the doubt. So many things I’m not. Well, I am a bit too trusting at times, but I tend to be a lot more chaotic. Jaxi, the sword, is more my speed when it comes to mouthiness. Together, they create a lot of fun.

Ridge is a lovely male lead as well. His roguish, playful side doesn’t overshadow the sense of honor he has and I appreciate that. He has to confront and overcome some major prejudices through the course of this first book. It’s something I wish the book had explored in a bit more detail because while we see more development in terms of the nation as a whole in later books in the series, it feels glossed over in this book. But then, Ridge is a soldier who has trained himself to act quickly based on his gut instincts so it doesn’t come across as far fetched or unbelievable.

From the Publisher: Colonel Ridge Zirkander isn’t the model of military professionalism—he has a tendency to say exactly what’s on his mind, and his record has enough demerits to wallpaper the hull of an airship—but as the best fighter pilot in the Iskandian army, he’s used to a little leniency from his superiors. Until he punches the wrong diplomat in the nose and finds himself issued new orders: take command of a remote prison mine in the inhospitable Ice Blades Mountains. Ridge has never been in charge of anything larger than a flier squadron—what’s he supposed to do with a frozen fortress full of murderers and rapists? Not to mention the strange woman who shows up right before he arrives…

Sardelle Terushan wakes from three hundred years in a mage stasis shelter, only to realize that she is the last of the Referatu, the sorcerers who once helped protect Iskandia from conquerors. Their subterranean mountain community was blown up in a treacherous sneak attack by soldiers who feared their power. Everyone Sardelle ever knew is dead, and the sentient soulblade she has been bonded to since her youth is buried in the core of the mountain. Further, what remains of her home has been infested by bloodthirsty miners commanded by the descendants of the very soldiers who destroyed her people.

Sardelle needs help to reach her soulblade—her only link to her past and her last friend in the world. Her only hope is to pretend she’s one of the prisoners while trying to gain the commander’s trust. But lying isn’t her specialty, especially when the world has changed so much in the intervening centuries, and if Colonel Zirkander figures out who she truly is, he’ll be duty-bound to sentence her to the only acceptable punishment for sorcerers: death.

The Dragon Blood Collection, Books 1-3 Omnibus

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From the Publisher: A thousand years have passed since a dragon has been seen in the world. Science and technology have replaced magic, which has dwindled until it has become little more than an element of myth and legend.

There are those who still have dragon blood flowing through their veins, distant descendants of the mighty creatures of old. These rare humans have the power to cast magic, the power to heal, and the power to craft alchemical weapons capable of starting wars… or ending them. But they are feared for those powers, and in recent centuries, they have been hunted nearly to extinction.

The few remaining survivors must find a way to change how humanity perceives them or be lost to the world forever.

The Dragon Blood Collection includes three full-length novels of action, magic, and romance. Click the title of each to read the individual review and summary of that specific book: