After his last rider died, Dragon, Bane Gaius, decided that he didn’t want to risk losing another one that was so close to him again. He retires from being a protector of his people and is going to live out his life in his cave and enjoy his solitary existence. Unfortunately, when he goes to Central to inform the Grand Council members of this, he literally runs into his next rider, and even worse for him is that she is the daughter of the elder council member who despises dragons and all they stand for. Now all he has to do is convince his new rider, Sianna Richter, they belong together.

Luckily for him Sianna has always been fascinated by dragons, whether they are in their beast form or their human form. She is enthralled by him the first time that she sees him and it doesn’t take a lot of work for Bane to convince her that she should be his rider. After they make love and her dragon mark appears on her skin they both know for sure they belong together, so now they must tell her father that she is a rider and that she must leave her home and go live out her life with her dragon. Informing her father of this was not the most fun that Sianna has ever had but it is not as hard as the things that await her outside of Central. There are evil things going on and it is up to a newly acquired rider and a wise and elder dragon to solve the mystery and restore order to the villages around Central.

This book is one of the hottest and best buys that you can purchase this week, this month, and maybe this year. Marty Rayne has created an existence where dragons and humans live in harmony. The dragons protect humans and they each have a rider that they know immediately when they meet. The meeting between Bane and Sianna was hot in its intensity and a bit awkward because neither one wanted to admit they were attracted to the other one. The only part of the book that I didn’t like was that the dragons didn’t mate for life. Bane has already lost other riders and eventually he will lose Sianna, yet this also adds to the story because it shows that he is capable of having the human emotions that allows him to love her. The mystery that these two set out to solve is a very complex one, and if they do not succeed in unraveling it there will be great disaster for the village that they are bound to protect. This stand alone book can be read without reading the first book, Dragon Riders 1: Bonded Hearts in the series but be sure to be on the lookout for more in this series because Ms. Rayne has more in store for these dragons and I don’t want to miss a single minute of the action.

Reviewed by: Missy