I am an active member of a group of book swappers who hang out in an online forum at BookObsessed, which means that there is a constant flow of books into and out of this house. Yesterday's mail brought a real bonanza from fellow swapper CdnBlueRose.
The first books I pulled from the package were #2, 3, and 4 in Alan F. Troop's “Dragon DelaSangre” series. When CdnBlueRose offered these in the October 2008 SFF swap, she apologized that she could not include the first book in the series. Since I was thrilled with the description of the books, I told her not to worry because I was sure I could find a copy of book #1 somewhere. And, I did. I bought the Kindle edition of The Dragon DelaSangre on 28 October 2008, and read it in January 2009.
The saga starts with The Dragon DelaSangre. From its back cover:
For centuries, they have lived among us.
A secret race as old as time, they have inspired our greatest legends, our grimmest fairy tailes, and our grandest nightmares. Changelings by day and slayers at dark, they call themselves People of the Blood. Mankind calls them Dragons. But few have survived to this day and none have stepped forward to tell their story. Until now.
The Dragon DelaSangre speaks
Here at last are the private confessions of one Peter DelaSangre...of his isolated youth on an island off the coast of Miami...of the pleasures he finds in fortune, fine art, and music, and the hunt for human prey...of his lonely balancing act between the worlds of humans and Dragons, neither of which feels like home...and of the overwhelming need that will finally give his life purpose: to find a female of his own kind.
Dragon Moon is the second book in the series and continues the story of Peter DelaSangre. The back cover of Dragon Moon reads:
The confessions of the Dragon DelaSangre continue....
Four long, lonely years have passed since the murder of Peter DelaSangre's beloved wife. Although he is devoted to caring for their young son, Peter longs for a mate, someone to fill the void left by his wife's death. But only one female can satisfy his deepest desire: Chloe Blood, the younger sister of his dead wife. Intending to claim her as his bride, Peter travels to the wilds of Jamaica and settles on a lush tropical estate, where he plans to bide his time until Chloe comes of age.
But there are those who do not take kindly to Peter's arrival. And they will stop at nothing to make sure that Peter doesn't leave Jamaica alive.
Third in the series is The Seadragon's Daughter. It's back cover tells of another dragon race:
For three years, Peter DelaSangre and his beloved Chloe have lived in peace, nurturing their young children in relative happiness—until people begin to disappear from boats and islands off the coast of Miami. Rumors from the mainland force all eyes onto their private island retreat. But something more threatening than mere unwanted attention lurks in the watery depths surrounding the DelaSangres, waiting for the opportune moment to strike.
Suddenly, a mysterious young female appears near Peter's island. Her name is Lorrel. She is part of a sea-dwelling dragon race thought extinct for decades. And despite her seeming innocence, she will force Petre to confront his family's cold, dark past, and his own vulnerability—and threaten to separate him from his loved ones forever....
The fourth and last—at least for now—book in the series is A Host of Dragons. The back cover piques my interest, saying:
Two years have passed since Peter DelaSangre's return to his secluded island home. And although his wife remains cold and jealous about the seductive seadragon who took him away, life is peaceful there. That is, until a strange sailboat carrying twelve mysterious foreigners docks nearby. Soon Peter's daughter has been kidnapped, his ancestral archives have been ransacked, and a massive, sinister corporation called Oudere Raad has set out to destroy the family fortune.
It is only a matter of time before Peter discovers the frightening truth tying these events together. And the visitors, led by his most formidable opponent yet, have come on a mission....
Next was a book which I won in last November's Fantasy swap, Heart of Stone by C. E. Murphy. Turns out that it is the first of a trilogy, so I have even more to look forward to. The blurb on the back of the book says:
Okay, so jogging through Central Park after midnight wasn't a bright idea. But Margrit Knight thought she'd encounter a dark new world filled with magical beings—not to mention a dying woman and a mysterious stranger with blood on his hands. Her logical, lawyer instincts told her it couldn't all be real—but she could hardly deny what she'd seen...and touched.
The mystery man, Alban, was a gargoyle. One of the fabled Old Races who had hidden their existence for centuries. Now he was a murder suspect, and he needed Margrit's help to take the heat off him and find the real killer. And as the dead pile up, it's a race against the sunrise to clear Alban's name and keep them both alive....
Interestingly, prior to joining this online group, I rarely read fantasy novels and hadn't read any of the paranormal fantasy or paranormal romances that are so popular (and prevalent) these days. The first paranormal book that I read was Dead Until Dark, the first in Charlaine Harris's “Southern Vampire Mysteries” series starring Sookie Stackhouse. This series has been made into a television series on HBO called True Blood. I'm struggling to stay a bit ahead of the series, but that's probably a good subject for a future blog post. The first paranormal book that I swapped was Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews. I sent it to BooksnBeer and in return, I received Staying Dead from Xeyra.
And last, but definitely not least, CdnBlueRose included an extra book for me which she selected from my wishlist: Predator by Patricia Cornwell. This is the fourteenth book in Cornwell's mystery series starring forensic examiner Dr Kay Scarpetta. When I finish reading this one, there are still two more books for me to get and enjoy. And, since J has started reading the series, I will pass this book along to her before I swap it to someone else.
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