Dragon Mated by Jaymin Eve

Supernatural Prison, #3
URBAN FANTASY, YA

Source: Purchased rating

In the stunning conclusion to the Supernatural Prison trilogy, Jessa Lebron finds herself deep in the world of Larkspur, the dragon king. She will have to play it smart and fight with everything to stay one step ahead of him and while at times it's tough to keep her focus, she will do anything to escape and reunite with her boys, the Compass quads. Of course, it's impossible to be where she is and not dig deeper into the curse of the dragon mark. As more information is uncovered, she starts to understand why she, of all supernaturals, was the one to be singled out. And this changes everything she thought she knew. Turns out she doesn't know a damn thing. There will be decisions to make. Tough decisions. Jessa has to be strong enough for the sake of the supernatural races, but sometimes that's easier said than done.

“No matter how independent a female is – and I liked to think I was pretty tough – every one of us wants to be loved by someone who thinks we’re precious, who touches us with reverence.”

The series isn't perfect, but it's one of those addictive things I speed through; I read the second and third book in the same day. I can't say which is the best one of the trilogy - the first was good but I was still getting used to the characters and the attitudes; the second was a bit better because it branched out into other settings, upped the stakes of what could go wrong; the third book is also well-done because it's still in a change of setting for awhile, wrapping up the storyline.

Before I met the ressurrected Dragon king-guy, I had all these scenarios in my brain. Either I'd like him too and it would be a love-triangle-struggle, he'd be a villain everyone hated but me, he'd be a villain I hated along with everyone else, or there would be some weird twist that I couldn't come up with. Fortunately the author did the right pick - the guy is scum, it becomes clear soon enough, but he's also layered scum so it's not just boring and one-dimensional. There are twists in his 'castle' and who is who and what is what, keeping that interesting, as well as real reasons he really wants things. Jaymin may spend a portion of the book with the big bad following that evil cliffhanger from the second book, but we can sigh with relief when the setting doesn't stay constant and wear out its welcome.

I'm happy with how things turned out for Jaymin and her honey - it was obvious from the start and the author wasn't aiming for surprise there. Was conflicted about Maximum, though - what a poor hand he was dealt, although the author apparently wrote a small book wrapping things up for him. The worldbuilding for this one is generous because the author puts in so many kind of shapeshifters (even bunnies!) and she invented a pretty hefty, creative legend involving the dragons, the dragon king, curses and risings of future wars. Loved how actual dragons were incorporated in several ways, and how the end solved a certain death/problem. Sad but pretty.

There's plenty of action and a few small surprises to keep it worth turning a page. I'm not in love with the characters but they play their roles suitably, some of the 'romance' slowed the plot a little too much, and there was some added drama with Mischa, but overall it's a good ending to an enjoyable NA trilogy.



   Similar Reviews: