Night of the Highland Dragon (Highland Dragons #3) by Isabel Cooper

Historical Paranormal Romance

From Goodreads:

Acclaimed author Isabel Cooper’s thrilling paranormal romance series continues with a sexy Highland dragon shapeshifter and an inquisitive hero…

William Arundell is a detective working for a secret branch of the English government. When a young man is found dead, William’s investigation leads him to a remote Highland village and the intoxicatingly beautiful lady who rules MacAlasdair Castle.

The charismatic Judith MacAlasdair is not what William expected. The only daughter in a long line of shape-changing dragons, Judith is wary of William and his unrelenting questions. However, when William’s investigation takes an interesting turn, they must put aside years of bad blood and a mutual distrust of outsiders to band together to save the British Islands from its deadliest foe.

Night of the Highland Dragon has two very interesting protagonist.   Neither are that young.  In fact Judith MacAlasdair is 180 years old even though she looks like she is in her twenties.  William Arundell is not that old but he is around forty.  They make a great pair.

The Highland Dragon series takes a slightly different approach to the paranormal.  It mixes the historical with the paranormal and the mix works.  While Judith is a dragon you see her more in her human form.  The mystery is front and center and allows both Judith and William time to become very well developed characters.  That is important as this is a character driven story and it takes two very strong people to pull everything off.

The world building is great and there is enough back story to let you know the history of Judith and the village where she lives.  William also has some back story but the agency he works for is more of a shadow than a reality.

I did wonder how they would get their HEA.  Judith is so long lived and William is a normal human but Cooper found a very elegant way to make their romance possible.  Night of the Highland Dragon is a great addition to the series and like books one and two features a great plot, good writing and wonderful characters.

Night of the Highland Dragon is book three in the series but it does a great job as a stand alone.  If you start here you will want to go back and read books one and two.  They feature Judith’s two brothers.

Sourcebook Casablanca published Night of the Highland Dragon by Isabel Cooper in 2015.

I received an ARC of Night of the Highland Dragon in return for an honest review.

Stacking the Shelves - March 28 , 2015

Books Stacked on My Shelves

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books I added to my shelves this week. They may it be physical or virtual. I include books I buy in a physical store or online, books I borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!  Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga at Tynga's Reviews.  Follow the link to see what others have on their shelves. 

Purchased:

The Navy SEAL’s E-mail Order Bride (Heroes of Chance Creek #1) by Cora Seton

Her Mule Hollow Cowboy: New Horizon Ranch by Debra Clopton

Reckless Rescue (A Barren Planet Romance Book 1) by Rinelle Grey

For Review:

Undercover Bride by Margaret Brownley

The Shadow Revolution: Crown and Key by Clay and Susan Griffith

The Iron Ship by K.M. McKinley

Nothing Like a Cowboy by Donna Alward

Night of the Highland Dragon by Isabel Cooper

Effortless Healing by Dr. Joseph Mercola

Won:

Midnight's Kiss: A Novel of the Elder Races by Thea Harrison

The Highland Dragon's Lady by Isabel Cooper Spotlight Tour and Giveaway

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Title: The Highland Dragon’s Lady

Series: Highland Dragons

Author: Isabel Cooper

Pubdate: December 2, 2014

He’s Out of the Highlands and on the Prowl...

Regina Talbot-Jones has always known her rambling family home was haunted. She’s also aware her brother has invited one of his friends to attend an ill-conceived séance. She didn’t count on that friend being so handsome…and she certainly didn’t expect him to be a dragon.

Younger son of a family of shapeshifting dragons, Highlander Colin MacAlasdair has lived a life free of both family duty and mortal cares. Moving in and out of human society as he wishes, he takes very little seriously—until Regina drops onto his balcony one midnight, catching his attention and his interest. She’s like no mortal he’s ever met, and no matter how hard he tries, he can’t seem to get her out of his head.

Bound by circumstance, drawn by the fire awakening inside of them, Colin and Regina must work together to defeat a vengeful spirit—and discover whether their growing love is powerful enough to defy convention.

The Highland Dragons Series:

Legend of the Highland Dragon

The Highland Dragon’s Lady

Night of the Highland Dragon

An Excerpt:

Over the course of his life, Colin had been alone with young ladies in a variety of places: featherbeds, haystacks, and even the occasional riverbank in pleasant weather. Dusty attics had never featured. Yet these places also had never featured Reggie, with her dancing eyes and her hair falling down around her shoulders.

“You’ve got a bit of cobweb,” he said, noticing the strands at her temple. He knelt down and reached out. “Hold still. And, er, brace yourself.”

She closed her eyes and waited, patient for once in their brief acquaintance. Colin brushed his fingers over her temple, lifting the spider’s web away. Beneath it, the edge of her face was warm and soft, and her hair was like heavy silk. He swallowed, brushed his hand off on his trousers, and noticed that Reggie hadn’t yet moved.

Mostly, at least. Her breasts were rising and falling rapidly, and he could see the quick pulse in the hollow of her neck.

Colin touched his fingers to that spot, lightly, and felt the speed of her heartbeat. Desire was coursing through his own veins, collecting warm and heavy in his groin, but he kept his voice quiet. He could be playful for the moment. He could be human, as she was.

If she let him, at least.

“‘Exciting people,’ is it?” he asked. “You certainly don’t seem calm.”

Without opening her eyes, Reggie shook her head slightly. “No,” she said, drawing the word out.

Colin traced a finger along her collarbone, just above the neckline of her dress. “Are you afraid of me, then?”

Her eyes snapped open at the question. “No,” said Reggie, very definitely. Then she gave him an impish smile, one that went straight to his swelling cock. “Should I be?”

“That depends verra much on who you ask,” he said, and leaned forward to kiss her.

Author Bio:

During the day, Isabel Cooper maintains her guise as a mild-mannered project manager working in legal publishing. None of the houses she's lived in has been haunted, although one of her former roommates might have dated a zombie. She lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

Buy Links:

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Apple:  http://bit.ly/1Drnuix

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B&N: http://bit.ly/133C30D

Chapters: http://bit.ly/1tGmqr8

Indiebound: http://bit.ly/1sArZAY

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The Highland Dragon’s Lady (Highland Dragon #2) By Isabel Cooper

Paranormal Romance

From Goodreads:

Regina Talbot-Jones has always known her rambling family home was haunted. She also knows her brother has invited one of his friends to attend an ill-conceived séance. She didn't count on that friend being so handsome... and she certainly didn't expect him to be a dragon.

Scottish Highlander Colin MacAlasdair has hidden his true nature for his entire life, but the moment he sets eyes on Regina, he knows he has to have her. In his hundreds of years, he's never met a woman who could understand him so thoroughly... or touch him so deeply. Bound by their mutual loneliness, drawn by the fire awakening inside of them, Colin and Regina must work together to defeat a vengeful spirit - and discover whether their growing love is powerful enough to defy convention.

Sometimes the second book in a series disappoints.  That is not the cast with The Highland Dragon’s Lady.  Cooper has created two very interesting characters.  Both have secrets. Regina Talbot-Jones reads people when she touches them.  Colin MacAlasdair is a dragon.  When Regina arrives on Colin’s balcony thinking it is her brother’s both secrets are revealed.  Regina touches Colin and blurts out “You are a dragon.”  She knows his secret and he realizes hers.  Add in a very bad ghost and you have a great story.

The characters are very well done.  The plot is attention-grabbing.  The romance builds with each page.  Regina and Colin have everything needed to keep this series interesting and fun to read.

Sourcebooks Casablanca published The Highland Dragon’s Lady by Isabel Cooper in 2014.

I received a free ARC of The Highland Dragon’s Lady in return for an honest review.

Legend of the Highland Dragon by Isabel Cooper

Paranormal Romance

What Goodreads says:

"The MacAlasdairs are not like other men.

Descendants of an ancient alliance, they live for centuries, shifting between human and dragon forms. Some wander the earth; some keep to their lands in Scotland. And Stephen MacAlasdair, the newest lord of the family, must go to London to settle his father’s business affairs. He brings an object of great power and greater darkness. He finds an enemy from his past, whose wrath is still living and deadly. And he meets an ally he’d never have expected.
 
1894 London, doesn't provide an easy life for women of the lower class, but Mina Seymour has managed to work herself up to a position as the secretary of a famous scholar. When a tall, dark Scottish stranger demands to see her employer, Mina is irritated; when MacAlasdair's departure leaves the professor worried, she’s suspicious. Determined to figure out the situation, she investigates further - and finds a world and a man she could never have imagined."

I love dragons and Stephen MacAlasdair in Legend of the Highland Dragon does not disappoint.  He and Mina Seymour have to carry the story and they both do a great job.  Stephen is the oldest in his clan.  Mina is a modern woman in 1894.  She is smart, strong, and driven.  They are thrown together when an old enemy reappears.

Their chemistry is wonderful but both fight the attraction even as they work together.  Mina had taken typewriter training and worked up from her lower class birth.  She sees the class difference as the problem.  Stephen is a shape shifter and in his other form is a dragon.  He sees that as the problem.

The story brings the two together in a well thought out plot that requires they to get over their per-conceived notions.  This is an interesting story that moves in a consistent manner to a great conclusion.   The writing is good, the characters are interesting, and there is a great journey to the HEA.

Stephen has a brother who shows up in the book.  It looked like there were hooks for future stories about the MacAlasdair family.

Sourcebooks Casablanca published Legend of the Highland Dragon by Isabel Cooper in 2013.

I received an ARC of Legend of the Highland Dragon from Netgalley.

Lessons After Dark by Isabel Cooper

Paranormal Romance

I loved No Proper Lady by Isabel Cooper and loved the story so when I saw Lessons After Dark, the second book in the series, on NetGalley I had to request an eARC.  I enjoyed seeing Simon and Joan again.  Lessons After Dark is set at their home in the country where they have started a school for children who have special talents. The two main characters in the book are both new teachers at the school

 First lets start with what Goodreads has to say about the book.

For years, Gareth St. John put his supernatural talent for healing in service to the British Army. Now he's the doctor at a very unusual new school that helps people with special "talents" learn how to hone their abilities.

Olivia Brightmore became a fake medium to support herself after her husband died, but she never expected to discover real magic as the school's newest teacher. Olivia tries to keep the handsome doctor at arm's length, but she can't resist the urge to get under his skin.

What this does not say is that Gareth saw Olivia when she was doing the fake medium act and does not like or trust her.  That is one of the main conflicts in Lessons After Dark.  The second conflict comes when one of the students releases a dark destructive force on the world and that force has to be found and sent back.

I liked the book.  I did't think the story was as powerful as No Proper Lady.  Gareth and Olivia were both strong characters but I found Gareth to be a little too unforgiving.  Olivia was a much nicer person and deserved better from Gareth.  Lessons After Dark was a nice second book in the series.  It can stand-alone but read No Proper Lady first.

Sourcebooks Casablanca published Lessons After Dark by Isabel Cooper in 2012.