Goldilox and the Three Weres: DNF For Now Review: Smoke and Fire by Donna Grant

Smoke and Fire
(Dark Kings #9)
Donna Grant
Release: April 5, 2016
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She wanted to touch him. There had always been something about being in his arms that made her feel as if she could tackle anything and the world wouldn't dare get in her way...

SWORN TO PROTECT
A dragon shapeshifter and a computer mastermind, Ryder is sent to guard Glasgow after a devastating Dark attack. But when memories of an explosive affair come back to him-in the flesh-Ryder cannot help but want to protect the woman who haunts his dreams. Even if means shifting into the dragon he was never supposed to reveal...

DRIVEN TO DESIRE
Kinsey could never get enough of Ryder. His every touch only left her wanting more. But now that she's seen him in his true form, Kinsey's world is rocked to the core. She knows that to stay-and feel-alive, she must be with Ryder. But is Kinsey's passion worth the risk of danger that comes with being a part of Ryder's dark and fierce world?

Review by Rose Red:

Disclaimer: This review is not for the full book. I ended up putting it aside at around 30% in. So this review is pretty much why I put it down and why I'm breaking up with this series for now.

I've seen this coming the last few books but I think it's time to admit to myself that it's time to put this series aside. I'm not permanently DNFing it because I've invested a lot of time into getting to this book since it's the spin-off of a spin-off. Or, more simply said, after reading twenty-five books and several novellas in the Dark World universe, I still want to know what happens at the end. But I'm not going to get anymore of the books until the series is finished. It's become very formulaic and repetitive and not even the characters can make up for it.

As for this book, I tried and tried to read it but I just couldn't get into it. It makes me sad because I've been looking forward to getting Ryder's book for a while. Both Ryder and the love interest, Kinsey, are described as computer geeks but don't do anything more technical than the generic umbrella of "hacking". The type of hacking wasn't even mentioned. As characters, they both felt really flat to me. There wasn't much time to build them up in what I read as it seems like every other couple in the series dropped in. It felt more like they would come into a scene more to name drop than to actually further the story. I'm also fed up with the couples in this series not being able to communicate with each other. I'm pretty sure almost every couple has had a major misunderstanding that they've had to get over to come together. As I said before, it's getting very repetitive and formulaic and all of my quibbles I had when I finished Smoldering Hunger are still front and center.

So it's goodbye for now, Dark Kings. I'll catch up with you in a few years.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley