Redheaded Reviews: Dragon Fall by Katie MacAlister

Aoife (EE-fuh), who is half Irish, half Senegalese, but was born in America, goes to a GothFaire one night in Sweden and her life is turned upside down. She meets a strange man named Terrin who claims that things like demons and dragons are real. He also gives her a ring to try on right before he ends up in a fight with a group of men, one of which chops his arm off leaving him dead and the instigators disappear in a puff of smoke. Aoife calls the police, but by the time they get there not only is Terrin's body not lying there dead, he shows up very much alive and Aoife is taken away in an ambulance to a hospital for a psych evaluation. When her brother, Rowan and her sister, Bee arrive they have her committed to the Arvidsjaur Center for the Bewildered for her own sake as she keeps insisting on what she saw.

After two years in the looney bin where she had electric shock therapy as well as the regular therapy, Aoife is glad to finally be out. Her sister is going to Africa on a work trip, so Aoife will be in the family home in Sweden alone. The GothFaire is in town and her doctor thinks it would be a good idea for her to go and see that there is nothing special about it, so she goes and walks around for a few minutes and leaves. On the drive home, she hits a dog and puts it in her car to take it to the vet who tells her the dog should have died, but he's fine and now he's her responsibility since he has no identification. When she takes him out to the beach to go "walksies" he finds a man who has washed up on shore. He appears to be dead until she touches him and an electric shock runs from her body to his and he starts breathing again. She calls the emergency number but they won't be able to get there for an hour so it's up to her to get him to somewhere for help. The hospital is too far away, but a doctor lives close by so they go there.

While the doctor is working on him he wakes up and believes that they are holding him prisoner and threatens them with his powerful brother. Aoife tries to explain to him several times what is going on and eventually it sinks into a degree that at least they are not going to harm him, even if he's not sure he can trust them. They go back to Aoife's house since he's rather beaten up and needs to rest. The big surprise comes when he tells her he is a dragon and shows her his dragon form as proof and Aoife now knows that she wasn't crazy after all. The two of them, of course, have an instant chemistry, but Kostya, the dragon, has not only been fooled once by a woman, he was held a prisoner and tortured for a long time and he does not seek a wyvern's mate ever.

The dog turns out to be Kostya's sister-in-law's dog, Jim, a demon in dog form who can talk, but has lost his memory and is now attached to Aoife instead. When the house is attacked by red dragons, who are dragons that have demons in them, Aoife finally finds out the power of that ring that Terrin gave her and kills five dragons using it. Kostya wants her to use the ring to break the curse the dragons are under that causes them to fight each sect when they see each other and are unable to understand what they are saying to each other. Kostya is the leader of the black dragons and his brother, Drake, is the leader of the green dragons and whenever they see each other they fight.

This is one wild adventure and Aoife has the most creative curses like "sweet scuppering salamanders". It is a fun chase watching as Aoife sets out to show Kostya that he can trust a woman again and whether he wants one or not he's getting a wyvern's mate. Also, just what does that ring do and can it really solve the problems for the dragons? For those not familiar with MacAlister, she has written four books about Aisling Grey, Drake's wife, and Jim's rightful demon lord, that if you want to read you can, but you don't have to. They are, however, a great deal of fun and will provide background for what is happening. This is the first book in what is going to be either a trilogy or a four book series and I can't wait to find out what happens next.

Quotes:

Holy mayonnaise and all the little condiments…

-Katie MacAlister (Dragon Fall p 46)

If there’s one thing I learned at Casa de Crazy, it’s that lying to yourself never ends well.

-Katie MacAlister (Dragon Fall p 180)

Someday, I’m going to be able to have a conversation with you and actually understand every word you say.

-Katie MacAlister (Dragon Fall p 182)

To retreat when you cannot win a battle is not cowardly. It is self-preservation.

-Katie MacAlister (Dragon Fall p 185)

Ah, my friend, it is the way of women to keep us humble, is it not?

-Katie MacAlister (Dragon Fall p 189)

I sighed, fully engulfed in martyr mode. “It doesn’t matter now. I’m doomed, doomed, doomed.” “Emo much?” “Doomed with a smart-aleck demon. This just gets better.” “Man, you are a Debbie Downer today.” “I am not! And if I was, I have every right to be one. I mean look at the situation!” “I am. It’s not that bad.” “Are you insane? How can being locked in a cell in hell not be bad?”

-Katie MacAlister (Dragon Fall p 225)