The premise of Shelley Munro's "Blue Moon Dragon (Dragon Investigators Book 1)" felt extremely far-fetched to this reader. Private investigators being sent to find the proof of illegal drug use and shipments seemed better suited for a police investigation or even something along the lines of the NZ version of the DEA - Drug Enforcement Agency - to look into. The secondary issue of secret filming of couples sex acts in their resort rooms, and the fact it didn't seem to faze hero Jack - maybe because he's a taniwha, i.e. dragon-shifter? - or protagonist Emma, all that much, lended to the overall far-fetched nature of the tale. It likely would have been more believable if a former guest that had been filmed was being blackmailed or simply terrified of their sex life being viewed by unknown people, came to the agency as a client intent on getting their own film back and possibly even being willing to help shut the illicit filming down. There was little character or setting descriptions given, although the character of Jack was described well enough to be somewhat visualized by this reader. Protagonist Emma was a hot-mess of a character, starting off with tidbits of description that drew to mind a virginal female that suddenly spouts off like a horndog, or definitely a female dog in heat. The two descriptions felt like polar opposites and left this reader feeling the character was not to be believed, a liar, unreliable or untrustworthy character. In fact, the entire tale felt as if it was the mid-beginning scenes of a story, like readers were plopped into a story that began a few missing pages previously, delivered some action, then wrapped up a quickie ending to sound like a 'happily-ever-after' tale. The story rushed to present the sex scenes; at the end of the tale, Jack stated it wasn't just sex, that they had made love. That is not the view this reader took away from those scenes; the sex acts were described in somewhat graphic detail and lacked any indication of sensuality or even emotions and caring. Simply, it read like porn with no sensuality. The idea of the taniwah and its sexual needs actually sounded intriguing; Jack's reasoning for not wanting to emotionally invest was an acceptable excuse for his earlier coldness. However, this reader felt it more likely that Jack would have had several prostitutes or women he knew with certaintry would never desire an attachment, on his phones speed-dial, to take care of his needs. The story held several grammar, spelling and punctuation issues, with the addition of an extra word or two in sentences being the most prominent. Like 'the the' or something along that line. The story did not read as a romance, in this readers view, and felt like an unsatisfactory read. Therefore, this reader cannot recommend this book and will not be folowwing the series. ** Review originally posted to Amazon reviews on June 18, 2017 and on Goodreads on the same date. **
