"Violca's Dragon (The Dragon Ruby Series Book 1)" by Leilani Love was the first writing this reader had read by the writer; perhaps more time should have lapsed between the excellent book she had just finished, and the start of this one as it truly befuddles her reading all of the kudos given on the tale. Grammar, spelling and punctuation were not error-free, but fairly abundant. This reader almost tossed her Kindle in frustration, but values the device too much! The plot was extremely difficult to follow. Does the writer not understand how to use transitions from one scene to the next? While writing, this reader does not care to use plotting steps but does understand others do and some really need to. Love tended to switch point of view a lot with no rhyme or reason, especially from one person to third person. Why? However, the premise of the tale sounded intriguing to this reader, especially as she is a huge fan of non-stereotypical dragon shifter stories. Each character fell flat for this reader, and reading how the dragon wavered and doubted his own abilities to save his lady-love, did not impress this reader as a vulnerable male but a somewhat juvenile one... and to have him wonder if she waxed or shaved as he is getting ready to have sex...??? C'mon, really?!? The were panther seemed to better fit the role of an adult alpha male and his embarrassment over imprinting to a teenaged girl was definitely giggle-worthy. However, this reader felt the entire tale was told instead of shown... instead of telling a reader about Violca's embarrassment, why not show us with one of her ready blushes or always biting on her lower lip or twirling her hair around her fingers or shaking hands or...? You get the picture. Speaking of which, the same traits were attibuted each time Chase and Violca were in a scene together: he's continually swiping a piece of hair behind her ear while she's continually biting her low lip. And Chase finds this 'adorbale'. Okay, why? SHOW ME! Dialogue was stilted and unbelievable, family members were way too formal with one another. While this reader has read a few, well written present tense first person stories in the past... this was most definitely not one of them. Love's style lacked any warmth and was not inviting - at least to this reader. Perhaps Love's regular readers found this tale drool-worthy, but this reader did not and likely will not be reading any more of Love's offerings. And that's okay because every writer knows that their tales will not make everyone happy and this reader is simply one of many. ** Review originally posted to Amazon reviews on June 5, 2017 and Goodreads on the same date. **
