D'Elen McClain's book "Dragons Don't Cry: Dragon Shifter Romance (Fire Chronicles Book 1)" was the first this reader read by the author, including her aka Holly S. Roberts nom de plume. And I must say, I truly enjoyed it. McClain used mythology for the background of her dragon story and the tale flowed like a fairytale for adults, including a lovely happily ever after romance ending. McClain sets up the world and gives readers an introduction to the other three living dragons - excluding our main dragon in this story in that number. The characters are detailed enough to easily visualize and protagonist Acasia and her dragon shifter lover, Bastian, showed personality growth. Especially Bastian as he began the tale as a fairly stereotypical egocentric, narcisstic dragon to a man that put his lover's needs and wants above his own. Each character had their own unique voice in dialogue as well, although at times the dragons did sound somewhat similar, which is likely due to the dragons starting out as the stereotypical, egocentric, narcissist's - before meeting their true mates can change them. The characters played so well off of one another... Acasia started out a bit scared and seemingly weak - she thought she was to be a dragon snack, after all. And Bastian, as mentioned, started off as the stereotypical a**hole many dragons are portrayed as. But. And here's the thing, Acasia shows her true colors once she is no longer in fear for her life, revealing she is a strong-willed, independent and extremely snarky woman. She confuddles poor Bastian while captivating him, and soon we see his heart beginning to shine through... oh, he definitely fought that change, but he simply couldn't resist his bride, Acasia. Bit of a spoiler alert here.... It should be mentioned, there was absolutely no rape in this story. Bastian was lonely after the death of his previous bride thirty-two years before he met Acasia; his loneliness was the main reason he felt compelled to select his newest bride... and met his true mate. Bastian is different from the other dragons, not in a rush to take their virginity but give them a chance to get to know him first, a seduction, of sorts. Bastian had over 70 brides before he met Acasia and remembered using a form of seduction with each of the previous brides, allowing them a chance to get to know him and being 'gifted' with their virginity. It was alluded that some of the other dragons felt taking their brides virginity quickly helped bond them faster, but McClain's tale did not hint at rape. This reader was so caught up in the tale, she truly cannot recall any major - or minor for that matter - grammar, spelling or punctuation errors. There may have been a missing word in a sentence on occasion, or something of that sort, but all in all, this reader recalls finishing the story with a feeling of satisfaction and looking forward to reading the next dragon's story. Acasia and Bastian's love story was a good read, plain and simple, and I highly recommend this book and the author. ** Review originally posted to Amazon reviews on July 4, 2017 and Goodreads on the same date. **
