Dragon's Lair by Chantal FernandoMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Recently I was given the opportunity to read and review this title by Chantal Fernando. Given the hype over MC titles, I was interested to see what would be different and what would follow the trend in this book. I can say that I was pleased with this book, and looking forward to reading book 2 in this series.
In the prologue, we meet childhood Faye, perched on the steps outside her home, dreading the evening with her disapproving mother. We also meet childhood Dex - the older boy next door who makes it his responsibility to look after the small "fairy" next door. We learn then that despite a five year age difference, Faye is determined that one day Dex will be hers.
Flash forward to the present, and we see Faye on the lamb - and we discover the straw that broke the camel's back where her relationship with her mother is concerned. She's been disowned, and is struggling to determine where her new place will be.
Another blast to the past, and we're treated to the series of events that led to her current situation. Faye is a brilliant and promising law student dating the boy next door. No, not Dex. His younger brother Eric. Unfortunately, Eric doesn't have the same urge to keep Faye's feelings intact and she finds him sleeping with one of her only female friends. After a bit of self pity and wallowing, Faye decides he is no longer worth her time or tears, and she's going to start herself on a new path. She begins at a local watering hole, and becomes a bit torn on how her night should end. Does she want to go home with someone? Why does no one interest her?
Then she runs into a familiar person on the way to her car - Dex. Having not seen him in a few years, they start with a bit of banter and reminiscing, but ultimately they end up in bed together. The night is chalked up to a one night stand meant to get back at Eric, and they both go their separate ways.
Temporarily.
Given the sudden break in connection to her family, Dex once again takes it upon himself to protect her. He locates her in the run down motel after learning she took off from his brother, and he takes her back to the Wind Dragons compound with him. They proceed to take residence in his clubhouse bedroom, and Faye learns her place among a group of gruff bikers. Given her straight laced former life and curious, blunt nature, it's a bit of an undertaking that makes for some more than comical moments.
In time, Faye learns that she will one day become the President's Old Lady if she remains with Dex - or "Sin" as the brothers and followers call him. Unsure how to respond to the shift in her future plans, we see some unrest in Faye's thoughts. Eventually, she comes to the conclusion that she will make a good "Old Lady" - a conclusion that readers have come to many chapters before.
After a particularly unsettling event, though, Faye is sent away to safety until a war with a rival MC is settled. This is where I started to have trouble with the book. We have been spoiled with perfect detail and insight into Faye's situation until this point, but after she returns to the compound, we begin what I like to call a "Journal Entry Ending". The story begins to read as a cliff notes version of a perfect or not so perfect day, and events become unresolved. Any retribution of an attempted rape is overlooked, a wedding apparently takes place though we hear nothing about it, and Faye manages to not only graduate law school but take her bars and become the club's full fledged lawyer handling a high priority case for one of the brothers, all without the reader's full knowledge.
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