*My Thoughts*
I want to first take this opportunity to thank Ren @ Dragonfairy Press for sharing a copy of Open Gates with me, and for adding me to the Open Gates Blog Tour. Ren, you are awesome to work with and I hope we get a chance to do it again soon!
Now for the excruciating part of being a reviewer/blogger.....the review itself. There are times that I read my friends reviews of the same book that I just read and wonder if there is something horrifically wrong with me. I mean, there is a reason why I am rating this book 3-3.5 stars instead of 5 stars like those who have come before me. Maybe romance novels are getting under my skin and I need to move on from them. Let me explain my reasoning and let you decide if I am off my rocker.
Open Gates is the last installment of the PJ Stone Gates Trilogy. If you have read Broken Gates, you were probably sobbing and rolling around on the floor with your blanket over your head because DT left you shattered to the point of mumbling nonsensically about how a major character, who you loved, was slain by the rancid Riders who have taken over the planet. :sigh:
Open Gates opens with a very emotional, and very distraught PJ who wonders how she will ever go on. She really doesn't care about the Riders or what they're ultimate plans are for the planet or that Khol has once again insinuated himself fully into her life not understanding that she needs time to grieve.
I loathe to say this outloud, but I thank DT for showing readers a different side to Lord Khol. Thank you for showing me that I was wrong in my dislike towards him for pushing himself onto PJ and for not just giving readers what they want in having that character return so PJ could have a HEA. Khol is still someone that I would take a baseball bat to had he attempted to force himself onto me. Then again, this is a story about Dragons not humans. In Dragon-land, it is totally fine for a male dragon to claim a Female dragon by forcing the issue at hand, as it were. Just as long as you don't cross the line to pure unadulterated rape, I'll restrain my commentary.
I regret to inform you that PJ was for the most part, in her Aunt Morag's own words, exasperating and hard to deal with. Can you blame her whining and crying and indecision making and ****s loss on her pregnancy? There will be those who can, and do, but I think it runs so much deeper than that. PJ is a 19 year old Dragon Queen who was raised as a human. She's also a powerful Seer, and probably the only one left in existence. Apparently, as a female dragon, it also makes her quite frisky in needing to have sex every 30 seconds. Since this is PNR, readers will definitely find themselves satiated with the amount of times PJ and Khol do the horizontal mambo. I actually found myself turning the pages a bit quicker to get to the part where PJ finds a way to defeat the Riders part and perhaps learns more about her heritage and what the future will bring for her and Jenna and Jeremy.
There are quite a few questions that went unanswered for me, and I am maybe hopeful that DT will answer them for me, or perhaps in the future, writes a novella that wraps up this series a bit more tightly. I would have liked to learn about PJ's so called Dragon side as well as read about her flying with Khol. I would have liked to know about PJ's other abilities as a Dragon that weren't explored. It was laid out for readers to grasp, but it never quite took hold. I was pleasantly surprised that the deceased character wasn't fully written out of this series and made some appearances in key situations throughout the book. After reading about a certain other books final ending, I was hopeful that nobody major would lose their lives in Open Gates.
In the end, my overall experience with this series was a positive one and I would recommend it to PNR readers of the adult variety. I liked the variation on Dragons in society and the fact that PJ comes from a long line of powerful women. I did find the 3 way love triangle loathsome, but I am in the minority on this point. I will be looking forward to seeing what DT comes up with in the future and wish her luck in her endeavor.
Expected publication: November 12th 2013 by Dragonfairy Press
New Adult Paranormal Romance
299 pages
by D.T. Dyllin
For P.J. Stone, being a “Seer” who has never seen anything is less than fun. And P.J. isn’t known for her patience. To make matters worse, she must choose a suitable mate to continue the Seer bloodline. Duty always comes before her heart…at least that’s what her parents taught her. When she finds herself wanting someone who is considered off-limits, P.J. is forced to question everything she believes. As if navigating her love life isn’t complicated enough, P.J. finally receives a vision—of a threat to her world that only she can perceive. But no one will believe a fledgling Seer’s warnings. With nowhere else to turn, she may decide to trust a stranger with her life, her world, and maybe even her heart.
Book two of the P.J. Stone Gates Trilogy
New Adult Paranormal Romance
241 pages
by
D.T. Dyllin
P.J. Stone is a Seer who saw too little, too late. In the past, her biggest worries were boys and school—but war has a way of changing things. Now, the alien Riders are trying to overrun the world. As the last of their kind, P.J. and her friends must find a way to save humanity before there’s nothing left to save. After choosing a mate, P.J. hoped she'd have time to enjoy her love life. But with everything changing so quickly and major secrets revealed, who knows what the future will bring?
Book three of the P.J. Stone Gates Trilogy
New Adult Paranormal Romance
by D.T. Dyllin
Bryn is gone. Jenna isn’t…herself, and the world has been taken
over by the alien Riders. The only constant in P.J.’s life is Khol. But even he might not be able
to help her pick up the shattered pieces of her life.
P.J. finally gets the answers to all of her questions, but will she be
able to handle the truth? And will she be strong enough to face her own destiny when the
time comes?
About the Author
Cynical-Optimist. Chocolate-holic. Sarcasm Addict. Paranormal Believer. Self-Imposed
Insomniac. Sci-Fi Geek. Animal Lover. Writer…are just a few words to describe D.T. Dyllin.
She was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and now lives in Nashville, Tennessee
with her husband and two very spoiled GSDs.
I'm thumping my head for not reviewing this when she asked for a request. This sounds like something I'll really enjoy. oh well... #loserville
ReplyDeleteThere's only been like 12 reviews as of mine. maybe there's still time? She asked if I wanted to review her other series as well. We shall see.
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