Title: Garden of Dragons Dark Garden Series
Author: Meara Platt
Genre: Historical Romance, Paranormal Regency
Story Setting: 1818 England, Lake District
Pages: 331
Published by: Dragonblade Publishing, Inc. 1 edition
Published Date: June 1, 2017
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
ASIN: B072BJ7DC2
Dark Garden Series ecopy purchase link from Amazon.com
Garden of Shadows
Garden of Light
Garden of Dragons
Garden of Destiny coming soon
Publisher’s Summary:
Garden of Dragons, Demon blood runs in the Draloch men, and for this reason, many believe Saron Blakefield, the fearsome Duke of Draloch, holds the key to the destruction of the demonic underworld as foretold in the Fae prophecy etched in the Stone of Draloch. But fighting demons comes at a high price, for he loses a piece of his soul with each battle.
Lady Anabelle Harleigh, is locked in a battle of wills with the dangerous Duke of Draloch. However, when he wins her beloved estate and is awarded guardianship over her, she comes to realize that he may have won her heart as well. Is she brave enough to teach Saron that love is his salvation? Only by admitting his love for Anabelle can Saron reclaim his soul and escape his fate as a heartless, hideous Dragon Lord.
My Thoughts: This is the third of a series set during the Regency period, but anything but usual. I’ll never quite look at bluebell flowers the same again!
A Fae prophecy unfolds in this series, etched in the Stone of Draloch. Some people believe, some do not. Some do not want to for the simple fact they want to control the outcome of events. But fate has spoken, or has it?
Lady Anabelle loves Harleigh Hall—tied to the people, the animals and the land. In fact, she fights tooth and nail to keep Duke of Draloch, Saron, from owning the property. Her ferociousness is admirable, particularly if you meet the Duke of Draloch who happens to be man and dragon. Men cower in his presence. The Duke could have taken the property from her, easily enough, but he enjoyed the correspondence with this woman, and now has the property with the added responsibility of guardianship for her and her brother.
Lady Anabelle will have nothing to do with him. If only he’ll leave her to manage the estate. He has the property, but just let her stay. She spends considerable time to convince him, showing him the estate with all the efforts she’s done to improve harvest’s quality and quantity. The author’s scenes takes us into her world and we see the love she has for this place.
Although, from early appearances, the duke is not attracted to Anabelle. This changes and with it, her safety, his sanity, and the fate of the world. But can the stubbornness of this duke take from him what has become so precious? Ah, this is the dilemma.
They disagree on so many issues, these two. She believes in love, its power is stronger than evil. Saron is so caught up in the evil he’s experienced, how evil has shaped him, and what he knows to be absolute truth, he can’t accept her words. Here follows a conversation very telling.
“I do find farming fascinating, but I sense that you do not, she said, interrupting his thoughts.
He shrugged his shoulders. “It serves an important purpose.”
“Ever the practical businessman.”
He cupped her chin. “And you are ever the fanciful dreamer.”
She frowned, managing to look pretty even while peeved. “Those dreams give me hope for the future. How can we progress or enjoy life if we have no dreams?”
“Dreams avoid reality.”
“No, Your Grace. Dreams create reality.”
The genre is an interesting one. I enjoy this time period, Regency, and with the mystic of dragons, the underworld, and the Fae realm, it creates a story where anything can happen, and often it does.
If you are a lover of the unusual, following love struggling to take hold, experiencing fierce emotion to protect what is yours, you’ve come to the right series and the right author.
Booktalk with Eileen: Journaling a Journey -- Learning the Art of Crafting a Novel 