books_with_em_'s review against another edition
fast-paced
2.5
This was somewhat entertaining, but not good. The story and the characters have potential, but the pacing is SO OFF I have no words.
retrogirl20's review
fast-paced
2.0
Eh this just wasn’t for me. The writing and story were decent though.
chllybrd's review
4.0
I gave it 3.5/5 stars
Carolyn is positive that she is turning into a dragon but no one will take her seriously. I loved her determination and devotion to her own cause. With so little female dragons in the world they are treated as broodmares and she is adamant that will not happen to her. Reed is your typical alpha male and it was not love at first site for me when it came to him. He is standoffish and a bit cruel to Carolyn. Pushes her away, pulls her close, kisses someone else in front of her. I really didn't care for him for most of the book. You never know where he stands or his motives. He seemed to redeem himself by the end but at that point I still didn't love him.
There were some moments in the plot that annoyed me. It would be going along smoothly and then develop a hiccup and become a tad slow. I enjoyed the world of the Emerging Queens Series. With the ending I can tell things will change dramatically from the world that was developed in THE QUEEN'S WINGS. The supporting characters were entertaining, I had my favorites and I hope they will be in book 2.
With a great amount of action and mystery, THE QUEEN'S WINGS was a nice start to this new paranormal romance series. I look forward to more.
* This book was provided free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
renpuspita's review against another edition
4.0
4 stars
Okay, first I will confess about something. Usually I request any Entangled title, especially the paranormal and fantasy ones based on blurbs and reviews. Sadly, until now almost all of them just become an "okay" read for me. That's why I don't have high expectation when I request to read and review The Queen's Wings, the first installment of the new series by Jamie K.Schmidt, The Emerging Queens. She's also a new author to read for me. I request this because I love dragon. Always love read about them, fascinated by their live, myth and legend. Also the worldbuilding seems unique.
After reading.. wow! I really enjoy The Queen's Wings. A lot. Sure I have my reason why I give just 4 stars, but let me state first why I think that The Queen's Wing is another keeper for my paranormal romance and urban fantasy's shelves. First, the narrator. This book told from Carolyn's POV. Carolyn is our heroine here and she's witty, have enough sarcasm and.. a book hoarder! Now this is the heroine that I can related to. She believe that she is a dragon about to shift, but no one believe her. Turn that she had been possessed by Ariana, a daughter of Esmeralda, the dragon queen of North America, and that's why her dragon ability awakened. But fate decide to throw many obstacle for Carolyn, since she is one of the rare dragon queen.
Let me explain for a little. In Carolyn's world, human and dragon live together, but of course dragon think human is lower creature than them. The dragons have a problem, for their existence is near extinction. Just five dragon female, called Queen that existed and they guard them with their soul. Being a Queen is not fun too, that's what Carolyn thought. For they more like a queen bee, you know, constantly make babies, and that's is not the life that Carolyn want. Especially when she fallin' hard for Reed and just desire him. Things get complicated when Carolyn always in danger. Make matters worse, Ariana who reside in her body desire Jack, Reed's friend and love to take over Carolyn's body. There's also another Queen that threatened Carolyn's life and soon Carolyn must learn that her life is full of lies and tangle of deceit and she must be careful to place her trust.
First POV is a hit and miss for me. If I love the MC's voice, I will love the book. If not, it's will be so hard to finish reading the book. I love that Carolyn is witty and not easily give up. Her attitude is hilarious and her interaction with Ariana really cracked me up. Even she want to be a dragon, the idea for her to be a queen and breeds so many dragon do not appeal for her, because she just love one man, Reed. I love that there was no love triangle, because Carolyn's attraction to Jack was Ariana doing. Alas, I think Carolyn and Reed relationship somehow too rushed. While the blurb state that Reed try to avoid Carolyn even he desire her, actually no need a long time for them to admit their feeling. Even of course there's some obstacle that rock their love to add some drama.
What I love more is how Ms Jamie show how a book nerd Carolyn can be. There was a mention of Kristan Higgins.. and... J.D.Robb!! OMG, I almost squeal and if Carolyn is a person I will hug her and we can have our own conversation about In Death series! My complaint is.. a misspronounce for Roarke's name! It's ROARKE, not Rourke, ugh! I doubt they will correct it once this book go wild (oh, it's already released actually), but yeah, this little typo kinda girrated my nerves.
Ms Jamie also make an interesting world building. There some kind of dragons, like Drake, Western (Reed and Jack are Western dragon), Quetzacoatl, and etc. Anyway,I got a feeling that because of manuscript page limit, something feel amiss. I don't mind if The Queen's Wings have more than 300-400 pages (I read the pdf, and it's have 265 pages), so the author can expand the world building. That's why I don't give 5 stars, while I really want to. The half last part feel jumble and so many things happen that make my head spinning. It's also break the pace, make it faster and it's make me a little bit uncomfortable. Also the ending, somehow I'm not satisfied with what happen to Carolyn, even she kinda got her HEA. Alas, the next book will not feature Carolyn. I really love her and want to know more about Carolyn's life after this book and her love life with Reed.
I see that some reviewers on Goodreads shelf this as "erotic". I think the heat level still in steamy factor, and I'm glad the sexual tension are plenty. The Queens also supposed to be a sensual creature because they are have so many dragon men in their harem.
If you love your paranormal romance (or urban fantasy romance) with an unique world building and dragon theme, you will love The Queen's Wings. Also if you fans of Charley Davidson series, I guess you will want to try to read this. Last, can't wait to read the next installment and I hope it's as good (or better) as The Queen's Wings!
e-ARC provided by publisher for honest review
Okay, first I will confess about something. Usually I request any Entangled title, especially the paranormal and fantasy ones based on blurbs and reviews. Sadly, until now almost all of them just become an "okay" read for me. That's why I don't have high expectation when I request to read and review The Queen's Wings, the first installment of the new series by Jamie K.Schmidt, The Emerging Queens. She's also a new author to read for me. I request this because I love dragon. Always love read about them, fascinated by their live, myth and legend. Also the worldbuilding seems unique.
After reading.. wow! I really enjoy The Queen's Wings. A lot. Sure I have my reason why I give just 4 stars, but let me state first why I think that The Queen's Wing is another keeper for my paranormal romance and urban fantasy's shelves. First, the narrator. This book told from Carolyn's POV. Carolyn is our heroine here and she's witty, have enough sarcasm and.. a book hoarder! Now this is the heroine that I can related to. She believe that she is a dragon about to shift, but no one believe her. Turn that she had been possessed by Ariana, a daughter of Esmeralda, the dragon queen of North America, and that's why her dragon ability awakened. But fate decide to throw many obstacle for Carolyn, since she is one of the rare dragon queen.
Let me explain for a little. In Carolyn's world, human and dragon live together, but of course dragon think human is lower creature than them. The dragons have a problem, for their existence is near extinction. Just five dragon female, called Queen that existed and they guard them with their soul. Being a Queen is not fun too, that's what Carolyn thought. For they more like a queen bee, you know, constantly make babies, and that's is not the life that Carolyn want. Especially when she fallin' hard for Reed and just desire him. Things get complicated when Carolyn always in danger. Make matters worse, Ariana who reside in her body desire Jack, Reed's friend and love to take over Carolyn's body. There's also another Queen that threatened Carolyn's life and soon Carolyn must learn that her life is full of lies and tangle of deceit and she must be careful to place her trust.
First POV is a hit and miss for me. If I love the MC's voice, I will love the book. If not, it's will be so hard to finish reading the book. I love that Carolyn is witty and not easily give up. Her attitude is hilarious and her interaction with Ariana really cracked me up. Even she want to be a dragon, the idea for her to be a queen and breeds so many dragon do not appeal for her, because she just love one man, Reed. I love that there was no love triangle, because Carolyn's attraction to Jack was Ariana doing. Alas, I think Carolyn and Reed relationship somehow too rushed. While the blurb state that Reed try to avoid Carolyn even he desire her, actually no need a long time for them to admit their feeling. Even of course there's some obstacle that rock their love to add some drama.
What I love more is how Ms Jamie show how a book nerd Carolyn can be. There was a mention of Kristan Higgins.. and... J.D.Robb!! OMG, I almost squeal and if Carolyn is a person I will hug her and we can have our own conversation about In Death series! My complaint is.. a misspronounce for Roarke's name! It's ROARKE, not Rourke, ugh! I doubt they will correct it once this book go wild (oh, it's already released actually), but yeah, this little typo kinda girrated my nerves.
Ms Jamie also make an interesting world building. There some kind of dragons, like Drake, Western (Reed and Jack are Western dragon), Quetzacoatl, and etc. Anyway,I got a feeling that because of manuscript page limit, something feel amiss. I don't mind if The Queen's Wings have more than 300-400 pages (I read the pdf, and it's have 265 pages), so the author can expand the world building. That's why I don't give 5 stars, while I really want to. The half last part feel jumble and so many things happen that make my head spinning. It's also break the pace, make it faster and it's make me a little bit uncomfortable. Also the ending, somehow I'm not satisfied with what happen to Carolyn, even she kinda got her HEA. Alas, the next book will not feature Carolyn. I really love her and want to know more about Carolyn's life after this book and her love life with Reed.
I see that some reviewers on Goodreads shelf this as "erotic". I think the heat level still in steamy factor, and I'm glad the sexual tension are plenty. The Queens also supposed to be a sensual creature because they are have so many dragon men in their harem.
If you love your paranormal romance (or urban fantasy romance) with an unique world building and dragon theme, you will love The Queen's Wings. Also if you fans of Charley Davidson series, I guess you will want to try to read this. Last, can't wait to read the next installment and I hope it's as good (or better) as The Queen's Wings!
e-ARC provided by publisher for honest review
see_sadie_read's review
3.0
3.5...slightly spoilerish review to follow
In some moments I think I really liked The Queen's Wings, then I remember that what I liked was what The Queen's Wings was trying to be...and largely failing. It was trying to be a snarky paranormal romance WITH DRAGONS and Dragon shifters are my absolute favourite type of shifter. I also love witty heroines with a penchant for sarcastic side commentary and self-mockery (within limits, of course). By all accounts I should have loved this book. But I just didn't.
Don't get me wrong; I liked some aspects of it. I did like Carolyn's witty comments and willingness to stand up to all the alpha dragons around her. I loved that she occasionally channelled Kaname Chidori and rolled the metaphorical (and literal) newspaper. I liked her obsession with books. Now, there is a hoard I can relate to! I liked the humor. I liked the actual world created here, where dragons and humans have come to some social accord and live together. I liked the way it played with the concept of power, since the female dragons were both revered and victimized. I liked Reed in the last half of the book and I liked Jack and Niall. So, the book wasn't a total bust.
However, it also never clicked for me. It didn't flow smoothly. The writing did. That's not what I mean. The writing was fine. It was the plot. It just stuttered along, occasionally making leaps and stops. As an example, for 45% of the book Reed was standoffish and even hostile toward Carolyn. Then, in a matter of a paragraph or so, he suddenly got all affectionate. There was nothing to instigate a change in behaviour. It was a TOTAL attitude 180, with no cause. Even worse it was inferred that this might have been some Machiavellian attempt to curry favour and control and that seemed a lot more likely than that he just suddenly decided he liked her. And even though the reader is told it's not, they even get their happy ending, it didn't feel natural. Not at all!
I also hated that almost all the other women in the book were villainized. (The few who weren't were victimized.) It's like watching any of a 100 Disney movies and finding that anytime you have an older woman in any position of power (the queen, the witch, the sorceress, the step mother, etc) she's evil. It's the same old subtle sexist, 'see, woman can't be allowed power' crap we're fed all the time. Why couldn't even one of the dragon queens be working toward the good of the species instead of her own comfort?
I'll grant that they had a pretty crap deal, but in the end, the 'evil queens' felt like a cheap and easy plot device. Especially considering the fact that
So in the end, I'll give this a middling rating. I liked what the book was aiming for, I just ended up not much liking what the book was. On a side note, I find the description wildly inaccurate.
In some moments I think I really liked The Queen's Wings, then I remember that what I liked was what The Queen's Wings was trying to be...and largely failing. It was trying to be a snarky paranormal romance WITH DRAGONS and Dragon shifters are my absolute favourite type of shifter. I also love witty heroines with a penchant for sarcastic side commentary and self-mockery (within limits, of course). By all accounts I should have loved this book. But I just didn't.
Don't get me wrong; I liked some aspects of it. I did like Carolyn's witty comments and willingness to stand up to all the alpha dragons around her. I loved that she occasionally channelled Kaname Chidori and rolled the metaphorical (and literal) newspaper. I liked her obsession with books. Now, there is a hoard I can relate to! I liked the humor. I liked the actual world created here, where dragons and humans have come to some social accord and live together. I liked the way it played with the concept of power, since the female dragons were both revered and victimized. I liked Reed in the last half of the book and I liked Jack and Niall. So, the book wasn't a total bust.
However, it also never clicked for me. It didn't flow smoothly. The writing did. That's not what I mean. The writing was fine. It was the plot. It just stuttered along, occasionally making leaps and stops. As an example, for 45% of the book Reed was standoffish and even hostile toward Carolyn. Then, in a matter of a paragraph or so, he suddenly got all affectionate. There was nothing to instigate a change in behaviour. It was a TOTAL attitude 180, with no cause. Even worse it was inferred that this might have been some Machiavellian attempt to curry favour and control and that seemed a lot more likely than that he just suddenly decided he liked her. And even though the reader is told it's not, they even get their happy ending, it didn't feel natural. Not at all!
I also hated that almost all the other women in the book were villainized. (The few who weren't were victimized.) It's like watching any of a 100 Disney movies and finding that anytime you have an older woman in any position of power (the queen, the witch, the sorceress, the step mother, etc) she's evil. It's the same old subtle sexist, 'see, woman can't be allowed power' crap we're fed all the time. Why couldn't even one of the dragon queens be working toward the good of the species instead of her own comfort?
I'll grant that they had a pretty crap deal, but in the end, the 'evil queens' felt like a cheap and easy plot device. Especially considering the fact that
Spoiler
Carolyn, who was set up as a saviour by being the first female to shift in millennia, actually wasn't the first and none of her subsequent actions did anything to save the species. Crazy xxx's did that. Yep, one of the baddies, who is also villainized and supposed to be reviled by the reader, actually brought the females back. (But we're still left with the impression that she was evil for doing so.)So in the end, I'll give this a middling rating. I liked what the book was aiming for, I just ended up not much liking what the book was. On a side note, I find the description wildly inaccurate.
barbaraescreve's review
3.0
Esse livro é divertidíssimo!!!! Eu amei mto o mundo e todo o lance da sociedade dos dragões/etc, porém o romance foi beeem fraco e eu não comprei ele Ahahaha mas a narradora é EXCELENTE e a trama bem interessante, apesar de ser meio doida e ela ir enfiando problema e inimigo aleatoriamente e no fim ser meio confuso. Enfim!!! Uma ótima leitura pra descontrair e rir bastante.
elylibrarysec's review
4.0
Rating 4 1/2 stars
I received a copy of this book from the publisher and the author in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated in any way.
This was a very addicting book. With the descriptions Jamie uses, you will have no trouble picturing everything as each scene unfolds. I was happy that there was a thundershower going on at the time. The computer stayed off and I could get lost in this book. I was also glad that my dad watches TV with headphones on – I could laugh in peace. There are a lot of references that you may recognize and there was one that I hope I didn’t misinterpret. If I’m not mistaken there’s a reference to the Brady Bunch – you’ll just have to read the book and see if you can find it. It was a truly mesmerizing tale.
The only reason I gave this a rating of 4 ½ is because I want to enjoy the rest of the series. And then once the series is complete, and if the other books are as great as this one I can give the group a rating of 5. If you are a paranormal junkie then this is a book for you. If you were planning on traveling, depending on what your destination is, I would take this book with you.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher and the author in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated in any way.
This was a very addicting book. With the descriptions Jamie uses, you will have no trouble picturing everything as each scene unfolds. I was happy that there was a thundershower going on at the time. The computer stayed off and I could get lost in this book. I was also glad that my dad watches TV with headphones on – I could laugh in peace. There are a lot of references that you may recognize and there was one that I hope I didn’t misinterpret. If I’m not mistaken there’s a reference to the Brady Bunch – you’ll just have to read the book and see if you can find it. It was a truly mesmerizing tale.
The only reason I gave this a rating of 4 ½ is because I want to enjoy the rest of the series. And then once the series is complete, and if the other books are as great as this one I can give the group a rating of 5. If you are a paranormal junkie then this is a book for you. If you were planning on traveling, depending on what your destination is, I would take this book with you.
bookgyrl's review
2.0
Could not really get into it. The heroine behaved so strangely and the hero was grumpy.
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