Book Review: Never Dare a Dragon (Boston Dragon) by Ashlyn Chase

Never Dare a Dragon by Ashlyn Chase is the third book in the Boston Dragon series. While having read the previous books will give a reader a better grasp of the secondary characters and the mythology, I think new comers to the series will still be able to enjoy the read.I did read the first two books, and they certainly gave me a head start when things started to get complicated.

Jayce Fierro is part of a legendary Boston firefighting family of phoenix shifters. Hiding his true form makes being in a relationship rather difficult. Meeting the beautiful Lieutenant Kristine Scott of the New York City Fire Department and knowing he can't have her only makes things worse. Dragon shifter Kristine can't stop thinking about fun, flirty Jayce and his teasing smile. A relationship could never work-not with the distance between them, and definitely not with her shifter secret. But when Kristine lands herself in a blaze of trouble and secrets are revealed, Jayce will do whatever it takes to help-whether or not the feisty, stubborn New Yorker wants him to.

Never Dare a Dragon is both what I expected from Chase, and a little disappointing. I think a good amount of time was spent on the danger and conflicts of the book were very well done. The danger to Kristine and her mother felt very real, as did Kristine's need to resolve the problem and keep Amy safe. Although, I will admit that I kept expecting a member of her fire station to be in the pocket of the bad guys, and was a little relieved that it never came to pass. The continuing thread about the dragon families and muses from the series might not make sense to newcomers, and while I enjoyed that continuity I think it felt like an afterthought rather than a necessary part of the book. My biggest issue with the book is that I never felt really connected with Kristine or Jayce. Their romance just was, I never really felt that it built up or grew. Perhaps it just depended on the aspect of paranormal characters that find a perfect mate and just know rather than getting to know each other and work through relationship issues. I get that the action of the story made doing that hard, but some of it could have happened prior to the danger and action coming into play. I still liked the book, and I still felt it was important to the larger story arc, but I have come to expect more fun and character depth from Chase.
Never Dare a Dragon is a good addition to the series, and I found some of it very good. However, it just did not capture me the same way the previous books in the series did.