Reviewed by PizzyGirl
TITLE: Darkest Wings
AUTHOR: Helena Maeve
PUBLISHER: Less Than Three Press
LENGTH: 83 pages
RELEASE DATE: February 26, 2018
BLURB:
Since washing out of the LAPD, PI Creighton has made a name for himself as a bounty hunter. For a price, he’ll recover any missing artifact or person, solve any crime—provided it involves the supernatural. When his latest case forces him to face the man who destroyed his career and very nearly took his mind, Creighton soon finds himself in over his head.
Dragons are not vampires, to be distracted by a pulsing vein, nor as easily tempted as leprechauns. Rumors of their greed and vicious tempers abound, and becoming their prisoner was never Creighton’s aim. Now trapped in the dragon netherworld known as the Sanctum, Creighton has little choice but to join forces with the very creature that holds him captive in hopes of defeating a larger threat and, in so doing, solving his missing persons case.
REVIEW:
I am torn on how I feel about this story.
On the one hand, I absolutely loved the characters and the world. On the other hand, I felt like this was only a shell of a story and was left with so many unanswered questions that I felt cheated when the story was over.
Pen and Creighton had so many hidden depths and worked really well together. The pull between then was fabulous even when there was anger and sarcasm and mistrust. The Sanctum was a fascinating place. Dark and fiery yet interesting and sort of homey. The imagery was vivid and I would absolutely love to spend more time exploring.
I loved the various magical beings and how lore and history were worked into the story was awesome. I loved the way the dragons were presented. They were capable of being big, bad, and scary. Yet there was the capability for something softer as well.
I really liked the plot potential. A PI digging around in the world of other beings was a great way to bring tension to the story while also allowing for the settings to be described and the histories of the species to be revealed.
But in the end, each of the elements that I loved fell short of the mark. We never got to know any of the characters fully. The world was only superficially presented and the plot just……ended. With no on page resolution. And epilogue happened, but honestly it left me so confused because I had no clue how it came about and it didn’t answer any of the many questions I already had while also introducing a ton more.
And to me this was not a romance. Yep, there was sex and the start of a connection, but the ending was a jumbled mess and I have no clue if this is a HFN, never-to-b HEA, or if this was just a teaser and is actually the start of a series.
So overall, I was very impressed. I connected to these men, fell in love with the world, and was fascinated by the potential. But the ending left me confused and highly unsatisfied. It could be just me, but I honestly don’t know if I can recommend this one as it stands.
However, should this be expanded or actually be the start of a series, I would snap it up in a heartbeat
RATING: 
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