Reviewed by Anna Lynn

TITLE:  Blood

SERIES:  Scales ‘N’ Spells #4

AUTHOR:  Jocelynn Drake, AJ Sherwood

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

LENGTH:  410 Pages

RELEASE DATE:  April 9, 2021

BLURB:

Secret identities are hard to keep.

Sora finds this to be doubly true after meeting the struggling Burkhard Clan and the mischievous Ravi. The wind dragon has stolen his breath, and heart, away. Sora suspects he might have found his mate.

But his inability to be truthful with Ravi eats at Sora. When the Jaeggi attack, Sora can’t keep his secrets any longer. Not when Ravi is in the center of the war raging around them.

He has to reveal who he really is. It’s the only way to be with Ravi and give the Burkhards the help they need.

Sora’s secret could tip the scales to save them all.

REVIEW:

WOW! Where do I begin?

This has to be the best book from this series so far (aside from Origin, book one, which is King Alric and Cameron’s story)! BLOOD is Ravi’s book! Ravi has always been prominent in all the books before this one. I always believed that his own story will be BIG! I wasn’t wrong because this book not only tells us Ravi’s life story but that of the Burkhard Clan as well and what they all have gone through up to this point! (Although we did get a lot of information about the Clan in the previous books, but this one just added some really significant ones.)

There are a lot of details to absorb in this tale. We have Ravi’s background story from the time he was adopted by the Fire Dragon Clan, under King Alric, immediately after the war. How King Alric looked for the Wind Dragons in the last place they lived at. How when they couldn’t find anyone, he became convinced and adamant for Ravi to be a Burkhard! Ravi grew up with Alric, Baldewin, Gunter and Warin looking after him. All of them, together with Lisette, took care of Ravi while he was growing up. Ravi never felt like he didn’t belong, he has always been a Burkhard!

Reading about what happened to Ravi’s family during the Dragon War over five hundred years ago just broke my heart. As the story slowly unfold, I’ve had moments where I had to reread some parts because I just couldn’t fathom the heartbreak that Ravi must have gone through; but his family has always been there for him, the Burkhard Clan. The Fire Dragons led by King Alric has always been the family that Ravi has known, they took care of him since he was a baby.

Well, we all know Ravi, he gets into mischiefs even if he didn’t intend to in the first place. I think that’s what makes him adorable, endearing and just unforgettable, although I don’t think King Alric always finds it funny when he gets into trouble (snickers). So, as it so happens, when Ravi was rescuing a pilot in trouble, it never occurred to him that this scene might be part of a movie shoot. He realized it too late. People on the ground, with cameras and all, were already shooting everything when they were trying to slow down in order to land safely. It was a good thing really, because right about that time King Alric and King Rodrigo of the Valerii Ice Dragon Clan were talking about coming out to the public once and for all. They thought that maybe if the Clans come out, more Mages will also be encourage to come to them. And the world will truly believe that Dragons do exist. So what happened to Ravi actually force their hand and their decision (snickers again).

Abe Sora, of the Abe Clan, saw the televised interview of King Alric and his Consort, Cameron. He was permitted to go to Germany to get firsthand information about the existence of the Fire Dragon Clan.

King Alric and Cameron were as truthful as they can be during the interview, while the whole world was watching. It paved the way for the influx of Mages who came to their door. The castle became too busy organizing ways of identifying real Mages from those who are not. Ravi, meanwhile, became a sort of Celebrity, his own video saving the plane became viral. He couldn’t even go into town just to buy milk (because the castle run out) without being besieged by reporters and fans. So it was in one of these errands when he was trying to run away from a mob of reporters and fans alike that he encountered Abe Sora, commandeered his motorcycle actually. When they were already far from the adoring public, they decided to stop for  a while and talked. When Sora told Ravi that he specifically came to Germany to find out about the Fire Dragon Clan, Ravi became more excited (he is very excitable after all, he literally bounces on the balls of his feet) and decided to invite Sora into the castle to meet the Clan. Unfortunately Sora couldn’t tell Ravi the truth about who he really is until he gets the blessing of his own Clan.

After a few days of stay within the castle and getting to know the residents, Sora learned a lot of information about the whole Clan, most especially about Ravi and King Alric and how the Burkhard Clan has been fighting the Jaeggi since they found Cameron over a year ago. He also realized the great need of reinforcements that his own Clan can send. He felt guilty not being able to tell Ravi and King Alric the truth of who he really is and where he comes from. But after convincing his mother (which is not an easy feat) about his need to be truthful to the Fire Dragon Clan, and his own Clan’s need to send reinforcements, he is finally ready to tell the truth. And his Clan finally decided to come and lend reinforcements.

Ms. Jocelynn Drake, Ms. AJ Sherwood, once again you have amazed me! This is one of the most beautiful stories I have ever read. The feelings that it drew out of me is totally mind blowing! I have always loved Ravi, mischievousness and annoyingness included, but now I love him more. And King Alric is truly one of a kind! He is selfless and so loved! This is truly an AMAZING book! Now I cannot wait for the next one….

RATING:

BUY LINK:

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