Book Review: Ancient Desire by N.J. Walters

 

Book Description

Nothing was supposed to wake half dragon, half human Lucius from his Deep Sleep. Nothing. And yet something, or rather someone has. The unexpectedly attractive human not only touched him. She kissed him. Now Lucius is awake, and more powerful than he has ever been in his 4,000 years of existence. And once he finds out who led her to his cave, he’ll deal with his 300 years of hunger…

College professor Raine Carson spent her life obsessed with myths and legends. And now she’s woken one up. Only, Lucius is nothing like anything she’s ever seen or read about in her history books. Because this man is part sexy badass and part terrifying…monster. Yet she wants him with a hunger like nothing she’s ever felt before.

Lucius used to be part of the Forgotten Brotherhood—a ruthless group of paranormal assassins. Now he’s unsure if his former Brothers are their allies…or enemies. All he knows is that someone is hunting him, and Raine is just as tangled up in this mess as he is. And he’ll protect her—even if it means unleashing his Dragon and all of its power. 

My Review

Raine gets a grant from the Angel Foundation to study a dragon statue that was found in a cave. It's in perfect condition and she just can't believe her luck. Raine is a college professor who is intrigued by myths and legends like dragons so she's so excited to see the dragon statue. But her guide to the cave betrays her, setting off an explosion that seals off the entrance of the cave, trapping her inside with the dragon statue. What she doesn't know is once she touches the statue, the dragon awakens but doesn't let her know for a while. 

Lucius is a Drakon. His father was a dragon and his mother was a human. He can transform into both dragon and human forms. But he was so fed up with humans, Dragons and Drakons that he decided to go to sleep, not expecting to wake up again. So when this little human wakes him up from his deep sleep, he's not sure he's going to help her once she is trapped inside the cave with him. But the longer she is there, the more determination he sees from her, the more he feels drawn to help her. 

Raine tries to get out of the cave on her own and she talks to herself a lot, which drove Lucius crazy at first. He watches her, listens to the conversations she has with herself and finally let's her know he's real. What a shock that was. 

Once they're out of the cave they have to figure out why they wanted her dead or in the cave with him and how do they even know what he is. They get in touch with Maccus who is his friend and leader of The Brotherhood. The meeting doesn't go well though and Lucius and Raine find themselves in danger a few times. But the pull they feel for one another is undeniable so it was so much fun to watch them fall head over heels for each other. 

I loved seeing some of the other characters from previous books make an appearance as well as meet new ones. Finally finding out what was going on and why was fun and all I can say is, this was another great installment in the series. This has quickly become one of my all time favorite series to read. Each book can be read a standalone but the characters backstories and how they all fit together will make more sense if you read this in order. 

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Disclosure: I was given an e-ARC of this book via NetGalley but all thoughts and opinions are my own.