Title: The Smoke Thief
Author: Shanna Abe
Series: The Drákon book 1
Publication Info: Bantam, Oct 2006
Genre: Historical Paranormal Romance
Rating: <3 <3 <3 <3

Ms. Abe combines my favorite two romance genres, Historical and Paranormal, for a delightful adventure that soars through the star-strewn sky and delves deep into the fire of the human heart.

Plot:

Clarissa Rue Hawthorne was born an outcast, a half-blood in the mysterious and sheltered clan of dragon shapeshifters. She will never fit in, so she breaks the clan’s laws, fakes her own death and escapes to London. She spends nine-or-so years building a secret life for herself: the proper widow by day and a Smoke Thief at night. But her past catches up with her in none other than the dragon king himself, Christoff, Marquess of Langford, who comes to London dangling the most precious jewel of all as bait. She can’t help but visit the stone and is caught up in Christoff’s deadly claws.

Christoff has been raised for one thing: to rule his people with an iron fist and keep them safe from the human Others. He is the Alpha and must marry the Alpha female of the tribe, but no woman in generations has been able to Turn into Drakon. When he lays a trap for the outlaw who dares expose their secrets by stealing the Ton’s jewels, he never imagined he would find a female who could Turn, or the lost little girl who caught his notice so many years ago.

But there is another rogue drakon theif in London and he steals the drakon jewel from under their noses. Rue makes a devil’s bargain: her freedom for his. She must join forces with the indomitable Christoff to find the jewel before the week is up. Christoff is injured in their search. Rue has the chance to escape to freedom, or to try to save the Alpha. She might have won her freedom, but she lost her heart.

Discussion:

Christine has been telling me about this book for over a year and I don’t know why I didn’t get around to reading it until now. I couldn’t put it down! The attraction between Rue and Christoff burns red hot and their cat and mouse chase keeps the pages spinning. I loved the descriptions of the dragons flying through the clouds. This is a Cinderella story: Rue’s childhood crush comes to fruition, bringing the now all-grown-up domineering Alpha male to her feet.

The one thing I would have changed is the long airy prologue. I think that backstory could have been communicated through the book, or in a shorter prologue. I’m excited for the next one, The Dream Thief, which stars Rue & Christoff’s daughter and Rue’s street urchin companion Zane.