Review: Destiny Kills by Keri Arthur

From the Back Cover:

When Destiny McCree wakes up beside a dead man on an Oregon beach, she knows only this: she has to keep moving, keep searching, and keep one step ahead of the forces that have been pursuing her from the heart of Scotland to this isolated spot. Why? The death of her lover has left her alone, with little memory of her past. A glimmering serpent-shaped ring is the one clue she has - and a bargaining chip in a most dangerous game.

Enter Trae Wilson, a master thief with a sexy, knowing grin and a secret agenda of his own. Destiny and Trae both have powers far beyond the human - and both are running for their lives. Together they're riding a tide of danger, magic and lust...but with killers stalking their every move, they must use any means necessary, even each other, to survive - until the shocking truth of one woman's destiny finally unravels...


This is the first book I've read by this author and I liked it. Destiny is a sea dragon and Trae is an air dragon, and I'm a sucker for anything dragon-related. The characters are very likeable and it was easy to get drawn into Destiny's story. In the opening scene she wakes up naked on a beach next to a dead man and can't remember who she is or how she got there. The story moves along at a fast pace as Destiny begins to regain her memory and hooks up with Trae and tries to escape from the hunters searching for her. Turns out Destiny has escaped from a research lab where a group of human scientists who have discovered the existence of dragons conduct secret experiments on them, and they want her back.

I found the great chunks of background about the secret dragon cliques and their family histories to be rather awkward, even though most of the information is relayed through dialogue, but it came across as being a little silly to me, and it didn't have a whole lot of relevance to the action of the story. And the story does have a lot of action, as Destiny and Trae try to stay one step ahead of the hunters and form a plan to turn the tables on them. I would read more from this author, but as far as shape-shifting dragon stories go, G.A. Aiken's series, beginning with Dragon Actually (Dragon Kin, Book 1), and Shana Abe's series, beginning with The Smoke Thief (The Drakon, Book 1) are much better.

Rating: 3 Stars out of 5