Mini-Review: Hot Blooded Part 4

Hot Blooded: Part 4 (Dark Kings #4)

by Donna Grant

Blurb:

Iona and Laith’s desire knows no bounds. But now that Iona has learned the truth about her heritage, the question is: Can Laith risk the fate of his kind for the love of one woman? She harbors a secret that others would kill to possess. Will she complete him—or destroy him? Passion: For a Dragon King, it always comes with a price…

Themes: Dragons, Magick, Fae, Paranormal

Rating: 3.5 stars

Heat Rating: 

Review:

Ever read an ending that just doesn’t feel like an ending?... well this book kind of applies to that category. While Laith and Iona certainly seemed to have found their HEA, the overall story was left with a lot of loose ends, even more than usual for a long-running series.  So while I definitely loved the ending, I wish a bit more of the loose ends had been tied.  There is just a lot of carryover plotting and coming soon ideas that I feel like it was too much.  Multiple enemies, does she or doesn’t she believe in love now, how will the Warriors and Dark Fae fit into coming stories.  While all of that makes for a good ploy by the author and publisher to keep people coming back for more, for loyal fans like me it would have been nice for at least one of the story arcs to be concluded in some way.  I will definitely be in line right away for the next book in the series, but there was never really any question of that.  Overall the ending to this story was good, but I kept feeling like there should have been a part 5. 

The last portion of this serial revolves around the Kings and Warriors coming together to find a way to keep Iona and the door to Dreagan safe, and hopefully learn more about their enemies.  Iona is discovered to be an unwitting pawn in the plot to bring down the Dragon Kings and immediately her life changes as the anger over being used and her determination to keep Laith safe brings out the warrior in her and she decides to fight with them to secure the win.  While battling alongside him, Iona begins to understand just how deep her feelings are for Laith, and though she never comes right out and says the words, we know she loves him and will continue to be by his side and hopefully will eventually consent to become his mate.  Laith, for all his talk of not wanting a mate, jumps right in with both feet once he understands just how much he truly love Iona, even going so far as to defy Con to trust her and keep her by his side.  I loved seeing these two and how they interacted as a couple with the other mate-pairs of both Kings and Warriors. 

Overall this was what I would call a Bridge novel; though it had its own main plot, the truly important contribution of this book was in the side plots and how they contribute to the overall story arc of the series.  Rhi and Ulrick both play a crucial role and we see them evolving in this story, as do the Dark Fae and to a lesser degree the Warriors.  While we are still uncertain as to whom their ultimate enemy is, the puppet master I always think of him as, we do get to see more of his plotting and there are subtle hints as to his true identity.  I am looking forward to the next in this series, which I understand will be Rhys and Lily’s book and hope that a bit more will be revealed in their book, maybe even the name of the puppet master or (please please please) the name of Rhi’s Dragon King Lover.  That little bit of closure would definitely make me and many other fans I’m sure very happy readers.  In the end I remain as always a Loyal Donna Grant Fan and hope to see much from her for many years to come. 

*eARC provided by publisher (via netgalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.