Obsidian (The Dragon Kings #1)By Kimberly Loth
200 Pages | February 17th, 2016
Aspen Winters’s whole world is about to change . . .
Seventeen year old Aspen is a skydiving, rock climbing, adrenaline junky who is fascinated by the dragons living in Yellowstone Park. And no human had ever gotten close enough to even touch one, let alone study them.
For her, the dragons are a way to escape a painful past and avoid getting too close to anyone. But after meeting the hot new guy at school, Obsidian “Sid” King, Aspen feels strangely drawn to the mysterious boy, even though she doesn’t trust him. Yet he’s the one person that shares her obsession with all things dragon.
Not only is Sid not human, he’s a seriously hot dragon in human form. But not just any dragon—he’s destined to become the next king. Yet when Aspen stumbles into his life, he finds himself tempted to break all the rules just to be with her.
While most people fear and avoid the national parks because of the resident dragons, Aspen spends most of her free time searching for them and getting the rare photo. But when people start dying in the park, every one suspects the dragons. Now the life of every dragon in existence is threatened unless Aspen can prove their innocence.
As the Sid and Aspen uncover a sinister plot to destroy the tenacious peace between humans and dragons, it becomes increasingly difficult for Sid to ignore his feelings for Aspen … even if it means forsaking not only his crown, but also his life.
Aspen lives her life on the edge, not to mention her love for a notoriously dangerous species, Dragons. Set in modern day North America Aspen lives in your average teenage life. There are mobiles, computers, television... and Dragons? Yeah that's where things got a little curious. I love the concept of this world, the fact that Dragons have always existed within our modern day society, and how we have adapted our world around them.
Except that we don't really get an explanation of how we adapted around them, where they came from, why they still exist. Nothing. Basically we get some dragons dropped in and are expected to figure it out ourselves. I love a good imagination but I love a better explanation even more. It felt strange that people didn't really understand these creatures and yet left them alone. I couldn't help imaging large game hunts people trying to destroy them or capture them. Because unfortunately we live in a world where often times people destroy, or at least attempt to destroy, what they fear or do not understand.
This was a very short, quick read and while it certainly had it's gem moments, I found it lacking strength. The romance was fast, too fast and Obsidian began to come off like an stalkerish sort when Aspen was clearly not interested. Personally I don't like kind of approach.
This book is promising to a series, a nice little hook and I will certainly pick up the next one to see where it leads. If you like Urban Fantasy, and Dragons, I've give this book a shot, it's a short read.
Travis Springs usually didn’t hike in the national parks. He preferred his mountains dragon free, thank you very much, but his buddies told him this hike was safe and worth the risk.
Everyone knew the best hikes were in the national parks, and Travis figured he’d have to get over his aversion to dragons if he was going to be serious about climbing mountains.
The scenery was breathtaking. The valley below him shimmered in greens and yellows. Not to mention the mist that rose from the steam vents covering the entire Yellowstone floor.
He stopped to take a drink. According to the map, he was a quarter of a mile from the top. This was one of the smaller mountains, and so it had to be safe. It was rumored that the dragons in Yellowstone typically didn’t come down from the very top of the tallest peaks.
Travis looked up and saw a gold speck high in the sky. He shivered and watched the path as he walked and went over in his head the words he read and heard over the last few weeks. Dragons didn’t eat people. There were no documented cases. His fear was irrational, but then again most fears were.
He concentrated on the ground and climbed up the rocky terrain. After about twenty minutes, he finally made it to the top.
Travis refused to look up at the sky and surveyed the valley below him. In the distance a herd of buffalo grazed in the plains. He took a few deep breaths and felt his fear subside. He’d been silly.
He took a chance and peeked at the sky. The speck looked closer, and his stomach clenched. But then he reminded himself that because he reached the top, the speck would obviously be closer.
Travis’s hands shook as he took a drink of his water. He convinced himself that he’d spend fifteen minutes or so and then head back down. But he didn’t waste all day climbing to the top, just to race to the bottom.
Travis dug in his bag and found his camera.
The air around him suddenly felt ten degrees warmer. Sweat beaded on Travis’s forehead. A hot wind whooshed from above him. He clutched at his camera and looked up.
The golden underbelly of the dragon was only about ten feet above him, flying over him quickly. The thing had to be a hundred feet long from snout to the tip of his tail. Travis felt his jeans go wet. If he lived to tell this tale, he’d leave out that detail. He reminded himself to breathe.
As fast as it had come, it was gone. Travis couldn’t move. He watched the dragon turn and head back toward him. Travis clutched the camera and took a picture as the dragon opened its wide mouth. Its teeth were three feet long and wicked sharp.
Seconds before the jaws clamped down on him, he dropped the camera. The air from the dragon’s throat blistered his skin, but it didn’t spew fire. Travis’s final thought was, “What a horrible way to die.”
As the dragon flew away, thoroughly pleased with his meal, he didn’t realize he left behind not one, but two souvenirs. The camera.
And a foot.
Kimberly Loth can’t decide where she wants to settle down. She’s lived in Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, Utah, California, Oregon, and South Carolina. She finally decided to make the leap and leave the U.S. behind for a few years. Currently, she lives in Cairo, Egypt with her husband and two kids.
She is a high school math teacher by day (please don’t hold that against her) and YA author by night. She loves romantic movies, chocolate, roses, and crazy adventures. Kissed is her first novel.
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