WL's Mainstream Gay Book Reviews - 72. A Broken Dragon Book 2 of Guardian Dragons by Aiden Bates andJill Haven (Shifters/Adventure/Mpreg)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49759865-omega-s-trust

The second book in this series establishes the lore of this universe, which is something any fantasy writer needs. In the Omegaverse, it’s rare to see worldbuilding and detailed conflict resolution, along with long arc stories like this. Aiden Bates and Jill Haven were still trying to find their way in this series, so I do feel like some things may not have worked as well as in book 1, probably due to overcompensation. However, the plot helped carry the story to the finish line and set up the universe for future stories, including book 3, where I think their two styles finally gelled into something non-Omegaverse readers would recognize as urban fantasy.

Length: 167 pages long and 8 hours 49 minutes on audible. This book is something I would advise spending about 2-3 days reading at a leisurely pace. It’s pure escapism with a few odd concepts including captor-lover relationships, which didn’t translate quite as well in the actual characters.

Plot: Lucas is a young junior lawyer from Atlanta, who is just trying to break into the legal profession. He works for the Camelot law firm, owned and operated by Caleb Drake. Unbeknownst to Lucas, he’s a sacred Omega, one of the very few human bloodlines with males that can produce off-springs for the dying race of shapeshifting dragons. Caleb Drake is also in fact, Calavastrix the Storm, an ancient dragon with a lot of power and wealth. Under the guise of his boss, Caleb attempts to seduce Lucas. However, Lucas is saved, or more precisely abducted, by Tarin, a well-intentioned hotheaded exiled dragon cursed by magic to not be able to shapeshift due to the breaking of the dragon’s highest law. Tarin revealed himself to save a town in what will become Virginia from soldiers during the American Revolutionary war, earning him the respect of the surviving descendants and the wrath of elder dragons.

However, due to his good intentions and morally ambiguous actions, Tarin could not bear to kidnap Lucas and tries to offer him the truth. Lucas does not believe Tarin’s warning about his importance or the facts he offers. However, on the road, Lucas is again kidnapped, this time by Lena, a lesbian templar agent sent to either capture or eliminate him to prevent the possibility of dragon population growth. Escaping from Lena with the aid of Tarin, the two form a bond with one another, but Lucas remains untrusting of Tarin until they reach the comfort ranch in Texas, where Reece and Sasha, full dragon shifters, reside. There are some lingering issues with the wolf shifters that may precipitate a war with the dragons. The Templars are also tracking Lucas down to the ranch. With all these events going on, Caleb Drake is also hot on their trail, seeking to reclaim the sacred omega that he sees as his property.

Review: This story is simple, but it is quite fun as an action-adventure plot goes. Lucas is the quintessential damsel in distress, but he’s somewhat more masculine than I think Matthew was in the first book. It made the reading a bit less stereotypical Omegaverse. Another thing that kind of breaks with the Omegaverse concept is the actual background and world-building we’re introduced to in book 2. The wolf-shifters are not at all pleased with Dragon-shifters, who are technically more powerful and magical than the werewolves, but they lack the reproductive capabilities that wolf-shifters had at one point, now they both need each other to reproduce. Based on the two origin stories of omegas introduced in book 1, I would tend to believe that the dragons probably stole wolf-shifter omegas and used their magic to make them amenable to their biology. It’s a fascinating fantasy concept that shifter species have political and social issues but come from common lineages within a gay context. The solutions to the wolf-shifter issues are rather ingenious, creating a kind of coalition of magical were-creatures is a great concept used in urban fantasy and I appreciate it being here.

Other plot points, I like the introduction of Lucas’ legal mindset to the overall storyline, it makes things far more “realistic” and adds to the overall plot of it being contemporary urban fantasy rather than stereotypical male pregnancy shenanigans of this genre. Lucas helps by introducing the idea of integration and influence by using the dragon’s resources to aid in their defense against both other shifter adversaries and human religious fanatics, like the templars. It’s an argument that modern gay rights advocates have made and implemented to varying degrees of success, the concept that integration rather than seclusion from heterosexual society can ensure protection and sustainability for our community from those who would scapegoat or harm us. I like the social commentary that’s embedded by Aiden Bates.

In terms of characters, I think there’s a bit of lackluster chemistry between Tarin and Lucas, they aren’t bad characters independently and serve the plot well. However, it just feels sort of forced that both men are partnered. Tarin is interesting with his good intention, but poorly planned thought process. However, he is benign to a fault and he has the deepest relationship with human beings, having been human for 200 years due to his punishment for saving innocent human beings. He should have known what he was doing was wrong initially under normal human social conventions. I am not sure if such a character would have kidnapped Lucas to start the plot moving since he appears to be unable to carry it out. It’s a bad plot concept, trying to play with the captor-lover theme, that poisons how things worked going forward in the romance. Lucas in contrast is smart and capable, and I am grateful to see that not all Omegas must be weak female stand-ins. His fears and reactions during the initial stages of the book are well founded. I think the plot worked well for what both characters brought to the story, but the shoe-horned plot mechanism caused an unbelievable romance.

As for supporting characters, I enjoyed all the supporting cast. Though I thought Caleb Drake felts one note in this book, he does redeem himself in the final book. The other characters from the wolf-shifters in the background to the supporting cast of Yuri and Mercy played important roles to move the plot along. Most of all, I appreciate the fact that the main templar representative this time is a Christian lesbian. It’s such an interesting concept to have someone so dedicated to suppressing male omegas out of religious justification is at the same time someone that in her own words looked down upon by co-workers and made to do grunt work. It’s a shame that this character doesn’t get expanded on, though she does make other appearances in the series. An LGBT villainess working for the other side against gay partners opens a lot of social commentaries. There have been many examples like the gay conservative lawyer, Roy Cohn during the McCarthy era, who made it his mission to discredit and destroy closeted gay men. Even in non-LGBT areas with African American leaders who promoted segregation like Booker T. Washington, demonstrate that the subject is not foreign where members of a minority may betray the interests of their group to further personal or aspirational desires.

As noted, I thought the characterization weakened the romance and the plot as a whole. It’s a shame that the writers had not thought through the scenario as well as they could have since it was exciting. Other things such as the obligatory pregnancy just felt tacked on top of a lackluster romantic plot that didn’t start well.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5, better than the first book, but it has serious issues with its setup and characterizations. The plot and pacing saved the story from falling apart with amazing worldbuilding concepts, making it a good light read.