Xander’s Mate by Meg Ripley

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Title: Xander's Mate
Author: Meg Ripley
Series: Daddy Dragon Guardians #2
Published by: Indie
Release Date: June 14th 2018
Format: Kindle Book
Pages: 124
Genres: Paranormal Romance
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2019 AtoZ Reading Challenge, Lenoreo's 2019 Beat the Backlist Challenge, Lenoreo's 2019 Reading Assignment Challenge, Lenoreo's COYER Winter 2018
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ IndieBound
My rating:

Blurb:

Along with his fellow dragon shifters that have come to Earth from Charok, Xander is looking for a mate to help him raise his charge: a baby dragon princess who was rescued after the killing of her mother, their queen. But it can’t be just any woman. When dragons find their perfect mates, their bodies react so fiercely, they can’t deny it.

Xander knows Summer is most definitely that woman. His inner dragon claws at his will when he’s around her, threatening to tear it to shreds. His urge to be with her is uncontrollable, but the harder he tries to be with her, the more Summer pulls away.

Summer is a free spirit. And a witch. She’s happy with her life, running a new age shop with her twin sister, and finds using her powers to help others to be quite fulfilling.

But when she meets Xander, her world is suddenly turned upside down. He claims they’re meant to be together; destined for each other, even. He can feel it in his bones. But they’re such different people, she can’t fathom how it could ever work.

If two souls are truly destined to be together, can they overcome their differences enough to realize a love that knows no bounds?

Xander's Mate is a 30,000 word novella with steamy shifter scenes intended for readers 18+.

My Review:

3.5 stars — Welp, I enjoyed this one more than Holden’s Mate!  It’s funny because a few of my complaints about the previous book was the lack of dragon time and the lack of kid time, and we got both of those in this one!!  I loved seeing Xander interacting with Nora, they had such a fantastic daddy/daughter relationship.  And I loved that we got a bit more of a feel of what it was like for Xander as a dragon…and what shifting is like, and all that stuff.  Though I still don’t know what happens to the clothes, or any of those details, but at least this was better.

And in general I really liked Xander!  He tried SO HARD.  I loved that he made missteps, but that after time and thought, he understood where he went wrong and tried to make up for it.  He was so earnest, and I loved his genuine curiosity about Earth and humans.  I just felt drawn to him.

Summer, on the other hand, was not my favourite.  She confused me.  I mean, I think she’s supposed to.  And the author tried really hard to explain why Summer was reacting so bizarrely, but in the end I still didn’t buy into it.  It was an extreme reaction, and I still don’t understand what was bothering her so much.  If there had been some mystical explanation, I probably would have accepted it more.  But she was really just afraid of a relationship.  Now don’t get me wrong, Xander comes on strong, and she should be all “whoa buddy!”  But she flipped her lid a few times and it just seemed TOO out of character for her.

Also, is it weird to say that I wasn’t all that interested in her communing with the spirits and all that?  Which is weird, since that’s more authentically Wiccan I think, and I don’t actually have a problem with the religion, but it felt the same as if I were reading about a book with heavy Christian overtones…religious stuff is religious stuff, and it’s not what I’m there for.  Her more otherworldly magical powers were much more exciting!  Though I did love seeing her help out patrons in her shop.

As for their chemistry…well, because of Summer’s reactions, I had a hard time getting sucked into their connection.  So I wasn’t as invested as I wanted to be in their romance.

So definite improvements in some areas, but still not a complete hit for me.  Ah well.