A Man to Slay Dragons by Meagan McKinney

 

DNF @ p.59

It actually causes me physical pain to have to give this a low rating because Meagan McKinney is one of my favorite authors, and when I found a copy of this at a thrift store, I McCouldn't wait to read it. Meagan McKinney is the genius behind two of my favorite romance novels Of All Time: WHEN ANGELS FALL and LIONS AND LACE. She also wrote two gothic romances I loved: GENTLY FROM THE NIGHT and THE FORTUNE HUNTER. She's also written some duds. I think only Anne Stuart fucks me around this much and keeps me coming back for more.

A MAN TO SLAY DRAGONS is a contemporary romantic suspense which already made this quite a bit different than some of McKinney's more popular works. I know she wrote some Harlequin novels as well (all contemps), but I've only read one of those-- in manga form, no less!-- and I can't say I was a fan. Here's the thing about McKinney, she's one of those authors where all of her heroes are basically different facets of the same mold. Anne Stuart is like that, too. Usually I like their heroes, but sometimes they're either too mean or too smarmy. 

A MAN TO SLAY DRAGONS is about a women's right group that gets fed up and goes vigilante. They start holding lotteries to murder the abusers of women in the group. Holy shit. What an awesome premise. Claire, the heroine, is the lawyer and cofounder of the group and she's horrified when she finds out what's happening. Liam, the hero, self-identifies as a redneck and used to ride rodeo before he got into the paramilitary organization where he became a gun for hire. When he sees an add from the group, asking for "a man to slay dragons," he ends up responding, which is how he meets Claire.

Here's the thing. I'm not a fan of military romances. I'm also not a fan of really meek heroines (usually). This had both of those things, and Liam was kind of a jerk. The multiple references to white supremacists and women's rights violations was also bumming me out, because even though this book was published DECADES ago, we still haven't fixed those things. In fact, in some ways, they've gotten worse. All of that was kind of a recipe for disaster with regard to my reading experience. People who enjoy military romance/heroes may like this, especially with the murder mystery angle and themes of justice gone too far. But it wasn't for me and I found myself quickly getting bored.

I'm sorry Meagan McKinney! I still love you. <3

2 out of 5 stars