The Dragon Earl

The Dragon Earl by Jade Lee (2008)

Pages: 292

ISBN: 9780843960464

Description: A Chinese monk striding down the aisle was the first shock at countess-to-be Evelyn Stanton’s wedding. To watch him dispatch three groomsmen, unarmed, and to learn that he was white and the long-lost heir to the Earldom of Warhaven, was the second. He would be her husband?

After the slaughter of his family in far-off China, Jacob Cato found sanctuary. In a Xi Lin temple he learned to be strong, but now he had a grander goal: to reclaim his English heritage and the woman he’d left behind.

Revenge. It poisoned everything he’d learned, everything he’d done, and yet every fiber of Jacob burned for it—just as he burned for the beautiful but very English Evelyn. Long ago, the conspiracy to kill his family had stranded him, lost Jacob in the exotic East and made him unrecognizable to his countrymen…and women. He had not forgotten that past. It was to make peace that he had returned. The manner was yet to be decided.

Review: This tale begins with a supposed Chinese monk disrupting a wedding... his own. Jacob Cato was left for dead in China and has now returned on the day that was to be his wedding. The girl he was to marry is in the process of getting married to his cousin. He effectively stops the ceremony, but for what purpose. As events draw out, it becomes clear that Jacob is interested in what was to be his future bride, but not in being the earl. There is an obvious attraction between Jacob and Evelyn, but they have their differences. These differences almost cost them everything.

The premise of the story was interesting, but it just seemed to lack something. I really was not induced to read the characters and really didn't care for them much. I just finished the story to find out what happens at the end. The ending was almost too abrupt and many loose ties tied up. A pretty forgettable read.

Score: 2 out of 5