After killing her husband and taking her and her son captive in the Lab. the heroine suddenly finds herself in a new more frightening prison. In the cage, the Dragon King she is is put on display when she and other warriors fight for the oppressive human overlords that punish weakness and reward violence. Separated from her son and insane with the need to escape and find her child, she's blind to everything around her but the man assigned to teach her to kill is the only thing that sparks anything within her. The hero has spent his entire life in the Cage. Born from a warrior father, he's been taught that the only glory he can hope to find is in the arena. And this is something that he's taken extremely seriously, living for nothing but the roar of the crowds and the pride that his achievements have provided safety for his family and allowed his sister to birth a child. He's disgusted with the idea that all he's worked for is brought so low and he's now to have a partner in the cage, a weak link, someone he must keep alive for 3 matches. He is a harsh man, molded into his environment with perfection he possesses no pity or leniency and is willing to be beat submission into he pupal. But he's also smart. He soon realizes that the woman in his charge doesn't respond to his manner of teaching, so he switch's it up. He teaches her that the only way she can save her boy is to win and through winning, she'll embrace who she's meant to be. But as time goes on, he sees more and more of her strength, her pride and her astonishing powers. But it's only after her powers are unlocked and her old previous life is forgotten that he regrets his decision. She turns into the perfect killing machine, lives for the battle as he once did. But in doing so, it is he that sees the error of his ways. He realizes that he's been a slave instead of a warrior. That unleashing the warrior within her has killed the woman he's falling in with. When he denies her the brand of the serpent, a marker of ownership by the men who hold them captive, he invokes her fury. But in doing so, he saves her the fate he's known. Soon, her memory sparks again and she remembers the truth. The truth that she once vowed to burn the place down and save her son and with the hero's help that's exact what she'll do. This was a very interesting and very different sort of romance novel. It was grittier; darker. The hero was not a nice man when you first meet him but as the story went on you could really start to see that he begins to doubt what he's been doing for so long. He's never cared for anyone the way he begins to care for the heroine and it changes him. The heroine fights her situation every step of the way but that doesn't stop her from being a truly badass fighter against anyone who steps before her. The hero included. Though there's sexual tension between them from the jump, she really did not like him at first. Who could when he punches you, beats you and holds back food rations in a bid to turn you into a slave. But towards the end, when the things he's done and said in defense of her honor and safety come to light, she sees into the man who's been on her side from the beginning, even if neither of them knew it. The ending to this book is also exciting and heart pounding, when they ban together and fight there way out of their prison. Lovely characters with deep emotional flaws and a hero I absolutely adored despite his misplaced sense of loyalty, this is a step above your typical paranormal romance and a hell of a start to the series. ( )

This book was a "stumble upon" one for me at the local library. Our library has a romance section so I decided to start with "A" last names and work my way forward.

The cover caught my eye as did the blurb. I'm glad I picked this one up because, for me, from the very first chapter to the action-packed ending, I was invested.

Audrey and Leto were an amazing pair and watching the byplay between them as well as the heat and intensity of attraction kept me riveted.

Audrey's backstory, her brutal honesty and her reason for fighting just made me want to see the two of them succeed even more. Leto was no slouch and was just as interesting a character as Audrey. ( )

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales.

Quick & Dirty: This novel confused me in general. It was intense but disappointing, and not my cup of tea.

Opening Sentence: Leto’s eyes glimmered, as black and shining as the accents on his armor.

The Review:

Nynn is a Dragon King, one of few that make up a dying race with amazing powers. After being ostracized from the Dragon King Council and leaders, Nynn went into the human world and became Audrey, living a normal human life. Audrey had a husband, Caleb, and a son, Jack — the first naturally born Dragon King in a long time. This miracle turns bittersweet when a sadistic scientist kills Caleb, kidnaps her and Jack, and performs tests.

Soon Audrey is not needed to be tested on anymore, and she is sent to the cartels to fight other captured Dragon Kings. She begins to fall in love with Leto, her trainer of sorts, and discovers memories that were hidden and powers that were abstained.

Before I even flipped open this book, I checked out Amazon reviews, and after seeing four stars was pleasantly surprised. Unfortunately, this book did not fulfill my expectations.

There were a few main points that got on my nerves. One, it took forever and increasingly tested my patience as Nynn trains for her first fight in three weeks. Two, it was so confusing. I didn’t understand that Dragon Kings were a “demon” race until I looked on Amazon, and I didn’t get the whole cartel idea until halfway through. Three, some scenes were becoming more of a Fifty Shades of Grey situation and I just felt I needed to skip those. The colorful language didn’t bother me, but the chapters I just described were uncomfortable and took up a surprising section of the book.

Nynn is a strong female chatacter, I’ll give you that. The author’s best job was at character building, and Audrey’s fading into Nynn was subtle, but there all the same —- it made a powerful statement. Leto started to crave freedom more and more as the book went on. Little changes became bigger while the novel progressed, and that was good. Additionally, the writing style flowed well, but it didn’t make up for the lack of excitement that made me lose interest.

A final thing, the only thing I really loved, was how determined Nynn was to rescue her son. That emotion was raw and beautiful. It was one thing that continued to stay constant and from the start and was my favorite thing about this book.

This also bored me because it wasn’t engaging enough, and my brain kept wandering. As I daydreamed, I would miss something and have to backtrack a page or so to see what I missed. I also didn’t understand a lot. I think the author was going for one of those “figure it out as you go along,” but it didn’t work for me, and I kept referring to Goodreads or good old Google to answer my questions. The story was dark in general, not particularly compelling, and with a few plot holes. I didn’t enjoy this, and I had to force myself to read it. I wasn’t very interested after I started getting bored, so even when the excitement rises the book was already ruined for me.

Still, other readers may enjoy the romance or the plot more than I did. Obviously some, seeing as forty people on Amazon rated from three to five stars (mostly 4). Maybe they’re older, or maybe they’re more patient, but I personally missed the point.

Notable Scene:

Even in her mind, she cried. The grief was more raw there. No inhabitations. No physical limit to how loud she could scream or how deeply sobs could wrack her body. No one to hear her, look at her, punish her for what could not be contained. Dr. Asher had used a scalpel. And he handed Hellix a whip.

FTC Advisory: Pocket Books/Simon & Schuster provided me with a copy of Caged Warrior. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections”, or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )

Fierce battles inside a metal cage comprise the games central to the debut of Piper’s Dragon Kings series. Warrior Leto, of Clan Garnis, who fights for the glory of the Aster Clan, is given the task of making a warrior out of Nynn, of Clan Tigony, who was known as Audrey when she was married and gave birth to a son. Leto must keep her alive through three contests. Both fight for a cause: his, provide shelter for his cousin, hers, to get her son back. But Leto isn’t sure that he can turn this soft woman into a warrior, especially since she doesn’t know what her special powers are or how they work. But as he’s as much a captive as she is, he has no choice but to get into the practice ring with her every day and try to transform her into the fearsome competitor he needs at his side. Piper’s gritty tale of survival and love will appeal to those who like blood-and-sweat fantasy and romance.
— Pat Henshaw ( )

I bought this book to be read in my Paranormal Romance Book Club.

When I delved into this book, it started out smack-dab in the middle of Audrey's plight. I was a little caught off guard and had to quickly focus in on what was going on. To be perfectly honest, that was the theme throughout the entire book. I had to go back to the synopsis on several occasions in an attempt to understand what was going on. That was mainly, I figure, due to the fact that there was A LOT going on.

The story begins with Audrey awaking in a dank, drippy cell instead of the lab she has come to know so well. She has written her cousin, the leader of the Counsel of the five Dragon King families, pleading for help and awaits his response in this new circle of hell. She meets a no-nonsense warrior who is ruthless and cruel to the core. He is to be her trainer to fight in the Cage.

As the story progresses Audrey starts to find the warrior spirit within her, while Leto starts to learn the softer side of things. They take from each other what they were ultimately lacking in their lives. Audrey needed to no longer be a victim and Leto needed to no longer be a tormentor.

Audrey must overcome physical and mental limitations so she may fight for a years time and get her son back. She battles a gift she has no memory of ever using but fears all the same. She also fights against the overwhelming attraction to her mentor. She had just lost her husband, a man she loved with all her heart, and her son who was being poked and prodded in God knows how many ways, and yet she's still able to find companionship within Leto. I was a little hard-pressed to believe she could move on so easily not just from losing her husband and son, but from the physical torture and degradation she suffered within the laboratory. That sort of thing can really destroy a person. Audrey's resilience while admirable was almost unbelievable.

With Leto, I could see the potential for kindness within him. With the story's alternating viewpoints, I could see into Leto's every action and see that he never enjoyed pushing Audrey to her limits. He cared about her from the first moment he met her but getting over 20 years of brainwashing is not something easily done. To that aspect, it was believable and Leto fast became a potential book boyfriend.

While the story was hard to follow when Piper started referring to the families, histories, traditions, and guidelines of The Dragon Kings, the immediate actions of Leto and Audrey were easy enough. This book almost read like a middle book in a series. Something that mentions facts you should have already read about in previous books. Instead it is sprung on the reader in a most disorienting fashion. Even after reading the book cover-to-cover, I just realized that they are supposed to be demons from typing up the synopsis. There was no mention of that in the book. Only of a Dragon that birthed them (the devil?).

Caged Warrior takes its reader into a twisted world concocted of Roman gladiators and fantastical beasts, where love can be found even within the bowels of hell.

Review Posted on: http://www.ladybugliterature.blogspot.com ( )