The Smoke Thief

By Shana Abe

I’m not quite sure how this book made it out of the romance paperbacks and into hardback, and into the fiction section, rather than romance, because it is one of those Alpha Male finds the only woman who can complete him and it becomes a battle to make her submit. Christine Feehan and other have made this kind of romance very popular, but it isn’t vampires this time, but dragons.

Over the centuries, the dragons to protect themselves have learned to masquerade as human. The Drakon, the remnant of the once proud species lives in hiding in England, living in villages upon the rural estate of the Marques of Langford. To keep the dragons’ secret, they are forbidden to leave the confines of Darkfirth, although a few have gone rogue to be hunted down and returned. But now the new Marques of Langford, Kris, has a problem. There is a jewel thief in London who sounds suspiciously like one of them, but there is no one missing. Kris must discover who this rogue is and bring him home.

Rue grew up despised by the Drakon, a halfling, whose father was human. On her seventeenth birthday, Rue discovered she could turn, turn into a dragon with wings. She is the first female in several generations to be able to turn, which makes her the alpha female. She knows that she will be forced to marry Kris. While she has loved Kris from afar, as has every girl in the shire, she refuses to be forced to submit and stages her own death, escaping to London. There she uses the inherent dragon skills, especially the ability to turn into smoke, to become a master thief and leads a life full of adventure and role playing, knowing that one day, the Drakon will come for her.

Kris sets a trap for her by bring their greatest treasure, a huge violet diamond, to London to put on display. Unable to resist, she visits the museum and is caught by Kris. Kris is shocked to realized that she is a woman, and in the instant she turns to smoke, he realizes that she is his future mate. Then someone steals the jewel. In the confusion, Rue escapes. Kris has her scent and tracks her down and she is returned to Darkfirth.

Rue makes a bargain with Kris and the Council. She will recover the diamond and lead them to the other runner hiding in London, in return for her freedom. She and Kris set off to London and exciting adventures, Kris planning on using the time to win her love. She already loves hm but is determined not to give away her independence.

The story is interesting, the twists and turns intriguing if somewhat predictable. The dragons are shapeshifters, shifting first to smoke and then to dragon form. When the regain human form, they have left their clothes behind, and are naked, which causes Rue some problems and some interesting possibilities between the two of them. The setting is rather generic England, supposedly around 1740, but there wasn’t enough to set it as a particular period. The heroine, as is often the case, was too modern in her attitudes for the period.

Do I recommend it? Yes and no. If you are like my husband, looking for a good fantasy novel, you probably won’t like it. The romantic elements are way too strong. But romance readers will definitely enjoy it. I was reminded of the Regency romances I used to read, but way more interesting.

Reviewed by Linda Suzane, October 25, 2005

The Smoke Thief
Shana Abe
Published by Bantam Books
Copyright 2005
ISBN: 0-553-80448-0
Genre Subgenre: Fantasy Romance