Regina Reviews: Luckless by Cari Z.

Evan Luck lives in an post apocalyptic world where monsters are real. The only thing standing between humanity and the monsters are the dragon riders. Five years ago Evan lost his dragon during a battle in which his father, and their entire city were destroyed. Evan was the only survivor. Now he makes a living as a smithy making arrows for the other dragon riders in the city of Forge. Lonely and called Luckless by many who know him, and who dislike him because he lost his dragon, he is just doing his best to survive.

Lee Caldwell and his son are newcomers to Forge. Secretive and quiet, Lee sees something in Evan that most don't and gives him the respect that he feels Evan deserves, despite losing his dragon. While Lee befriends Evan, and even makes him his son's teacher, he is still careful about how much information he shares with him about himself.

When Evan goes to the Choosing where it's possible he could bond with a new dragon, the emotional devastation is very real. Rather than face a possible new dragon bond, he turns his back on the last dragon to choose someone and sees a pale haired man and young boy. He doesn't know if they are there because the boy may be someone who could bond with a dragon or if they are just there to observe. He gets caught staring when the boy waves at him. Not long after this encounter, the man seeks Evan out. Evan is nervous when Lee offers to feed him lunch and talk to him about some favor he wants from Evan. It turns out that Lee wants Evan to train his son Jason in fighting techniques. Since Jason is an empath there is a high likelihood he will bond with a dragon and become a dragon rider when he is old enough. Evan is stunned and admits right away that he lost his own dragon, but unlike the rest of Forge, Lee does not blame Evan for the loss. Evan agrees to train Jason and the longer he works with Jason and gets to know Lee, the more Evan wants him, but he knows Lee is hiding something from him and he doesn't like it. When something attacks Forge from below, the governor sends Evan on a mission. Between the secrets, his own growing feelings for Lee and the monsters trying to get to the city from below, Evan has a lot on his plate. Will Evan survive his mission and find out what Lee is hiding from him?

This is the first book I've read by Cari Z, but I LOVED it!! Ms. Z takes her time to build the bond between Evan and Lee. This slow burn fantasy romance is one of the best I've read and I highly recommend it! The world building is spectacular, and the author keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very end. In fact, I could not figure out what Lee was hiding from Evan and no one was more surprised that me when I finally found out! You don't want to miss Luckless, and if you're fortunate enough to have a Kindle Unlimited subscription then you can read it for free. Even if you don't though, $1.99 is a steal for this gem of a read.

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