The Dragon and the Pearl by Jeannie Lin

I read both Butterfly Swords and The Taming of Mei Lin and consider myself a fan of this author. Both historical romances took place during the Tang dynasty and those and this one are all very well written, a perfect blend of story and sex, of description and action. All three of them make me feel as though I have stepped back into the Tang dynasty into a world of warriors, swords, emperors, courtesans, paper lantern festivals, and danger.

This one is a bit different from the previous two, however. In Butterfly and Taming, the heroines were strong fighters, their weapons were their swords. In this one, the heroine, Suyin, is a former courtesan with a secret she could die over. Her weapon is her body. I must confess, though I loved how this was written and the above praise still stands, I preferred the first two books for that reason. I'm more into the warrior woman than courtesan thing. 


Suyin is Li Tao's captive. (He is from Butterfly. Readers will recognize him and get to know him better in this one... much better.) She feels an intense desire for him despite the circumstances, or maybe because of. There's something about a threatening war load.... Anyway, she agrees to surrender her body in exchange for his protection as someone wants her dead. But she ends up surrendering her heart as well and soon she is struggling to protect him more than herself and make him see the error of his war lord/anti emperor ways. 


The book is filled with hot sex (wish there had been some with that tattoo scene...) and thought these two don't fight with swords like the heroes and heroines in the previous novels, they fight with words. 


A good book bringing to life the Tang Dynasty. I liked it, just not as much as Butterfly and Taming. I love those fightin' females. :) 


Three stars and I got this from netgalley.


P.S. How about that cover??? Wow!