The Smoke Thief has two things on its side; first, it starts with a cool premise; dragons live in 18th century England, disguised as humans: golden talons among the satin breeches & snuffboxes, etc. Second, it has Rue, the heroine, who is clever and a consummate rogue. I love rogues.

Unfortunately, there are equally powerful forces holding this book back. The intriguing premise isn't explored enough for me. I understand that Abé's focus here is on the romance and not on world-building, and perhaps I want more of the first because I feel like I was shortchanged on the second.

On to our next problem: the hero, Kit. Abé falls into the common trap of reiterating over and over a) how beautiful Kit is, b) how much the heroine loves him, c) how beautiful the he thinks she is, and d) how much he wants to have sex with her. This is not enough to make me interested in Kit, and definitely not enough to make me overlook his unpleasant behavior. Abé gives us good reasons to root for Rue: her skill, her vulnerability, her strong desire for an independent life - and then has her give up everything she's been fighting for because (even though he betrayed her) Kit is sooooo pretty, and she's had a crush on him for, like, forever. Groan.

This is just like that damn pirate book I read; the heroine was the daring, feared scourge of the seven seas and gave it up because Mr. Alpha Hero wanted to fill her with babies and buy her pretty dresses and have her host tea parties, and deep down that's what she'd always really wanted. Just like all women.

Next, please. ( )

TST takes place in Georgian England and tells the story of drákons, shapeshifting creatures who live in secret in the beautiful Darkfrith valley in northern England. These creatures have the ability to shapeshift from human to smoke to dragon and back again. For centuries they have lived by a very strict set of rules. One of these rules is that no one is allowed to live outside their valley. Clarissa Rue Hawthorne is part mortal and part drákon and because of her mixed blood is made to feel like an outcast because she is different. On her 17th birthday she fakes her own drowning in order to start a new life free from prejudice.

Some years later the Council of Darkfrith is alerted to rumors that a jewel thief in London can disappear into smoke. They realize that this was not a human but another 'runner' who has escaped from Darkfrith without permission. The continued existence of their people and its traditions relies on their secrecy so they want the drákon runner captured immediately. Their Alpha leader, Christoff 'Kit' Ellery, Marquess of Langford, travels to London to hunt down the runner and brings the Herte diamond to use as bait for his trap. To his amazement he discovers that the runner is an Alpha female who can Turn (change from human to dragon), a phenomenon that has not happened in four generations.

TST was a totally engrossing book that I found impossible to put down. I had my nose in the book constantly and Bob was having a harder than usual time getting my attention. :) One of my problems with fantasy is there is usually too much world building and too many weird names and places. But there was NONE of that here. The world building was minor and very subtle and the names and places were 'normal'.

The plot was fascinating and inventive and the characters were fully drawn. Clarissa was a wonderfully strong heroine and a perfect match for Kit. But I did have a problem with Kit at first. He was so overly Alpha that I wanted to strangle him. When he finds out the Smoke Thief is female he is determined to have her at any cost. He lies and cheats and manipulates her so he can drag her back to Darkfrith against her will. But before he can do that they work together to solve a minor mystery and he grows to love her. The sensuality was hot and intense and the imagery of their flights together was beautifully breathtaking. I think AAR's reviewer, Lynn, had a problem with the ending, but I bought it completely. I found Kit's change of character very believable giving TST a terrific ending. (Grade: B+) ( )

This book was amazing. Just reading the prologue was great. The book is about Clarissa who is a halfling. Half Dragon and Half Human. She grows up in thier secret city taunted and abused by the other children, and dismissed as only a halfling by the adults. At 17 Clarissa disappears. She is thought to have drowned in a nearby pond. Many years later Christoff who is now the Alpha, figures out that the Smoke Thief is one of them and is determined to capture and bring them back to the secret city of Darkfrith. Without giving any more of this book away, suffice it to say that this was a magical read. Incredible amount of magic, shapeshifting, romance, adventure. It had it all. I liked the writing style, the way Ms. Abe describes scenes is absoulutely breathless. Her details of the characters and areas in the book are so clear and precise, you really can visualize it easily while reading. I recommend this book highly. On to The Dream Thief which is her next book in the series. ( )

Takes a chapter or two to warm up (I’d prefer it if they killed the prologue and epilogue) but once it’s going, boy does it go! Fabulous world building, brilliant characters and some lovely use of romantic tension. Fantastic romantic fantasy. ( )

In this paranormal romance (it seems to be marketed as a fantasy, but to me it falls squarely in the romance genre), a race of dragon shape-shifters try to exist hidden among ordinary humans in 18thC. Europe. They have settled at Darkfrith in the North of England and have developed rather draconian rules for their society. It is forbidden to leave Darkfrith without permission. All "runners" will be hunted down and either brought back, if they are a precious breeding female, or killed if they are male.

Clarissa, as a half-human drakon, has never fit in. She risks everything to begin a daring new life in London, using her unusual skills, such as being able to turn into smoke, to become a master thief. Unfortunately her exploits bring her to the attention of Christoff, Marquess of Langford and Alpha leader of the drakon, who is charged with hunting her down.

There have been fantasy-romances before, and plenty of alpha-heroes, but the best thing about this tale is the rich, magical, fairy-tale quality of the writing. Many of the descriptions are enchantingly beautiful. But the fairy-tale feeling also creates a bit of a distance between the reader and the characters. I found the main characters both interesting and sympathetic, but sometimes their thoughts and motivations were obscure. It was still a pretty little tale that is worth at least a quick read. ( )