A Dragon's Heart*
Jilted Bride Finds New Life in Magical 18th Century France
What a remarkably well-done book! We meet the heroine, Mia, as she is being jilted on her wedding day. Worse, her affianced has run off with her stepsister.
Mia is a tour guide in a French castle, and she has a great affinity for her Norse heritage. Having nowhere to stay now that her groom has run off, she convinces those at work to let her stay in the castle overnight until she gets herself sorted out. Not one but two people at the castle suggest she should wish on the full blue moon. She thinks it is silly but does anyway. She wakes up in 18th century France, thinking at first she is part of an elaborate modern-day war re-creation. As the plot progresses, she realizes that she is taking on some aspects of the life of the ancestor she was named after. She meets Lord Dumont, whose portrait back in present times she had often admired with some degree of longing, and their adventure to save themselves in this historical and mythical old-time France begins. Will they be safe? Will changes be wrought in the past that can change the future? What happens when Mia goes back to her time?
This book is told from Mia’s perspective. The author does a remarkably good job of getting inside her head, first as she goes through what could arguably be said is the worst day of her life (the near wedding day) and then through her harrowing adventures in fantastical 18th century France. Sometimes deep point of view is not done well by authors, who make it seem like too much navel-gazing or imbue it with too little action. Tina Glasneck is able to avoid both problems. What she did was create an exceedingly sympathetic character who felt real with her self-esteem issues, fears, and desires.
The book has some of the common issues with punctuation, grandma, and usage, but this did not detract from the story.
If you enjoy well-written fantasy stories with a touch of history written from deep point of view, you might find this book to be a good read.