Legend of the Oceina Dragon (The Dragons Saga #1) by J.F. Jenkins

Darien Oceina is the youngest son of the Great Dragon Lord of the Water. For years he¹s loved and cherished Tai Dawson from afar. Tai is a simple, ordinary girl who doesn¹t even know Darien exists. On his eighteenth birthday, he chooses her as his wife. But there’s one problem: She thinks his choice means she¹s going to be offered as a sacrifice to the Dragon Lord, but instead, she’s forced to move to his home, far away, to give up her life and be his bride.

When she first sees Darien after the ceremony, she doesn’t expect to feel anything but hatred toward him. The two are struggling with the complications of a new marriage when their nation is attacked by a rival dragon species. Together they learn to love one another while they struggle to stay one step ahead in a game where the prize is their survival.

Overall, this was a good story. And I will mention first off that this is a YA book and it would be appropriate for age 13+ and I went into reading it with that in mind.

I liked the idea that it was about dragons who can shift into human form and walk among humans. You learn briefly that through the world building (I wish this was more in-depth) that the dragons are tied to magic elements and the four different sects. There is the Oceina, Water Dragon; the Inero, Fire Dragon; the Terran, Land Dragon and the Aero, Wind Dragon. All have different beliefs and rituals that they follow. The dragons are only born male and the Oceina Dragons choose their human females to marry from island Little Ociena that the Ociena Dragons protect. The people of the island know about the dragon's existence, but the fact that the dragons can take on a human form is kept secret. When the dragon turns 18 and chooses a wife from the island, everyone on the island believes that the chosen girl is a sacrifice. She is never seen again and believed to be dead.
We meet Tai, who is chosen to be the sacrifice to the dragon and she believes she is going to die. Not until she is taken to the island the dragons live on, and goes through the ceremony, does she find out that she has been chosen to be a wife to Darien, the youngest son of the Great Dragon Lord Orien.
Both are young and struggling with the changes that exists in relationships and life, which is understandable considering the drastic changes that happen. For Tai everyone she knows thinks she's dead and she will never see them again. She struggles with her inner fears of being like her mother, who was broken hearted when Tai's father left them when she was just 2 years old. Fearing this on top of coming to the understanding that she'll never live her life normally, she demonstrates a lot of mood swings. Which is actually understandable being "seasoned" and reading this. Now Darien though, is considered "touched" and is feared by most of his kin as his magic is stronger than most have ever seen and he is learning to control it. He has chosen Tai to be his wife, he had watched her for years from afar and fell in love with her. He is kind hearted though feeling his own insecurities since his mother had died the day he was born and he believes himself a social outcast because of this. Darien and Tai both learn about themselves and each other. They open their hearts fully to one another and learn to trust each other and in turn form the beginnings of a strong couple. Being a YA book there was just the right amount of sexual situation without totally ignoring it or being overly detailed.

Now we tie in the political issues and changing of leaders which set a nice foundation for a very interesting book and future books. I enjoyed the communal living arrangements and interaction between family members but wish there was more secondary character building. The foundation and idea of the story is interesting and strong however I wanted much more meat to the story than was given. There was a slow rocky beginning but the story began to pickup and move along nicely. I am hoping that the author will continue to hone her writing to have easier transitions and more solid writing. 

I will end with the fact that when I got to the last page I was left with wanting more. I wanted to know the next events, what happens between them? What happens at the council? Was the murder solved? What about the family? And most of all what about Darien's dream? Was it literal or prophetic? And who wants to see the end of the Ociena Dragons? So well done Ms. Jenkins, well done!

 Rating 3.5  Laura