Reverse Harem?! Who Knew...

It wasn't until a few weeks ago that I started to see "reverse harem" as a sub-genre. Honestly, I had never heard of this having a name before. I've read the entire Anita Blake series (to date) as well as Laurell K. Hamilton's Merry Gentry series, so the idea of a polyamorous character, or a character who had multiple relationships, wasn't something foreign to me.

What I didn't realize was that this subset was so big that it was given its own name. Reverse Harem, to the best of my experience, is about the protagonist who has multiple relationships. Not someone who just dates around, but a character who has multiple serious and/or committed relationships with different people.

The reverse part comes into play that it's a woman who is the "centerpiece" of these relationships, rather than a man.

In any case, it's interesting to see how this plays out. With so many key relationships, author's seem to take an all or nothing approach to storytelling. Some, like Laurell K. Hamilton and Stacey Brutger, still focus from the main character's perspective, so those relationships are filtered through the eyes, ears, and mind of one person.

In Eva Chase's Dragon Shifter's Mates series, the tables are a bit turned. Not only does this fall into "reverse harem" with the main character, a woman, having FOUR mates, but readers also get to see the story from the woman and her mates' perspectives as well.

Well, here it goes...

Dragon's Guard- Eva Chase

Serenity aka Ren is the last born dragon shifter. Unfortunately for her, she doesn't remember this unique legacy; since she was a child, her mother buried her memories and then disappeared. It's not until her 21st birthday, and an ill-fated meeting in a bar, when the lock on her past starts to be opened.

Along with the news of her unique heritage, Ren also learns that she's got some serious responsibilities. As the last born dragon shifter, it's her duty to follow the tradition that makes her the mate of the four male alphas (jaguar, wolf, eagle, and bear). It doesn't hurt that they're all handsome, but it starts to quickly become clear that not all of them are psyched about their entangled future.

I liked the mysterious aspect to Ren's past, and I think that the author did a good job of gradually revealing more about where Ren came from. Once she's back amongst "her kind", the memories start to surface, and she learns why her mom buried her memories.

Chase tries to make the book into multiple perspectives- not just Ren's. This means the reader gets an insider view into the thoughts and feelings of Ren's potential mates as well as the leading lady herself. As the first book, I think this is moderately successful. On the surface, it seems like there's distinction between the men's voices, and I think it will just take more time for their personalities to really solidify into separate entities. The drawback to that many points of view is that you only get limited experience with each person's mind.

Overall, the story was interesting enough that I'd pick up the second installment. It's left at a cliff hanger where I'd like to know what comes next for them in terms of finding Ren's mother, but also what comes next for the potential romance between Ren and her prospective mates.