Review: Damaged and the Dragon (Damaged Series Book 5) by Bijou Hunter

Damaged and the Dragon by Bijou Hunter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Bailey Finally Gets Her Man

This is the fifth of a series of connected books. You need to read the previous books to understand the history and personality of the characters, but you can probably understand the story without them. There is no cliffhanger.

Bailey is the club princess. She is spoilt, demanding, insecure and has a temper. She’s also loyal and loving. She’s always struggled to find her place in her family and is insanely jealous of the crew that have found their partners whilst she still waits for love. She has a history of men using her for sex and then dumping her immediately which makes her clingy and perpetuates the cycle. Since meeting Farah and Tawny she’s been trying to be less volatile and catty. She’s liked Nick for months but never done anything about it.

We met Nick in the first book of the series and he’s popped up a few times in passing in the following books. Cooper, Bailey’s brother beat him up in the first book because he thought that he liked Farah. He put him in hospital but apologised and paid for the rest of the school year for him. After that Nick decided to earn some money in Tucker’s ‘Thunderdome’ fight club. He can take a beating and keep going long after everyone else is done. He’s been longing for Bailey ever since he met her but never had the courage to do anything about it.

Eventually, Bailey gets sick of waiting for Nick to make a move and she makes one. In this book, we see Nick for who he really is. He’s not just a nice guy who likes to help people and be a teacher, he’s also incredibly damaged by a terrible childhood. It makes him pull away from people and put up walls. Bailey hates when people pull away from her but she’s nothing if not determined.

I like how we see the real Bailey and the real Nick in this book and how they work through their problems. There is plenty of well meaning advice thrown around but eventually, there is only the two of them working things out. It’s really nice watching them both grow through working together and helping each other through the things they find difficult. They don’t let their issues get the better of them despite their instincts.

This book, like all the others, has an ensemble cast. It’s nice seeing other characters from previous books and seeing how their lives with their loved ones work out and how their experiences let them help others. Bailey watching how her friends’ issues made things difficult for them in their relationships helps Bailey see why Nick reacts the way he does to things and helps her be patient. Before meeting these friends, she probably wouldn’t have handled his issues at all.

Criminals or not, I really like the Johansson clan. I also like that Nick doesn’t want to be a part of the family business and no one tries to talk him out of it. It's nice that Bailey doesn’t want to be part of the criminal stuff either but she still finds a way to help her family. The family is warm, loving and loyal but to outsiders that hurt their people they are ruthless and they respect Nick because he’s a bit the same, but maybe not quite as extreme. I’m so pleased there are still plenty of books to read by this author. It’s always nice when you discover an author with a huge back catalogue!

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