Heart of the Dragon is Sharon Schulze’s debut novel, and this book maintains my reading record of Harlequin Historicals – I’ve never graded an HH less than a C. I’ve not awarded many DIK’s to books from the HH line, but quite a few B’s and some C’s. This is important only because I can’t say that about any other publisher of romance. To me, there is a certain level of quality these books achieve, even though many readers persist on considering them light-weight historicals .

Heart of the Dragon is a medieval tale set in Wales. It is both a road romance and a romance filled with political intrigue. While I adore a well-written road romance, I generally don’t appreciate romances filled with politics. So while this book worked for me on the one hand, it didn’t succeed on the other.

Our heroine, Lily, was raised in a convent with a mother she was told was quite mad. She knows next to nothing about her background, her heritage, herself. And, she is treated with less than loving care by the nuns, both before and after the death of her mother. She escapes and makes her way to the castle of Llywelyn, the Welsh prince. She is certain he can tell her who she really is. But she is captured while trying to scale the castle wall by Ian ap Dafydd, the infamous warrior known far and wide as Llywelyn’s Dragon.

She is taken into custody by the Dragon. They apparently share intense chemistry and he decides to plead her case with his overlord. However, neither knows that Llywelyn was involved in some very byzantine machinations which landed Lily where she was. And so Ian ends up having to rescue Lily again, and again, until he determines who she really is and how Llywelyn fits in.

Ian and Lily take to the road, determined to find safe shelter for her. Along the way, Swen, the suave Swede who was to have carried out part of Llywelyn’s plan, befriends Ian and Lily. He knows they are meant to be together, and besides, he wants to ally himself with Ian.

Though Lily has been sheltered her entire life, she is one gutsy heroine , braving the elements, the intrigue, and, for all she knows, the wrath of the Dragon. But she trusts him, and doesn’t want to burden him. She’d like to take care of him, and that’s a new experience for Ian.

There is no internal conflict between Ian and Lily; their conflicts are within themselves. Lily, while convinced Ian wants her physically, believes his sense of duty is what binds them. And Ian fears that Lily deserves better than him, that she would recoil in horror if she knew what Llywelyn’s Dragon had done for his overlord.

Lily and Ian’s road trips lead them to discover the family she never knew she had, and allows them both to see how happy a normal family life can be. Lily loves Ian’s relationship with his sister, and Lily’s reunion with her sister is joyous and a delight to read.

This books is appealing on a couple of levels then. On another level, however, this book didn’t fire my blood, even though there are plenty of love scenes to satisfy readers who enjoy them, as I surely do. And I think I know why – the conflict here is external to the love relationship. And while many, if not most, of my favorite romances involve conflict external to the love relationship, only a very skilled author can pull this off. Chemistry can be created out of sparks of strong emotions such as love, hate or jealousy, which is how most romances are written. Other authors can create chemistry with more finesse, with teasing behavior, by flirting and teasing the reader. I think these authors have a more difficult task.

Sharon Schulze did not use the time-honored love-hate relationship here, and that is to her credit. Unfortunately, she was unable to create, for this reviewer, real chemistry between Lily and Ian. Because of that, this book was not as exciting as it could have been. So while the author did engage me for the road trip, I was on auto-pilot the rest of the time.