Appreciate a Dragon Day was earlier this month, so January seemed like an appropriate time to talk about dragon books. (Was this post supposed to go up on that holiday? ...Maybe. Oops.) I have always loved dragons, back from the days of buying Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles at the Scholastic Book Fair (still on my shelves), and probably before, and continuing on through many, many dragon and dragon shifter books and movies. I've cut this list down ruthlessly, mostly because I was getting utterly overwhelmed by the number of dragon books I've read, and am giving you a handful of dragon shifter/dragon romances. I'll have to do another post one day with others.
A Boy and His Dragon by R Cooper (M/M): Arthur desperately needs a better paying job and is happy to become personal assistant to Bertie Jones, a famous historian, who is also a dragon. Though dragons are supposed to be possessive and vicious, Bertie is happy for Arthur to set his home, cluttered with rare books and antiques, to rights and treats him like something very precious himself. This is such a sweet, slow burn romance.
Rago by Kasia Bacon (M/M): A sweet, sexy little dragon shifter short story complete with fated mates and forced proximity in which a dragon shifter gets tipsy and senses his fated mate nearby. Dragon shifter Rago is especially adorable. The story is set in the author's Order universe but can be read on its own.
Deven and the Dragon by Eliot Grayson (M/M): A charming dragon shifter romance with a fairy tale feel. Fiora is an adorable dragon shifter who is cursed so that love can kill him; Deven is sent to the dragon's castle to convince him to part with a scale, by any means necessary including seduction. The two were wonderful together, and Fiora's hoard is the best hoard. The other book in this series is Corin and the Courtier, which is also really good.
Reawakening by Amy Rae Durreson (M/M): A dragon wakes after a thousand year sleep to find all that he knows is gone. On a flight over the desert, he comes in contact with a feisty desert spirit who intrigues him. He switches to his human form and joins a caravan through the desert, intent on exploring this world and also finding the spirit and wooing him to make him part of his hoard. But the desert is much more dangerous now as an evil the dragon thought defeated long ago has also woken. I loved both the fantasy and romance aspects of this book and the two books that follow it in the series.
Dragon's Dawn by Sam Burns and WM Fawkes (M/M): This book is a little darker than others by these authors, but it's a fantastic first book in the trilogy. It gives us a harsh fantasy world with blood magic and soul bonding—dragons bonded to members of the royal family and other companion animals bonded to others—and an arranged marriage between Genya, a decorative young courtier, and Misha, a red dragon rider and prince. There's lots of intrigue as these two (who get along nowhere except in bed at first) stumble their way into a relationship.
The Dragon's Bride by Katee Robert (M/F): To free herself from a horrible marriage to a dangerous man, Briar Rose makes a deal with a demon—freedom from the marriage in exchange for seven years of servitude. Which turns out to be in the form of marriage to a dragon, Sol. A short novel that is very spicy and surprisingly sweet.
The Queen of Ieflaria by Effie Calvin (F/F): Princess Esofi of Rhodia has been betrothed to the crown prince of Ieflaria since they were children, but when she finally makes the long journey to marry him, it is to find out that he's died while she was traveling. But Ieflaria need help with their dragon problem from Rhodia, so they offer Esofi another betrothal, this one to the new crown princess. A fun book with a sweet romance, dragon battles, a baby dragon, and even a unicorn.
And because I've written a few dragon shifter romances myself, I really should mention them:
The Dragon's Devotion (Chronicles of Tournai): Corentin is a scholar with a secret—he's a dragon shifter and he's only in Tournai to make sure knowledge of dragons hasn't gotten out. Bastien is an earl with a lot on his shoulders—the care of his lands, the well-being of his siblings, and the discovery that his parents didn't die in an accident but were murdered. Neither has time to fall in love, but they can't stay away from each other. And when that old mystery turns into a very real danger for Bastien, Corentin may have to reveal his secret to save the man he loves.
The Envoy's Honor (Chronicles of Tournai): Kirill is an envoy from a far off land, trying to protect his people. Griffen is a diplomat and cousin of the crown prince, trying to protect his family. They're on opposite sides—but they're also very attracted to each other. When someone is murdered, they realize they need to work together to keep their countries from falling into conflict (and really, it has to be them working together because they were arguing and kissing in the garden when it happened, so they know they didn't do it...).
To Love the Dragon King (Dragons of Ivria): Sascha has been raised to be lovely and to make the best match he can for his family, but he does not expect his parents to contract him as concubine to a cruel man, who, it turns out, is part of a plot to overthrow the king. King Lysander has become aware of a plot against him and the kingdom of Ivria and is working with the few people he can trust absolutely to find the conspirators. While apprehending one of them, he finds Sascha and is immediately attracted to him. But can he trust Sascha?
What are your favorite dragon romances?
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