Title: Consorting with Dragons
Author: Sera Trevor
Publisher: Self-Published
Length: 295 Pages
Category: Fantasy
At a Glance: Consorting with Dragons is a wonderful, Cinderella-like story with dragons, intrigue, and courtly drama.
Reviewed By: Jennifer
Blurb: Lord Jasen of Grumhul, an impoverished young nobleman, has come to the Draelands to find a rich husband to help pay his father’s debts. To the shock of everyone, he ends up attracting the attention of King Rilvor himself, and the dragons who control the magic in the land. Becoming royalty wasn’t something Jasen either expected or wanted, but he can’t control his growing feelings for kind and handsome king. Scheming factions at Court conspire to keep him from Rilvor’s side, and now Jasen has to decide if the chance at true love with Rilvor is worth the burden of being the husband of a king.
Review: Cinderella is a well-known and well-loved fairy tale. Whether you’re fan of the originals from around the world or a fan of the Disney version, there are many variations that keep the tale fresh, no matter how many times you read it. Consorting with Dragons is another one of those takes, but with a male/male romance. And, of course, dragons. What’s not to love?
Jasen is a lord from the backwater kingdom of Grumhul. His family is broke, his mother is dead, and his father is a gambler. He means well, but he doesn’t show it. After winning a place at court to become a consort, Jasen is packed off to the Draelands to try to entice a rich nobleman to marry him. He’s not thrilled about the courtly life and the rules, but he befriends Risyda and one of the guards, Larely. Of course, Jasen, untrained in courtly rules, immediately makes mistakes. He finds himself called by a dragon, and meets King Rilvor. The attraction is immediate and the two begin to fall in love. The problem? Jasen is from Grumhul, and he’s not blessed by the dragons.
I loved this book so much. There were times when the angst factor was high, and I worried I wouldn’t get a happy ending, even if the author promised it. But the story was good. I loved that Jasen was not the perfectly innocent “Cinderella” character. He gets into trouble, makes mistakes, and even when he is favored by the King, the other consorts get jealous and try to sabotage him. There are many characters to love, hate, and eventually feel sympathetic for. Most of the characters are complex and change over the course of the story. Even the antagonist changes once she realizes what is really happening to and around her.
Jasen was a fun character to read, as was Risyda. I would love to have her as a friend. Larely was a fun character as well, always helping the two get in and out of trouble. As a king, I found Rilvor to be interesting, and I loved his children. Even Polina grew on me by the end.
If you are a fan of Cinderella tales, need your happily ever after, or like fantasy worlds with dragons, this book is for you. It was previously released as a novella, and though I haven’t read the first version, this one is much expanded. I highly recommend this book!
You can buy Consorting with Dragons here:
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