**Copy Provided by Netgalley and Kensington Books for an honest review**

This is the last book in the series and although we get the romance between Brannie and Aiden it almost seems secondary to the culmination of the building story and the war going on.

We also get to see more from Keira and she turns into almost a totally different person as Aiden and Brannie help her in her quest to find her friend Ren, we see a more complex character who is know where near as flighty as she seems.

Aiden has always liked Brannie, but knew he would never get anywhere with her, but when Brannie suddenly sees him i a new light he makes an offer that she can't refuse, the pair find that they actually like each other more than they thought they would.

pretty much all of the characters from previous books are in this one and the battle which has now been going on for years ends outside the palace of Salebiri and Vateria. We get all the retribution, death and action we can ask for with family drama mixed in and a hankering to want the pages to turn faster as we get closed to the end.

I have really enjoyed this series and i am now kicking myself with how long it has taken to finish it.

Brannie and Aiden are a hilarious couple in this G.A. Aiken story. Her books are drama and crazyiness and everything I love in a story!

Aidan the Divine is helping Branwen the Awful with the war against the zealots. Aidan is royalty, he is used to admiration and to have people revel in his good looks. Brawnen is a low born and a fighter. She is gruff and tells it as it is. She doesn't know what to do with Aidan but he seems determined to follow her around and when one night ends up with them sleeping together, she makes sure he knows it is what it is, after all they have a war to win. What happens though when the war is over?

One of my favorite authors and she always brings humor, chemistry, and a unique story to each of her books. This was fantastic, had a couple of my favorite characters make appearances and I loved Branwen, she is just awful but in a good way. Excellent read.

The Dragon Kin series is one of my favorite paranormal series, definitely my number one when it comes to dragons, and I'm always thrilled when it's time to experience this world again! Bring the Heat was no exception and while it may have taken me a couple of days to actually finish it, trust me it was not by choice. If I could have read it non-stop until I was done, I would have because it was utterly, utterly fantastic!

I loved both Aiden and Brannie a lot, but I think Brannie edged out Aiden just a little bit so I'll talk about him first. With a name like Aiden the Divine, you would expect the kind of I'm-the-best-ever attitude like what you get with Gwenvael that's more amusing instead of annoying, but that's not really who Aiden is. He's calm, rational, smart, and a peacekeeper. Aiden pretty much always has a level head and he's also very sweet. He's wonderful and completely nuts about Branwen - I know you'll love him just like I do!

Branwen the Awful is a total BOSS! She's almost exactly like her mother Ghleanna the Decimator and has mad fighting/battle skills. Brannie is fearless and bold and nothing and no one can touch her. She is fierce and strong and everything you can be proud of in a heroine. That doesn't mean that she's cold or not any fun, though, because she can be warm and fun. Brannie isn't shy or afraid to let loose or show emotion - she is amazeballs and I adored her!

As with any new Dragon Kin book, I was excited to read Bring the Heat although for some strange reason, my brain felt like I had already read about Aiden and Branwen, but I'm crazy as that was so not the case and I'm glad about that because then we wouldn't have this book and that would be a loss. Bring the Heat was jam-packed with action, fighting, twists and turns, and plenty of moments that were entertaining and kept me on the edge of my seat. There was so much going on, but in a good and fascinating way and I enjoyed every minute of it. Bring the Heat was marvelous and epic and I can't wait for more to come!

While Bring the Heat can be read as a standalone, it would probably be better to read the series in order both for a little clarity and so you can appreciate it more. It's told from multiple points of view and Aiden and Brannie do get their HEA.

I love everything that Shelly Laurenston aka GA Aiken does and she does not disappoint again. I loved reading about Aiden the Divine this round and kick ass/offer no explanations Branwen the Awful. I will continue reading this series till the very end.

I am a huge Shelly Laurenston fan, but I've never gotten into her alter ego's book G.A. Aiken and the dragons. This is my first excursion and I have to say it was worth it. I love that her books are always filled with comedy and fun times that her books are fun to read. I wasn't much of a dragon fan before, but if G.A. Aiken is writing it I will read it now, I am looking forward to going back and reading the rest of the dragon books and am looking forward to continuing this series.

Received ARC in exchange for voluntary honest review from NetGalley

The zealots have begun the great war against what they call the abominations (half human, half dragon children). I loved seeing all the characters from the previous books. It's fun to revisit characters you know and love. What’s happening to each of these characters in their own side story is important and is spread throughout the story . If you haven’t read G.A. Aiken before and you’re a fan of Paranormal/Fantasy Romance, then you definitely need to pick this series. G.A. Aiken also writes absolutely wonderful books as Shelly Laurenston.
***ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***
***Thank you***

Ok so as I always preface stories from this author, whether writing as G.A. Aiken or Shelly Laurenston, if you are looking for something serious, deep, or meaningful then this story is probably not for you. Aiken/Laurenston always writes stories that are playful, irreverent, and sexy as hell, sometimes veering into the ridiculous, but her characters are certainly polarizing. So that being said, I LOVE this series and this story was actually a return to the greatness of some of the original stories in the series. Lately some of the books haven’t been quite as good as before, but this one brought back the love. I am a bit afraid that this story was set up as an ending, but I am HOPING that is not the case, because this series is great. Branwen, aka Brannie, has grown up during this series and we have seen her and Izzie become great warriors, but here she meets her match in a dragon that is reasonable, sweet and sexy all while managing to be a warrior in his own right and not drive her crazy too very often. Aidan had no idea that he would fall in love with Brannie, even though he has lusted after her a while, but the moment they find themselves paired on a mission they are surely not going to survive, the two of them get close. Aidan and Brannie were a great match and they are definitely balancing forces together. It was interesting to see the lives of all the previous couples and their children and the war, of course, took some amazing turns in this story, though I won’t offer spoilers on that. I am looking forward to future books in the series if more are heading our way, but the wrap-up of a few story-lines were done with aplomb and I was amazed with the skill that Aiken has in weaving together lives and stories. If you are looking for a story that will have you laughing non-stop and enjoying the ridiculousness of dragons and the humans that call them friends and lovers, then I recommend this series and this story in particular quite highly.

The book was all I expected - fun and entertaining. I couldn't stop reading - I literally read all night to finish the book.

This is another book from my blogger shame pile... another one that got caught up in my moving transition between New Orleans and Tucson. But I'm kinda glad that I waited on it now because it really helped lighten my mood this week while I've been trying to read and not die of the plague (thanks to all those germ harbingers of doom that you pick up on an airplane).

It seems like its been a long time since I've read a Dragon Kin book. I had no problem remembering our heroine, Branwen the Awful, but I couldn't seem to place our hero, Aidan the Divine. That didn't really matter in the long run as Aidan is the typical egotistical dragon, he thinks he's the GOAT (greatest of all time) and its up to our heroine to bring him back down to earth. I like it when the pretty boy and/or intelligent dragons have been paired with the Cadwaladr females, who are big tough fighting machines. Branwen definitely takes after her mother, Ghleanna, and is a renowned warrior known in all the realms. I like the mix of ridiculous and relatable and felt like Branwen hit both of those marks. She and Aiden definitely kept me entertained.

There was less focus on the romance in this installment and more focus on the continuing story arc, i.e. the dragons battling the evil god Chramnesind and his Zealot followers. I do not recommend reading this series out of order as the storyline is advanced with each installment. As with previous stories, we aren't always following our main characters, but will have diversions to follow Annwyl the Bloody, Keita the Viper, Dagmar the Beast, and the abominations, Talan, Talwyn and Unvarr.

The story arc does seem to conclude with this installment, so I hope this is not the end of the series. I really enjoy all the banter and sass in these books, and I absolutely love all the over-the-top dragons.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from the publisher.

5 stars

The story of Branwenn the awful and Aidan the divine is just as amazingly well written as the rest of the series.
If you're a fan of GA's (or Shelly's) other books, then I can almost 100% guarantee that you'll love this one.
Plenty of snarky, narcissistic and kickass characters. And of course, the storyline is still intriguing as heck! The Cult of Chramnesind is still trying to wipe out the Abominations and they've upped their game.

Ps: if you haven't read any of the books in the series I wouldn't recommend starting here. While it is a standalone, the storyline starts way before Bring the Heat!

Since shape shifters stories are my favorite (and especially dragons), I was looking forward to reading Bring the Heat. But after reading a few pages, I questioned myself if I had read something similar already. Fortunately, I keep track of my reading in Goodreads, so I found out I had already read Dragon Actually of G.A. Aiken in 2015. And I had rated that one with three stars. Not my usual rating for a good dragon shifter story.

Seeing that the story started with Dragon Kin #1 and I was reading #9 now (so I kind of missed part 2 to 8), I still couldn't get a connection with the main characters. Aiden and Branwen The Awfull.

The war was bloody, there were too many parties involved and too many intrigues and confusing backgrounds, I just couldn't keep up.

And since my To-be-read pile was big enough, I let Bring the Heat take a backseat. After a month or so, I found that I really, really needed to finish this book. So I tried again. But alas, after a few hours I was already done with all the bloodshed and the cursing.

Then, it moved to the "Older than 3 months" shelf in Netgalley. And I had to admit my defeat. This is a DNF. What a shame. If I see all the comments and high star ratings, I think the story will be appreciated better, if you had read all the books of the series. So, only two out of five stars from me.

Bring the Heat by G.A. Aiken
Level of Romance: High

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G.A. Aiken’s Bring the Heat is the ninth book in her popular Dragon Kin series. Her name is Branwen the Awful. She is Captain of the First and Fifteenth Companies of the Dragon Queen’s Armies and Colonel of the Ninety-Eighth Regiment of the Southland Armies. She is also a low born lass of the Caldwaladr Clan.

He is Aidan the Divine. A royal from the House of Foulkes de chuid Fennah. She is prickly as a bear and he’s smooth and delicious as the sweetest honey. They would never work as anything but frenemies on the battlefield, would they?

As his lips neared hers, all he could think about was what it would be like to kiss Branwen the Awful. He had to know. Even though he knew he shouldn’t... He titled his head a bit and used his tongue to open her mouth. A shock, like getting hit with a lightning bolt from a Northland dragon, went through her. From her lips and down her body until it shot out her fingers and toes.

This lighthearted, humorous tale of love and warfare is sure to delight fans of the series.

G.A Aiken entertains with Bring the Heat another Dragon Kin fantasy as dragons and humans fight crazy zealots who are totally enthralled with their god. Hot sex and fighting along with a good plot. Read and enjoy.

Branwen the Awful is high up in the queen’s army. Her reputation is definitely deserved. When she and her friend, Aiden the Divine, are sent on a separate mission, things get a little heated between them. Since the dragons are all in a life or death battle, she doesn’t have time to go any further than that.
I’ve read a number of books by this author, and they never cease to amuse me. Her characters tend to be full of character (pun not intended) and have a bit of ADHD. For some, this might not be your cup of tea, but I absolutely love them. I laughed a lot during this book and loved Branwen’s interactions with the different people. There was one thing that was annoying. It had been a long time since I read the last dragon book in this series, so I didn’t remember many characters. This book went back and forth through a lot of characters, many of whom I didn’t remember. It took a little away from the book for me, unfortunately. I can’t wait for the next book in this series. I recommend.

BRING THE HEAT is one of my most anticipated books of the year. First of all, if you haven’t read G.A. Aiken before and you’re a fan of Paranormal/Fantasy Romance, then you definitely need to pick this series up. This series is all about a crazy ass dragon family. If you’re new to Aiken, then let me warn you that her books tend to be over the top, violent, and ruthless, just like her characters and this is really why I really love her. There is literally no one else who can do crazy and funny quite like Aiken can.

This book doesn’t waste any time when it comes to the big war that this series has been building up to. The Zealots have made their move and now its up to Brannie, Aiden, and the rest of the crew to stop them. I would suggest reading the books in order because every single one of the previous couples appears in this book. You’ll get some updates of them, as well as see how they all work as a team in this war. Aiken goes through multiple points of views so you get to be in everyone’s head at least once.

The romance between Brannie and Aiden doesn’t get started right away but it does heat up quickly. As you can expect, there’s a lot of great banter between them. Aiken writes some pretty independent and strong heroines who are often quite ruthless so if you’re expecting sweet, tender moments, you’ll probably not get that with this series. Brannie is definitely one of my favorite heroines of this series because of her ruthless, care-free attitude that often gets her into trouble. She was an absolute thrill to read.

Surprisingly, we get a lot of Keita in this book. She’s had a book before but she plays a bigger part in this book. Keita and Brannie are cousins and seeing them fight throughout this book made me laugh so much. It was like watching to hot-headed bulls go against each other. So in addition to the romance, the war and its politics, I had this to look forward to as well.

BRING THE HEAT definitely lived up to my expectations. I just can’t seem to get enough of this series!

4.5 stars

I’ve have been a huge fan of the Dragon Kin series for a while now. When I started it, I had no idea that G.A. Aiken was also Shelly Laurenston, who is also a favorite of mine.

Branwen the Awful of the Cadwaladr Clan, Captain of the First and Fifteenth Companies of the Dragon Queen’s Armies, Colonel of the Ninety-Eighth Regiment of the Southland Armies, daughter of Ghleanna the Decimator and Bram the Merciful (yes, they love their titles in this series). I’ve been a huge fan of Brannie since I first met her in What a Dragon Should Know. She is a Cadwaladr and I just love them. They are a bit crazy, extremely loyal to their family and just an all around good time.

Aidan the Divine is one of the Queen’s Mì-runachs. He is also a royal and very rich, but he doesn’t let that get to him at all. He serves with Eibhear, Caswyn and Uther. Aidan spends a lot of his time as the one to try to keep them out of trouble (which Caswyn seemed to be in a lot in this book with Brannie). I like Aidan, but he isn’t a character that I was intensely familiar with before this book. This series has A LOT of characters, so some just don’t stick out as much as others (especially when they haven’t had a book of their own).

So, a lot happens in this book and not just with Brannie and Aidan. We get time with Annwyl the Bloody and both of her kids, Talan and Talwyn. Keita has an extremely large part in this book too, which I loved. She is a ton of fun and is always trying to poison everyone. She is the Protector of the Throne, which means she is a spy and an assassin. She also very good at hiding what she is under the guise of a dumb, flouncy girl. I also loved that we got to spend time with Ren, an Eastland dragon prince.

So, if you’re not familiar with this series, don’t start with this book. You will be completely lost with the sheer number of characters and the plot that has been going on for several books now. There are a group of Zealots that want to see Annwyl the Bloody’s children dead. They don’t like that they are half dragon and half human (they shouldn’t have been able to conceive in the first place, but since there have been several births in this series of mix species). There is a war between these Zealots and the dragons along with the human armies that fight with them.

It is hard to say too much or there will be spoilers. Just know that this is a really fun series that you need to start with book one. The dragons are hilarious. There are bloody battles, drunkenness, quest-like travels. There are a lot of characters, but I love all of them. They are very unique and all have something that they bring to the table. You will also be laughing out loud frequently (no matter how much you try to keep it in).

This is one of those books that I could fill the review with nothing but fun sections. So many to choose from.

Brannie nodded at her mother’s words. “Good.” She glanced at Aidan and said, “We need to get back and—”
“No,” Ghleanna cut in. She jerked her thumb at a surprisingly quiet Keita. “You go with your cousin.”
Brannie reared back as if she’d been slapped.
“I’ll do no such thing.”
Black eyes locked on black eyes. “You’ll do as I order you to.”
“No. Not on this. I will not risk my troops—Mum! Ow! Stop it!”
Aidan cringed watching Ghleanna the Decimator grab her daughter by the hair and walk off with her.
“Excuse us a minute,” she growled at Rhiannon.
“Take your time.”
Once the two She-dragons were a bit away from them for privacy, Rhiannon smirked at Aidan and asked, “Do you plan to disobey any orders, dearest Aidan?”
“Who? Me?” He snorted. “I like my hair just where it is, my queen. On my head.”
“It does look lovely there.” He smiled.
“Doesn’t it?”


With a nod, she left and Aidan looked at Brannie. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I was trying not to glare. That requires concentration.”
“You had to concentrate on not glaring?”
“Because I didn’t know I was glaring! So I kept thinking, ‘Am I glaring now? What about now? I feel like I’m glaring now.’ It was endless.”
Aidan shook his head. “Do you realize that you make things—outside of battle, I mean—very complicated?”
“No, I don’t.” “You do. Constantly. If a sword is in your hand and someone is screaming bloody murder as they charge you . . . you are direct and ready. But you and Izzy trying to figure out what to eat for dinner . . . I think we’re still waiting for you to make up your mind.”
“Oh, it’s not that bad.”
“If that’s what you need to believe,” Aidan said.


Aidan sat on the mattress and waited for Brannie to stop laughing, which she did eventually. But then she became fascinated with the actual bed.
“What are you doing?” he finally asked when he got tired of watching her crawl around the bed and press her hands into it.
“Wondering why it’s so bouncy. None of our beds at home are bouncy. You’d think Annwyl would have bouncy beds.”
“Seriously?”
She stopped, gazed at him. “What?”
“We’re both here, naked, on our last night of what may be freedom or possibly our lives . . . and you’re worried about a bouncy bed?”
Brannie nodded. “Yes.”
Aidan grabbed Brannie’s arm and pulled her close.
“Kiss me, Brannie.”
“All right, but if we make it back home alive . . . I want you to get me a bouncy bed.”

This may not be Aiken's strongest book in her dragon series, but she still manages to surprise the reader (and almost induce heart failure at one point). Fans will devour it.

Entertaining and weird. I felt a bit lost in the beginning. It had been awhile since I had read the previous book in the series.

This is book 9 of the Dragon Kin series and as with all books by this author, I just loved it. I think over the past few years G.A. Aiken (aka Shelly Laurenston) has really developed as a writer and while some might think by book 9 the series would get boring or the storyline will lose it's spark, I think she has enough different characters, both villains and good guys in the stories she's developed that she can keep going and not run out of room to grow.

While many series stick with the same male/female lead throughout the story in a series introducing previous characters liberally, Aiken splits between storylines and keeps the action flowing. The only problem I see is that in this instance she didn't have enough time to develop the love story between Branwen and Aiden. I would of liked to have seen a little more time with those characters to see their love grow.

As always I was excited to see the rest of the gang. Bringing back Annwyl the Bloody as her usual crazy self with her mad fighting skills, the Daughters of the Steppes who really add the comic relief through most of the story and seeing Branwen's cousin Rhona the Fearless and her trunk load of handy weapons (especially funny since Brannie decided to check out the lot completely naked while thinking nothing of it).The names of the characters are entertaining.

If you like a lot of action, fighting and loving this story is for you. It isn't necessary to read the previous books, but they are that good you won't want to miss out. The author doesn't write them in any particular order so you can start with this one and work your way backward if you like.

(I received a free copy of this book in order to write a review that was based on my own true opinion.)

Description:
I, Aidan the Divine, am, well divine. My name was given to me by the Dragon Queen herself! I’m a delight! Cheerful. Charming. And a mighty warrior who is extremely handsome with a very large and well-hidden hoard of gold. I am also royal born, despite the fact that most in my family are horrendous beings that don’t deserve to live. And yet, Branwen the Awful—a low-born, no less—either tells me to shut up or, worse, ignores me completely.

I’ll admit, I ignore Aidan the Divine because it annoys him. A lot. But, we have so much to do right now, I can’t worry about why he keeps staring at me, or why he always sits so close, or why he keeps looking at me like he’s thinking about kissing me. We have our nations to save and no time for such bloody foolishness…no matter how good Aidan looks or how long his spiked tail is. Because if we’re going to win this war before it destroys everything we love, we’ll have to face our enemies together, side by side and without distractions. But if we make it out alive, who knows what the future will hold…