What a fun continuation of one of my favorite series! I really enjoyed seeing characters from previous stories in the series.

I would've liked more interaction between Brannon and Aiden since it was their book, but overall it was a great story that furthered the plot of the entire series!

I can never, never, never get enough of this series.

This is the book that has the baddest climax of the Zealots and the god Chramnesind for the final conflict. This book was great and a fun to read. Yes, it still have all the stuff I love about these dragons violence, magic, sex, insanity, and all the bust out loud humor.

I was so happy with crazy Annwyl and her twins and never a dull moment with Brigida the Most Foul; I kept saying to myself "wtf" in a good way.

Fans will NOT regret reading this book.

YES!!!! I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR BRANNA AND AIDAN FOR SO LONG!!! WAHOO!!!

This was fantastic! Just the right amount Branna/Aidan scenes, Annwyl scenes, and the big picture scenes. Such a perfect blend!

This is one of my all time favorite series. It's so action packed, with the right amount of romance and sexy times, the nonstop hilarious dialogue, and the emphasis on family is something I love. It's also very feminist - woman empowering. I just love it.

If you never read any of GA Aiken's dragon books you MISSED OUT!!! Badly!!!

This series is an epic showdown of huge proportions. From the very first book, it's been a steady build up. Book 9  Bring the Heat had a satisfying and bloody battle at the end that made me smiling crazily.

After so many years, and so many books, this series has been a fabulous preoccupation for me. Every time I read a GA Aiken book I'm usually cackling like a crazy person. Chuckling and laughing out loud and whenever I close a book I wish I had the next one already in my hands.

I love fantasy, but what I love even more are characters that are complex and fucking hilarious. And this author has this skill down pat. Not only can she write the funniest and most unique personalities, she is a master storyteller. In 9 books, this world of hers has thrilled, captivated and fascinated me in such a long-lasting way not very authors are able to do.

Of course through the years I have loved some characters more than others, and I wished she would give Annwyl the Bloody and Dagmar Reinholdt more books and scenes. I can never get enough of either. And now their kids are as enthralling as their parents. I hope she'll continue writing, there are so many more stories to tell.

Bring the Heat (Dragon Kin #9) by G.A. Aiken was exactly as I hoped. The story continued in a complex and multistory arc that kept me glued to the seat but also had my head spinning at times - the good way.

In my opinion Aidan and Branwen's love story was sweet, a slow burn and fitting to their characters, but it wasn't what kept me as enthralled as I was. The continuing story arc and the never ending cameos of beloved characters was what I loved about this book the most. If I had a say in it, I would ask the author to give some of the old characters a second book, or just use main characters that we all love and adore before adding more and more new players to the story.

At the end, all of the characters from the former books were fighting this war, and I don't really need to meet any more new characters to make this story even more interesting than it already is. I want to read more about the people that have been already introduced. I noticed that I can remember best the characters from the first 6 books. I have the deepest connection to Annwyl, Dagmar, Izzy, the twins, and Keita and wish to read more of them instead of adding new people to the plot line.

But nevertheless, I can't get enough of this series, and never will.

I love it and whatever she writes even as her alder ego Shelley Laurenston I will be reading it. :D



Review will be published on August 10th

Oh how I love G A Aiken and her Dragon Kin series. The writing is smart, witty, and addicting. I can't wait for the next want to come out. I read them so fast and then there such a long wait to the next one. It's been forever since I've been in this world but I pick it right up where we left off. Our h/h is Aiden the Divine and Branwen the Awful ( gotta love their names!), Izzy's BFF.
The war is on, our h/h go on a adventure accompanying Keita the Viper to find her friend Ren while all our favorites are fighting the war against the Zealots and Valeria. Annwyl the Bloody finds herself in hell and is amazing how's she's gets herself out of trouble.
I loved this story and hope they keep coming. Recommend starting at the beginning so you know what's going on and who's who. It's one of my favorite series.

4.5 violently funny stars.

This is the ninth book of the Dragon Kin series (not including novellas), and I'm still a total fangirl of those blood-thirsty dragon royals and human mates. This is not a standalone. I am loving the introduction of the new generation of Abominations (children with dragon and human parents) and can't wait to see what devious part the Mad Queen Annwyl's twins Talwyn and Talan play in saving their grandmother and mother's empires, not to mention the potentially psychopathic offspring of Dagmar and Gwenvael (I need more of Gwenvael's Five!).

But first, Branwen and Aidan. Be warned, theirs is a lowkey romance. Having fought together, Branwen and Aidan already know and respect each other. When they finally come together, it is an easy, friendly bond that makes sense, even with Brannie insisting that they are just friends with benefits. I love that Aidan, like the other males, doesn't try to alpha himself around Brannie - he accepts every tough, battle-scarred, violent, fighting part of her. Instead, Aidan adapts and manipulates things so that he and Brannie are an inevitable fit.

But the real joy of Bring the Heat was seeing beloved characters from the previous Dragon Kin books. Keita the Viper is probably my least favorite dragon royal but I adored her this time on her insouciant murderous mission. I really wish there was more of Dagmar and Gwenvael together (they have always been my favorite), but it was so fun to check in on Izzy and Eibhear, Rhiannon and Bercelak, Fearghus and Annwyl, Morfyd and Brastias, Briec and Talieth, and even Celyn and Gaius with their mates from the insanely weird Daughters of the Steppes tribe.

I laughed so hard and so often during Brannie and Aidan's messy rampage/military campaign that I finally had to find a private room to enjoy this all by myself. If you are a fan of the Dragon Kin series, this is a must read. Now I'm waiting for more of the Abominations, please.

I love the dragon series by G A Aiken. But, this book was so full of characters from the other books in this series, that it was hard to keep everyone straight. I love the humor in her books and I love the characters

Branwen the Awful and Aiden the Divine are friends and when she doesn’t want to kill Aiden’s two idiot friends, Branwen enjoys battling the Zealots and drinking her uncle’s ale. Things are going pretty well until a mountain falls on her and her compatriots and her infuriating (and poison-happy) cousin appears with orders.

Things have gotten awfully complicated and the team has a big task ahead of them. Of course, they aren’t the only ones dealing with big problems and if any of those tasks don’t go well, they could very well lose their country to Zealots who have been torturing and killing innocent people all across the Southlands.

Branwen and Aiden’s relationship can best be described as the following:

Branwen: Shut Up!
Aiden: I didn’t say anything!

But eventually they’re bickering leads to a little more fun and their friendship gets a little more complicated. As if life isn’t complicated enough.

If you are looking for violence, insanity, sex, magic, and humor, you need to read G. A. Aiken (a.k.a. Shelly Laurenston). This latest adventure is a gem in a beautiful necklace. I kept laughing out loud as I read this, much to the confusion of those sitting around me at the pool.

This could be read as a standalone, but there is so much history, something like fifty years worth of history in the books leading up to this one so I would highly recommend reading the main books (the side stories in the series are fun too, but less necessary). Really, I recommend everything this woman has ever written, including this hilarious, bloody, sexy, adventure.

Here is the link to my review on Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2069652405

Bring your supplies for s'mores because not only does Shelly Laurenston Bring the Heat, she burns this MF'er to the ground!!! The war to end all wars is about to happen between the dragons and the zealots. Branwen the Awful is there to lead her armies until she is buried under a mountain along with Aidan the Divine and a couple of his brother in arms. They are separated from her troops and sent on a completely different mission, protect her cousin Keita the Viper as she searches for her best friend and retrieve him from the zealots. A lot of hilarity and over dramatic dragon drama ensues as we follow their journey to find Ren the Chosen. Brannie and Aidan find relief in each other during their adventure but they both tell themselves it is purely physical and that they barely tolerate each other. Meanwhile Annwyl the Bloody goes missing, but the hell she finds herself in has no way of knowing what they got themselves into when they took her and she proves yet again why she is the most insane BA Queen to ever live lol. There was a lot going on in this book and all of it was awesome!! I don't know how many times I literally laughed out loud, the story was Branwen and Aidan's but it wasn't strictly focused on them, there were several storylines seamlessly flowing back and forth. Do yourself a favor, if you haven't read this series, grab the first one and start reading them. If you have read this series, keep going, they only keep getting betting.

The latest in the Dragon King brings together the plot lines from several of the previous books in a dramatic, encompassing finale. There is an obvious intent to continue the series at the end, but the main story is nicely resolved.

This differs a bit from previous books in that it jumps around between several main characters, spanning a continent. This makes it both a more interesting and a longer read than previous installments.

Overall, the story is strong and fans will not be disappointed.

This the nine title from the acclaimed dragons series by G. A. Aiken (Shelly Laurenston alias). And as the ninth of the series you need to be familiar with the previous work to understand what is going on. This is the story of Aiden and Branwen, Branwen is Izzy (How to Drive a Dragon Crazy) best friend, and Aiden is in the Mi-runach with Eibhear and also from a noble family in the court. The two have an mission, accompany princess Keita ( Last Dragon Standing) in her mission to find out what happen to Ren her best friend, a royal dragon from the Eastland and to prevent a war if the worst happens no matter what she had to do. Things get complicated in a clash of personality as Branwen (killing in battle is honorable and everything else is murder) and Keita (if you have a problem poison it and it will go away) are forced to collaborate with poor Aiden forced to run interference between the two cousin (Brannie parents are Glheanna and Bram in Dragon on Top. Glheanna is Bercelak sister who is Keita father). Between the hilarious moments Brawnie learning (and sometime failing to deal) with Keita Protector of the Throne role, and grief over her friend fate, the romance, and action from the conclusion of a battle that span several book, this book was packet. It's a must for any fan of the series!

I received this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I've faithfully read all of this author's books and I just love to meet again old friends. The gang is all here and each has something to say. My favorite, as always, is Annwyll, the mad queen, who is madder than usual.
A lot, and I mean A LOT, happens, shadowing the main romantic relationship, because, in my opinion, it's not the main focus of this book. Ending the war with Charisemnon and his Zealots is. I was a bit sad because I was expecting a bit more from Brannie and Aidan... but the book, taken as a whole, is very good.
4 stars.

Aidan the Devine and Branwen the Awful are a good couple and the story line is excellent! Annwyl is still insanely awesome.

On the one hand, the book is the story of Branwen the Awful, Captain of the Dragon Queen's Armies, and Aidan the Divine, dragon royal and personal guard to the same Queen. They are friends who become lovers during what boils down to a road trip adventure.

On the other, this book is a culmination of a complicated, violent and hilarious (I know it's contradictory, but the author makes it work!) story arc involving the god Chramnedind and his followers the Zealots, and their efforts to eradicate the dragons and dragon/human hybrids that have been proliferating throughout the books that comprise this series.

By now, the overall story has become so rich and complicated that if one doesn't have previous knowledge of what's going on, it's easy to become lost and confused. The author does a great job including brief notes as to who's who in the tapestry she's weaving, but the word constraints don't allow for full descriptions of every character, more's the pity. This one could have benefited from a word count similar to a Games of Throne novel!

Horrible things happen, but they are always ameliorated by so many funny happenings that the reader can just keep rolling along with the story. And the funnies are belly-holding, do not drink while reading, not safe for public consumption hilarious!

If you are a fan of Aiken's Dragon Kin series, run to get your hands on this installment. If you haven't read her before, what are you waiting for?! Go read "Dragon Actually", learn all about Annwyl the Bloody and Fearghus the Destroyer, then treat yourself to the whole series.

I picked this book up for an ARC review from NetGalley from a lead from the author on her monthly newsletter.
I've been reading Shelly Laurenston/G.A Aiken for 8 years and a complete addict to all her series.
This is the 9th of the Dragon Kin series and features Aidan and Brannie who's Izzy's best friend and family of the dragons who care for the queen.
This is the continuing battle with the Zealots and trying to get rid of them and their campaign of terror.
This book is as usual full of laughs and a good heat factor.
Catching up with all our characters from this universe and how they and their families react is more than wonderful and I love how she leads you towards the next book.
I'll still buy this on its preorder.

Story was well written but I just felt it couldn't be read as a stand alone and as I have not read other books in this series I felt at times completely lost.

OMG!! this series just keeps getting better and better I loved this one Brannie is so much fun and we get a chance to hang with Kieta who is all kinds of crazy.   All the usual players also pop up with plenty of crazy humor and bloody action.  A lot of focus is on the "Kids" who I can't wait to read about, they are even older now since this book jumps ahead in the war that was just getting started in the last book.  Now the wait is on for the next one...

Four and a half stars.

This book brings to a climax the arc of the Zealots and the god Chramnesind as Queen Annwyl the Bloody and the dragons of Garbhan Isle together with Queen Rhiannon and all the characters we have met in the past eight books draw together for the final conflict. This is an epic book, don't even try to read it if you haven't read the previous books, all our old favourites are back to do battle. Annwyl gets dragged into a well and disappears. Dagmar Reinholdt and her cohorts are plotting, the Cadwaladrs are their usual blood-thirsty selves and we see the Mi-runach and the Daughters of the Steppes. G.A. Aiken brings all of these fantastic characters to life so vividly and weaves the strands of their stories together in the tradition of some of the great fantasy novelists of my childhood.

At the personal level, Captain Branwen the Awful and her best friend Aidan the Divine have been fighting side by side against the Zealots. After Chramnesind's priests level the mountains as far as the eye can see, Aidan, Brannie and two of Aidan's Mi-runach brothers Caswyn and Uther drag themselves from the rubble and flee the approaching Zealot army, only to run into Rhiannon's youngest daughter Keita the Viper. The foursome are ordered to protect Keita as she undertakes a dangerous mission.

To do all of the different threads true justice this book needed to be twice as long (I wouldn't have minded). There was just so much going on that the romance between Branwen and Aidan didn't really take off for me. There didn't seem to be any great love between them, just two best friends who kind of slipped into love by accident. I also thought that, and probably intentionally, this book wasn't as laugh out loud funny as some of the others. Sure, Keita, Uther and Caswyn provided some light relief, and the Daughters of the Steppes are always good value, but overall this was a more sombre book as befits the climax of a story arc about a vicious cult.

I really liked this but I didn't love it. Branwen and Aidan just weren't strong enough characters in my opinion, Keita really stole the show from them even though it wasn't her book. But it was a strong fitting end to the Zealots, although it looks like there might be more trouble on the horizon ...

<will be publishing entire review closer to release date>


Okay. I finished it. And I have to say...

I was disappointed.

Yes, okay, I said it. I was actually disappointed by a G.A. Aiken novel. I never thought the day would come.

Well, that's a bit of a lie. Ever since the involvement of the Chramnesind arc, things have been getting chaotic.

There's been less and less of all the good stuff that made these books so fun and interesting to read. A few books ago, the story started to become more and more convoluted. There's so much information being thrown at you with each book that it gets harder and harder to sort it all out and figure out what's going on.

In all honesty, it feels like with each book the couple that's focused on gets less and less attention and is just used as a plot device or a general framework.

Unfortunately, it was glaringly clear in this book that Aiden and Brannie were not really the focus. It felt like every two pages, the POV was changing to someone else, and 75% of the time, that person was not Brannie or Aiden. We have Talwyn, Annwyl, Dagmar's kids, Keita, Rhiannon, Brannie, Aiden, the Mí-runach, and a ton of other POVs thrown at us with seemingly no order. I was so confused the entire book - we'd go from listening to Brannie threaten Caswyn (funny!!) to... I don't even know. I skimmed the entire thing. Literally clicked through any part that wasn't relevant to Aiden and Brannie.

You see, all of the POVs were in different locations, making the switches all the more annoying and confusing. I felt like I was being pushed to focus on the big battle and Chramnesind and the twins and Annwyl and a ton of other things that I didn't get to know Brannie and Aiden deeply at all.

Aiden is a damaged soul who was forced to live with a horrendous family. Brannie is a fierce warrior who is loyal to the bone. They had such potential and their story could have been one of the best in the series, but due to the lack of focus on them, their relationship felt hurried and strange.

Another complaint I have is that (and this isn't specific to just this book, the last few have also had this problem) there have been no scenes of the dragons ~Claiming~ each other. If it's such a pivotal and moving moment, shouldn't it be included in every book? I was in the first few and it was great. A really good way to show that the couple was committed and dedicated and happy and all that good stuff. Now the dragon relationships feel cheap and fake... or at least sorely lacking.

However, for all it's shortcomings, this book did have that trademark good humor and funny scene that I know I'll always see in a G.A. Aiken. Keita and Brannie's constant bickering was one of the highlights of the book for me. Zoya, my girl, was still up to no good. The Cadwaladrs were still up for protecting their Brannie. I was so happy to see that that spirit hadn't left any of the characters.

In conclusion, if you pick this book up expecting it to be like the first, or the second, or the third, or the fourth, or the fifth, or even the sixth in the series, you will be disappointed. You will think, why, God?? Why, Ms. Aiken?? What happened?? You will feel cheated and hurt. You will feel like Brannie and Aiden, and you by extension, have pulled the short stick of the dragon world and have been passed over in favor of "more exciting" characters, like the Abominations or Brigida or literally anything else. However, as I am a well of eternal hope and good wishes (as well as being loyal), I will pick up book 10, and 11, and 12, and however many after that. I will pick them up and I will hope that they do a 360 and end up back in early series territory. And if/when they do, then BOIIII, will we be back in business!

2.75 stars total.

**ARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**