4 stars

Synopsis: Cedric is Sidhe and has been banished from his world. Sidhe are also not supposed to be in the human world, but Cedric disguises himself as something else, and creates art on shields to earn his money. As an artist of high regard, Cedric is offered a job designing the seal for the empress to commemorate an important event. While Cedric is travelling to the city, he is attacked by a dragon, which is unusual, as dragons are supposed to be extinct.
Talfryn is a dragon, and they are supposed to stay in the dragon fortress, as they were supposed to be all gone. However, Talfryn, who is a fairly young dragon, finds intriguing shields that he must have, and he leaves to collect them for his hoard.
Unregistered magic is forbidden, but Talfryn cannot resist being out in the world and meeting people. In his human form, he meets Cedric, who paints his shields in the common area, not in the palace, and the two make a connection. When Cedric is outed as Sidhe, even though he doesn't want to harm the dragon he saw on the way to the city, he helps the magic hunters track the dragon.

What I liked: the world building. I also liked all the different characters, and how they all interacted with each other, and still managed to keep their secrets. I liked that the characters were all self-serving, but showed growth in character as the story goes on. Although the story is short, I never felt as though there could be more explanation or more clarification. I would have liked to have seen more once the characters all leave the city, and their journeys, but all in all, this was a very satisfying read.

What I didn't like: there were a lot of voices in this story, and while they were each unique, the story didn't feel as though it really belonged to anyone.

Overall impression: well written with interesting characters and an engaging story.

*I received a copy from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Unfortunately I think this was mostly a case of the wrong book at the wrong time. I could definitely see myself giving this 3 stars if I had been in a different mood, but as it is now I just couldn't get into it. Last year I read a lot of these high-fantasy lgbtia short stories from LT3 and got burnt out on them after awhile, but since it had been several months since I last read one I thought I would give this one a try. I apparently still haven't taken a long enough break.

It was definitely a cute concept and the characters were interesting enough. I think I've just been reading too many M/M stories lately and also was at the tail end of a very long high-fantasy book so that probably contributed to me not really enjoying this. Also there was a lot of like ...political intrigue going on and I really struggle with high-fantasy stories that are heavy in other-worldly politics so basically if this sounds good to you don't let my low rating discourage you because I think it could have been a decent story if I was in a better mood :(

At the end of this book, I said to myself: "That's it?! I need more damnit!"

This author is new to me and I must say that I liked what they did with this story. The world-building was well done, the characters well fleshed out without being overly done and the story was good enough to keep me reading till the end.

The world the MCs lived in was one where magic intermingled with the likes of Knights, Castles and Conquests. Humans in this world only sought to destroy or abuse magic and magical creatures without any scruples.

Reading about how these two men grew their bond first in friendship and then emotionally was great. The POV from the fascinating, enigmatic thief Jurryt was also intriguing, which made for an enjoyable reading experience for me.

As I said earlier, the book ended somewhat unexpectedly. It wasn't a cliffhanger, but I felt it had a lot more to give and left me with a motherload of questions. Questions like:

What will happen to our MCs Cedric and Talfryn after they recover? Will they even be left alone long enough to recover? What about my beloved rogue thief Jurryt and his trusted sidekick Jonny Bob? What sort of magical creature is Jurryt? Will the Sentinel's find them? How will Cedric and Talfryn make a go at being together seeing as their races are more or less mortal enemies? Where is Finnegan and what was all of that at the Tower after he different from the rest of the other people?

As you can see, I have so many questions and zilch on answers. I really do hope the author pens a sequel to address all my questions and more because I would love to read it!

Brans Lindy Ayres does an amazing job of world building with very few words. What would take other authors the length of this book to set up Ayres builds with well written plot. Don't expect any info dumps here. The world building is done through peaks into this or that character's life. It is the best aspect of this book. The book is simply too short for the plot to be fully developed. I wish it was three times longer and significantly more fleshed out because I am so into this world. Here's to sequel(s)?