Member Reviews
The first installment in the Dragon Tails series was put on my radar because everyone on my goodreads dashboard was reading it and I was not disappointed when I picked it up. Song of Dragons was the same! I absolutely adore this magical world and Erebu and Sorin have my whole heart, gosh the banter is just absolute top tier with these two. I'm so hesitant to say anything about this second installment because of spoilers, so I'll just say that I'm dying to get my hands on the next one!!
Ere & Sorin are at it again! This was a really good second installment to the Dragon Song series and I really enjoyed it. I've liked Ere & Sorin from the last book (and although I haven't read the Pure/Dark Series I am going to be rectifying that in the year to come). Their travelling companion Davina was a caring and fun character with a relatable set of worries that all people have when falling in love. The story between Andros and Davina was sweet and you did really want them to succeed. Also Andros is a centaur... stallion... so you know the sex was good. There wasn't going to be any doubt there. There were a few things that I would have liked for this to be a full 5 stars, it's that although Davina and Andros had chemistry, I would have liked a little more development there, and this felt a little predictable, but I was still here for it. One of the other things I appreciated was the seeds of an over-arching plot that will likely take part in the next few books, so I'm looking forward to seeing where that ends up.
I was really excited to read this book as I love radish both erotic and fantasy novels. When reading this, I felt as though this story was build around the erotic scenes. To be more specific, it felt as though the plot wasn't as well developed that I might have liked and scenes that are supposed to be quite major or that the story has been building up to last only a page while the smut scenes last a lot longer. I personally enjoy a good balance between the story itself and the spicy scenes. There is pretty good banter between the characters which I enjoyed and the erotic scenes will make you feel some type of way. If you're into exhibitionism, centaur/human romance or mm erotica than this may be the book for you.. I did also enjoy the integration of greek mythology with the underworld and hades as well however, I wished these scenes would have been longer or more details. I also didn't really like or relate to any of the characters which is where this book may have fell flat for me.
I will say that this book seems to be the second in a series however I was still able to follow along pretty well from the beginning of the story.
Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review!
This book was... wow. I'll preface my review saying that I've never read this author, much less any other book in this series/series that this series was a spin-off of. Therefore, you can determine whether or not you'd like to take my review with a grain of salt.
My basic understanding of this book is that a Dungeons and Dragons type party gets together (emphasis on the dragon) with random magical abilities that don't make a whole lot of sense. There are so many cultures mentioned, with various elements from each- not to mention the references to modern-day as well as ancient times. Anyways, the DND party has to go on a quest to ancient Greece, and so they time travel there. The time travel is not well explained; one minute we're in the "celestial realm" and the next minute we're in a Greek town? Now there are virgins everywhere. Also centaurs. Sex in a bathhouse. What is happening.
One of my biggest complaints about this was the writing. James has a bad habit of having characters speak their way onto the next line, but incorrectly. "A sentence should be like this," they said, emphasizing the comma, "where if they continue speaking, there is a comma separating the two parts." James moves onto the next line, in a format that makes it seem like another person is talking. This took me a really long time to get used to. Also, there are a couple of grammatical and punctuation errors throughout the book, so another good look-through would be beneficial before publishing. Speaking of writing complaints, there is so much flipping between modern jargon and historic speech that it gets jumbled in this weird limbo. i.e. one minute the immortal characters will say something like "We must leave this city immediately- I beseech you to join me in our plight to reach the mountains" and the next, use the phrase "junk in the trunk". It was, in short, chaos. Also, this book would benefit from dumbing down the language a bit. It's great to have fancy words, but most of the time they seemed unnecessary.
The story starts off with way too many characters. For the first couple of pages, I felt like I was in some sort of confused haze trying to figure out all the characters and the world terms and the Capitalized Terms such as Mate. There was just a bit too much going on at once. To be fair, this is the second book in this spin-off series, so it was a bit more of an adjustment for me than it would have been for someone else continuing the series. Regardless, even for me starting on the second book, I should not have been so confused within the first 20 pages.
The pacing in the book is also a bit... off. At times it feels rushed, where at other times I feel like the world is moving so incredibly slowly. Also, the entire book spans less than a week? And mind you, in less than 12 hours Divina is talking about how she's head over heels in love with Andros and wants to be with him forever and ever and ever and ever and... you guessed it... ever. The implied depth of their relationship simply was not believable. Not to mention the mechanics of the world. There were several magical occurrences that left me wracking my brain and flipping from page to page for an explanation and coming up empty-handed. Andros had a spell over him and Divina broke it by... bathing with him in a lake? Being nice? There were some things that just could have been explained a little better.
Anyways, I digress. The characters in this book are.... mediocre. Divina is... dear god. Just absolutely the most annoying character I've ever had the displeasure of getting to know. At her worst, she's the personification of nails on a chalkboard paired with metal scraping against teeth while white noise blasts at full volume directly into your eardrums. At best, she's just obnoxious and horny. I could not stand her for the entirety of this book. Chewie was fine. He's a dog. But I really could have gone the rest of my life without hearing the phrase "holy chewie and his furry balls". Ere and Sorin are fine. They sit there and be gay and in love. Not much to say. Andros is fine. He sit there and be masculine. No one else left much of an impression.
Also holy shit. I absolutely could not stand the constant use of the words "male" and "female". This is mostly in part due to my involvement with the LGBT community, but it was beyond annoying to have everyone referred to exclusively by their gender.
Although this book has erotica in it, the sex doesn't really start until about halfway through the book. But jesus christ, once you get there it's constant hetero banging. Nothing special though, really. It's told in great detail (with interesting choices for genital terms) and which makes up for the rest of the story. But it's a little weird because most of the sex is entwined with one or both of the parties stressing out about whether the other party is in love with them. See "this story takes place over the span of less than a week."
This book took me forever to get through. Some parts were okay and I didn't mind reading it, but other times it was painful to pick up. I highly doubt I will read any of these books again, simply because they aren't my style.
What more do you need from a fantasy novel? Dragons, cenataurs, greek mythology, hot romance and of course a quest with definite peril involved. brilliantly written and a delight to read. Loved it!
This is the second book that I have read by Aja James, and like the first one Ere and Sorin captured my heart and kept it. This time we follow them on a journey to get the song of destiny with Devina (from the celestial realm). They end up teaming up with Andros who is the "exiled" Prince of the Centaurs. They go on an adventure to reclaim his throne and change the way Humans and Centaurs interact. I laughed, I cried, and I loved this book. James is swiftly becoming an auto buy/read author and I can't wait for the next book. The tension in the epilogue is going to kill me!
Really liked this series.
In this book the structure is similar to the first book, but the story is totaly diferent and is nice that it follows the same structure, so the feel that is all part of the same story is stronger despite being two separate quests.
The mystery of the why this weird quests take places grows and makes you want to have the next books in the story asap, and gives you lots of questions tho ponder about during the wait.
I love the dynamic between Ere and divina, appearances are deceiving and even tho they don't have the best of friendship it is nice to see the evolution. It is also nice to have a quetzalcoatl as is not a variety of dragon usually seen in fantasy books and it is refreshing.
This book is also way more sexy than the previous, or at least for me, the erotica is beautiful explanatory and made my ears almost go up in flames.
The only thing is the feeling that there is something you are missing. Some of the characters are part of a previous series and even when some references make you want to grab the other books and read them hungrily. I find that this book have a bit to much reference to a previous story that I don't know and that make me feel I'm missing part of the story, and it is a bit annoying. But still not enough to ruin the book. This is a great read and will be expectanly waiting for the next installment.
This is the second in a series but written in a way that you can read it as a stand alone. The author is very detailed and descriptive and creates vivid scenes with her words. It's a great escape into a fantasy world!
Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review!
Let me start off by saying that I have never read anything by this author before, and I didn't realize that this was a sequel. The summary sounded really interesting though, so I figured I would give it a shot.
I did not get the quotes that came before each chapter. Why use a Marilyn Monroe or Lucille Ball quote in a fantasy novel? Normally in fantasy I like to be immersed in the fictional elements of the story. There were so many modern phrases used in this book and it really just disconnected me from the plot.
Also, this story had a lot going on. Like, Greek mythology? Dragons? Zombie people? I had a difficult time connecting all of the plot points. However, once I pieced it all together enough I was actually intrigued.
There were some interesting elements to this story, and I liked the originality, I just could do without the modern interjections.
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC
Aja James does it again, with Greek mythology, fast-paced action and witty banter, Ere & Sorin are two characters you're going to love. Fantasy, romance, spice and intrigue, you will not want to miss this book!
Let me start by saying, I didn't know it was a spin off or the second in a series. My fault for not checking into it more.
BUT this was a crazy ride lol. I loooooved the characters. The romance and fantasy were ahhhhmazingly done.
I will admit I was a little confused in certain places, most likely due to not reading the first. If I loved this one as much as I did and I didn't even read the first, I think this series will be a hit. I do suggest reading the first so you don't go in like I did lol but it's Def worth your time!
A very beautiful book about love, eroticism, history, mythology and friendship. A book with great emotions that makes one cry. I really recommend everyone to read this book
With Dream of Dragons being my first read Aja, I couldn't wait to dive into the next book in this series. Absolutely loving the time travel and adventure elements to this series. And there's something to love about all the characters.
This book may not have been my favorite in this series so far, but still quite enjoyable. Definitely wasn't expecting Andros, but hands down was my favorite character in this besides Ere and Sorin 😉
Like the first book, the transitions between each chapter felt like I was missing something. Almost like it was one long chapter that went into the other.
I still need to start the series that this one spun off of. And I can't wait for the next couple and adventure!
3.5/5
The story begins a little slapdash with the introduction of characters. This is my first. A. James novel & it is book 2 of the Dragon Tales series, so I will guess that character depth was in her previous book. For a high fantasy romance, the story opens with time travel, Ancient Greek mythology, and a quest. Add in the variety of relationship development between the characters and you have a recipe for a sexy epic. The love scenes have tons of variety and steaminess!!
No spoilers, but the trip to see Hades felt a bit awkward. And the resolution of the quest could’ve been a little less herky jerky. Overall, the novel was a great escape from this crazy year.
Wow! I thought the first book was amazing but this one takes it over! This book is now easily in my top five favorites. The characters are both a breath of fresh air and old favorites. If you love fantasy and romance this series is for you.
I have never read any Aja James books before but I enjoy the genre of paranormal romance and the blurb sounded like it was my kind of thing.
I didn't realise it was a spin off from a series as well as the second book in it's own series before reading. I had some trouble when the book started as it was very clear that this story was continuing on from something else. I had difficulty understanding what had happened previously as a lot of information is given yet I still felt like it lacked some context. There were other times during the book where I also felt a little lost as previoud events and characters were mentioned but there didn't seem to be a clear connection to the plot.
Despite this, I quite enjoyed this book. Its an easy read and the characters are fun. The end felt a little rushed given that a very large part of the story was actually given over to a very small part of the characters quest. I would definitely read more from this author and may go back and read the other books that preceded this.
Earc provided by the publisher via Netgalley.
DNF.
I am giving this one the benefit of doubt. The humour is there. Fantastical setting and yet pop cultural references are present -- it's fun! If you like Greek mythology, this one will be for you.
OMG!!! I really don't know what to say about her book. It feels to put my entire TBR on hold and read all her books. More so to know the story of Ere and Sorin. I have come to love them and they immense love they share for each other makes me happy. Not knowing about them feels like I am missing out.
This book has introduced us to Divina and Andros. Another amazing characters well written and developed. Divina is your extravagant, fun, cheerful dragon in human form. She is so likeable and will make you smile throughout the journey.
Andros!! Okay, you will love him or come to love him. He is a centaur with such an innocence about him but also the alpha male dominance that makes him hot and you need to meet him.
Aja James writing skills and imagination is worth praising. She takes us through an entertaining ride filled with adventure, action, fantasy, steam, love and so much more. The banter, plot, fast paced flow, twists and turns taking place in Greece did not let me put the book down.
The way it ended seemed mysterious as if the quest and problems have just begin and there is lot more to come which we might dread on behalf characters and keep rooting for them. Ere and Sorin has something huge coming up their way and that is keeping me on edge. Can't wait for the next in the series.
I highly recommend this series for all fantasy lovers out there. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this in exchange of an honest review.
Greek mythology ISN'T my most favorite, but the book does have some nice action scenes, touching and emotional queer romance, hot scenes and some nice fantasy worl-building where dragons meet centaurs. Overall a really nice read, and since Netgalley were so nice to approve me of an ARC, now I'll go and read the first book of the series.
This book was SO. MUCH. FUN. Since reading Dream of Dragons, the first book in this series, I had to go read the Pure/Dark one series and did that within a span of about a week and a half because I just couldn't stop. Those books aren't necessary to enjoy this book but this book does mention some of the events from that series. After all, Ere and Sorin are still a part of this series (and forever more, please, because they are one of my favorite couples of all time in any paranormal series).
Ere and Sorin are tasked to take on a quest because Ere agreed to do these tasks in order to be resurrected and to be with his eternal mate. Throughout the story, the reader gets peeks into their love and every single time, I swoon. I love these two characters and their love- Sorin's protectiveness and adoration and Ere's absolute obsession with Sorin (replete with hilarious observations, as expected from Ere) made me smile. Honestly, almost everything about Ere makes me smile. I love him.
To complete this task, which is to find and bring back the Song of Destiny, they bring along the Quetzalcoatl dragon, Divina. At first, she seems flighty. However, throughout the story, you see her strength and absolute dedication to what is most important to her- love. (she is the fertility dragon, after all). She has so many humorous moments and as a character, I really enjoyed getting to know her and see her growth.
They meet the centaur Andros and they take on the quest together. The relationship between Andros and Divina is fantastic- sensual, as expected, but also with an emotional strength. He was such a strong and swoon-worthy character. (as were all the good Centaurs because, Centaurs...haha) Another fantastic couple in this world that Aja James has created.
Even more so, I found myself really fascinated with the Greek mythos introduced in this story, as well as really invested in how the quest is going to play out (a bit of a mystery to piece together- similarly to the first story). The description of the environment was detailed and well written. And, there is Chewie the dog. (I'm a total dog lover- read the book and you'll want to hug this dog too- I admit I googled what a Giant Chinese Tibetan Mastiff looks like). Once I started this story, I couldn't stop, similar to the other books by Aja James. I can't wait for the next installment! Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an early copy.